CHAPTER XIX

How Our Different Governments Work Together

"A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and .. he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that set it forth."

-Henry Ward Beecher.

We learned earlier that our Nation is made up of many government groups. They must work with one another in order to get things done. The States must work with the Federal Government. The Nation must work well with the States. The States must work with their cities. The cities must help the States.

WHY OUR GOVERNMENT GROUPS MUST WORK TOGETHER

One group alone cannot give us all the things that we need. Suppose that a disease breaks out in one city. Other cities act to prevent the disease from spreading to them. But the cities may not be able to prevent it unless the State acts. The disease may spread from one State to another. The Federal Government must give help. This is only one example of how our government groups must help one another.

Our different governments work together in order to get their work done. If the different governments did not work together, our Nation would not be strong. Each State could go its own way. Each city could do as it pleases. Our different governments could not supply us with the services that we need unless they helped one another.

WAYS IN WHICH THE NATION WORKS WITH THE STATES

The Federal Government is a government of the people. But the people live in States. The people must support the Government of the Nation as well as the governments of the States. Rather than furnish certain services to the people in a direct way, the Federal Government helps the States to supply the services to the people. For example, it helps the States build roads, improve farm life, and protect the riches of nature.

The Federal Government guards the States from attacks by foreign countries. We have already learned that the power to make war was delegated to the Federal Government. But in the event of war, the States help the Federal Government to raise soldiers. The States help to raise money to carry on the war. Also, if any State is not able to keep peace at home, it may call upon the Federal Government for help.

The Federal Government has a Supreme Court. Sometimes the States quarrel. They can ask the Supreme Court to decide questions. At times, different States have claimed the same land. They have asked the Supreme Court to decide to which State the land belongs. Sometimes a State controls its natural riches, such as gas and water, in a way that hurts other States. The States have gone to the Supreme Court to get the matter corrected.

The Constitution says that the State officers must take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States. It gives the Federal Government authority to make certain that the final authority in each State rests in the hands of the people. If a few men should take the final authority away from the people of a State, the Congress could act to correct the matter.

WAYS IN WHICH THE STATES WORK WITH THE NATION

The Federal Government depends upon the States for many things. It must work with the States. For ex

ample, the Federal Government does not take direct charge of the vote of the people in electing Senators and Congressmen. The States decide how men shall be nominated for these offices. The States fix the way in which they shall be elected. Within limits set by the Constitution and Acts of Congress, each State is free to say who may vote for Senators and for Congressmen.

We know that the States must approve amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Federal Government alone cannot amend the Constitution. The legislatures or conventions in at least three-fourths of the States must agree to the amendments. The States have, at times, refused to approve suggested amendments.

The Federal Government helps the States to organize the Militia. In time of great danger, the Federal Government may call on the Militia to help enforce the laws of the Nation or to defend the country against attacks from foreign countries.

WAYS IN WHICH THE STATES WORK WITH ONE ANOTHER

Each State has as much authority as every other State in the Union. It may be a young State without much experience. The population may be very small. But the State is as free to use its authority as every other State. We do not have different classes of States with different kinds of authority. We live in a Union of equal States. The States cannot destroy the Union. The Federal Government has no authority to destroy the States.

No State can live alone. Each State must get along well with other States. The Fathers of the Constitution knew that some of the old States might feel more important than new States. For that reason, the Constitution says that full faith shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and court proceedings of every other State.

If an act is done according to the law of one State, it must be accepted by the other States even though their laws may be different. It must be accepted because the

Constitution requires the other States to accept it. If the States did not respect the work of one another in this way, then a case tried in the courts of one State might be tried a second time in the courts of another State. A title or deed to property in your State, which is good under its laws, might not be accepted as good in other States.

People often move from one State to another. Suppose that we should move from New York to California. California cannot place higher taxes on our property or income than is placed on the property or income of its own citizens under the same conditions. The authority of California is limited. The Constitution says that a citizen of one State who goes into another State cannot, in general, be made to obey different laws because he is a citizen of another State. But a State may command that he live there for a certain length of time before he has the right to vote.

The laws of a State are in force only within its limits. Thus, one State cannot punish a person for a crime that he committed in another State. It often happens that a person will commit a crime in one State and go to another State. It may be hard for the officers to find him. But all of the States try to work together to see that criminals are punished. Although a State cannot punish a person for a crime committed in another State, it can return lawbreakers to other States for trial.

The Fathers of the Constitution believed in free trade among the States. They thought that free trade would help to make the Nation strong. They did not want any State to be unfair about goods produced in other States. Thus they limited the authority of the States. No State may treat goods from other States in a different manner than it treats goods made within its own limits. No State may place greater taxes on goods brought from other States than it places on like goods made within the State.

After the colonies had declared their independence on July 4, 1776, a committee was asked to plan an official seal for the new Nation. The face of the Great Seal of the United States is shown above.

The Latin words, "E Pluribus Unum," mean "one made up of many" or "from the many the one." They tell us that the United States is made up of many States, that we are one Nation with many people. You will find the Latin words printed on the money of the United States.

In the shield, the stripes represent the thirteen States. The band represents the Congress. The stripes are joined together by the band. This shows that the States are

united in the Congress.

The band rests on the stripes.

This shows that the Congress depends upon the Union of the States for its support.

Figure 17

The Great Seal of the United States