line a post road. Its power over interstate commerce gives it practical control over our great railroads and water routes, and the present tendency is to materially increase this power. It coins our money and establishes our weights and measures, thus entering into the most minute details of our business routine. It may send and has sent troops into a state to enforce federal laws. It may enter any home in any state and forcibly take the father, son, brother, or husband to serve in the army or navy against the country's enemies; and this right has been exercised. No one of these powers may be exercised by state, county, or local government. While I was writing this paragraph a uniformed officer of the federal government visited my home. He comes twice daily. There are over thirty of these officials permanently located in my city, upon federal property costing many thousands of dollars. My state rarely sends an officer to my home, and it owns no property in my city. In a study of the lesser units of government, each important as a part of the great general whole, — do not forget the far-reaching and fundamental power of the federal government, and our duty to it, lest we lend our study to a further development of a kind of "bucket-shop" statesmanship which looks after the welfare of the district or the ward even at the sacrifice of the country or the state. "School Civics" tells the story of our government in such a manner as to make the subject interesting to the average grammar-school or high-school pupil. The story is told, as it was made, historically. It begins back far enough to show clearly the relations of our government to earlier forms, and follows the various steps through which our government has passed in its evolution from a few unassociated bands of colonists to its present dignity as the world's greatest republic. The text of this book is intended to be sufficiently full to prepare pupils for college-entrance, regents', and teachers' examinations. In the larger schools, where libraries are accessible, it is recommended that pupils be required to look up some of the library references on each chapter, in order that they may become acquainted with various views and thus gain a broader knowledge than any one book can give. The questions have been selected with care from all available sources; they should be studied, and many of them should be debated. The bibliography is merely suggestive. It might be much larger, but it will be found a reliable guide to the pupil and to schools desiring to enrich their libraries upon this subject. The chapter on Politics and Political Parties, while somewhat of a departure in a textbook on civics, is fully warranted by the growing importance of these matters in the management of our government. This edition retains those features of the first edition which have made the book popular in many states. In addition may be found discussions of the initiative and referendum, commission government and the city manager, the importance of the county as a unit of local government, the direct election of United States senators, the Federal Judiciary Act of 1911, Federal Trade Commission, federal reserve banks, reorganization of cabinet departments, army reorganization, welfare legislation, the Sixteenth and Seventeenth amendments, a comparison of national governments, a revision of the chapter questions, the introduction of present-day problems as matters for debate, the placing of emphasis upon the action as well as upon the form of government, a study of the tendencies that make for further orderly changes in our form of government, copious illustrations of government in action, and many other features not to be found in the first edition. In the preparation of this edition, the author has made use of suggestions from teachers in nearly every state of the Union who used the first edition, and in addition has had associated with him three teachers of civics who have read and criticized the manuscript. The author wishes it to be understood, however, that he believes in government by law and not by shifting popular opinion; by laws made by our representatives, as the result of careful study and debate, to safeguard the interests of the whole people; by laws which can be changed by orderly and well-defined methods to meet changing conditions, but which are sufficiently fixed and definite to deal at any time with any given case. And he believes that representative government is very far from being a failure. THE AUTHOR CONTENTS Definition. Origin of the State: Primitive Man already Social. Primitive Societies: our Knowledge Imperfect. Definition of "State." Original-Lawgiver Theory. Divine-Right Theory. Contract Theory. Later Theories Historical. Force Theory. Kinship Theory. Summary. Government. Definitions. An- archy Impracticable. Government Necessary. Government: its Object. Government and Individual Rights. Classification of Rights. Government: its Functions. Taxing Power. Eminent Domain. Civics: its Meaning. Civics: its Nature ITS ORIGIN, NECESSITY, OBJECT, AND II. DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT Variety of Forms. Aristotle's Classification. Inapplicable to Modern State. Applicable to Earlier Forms. New Classi- fication Necessary. What is Sovereignty? The Unitary State. The Confederation. The Federal State. Further Classifications. Absolute Monarchy. Limited Monarchy. Pure Democracy. Representative Democracy. Representa- tion. Constitutional Government: Origin. The Written Constitution. The Unwritten Constitution. Rigid and Flex- ible Constitutions. What is the Best Form of Government? Introductory. Charter Government. Proprietary Government. CHAPTER The Shire becomes the County. Adoption of the County in IV. ATTEMPTS AT UNION (1643-1777) Reluctance to Unite. Influences favoring Union. Disinte- grating Forces. The New England Confederacy. The Con- federacy a Step toward Union. Albany Congress. Franklin's Plan. Stamp Act Congress. Work of the Congress. Com- V. THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION (1781-1789) Need of a Legal Basis for the Union. Drafting and Adoption of Articles. Delay in Ratification. Character of the Govern- ment Established. Powers of Congress. Other Provisions. VI. THE CONSTITUTION: ITS FORMATION AND ADOPTION Condition of Affairs under the Articles of Confederation. Attitude of the States. The Feeling between the States. The General Government Helpless. Suggestions for Amendment. Origin of the Constitutional Convention. The Annapolis Convention. The Constitutional Convention. Influence of Washington. Hamilton and Madison. Franklin. Other prom- inent Delegates. Work of the Convention. Difficulty of the Task. Plans Submitted. The First Great Compromise. The Second Great Compromise. The Third Great Compromise. VII. THE CONSTITUTION: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE Its Origin. Origin of Special Provisions. Suggestions from the States. Its Nature Different from the British Constitu- tion. Different from the Confederation. Growth of Nation- PAGE |