The rights and duties of citizens of the United States; a manual of citizenship
Mann, Edward C. (Edward Cox), 1850-1908
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All rights reserved * NEW-YORK PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON 59 FIFTH AVENUE 1894 .\ Entered according to Act of Congress in tlie year eighteen liundred and ninety-four, By EDWAED C. MANX, In the oflBce of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PEEFACE. The scholars in our public schools and colleges should be instructed as to the elements that go to make up a good and useful citizen of our country, and the obligations, civil, social, and political, due to others from them. They should be instructed to yield respect and obedience to the laws, and to hold on with un- flinching firmness to the Constitution and the Union of States. They should be taught the love of liberty and order, to walk in the path of patriotism, of fidelity to our country, and of duty to God. This is necessary in order that when they become of adult age they may be prepared to exhibit wisdom in the cabinet j the purest patriotism ; the highest integrity, public and private j morals without a stain ; and religious feel- ings without intolerance and without extravagance. In this little manual of the rights and duties of citi- zenship I sing the love of country and the pride of country to the youth of both sexes of my country. I teach the need of beating back one's country's enemies, whether they reside in or out of the United States — a most true song, to which I hope the hearts of the youth of our country will burst responsive into fiery melody, followed by fiery strokes before long. I teach them iii iv PREFACE. to sing the praises of God. National writers who for- sake that business, and, wasting their di^dnest gifts, sing the praise of party — what shall we say of them ? What also shall we say of that class of writers who try to spread the idea that the laborer of onr country is related to his employer by bonds of hostility, op- pression, and chains of mutual necessity alone, when this is absurdly false and when the facts are that the United States of America is the country of all coun- tries where there are constant, calculable wages and constancy of employment 5 where the laborer, by tem- perance, thrift, and industry, can hope to rise to mas- tership ; and where, above all other countries on earth, he is related to his employer by bonds of friendliness and mutual help ? This is a country whose national environment is one of education, enlightenment, and character, and the only persons who fail to appreciate this fact and therefore to be contented and happy are those who, owning an anti-social inheritance, would not be contented and happy anywhere on earth ; those who exhibit in their lives neither an intense energy, a broad humanity, nor a love and obedience of God. They are our brothers, however, and may they finally accept the great facts of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man ! Edward C. Mann. New York, August, 1894. TABLE OF CO:NTEIvrTS. PAGE Preface iii Introduction vii PART I. CHAPTER I. Our Country and its Growth.— The Causes of Our National Prosperity 1 CHAPTER n. The Constitution 7 CHAPTER HI. Labor 13 CHAPTER IV. Social and Political Order 16 CHAPTER V. Laws against Rebellion and Insurrection in the United States. — Criminal Conspiracy against the Laws. — Congress of the United States. — State Legislatures. — The Judiciary 19 CHAPTER VI. National and State Government 24 V VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART II. CHAPTER VII. PAGE Personal Life of Citizens. — The Elements that go to make up the most useful citizen of our country 30 CHAPTER VIII. The Duty of American Citizenship to show Sympathy WITH New Republics. — The Republic of Hawaii... 37 CHAPTER IX. The Duty of Citizenship toward the Women of Our Country 40 CHAPTER X. Our Republic — her Citizens and her Needs . 48 CHAPTER XI. Intemperance. — The Duty of Citizenship toward the Drink Problem 94 CHAPTER XII. The Greatness and Progress of Our Country 101 CHAPTER XIII. Elementary Privileges and Duties of Voters. — The National, State, and Municipal Officers for whom A Citizen is Entitled to Vote. — Political Divi- sions AND THE Requirements of the Law in Regard TO Voters. — Civil Administration and Political Science 119 lE'TEODUOTIOK The object of this little maniial is to present a sys- tematic course of instruction embracing a broad patri- otism, the rights and duties of citizenship, the rights of property, and the security and sacredness of human life ; to teach the duties of citizens of the United States to their neighbors, to the community. State, and nation, their powers and privileges as wage-earners, capital- ists, and as sovereign voters; to give instruction on the subject of intelligent citizenship ; to teach the rela- tions of employer and employed, of labor and capital. I have endeavored to express myself concisely and by clear thought and rational doctrine as to all that goes to make up a good and useful citizen ; and to the youth of our country and to the National Educational Asso- ciation I dedicate this work. PART I. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Our Country and its Growth.