POLITICS AND STATECRAFT. A politician, Proteus-like, must alter With the chameleon, at each object's change. DEFINITIONS AND DETAILS. The Abolition party was born in 1829. Poll tax was known in England, A.D. 1380. -MASON. The London Reform Club was established in 1836. A political lampoon was formerly termed a pasquinade. A close corporation is that which fills its own vacancies. The first French National Assembly was convened in 1789. There are 670 members in the British House of Commons. "Pairing off" was first practiced in this country in 1839. Alderman was a Saxon office and simply means elder-man. The first journals of Congress date from September, 1774. The English local option law is termed the Permissive Bill. In Germany the Reichsrath is the council of the whole Empire. It was Abe Lincoln who termed the freedmen "wards of the nation." Stephen A. Douglas was the Little Giant of our political history. The name "Old Hickory" was given to Andrew Jackson in 1813. The Indian Territory was set apart in 1832; Oklahoma subtracted 1889. The familiar letters "O. K." were a party cry in the campaign of 1828. The parliamentary motion of closure is "that the question be now put." R. B. Hayes said: "He serves his party best who serves the country best." Sheriff is derived from shire-reeve, the chief magistrate of a shire or county. In 1796 Mr. C. C. Pinskey said "millions for defence but not one cent for tribute." The straight-out-Democrats were a party that arose in 1872, led by Charles O'Connor. In Norway persons who have not been vaccinated are not allowed to vote at any election. In the days of Louis XV France was styled "an absolute monarchy tempered by songs. It was Tennyson, who pictured for us "the parliament of man, the federation of the world." Cortes is the name given in Spain and Portugal to the assembly of representatives of the nation. "Me, too," was a nickname given to Senator T. C. Platt, N. Y., as being the mere echo of Conkling. McClellan's army nickname was Little Mac. It became national in the presidential struggle of 1864. French chauvinism and British jingoism have been mildly imitated here as "the brilliant foreign policy." A phrase much used among peace-lovers after the civil war was: To shake hands across the bloody chasm. Opportunists is a term in French politics for those who would delay action until a favorable chance arrives. It was Mr. Cleveland who originated the terms "offensive partisanship" and "innocuous desuetude." One of Lincoln's pleas for re-election, in 1864, was that "it was not best to swap horses in crossing a stream.' "I would rather be right than be president" was said by Henry Clay, in 1850, to Mr. Preston of Kentucky. This very happy phrase, "the cohesive power of public plunder," is but a misquotation from one of Calhoun's speeches. The phrase "all men are born free and equal" is not in the Declaration of Independence but in the Massachusetts constitution. The phrase "blocks of five" was alleged to have been first used by W. W. Dudley in the Cleveland-Harrison campaign of 1888. Particularists is a term applied in Germany to those who wish to preserve the distinct independence of the several German states. Democracy is government of the people by themselves; more broadly the people who desire to exercise sovereignty either directly or indirectly. Coalition is politically applied to the union of two parties, or, as generally happens, portions of parties, who agree to sink their differences and act in common. The "Stalwarts" arose out of the Republican Convention of 1880, led by Roscoe Conkling and others who stood firmly (stalwartly) for a third term for Grant. The oft-quoted Bulwer-Clayton Treaty, concluded between England and America, July 4, 1850, provided that neither should have exclusive control over the proposed Central American Ship Canal which passes through Nicaraguan territory. Cumulative Vote is the system introduced into England in 1870 by which each person has as many votes as there are candidates, and the . voter may give all the votes to one or distribute them as he thinks fit. It is only recognized at school board elections. A demagogue is a politician who gains influence by flattering the prejudices or working on the ignorance of the people. Originally one who led the people in politics. The French Tiers État or "Le Tiers" was the third order of the state, the other two being the noblesse and the clergy. The three orders combined form the États Généraux. The old original "palladium" was a wooden image of Pallas, said to have fallen from heaven, and to have been religiously guarded in Troy, as a pledge of the safety of the city. Secret service moneys, in the widest sense of the term, include all funds placed at the disposal of ministers of state, to be expended at their discretion, without giving an account. Cæsarism is the absolute rule of man over man, with the recognition of no law divine or human beyond that of the ruler's will. Cæsar must be summus pontifex as well as imperator. Annexation is the adding or joining to a State of territory which was previously independent or in possession of another power. It is generally, though not always, the result of war. A committee is a portion generally consisting of not less than three members selected from a more numerous body, to whom some special act to be performed, or investigation to be made, is committed. Ukase or Oukaz is a term applied in Russia to all the orders or edicts, legislative or administrative, emanating from the czar directly or from the senate. The term is not extended to the order of ministers. International arbitration is an effort to substitute arbitration for war in international disputes. The International Arbitration and Peace Association was founded for this end (October, 1873), at Brussels. The term ironclad oath was applied to an oath of office prescribed by Congress after the close of the civil war as a safeguard against future disloyalty on the part of citizens of the reconstructed Southern States. Universal suffrage was adopted in France in 1791, in Germany in 1871, and in Spain in 1890, but in Great Britain, and most European countries, the suffrage is limited by a household or other qualification. Universal suffrage was one of the six points of the charter. Comity of Nations is the international courtesy by which effect is given to the laws of one state within the territory and against the citizens of another state. The surrender of W M. Tweed, by the Spanish government to our own, when he was trying to escape with his plunder, is an instance of its operation. Civil Service is a term comprising all officers of the Government who do not belong to the military or naval services and are engaged in the administration of the civil affairs of the State, such as the collection of the revenue, the administration of law and justice, the performance of the executive duties of the goverment, and the representation of the country abroad. The blue book of the City of New York shows that there are 6,724 persons paid by the city for their services. Of