CHAPTER XVI Who Are Our Rulers 1. The Law-Makers. We have seen that our republic has a great number of public officers. To begin with, there are all the law-making bodies. At Washington is the federal congress, meeting every year for months at a time, and making laws for the nation. At each of the forty-five state capitals is a legislature, meeting either every year or every other year, and making laws for the state. Several territories have legislatures. At each county seat is some sort of county board, many of them meeting more than once in a year, and making laws for the county. Then, every city has its council, and in many states the village has a village board, meeting weekly, as a rule, and making laws for the city or the village. 2. Many sorts of laws are made. Some of them forbid certain things to be done-like the law against stealing. Other laws command something to be done-like the law which compels people to be vaccinated, so as to avoid small-pox. Many laws, in nation, state, county, and city, are tax laws; that is, they fix the amount and the kind of taxes which the people shall pay into the public treasury. Many more laws decide how this money shall be spent. Part of it goes for the salaries of public officers; part for public buildings, like court-houses, prisons, schools, and post-offices; part of it for public services, like paving streets, carrying the mails, providing fire-engines. And there are many other kinds of laws. 3. Now, how are all these law-makers appointed? In almost every case they are elected by the people. The United States senators, to be sure, are chosen by the state legislatures. But the people elect the members of the legislatures. And the people elect the members of the national house of representatives, of the state legislatures, of the various county boards, and of the city councils. So we may say that in the end the people elect all the law makers. 4. The Administrative Officers.-Then, there are many officers busy in carrying out the laws. First of all, of course, is the president of the United States. Under his authority are his cabinet, the eight heads of departments, with the great number of officials under each, some in Washington, and many soldiers, postmasters and clerks, customs officers, and the like, scattered over the Union. Altogether there are nearly two hundred thousand federal officers subject to the direction of the president-quite an army, we see. 5. In each of the forty-five states there is a similar army, though much smaller, with a governor at the head. Besides the state officials, there are included also those in the counties, cities, towns, and villages. These people are busy with all the different kinds of public work. Many of them are occupied with the public money, assessors deciding the value of property on which taxes must be paid, others receiving payment of the taxes and giving the taxpayer receipts, others taking charge of the money thus collected and paying it out as directed by law. 6. Who appoints all these people to office? The president of the United States is chosen by election, and the electors are chosen by the people. The president appoints the most important of the federal officers, and they in turn, or some of them, appoint the inferior officers. We must remember that there are many appointments which the president cannot make without the approval of the senate. 7. To illustrate, we may take a post-office in a large city, like Chicago. The postmaster has charge. He is appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. There is a number of clerks and letter-carriers. These are appointed by the postmaster-general, and the most of them can be removed only for bad conduct. 8. The postmasters in small places are appointed by the postmaster-general. 9. If we come to the states, we find that some of the officers are appointed by some one higher in authority, and many are elected by the people. The governor is always chosen by the people, as are the sheriffs, the mayors, and many more. 10. So we see that the officers who carry out the laws are either elected by the people or are appointed, directly or indirectly, by some one who is elected by the people. II. The Courts of Law. The federal judges are all appointed by the president of the United States. Of course the senate has to be consulted. In some of the states, as in Massachusetts, the governor appoints the judges. But in most of the states the judges are elected by the people. Now, we remember that the people elect the governors, and that the electors who choose the president, and the state legislatures which choose the senators, are also elected by the people. So we see that the judges are either elected by the people or are appointed, directly or indirectly, by some one who is elected by the people. 12. How the Officers Are Chosen.-Then, we are not far out of the way if we say that our whole government consists of officers who are chosen by the people. To be sure, the postmaster-general may appoint a village postmaster. But the postmaster-general is appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. And the president is really elected by the people. The electors whom the people choose would never think of voting for any one but the man nominated by their political party. The senators, too, are chosen by legislatures elected by the people. So, after all, the village postmaster depends for his office on the election by the people. 13. Elections. - We are all familiar with elections. They are held often in November; many of them, especially for local officers, in the spring; in a few states, in August or September or October. Votes are cast by means of printed papers called ballots. Each voter has the right to cast one ballot. It is put into a locked boxthe ballot-box. At night, when the voting is ended, the ballot-box is unlocked and the votes are counted. Then the officers who have charge of the ballot-box make a report to the proper election officers. In this way it is found out who has the most votes, and he is elected. Sometimes one person has more than half of all the votes cast. This is a majority. In other cases no one has a majority, but one person has This is a plurality. The is always elected, and for most offices a plurality also elects. more votes than any one else. person who has a majority 14. Who Are "the People"?-Now, who are the people who elect so many officers in our republic? Is it all the people? Surely not. Many are children too young to vote. And in most of the states the women do not vote, either. So it is plain that the men who have the right to vote are less than half of all the people. 1 15. But the laws are not the same in all the states. In some states a man has the right to vote who, in some other states, would not have that right. In many states no one can vote unless he is a citizen of the United States, which, indeed, ought to be the law everywhere. In a few states, however, one who has taken his "first papers," although he is not a citizen, has the right to vote. also, no one may vote unless he can read surely seems a reasonable requirement. the states ignorance is no bar to voting. In a few states, and write, which But in most of 16. The States Decide Who May Vote.-We see from what has been said that it is the states that make the The United laws which give or withhold the right to vote. States government can make no such laws. The states may do very nearly as they please. So it is that some states allow women to vote at all elections. Some allow women to vote at elections for school officers, and many do not |