— The Causes of Our National Prosperity. THE marvelous growth and unique history of our Republic have been due to highly complex and manifold motive forces. Primarily we had the advan- tage of good " determinative elements " to assist us in our growth. We had an ahwudaiit food-supjjly, which is essential to the fullest development of the human powers, physical and mental. We therefore had from the start that muscular strength and endurance, that intellectual clearness and grasp, essential to any coun- try that is to achieve greatness. National culture at once took a long stride in advance 5 for, unlike some other nations, we had the advantage of obtaining our food almost immediate^ from natural products, from cultivated products, and by exchange and commerce. The influence of agriculture from the commencement 1 1 Z A IVIANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. of our history as a country was most profound and beneficent, as it promoted a settled disposition, the per- manence of houses, the habits of regulated labor and foresight, and the preference of peace to war, govern- ment to anarchy. It allowed the congregation of large communities and insured the leisure which was neces- sary to higher intellectual cultivation. From the in- ception of out' history also, we had home purchasers, prepared with desirable objects to offer in exchange for food, and manufactures enabled them to obtain food by exchange and commerce. This great influence on the social life of the nation we enjoyed almost from oui' earliest history, and it at once permitted men to gather together in great cities, where all are dependent on the distant agricultuiist for their daily bread, and the impetus given to the growth of our cities to-day is directly attributable to the successful application of steam to the transportation of food. We had also the second great ^^ determinative ele- ment " in the growth and history of nations : the high- est form of marriage, in that we had an enlightened Christian community, who increased the happiness of individuals and developed the noblest qualities of the race by marriage based on personal acquaintance and intelligent affection, with woman in a deservedly high social position. We had also a language of true superiority — a lan- guage which in its characteristics corresponds most precisely in its expressions with the logical processes of thought, and which thus favored clear and progres- sive thinking and prompt comprehension ; a language INTRODUCTOEY; 3 which has acted on the national mind as a stimnlns and an incentive to intellectual pursuits; and a fine national poetry and prose which have reacted directly on the life of the nation. We have had also one of the main forces of culture in this country in a weU and rapidly developed tech- nology, or the science of the arts and industries — a domestic industry which has meant national power and individual comfort; arts utilitarian, including tools and utensils, weapons, buildings, clothing, and media of exchange (money) ; and the esthetic arts, or those designed to affect the senses in an agreeable manner, and by association the emotions .and the in- tellect— such are decorative designs in line and color, sculpture and modeling, music and musical instru- ments, scents and flavors, and games and festivals ; and the arts inspired by the religious sentiment, which have given us our fine churches, cathedrals, and colleges. We have had also another great " determinative ele- ment" to assist our country in its growth and progress : a government and laws superior to any in the history of the world ; a form of government which, I believe, is destined to be the model for all other countries of the world — a government founded on morality and religious sentiment ; a government popular in its foun- dation and popular in its exercise ; a government of high character, because the general moral and intel- lectual character of the community has been high, because there have been adequate rewards to labor and industry, a share in the pubHc interests, a stake in the community on the part of well-employed and well 4 A MANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. paid citizens, who never conld have been intelligent and virtuous and at the same time poor and idle ; a great government because it has shown that an edu- cated, enlightened community of high character is capable of self-government, and that religious freedom and tolerance do not necessarily produce indifference to reUgion; a government with a free press for the people, not a government press; a government that has, by the power of its example and the general tone which it has inspired, assisted woman to a high influ- ence on the morals and sentiments of the community in the training and instruction of the young, that has made the American mother the strongest bulwark of public liberty and of the perpetuity of a free Constitu- tion ; a safe government, in which public faith is confi- dently reposed ; a government with a strong protecting power in a high and pure judicial branch ; a government, not a compact between States, but a government by the whole and for the whole people of the United States ; a government whose first object was the preservation of our liberty, this being accomplished by maintaining constitutional restraints and just divisions of pohtical power; a government with a Constitution framed for union and to " establish justice, insure domestic tran- quillity, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare,'' and " to secure the blessings of liberty " to us and to our children — ^^a Constitution the bond of our Union and the security of our liberties — a Constitution made for our good and administered for our good, and, if need be, to be defended against all the powers of the world for our good. INTRODUCTORY. iy We have had a sixth ^'determinative element'' in onr growth and history, namely, religion and religions tol- eration, that has exercised a great influence