these 2,722, including the mayor, aldermen, heads of city departments and teachers and other employees of the board of education are exempt from civil service rules, and 4,002 are included under the rules, of whom 2,760 are appointed only after competitive examination. Among strange political terms the "Barnburners" were democrats who withdrew from their party in 1846. They opposed the formation of all corporations because they were afraid the United States Bank would be re-established. The name refers to the story of the man who burnt his barn to get rid of the rats. The "colonial system" is a theory long acted on by European nations, that their settlements abroad were to be treated as proprietary domains, exploited for the benefit of the mother-country, which did everything it could to import their produce as cheaply as possible, and encourage them to a large consumption of home manufactures. Entente Cordiale (Fr., "cordial understanding") is a term that originated, according to Littré, in the French chamber of deputies in 184041, and which from having been first used especially to denote the friendly relations and disposition existing between France and Great Britain has come to be used in regard to the amicable relations of other countries. Voting in France is twofold: (1.) Scrutin d'Arrondissement, or the single ballot system, whereby each arrondissement (district of a department) returns its own member for Parliament; (2) Scrutin de Liste, or the multiple ballot system, whereby all the candidates offer themselves for the department, and are put upon the same list, each elector having as many votes as there are seats for the department. Conservative as a term for one of the two great parties in English politics, was first used in an article in the Quarterly for January 1830, and was by Macaulay in the Edinburgh for 1832 referred to as a "new cant word." Nevertheless it began to supersede Tory about the time of the Reform Bill controversies. In this country it is applied to the Democracy because of their jealous care for personal and local rights. Closure, originating in the French clôture, is a parliamentary method introduced into the English House of Commons in 1882, by which power is given to the speaker or the chairman of committees, to close a debate when it seems to him that the subject has been discussed, and he is authorized to do so by a motion duly supported. The equivalent of closure obtains in American usage through the "previous question." The Hartford Convention was an assemblage of delegates from the New England States, at Hartford, Conn., December 15, 1814. It sat twenty days with closed doors, and as it was supposed to be of a treasonable character, it was watched by a military officer of the Government. The convention, at rising, proposed certain amendments to the Constitution; but though no treasonable act was committed, and no treasonable intention proved, the Federalist party never recovered from the odium of its opposition to the Government, and "Hartford Convention Federalists" was long a term of reproach. Non-intercourse Act was passed by Congress February 27, 1809, suspending all trade between the United States and either France or England. The offence of England was its claim of the right of search, which compelled American vessels to surrender any British subjects who formed part of their crew. The offence of France was the Continental system. Napoleon, having removed all obstructions to American trade, Congress renewed intercourse with France November 2, 1810; but the breaking out of the second American war with Great Britain in May, 1812, continued the non-intercourse till after the battle of Waterloo, when friendly rela tions were restored. The term cabal is employed to denote a small, intriguing, factious party, united for political or personal ends. It had been previously used to denote a secret committee or cabinet, when, during 1667-73, it was especially applied to Charles II's infamous ministry, consisting of five members, whose initials, by a strange coincidence, made up the word CABAL-viz., Clifford, Ashley (Shaftesbury), Buckingham, Arlington and Lauderdale. A caucus is a private meeting of politicians to agree upon candidates for an ensuing election, or to fix the business to be laid before a general meeting of their party. The term originated in the United States, where the caucus has become a fixed fact, the "ticket" for federal, state, and municipal offices, being always decided upon by the party leaders. Of late years the system has been introduced into England, but is chiefly used by the Radicals. The Know-nothings, or "Natives" (1853), were a political society in the United States of America who declared that the right of citizenship should be restricted to "natives, or those born of American parents in America. They were opposed to Catholicism, as inconsistent with the spirit of republicanism. When asked any question respecting their society, their only reply was, "I know nothing. They split on the slave question and died out as a distinct party. The casting vote is the vote by which the chairman or president of a meeting is generally empowered to cast the balance on the one side or the other, where the other votes are equally divided. As the position is a delicate one, it is usual for the presiding officer to vote in such a way as to give the body an opportunity to reconsider its decision. Where the merits of the matter cannot be avoided, the casting vote may be according to the conscience of him who casts it. There were six Secretaries of State who afterward became Presidents, namely, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, and Buchanan. Monroe was Secretary of War for a short time after he had served in the State Department, and General Grant was Secretary of War ad interim. There have been no Secretaries of the Treasury, the Navy, or the Interior, nor any Postmasters or Attorney Generals who have become President. Jeff Davis was Secretary of War under President Pierce. Not for mere pastime are the so-called Blue-books, the name popularly applied to the reports and other papers printed by the English parliament, because they are usually stitched up in blue paper wrappers. Some departments, however, issue their proceedings in drab, and some in white covers. The official books of other governments corresponding to these blue-books are designated by the color of their covers. The principal are: France, yellow; Germany and Portugal, white; Italy, green; and Spain, red. The Reichstag is the diet of the German empire. Since the establishment of the empire under the king of Prussia the legislative council has consisted of one representative to every one hundred thousand inhabitants. As the entire population is about forty-seven millions, this will give four hundred and seventy members to the legislative assembly. The delegates of the confederated governments form the "Bundesrath," and whatever passes the two houses and is signed by the king-emperor becomes binding on all the twenty-six states. U. I.--18 |