on our na- tion, and has molded our community into what it is. Progress is the development of the energies and re- sources of a nation, and the condition of civilization is where all these energies and resources are developed symmetrically and to a high degree ; and we find both progress and civilization in their highest state where we find the acceptance of the Christian religion. We have had the conditions and momenta of pro- gress to assist us in rapidly becoming a great nation. We have had the growth of wants ; racial and national endowments ; geographical surroundings ; the commin- gling with other nations, which has prevented us from becoming fossilized and our progress from becoming checked; and the influence of great men, who have made their mark on the history of our country — our Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, John Jay, Clay, Web- ster, Adams, Choate, Everett, Lincoln, Grant, Horace Greeley, Henry Ward Beecher, Blaine, Phillips Brooks^ and many others whose labors were effective because there was a readiness to respond in the national and racial mind at the time — men whose work is their best eulogy, as it has resulted in making our country a great example to other nations in the recognition of the equality of all men before the law, and the right of every people to govern itself under a republican form of government in place of forms of monarchy and aristocracy; in proving that popular institutions founded in equality and the principle of representation 1* 6 A MANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. are capable of maintaining governments, able to secure the rights of person, property, and of reputation ; and in giving to us a free representative government, en- tire religious liberty, improved systems of national intercoui'se, an unconquerable spirit of free inquiry, a diffusion of knowledge throughout the land, and last, but not least, a judiciary the spotless ermine of whose judicial robes has never been soiled by entertaining opinions hostile to the just powers of the Constitution of the United States of America. CHAPTER II. THE CONSTITUTION. THE Constitution of tlie United States of America is the fundamental law of our country. It is the bond of our union and the security of our liberties. It is the duty of every wise and patriotic citizen of the United States to maintain the Constitution, the Union, and the laws. This is his first and highest duty. Disobedience to the laws of the country is un- patriotic and treasonable. The supreme law of the country consists of the Con- stitution, acts of Congress passed in pursuance of it, and the public treaties. Congress is the legislature of all the people of the United States. The judiciary of the general Government, or the Supreme Court of the United States, is the judiciary of all the people of the United States. It belongs to Congress and to the courts of the United States to settle the construction of the supreme law of our country in all doubtful cases. They alone can construe and interpret the law to the people, and upon Congress and the courts of the United States rests the right of ultimate decision, which is su- preme over the authority of any particular State. The Constitution of the United States, therefore, is 7 8 A MANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. a government proper, founded on the adoption of the people and creating direct relations between itself and individuals. No State authority has power to dissolve these rela- tions. Any attempt by a State to do away with or arrest the operation of an act of Congress within her limits, on the ground that, in her opinion, such law is unconstitutional, is an act which in its character and its tendency is revolutionary, unpatriotic, and dangerous to the stability of our Amercian form of government. The Supreme Court of the United States is always the final interpreter of the supreme law of our country. It is the duty of every citizen of the United States to cherish a respect for the authority, compliance with the laws, and acquiescence in the measures of the Gov- ernment of the country. The Constitution of our country secures the full en- joyment of all human rights alike to every citizen of the United States. The principles of our Government are liberty and / equality, established law and order, security for public 1 liberty and private right, a general system of education liberally diffused, the free exercise of- every religious creed and opinion, and brotherly love and harmony. This is what the Government of the United States means both to native-born American citizens and to those who come to this country from abroad to reside here as citizens. The protection of life and property, the lutbeas corpus, trial by jurj^, the right of open trial, are principles of public liberty which the laws secure to every citizen. THE CONSTITUTION. 9 j The people are the source of all political power in the / United Sta,tes. They can only exercise it by their Rep- V resentatives. The basis of representation is suffrage, or the right to choose Representatives by voting at each State and national election. This is the manner in which power comes from the people and gets into the hands of conventions, legislatures, courts of law, and the President of the United States. It is to protect every citizen in his rights of citizen- / ship that the right of suffrage is guarded, protected, [ and secured against force and against fraud, and that \ the exercise of the right of suffrage is prescribed by previous law ; also that its qualifications, the time and place of its exercise, and the manner of its exercise (always under the supervision of sworn officers of the law) are prescribed by previous law. The results of each election are certified to the cen- tral power by a certain rule, by known pubhc officers, in a clear and definite form, so that every citizen en- titled to vote may vote, and that his vote may be sent forward and counted. Every citizen in this manner exercises his part of political power in common with his fellow-citizens. It follows, therefore, that all good citizens should see that among the candidates for the high offices in the gift of the people of the State and of the United States they give their votes to such as honor and respect the State and the Government of the United States, and to no other. Although the existence of political parties under our form of government cannot be avoided, people can 10 A NANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. avoid excesses of party spirit. At each State and national election all good citizens should inquire first into the men and measures that are placed before them for their votes and support, before inquiring to what party the men belong or what party recommends the measui'es. Every man in voting should use his intelli- gence, his integrity, his virtue, and his patriotism, and he should realize his deep responsibility as to the effect of his individual vote on the State and on the nation. Will the man for whom I cast my vote admin- ister the government and laws in accordance with the principles of our Constitution, in his high office of Governor of the State or President of the United States ? That is the question. Will he do his part wisely and patriotically to seciu^e to our countrj^, dur- ing his administration of power, the blessings of a free, enhghtened, liberal, and popular government? That is what I want to feel sure of. Will the com- munity under his rule be a well-employed and prosper- ous community? That is indispensable for every citi- zen to decide for himself in voting for a candidate for office. No good citizen should ever substitute party for country. He should seek other" ends than party ends and other approbation than party approbation in casting his vote. He should think first of good gov- ernment, of the honest and faithful exercise of all the powers of the Constitution, of the blessings of liberty, and of all the benefits of union. It is equally necessary that every branch of the Gov- ernment and that every man in pubhc office should submit to the limitations and restraints of the Con- THE CONSTITUTION. 11 stitntion and never assume to exercise an authority above the Constitution and the laws. No public officer, acting in the name of the people and by the authority of the people, should ever act or exercise his power without legal right or constitutional sanction. The Grovernment is the agent and servant of the people, not the people's master. It is the duty of every citizen of the United States to love and reverence and to defend and maintain the Constitution of the country against everything which may weaken, endanger, or destroy it. American hberty depends upon every good citizen upholding the Constitution and the Union of States of our country ; and every man who has the love of coun- try and the pride of country in his heart will uphold them. The people of the United States have a right to good government. The Government of the United States, created by the people for the people, has a right to unquestioning loyalty and obedience to the Constitution and to the laws from the people. Both have their inalienable rights. We should always remember that the Consti- tution was framed by the "fathers" of our country " to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, to secure the blessings of liberty, and to insure domestic tranquillity.'' It is the duty of citizenship to remember with rev- erence and admiration our American ancestors, the Pilgrim fathers, who landed at Plymouth from the "Mayflower," and who made the first settlements of New England ; to remember the names of Carver and 12 A :manual of citizenship. Bradford, of Standish, Brewster, and Allerton, and to remember that they came for ci^^il and religions liberty and freedom. It is the dnty of citizenship to remember the Revo- lutionary struggle which resulted in American inde- pendence j to remember the names of Warren, Pres- cott, Putnam, Lafayette, and General Washington ; to forever teach our childi^en to emulate the character and the life of Washington ; to teach them that that name is synonymous with patriotism, wdth unspotted purity of public faith, sacred public piinciple, fidelity and honor, and with love of country and pride of country ; to forever teach them to remember with af- fection and gratitude the founders of oui' Republic — Adams, Jefferson, Quincy, Hamilton, Clay, Webster, Choate, and John Jay. It is the duty of citizenship to remember Secession, Civil War, and Reconstruction, which resulted in the emancipation of the slave ; and to remember the names of Abraham Lincoln, Charles Sumner, Daniel Webster, General Grant, General Sherman, Henry Ward Beecher, and James A. Garfield, and of all those who gave their lives for the preservation of our Constitution and our Union. We must all remember to properly appreciate our constitutional liberty and our national blessing of a free and united government. We should remember that life, liberty, reputation, and property all depend upon the upright administration of justice, and that our courts of law, independent judges, and enlightened juries are the citadels of our popular liberty. CHAPTER III. LABOR. THE producing canse of all the prosperity of the country is labor. The American people are a laboring people. We live by labor and 'actual em- ployment. The Constitution protects this labor and industry, and American labor is protected against the injurious competition of foreign labor by the protec- tive principle in national government. The American laboring man is active, spirited, industrious; and a good government secures to labor the means of edu- cation and the reasonable certainty of procuring a competent livelihood by industry and sobriety. Every laborer has a stake in the welfare of the community. As the laboring man lays up money and acquires a competence for his family and for his children, the Grovernment protects his j)roperty and his right to property. The people come to possess property in this country by industry and by saving. Their property, therefore, is entitled to protection, and its protection or its influence is not hostile to the rights and privileges of any of the people of the State. All citizens should understand that the great reason why communism is not the proper form of society, and why everybody 13 14 A MANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. should not have an equal share of the products of labor, is that men are not alike ; they differ in mental power and physical ability- and as the result of the labor of men is different, there is no reason why the wealth of the nation should be equally divided. Every citizen has his rights under the laws of the country. As a wage-earner, the law protects his labor and his earnings. When by industr}^ and frugahty he has amassed some money, and he puts this money into business or manufactures or agriculture, and becomes^ so to speak, a capitalist, the law protects him in his rights of propert}^ and in his rights as an employer, Just as it did before in his rights as the employed. The price of labor in the United States is higher than in any civihzed country, and this is the greatest of all proofs of general happiness. Labor in this country is independent and proud. It does not ask the patronage of capital, but capital asks the aid of labor. The protection extended under our laws to capital is as nothing to that which is given to labor. The protective policy of the United States is designed primarily for the protection of labor. It was the pour- ing in of a flood of foreign manufactures that gave the first impulse toward the adoption of a Constitution for our OA\Ti protection, and the labor of the whole country has been protected under it ever since. The result of the protection of labor has been to multiply the modes of its employment. Protection has pre- vented the cheaper labor of Europe from underbidding American labor in everything, and it has prevented overwhelming importations from abroad from break- LABOR. 15 ing up American establisliments. It lias given to labor a steady price and security, and has prevented the re- duction of the price of labor. It has protected labor, so that labor has not had employment taken away from it, and so that it has not been driven from its accus- tomed pursuits. Under our Constitution and our laws we have had a well-employed and a prosperous com- munity that could buy food and clothing, and enjoy good educational advantages for their children, and have happy homes. Under our Constitution and our laws the laboring community have had constant em- ployment and well-paid labor, and have been prosper- ous, contented, and happj^ to an extent known to no other laboring community in the civilized world under any other form of government. Every one in the United States has some form of employment tha,t re- quires personal attention, either of oversight or manual performance — some form of active business. We are Americans and we are laborers. CHAPTER IV. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORDER. Foreigners.— President of the United States.— Conimon=School System. Religion.— The Race Question.— The Law.— Arbitration. IT is the duty of citizenship to see tliat there is no tumult, no violence, and no wrong in the exercise of the power by the people ; that it shall be exercised only as prescribed by law, by representation — never in masses, in violent popular commotions, setting law at defiance and trampling on the rights of citizens and of the people. Assembled masses cannot put themselves above the law and act by force ; neither can individ- uals incite others to act by force and contrary to law without being punished. If they could we should have no constitutional means of security, and we should be at the mercy of anarchy, revolution, and violence. Pru- dence, wisdom, and justice all forbid it, for the social and political order of the State would be threatened with overthrow were the people to permit such outrages. Foreigners — Their CitizensMp Duties. Every foreigner residing in the United States, owes to this country allegiance and obedience to our laws so long as he remains in it, as a duty imposed upon him 16 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORDER. 17 by the mere fact of his residence and the temporary protection which he enjoys, and is as much bound to obey our laws as native-born American citizens. The President of the United States. It is the duty of citizenship, irrespective of party or party affiliations or ties, to patriotically support the President in all his measures. He represents our do- mestic interests, our foreign relations, and our honor and character among other nations of the world. He also administers and maintains the Constitution and the Government of our country. The Common- School System. It is the duty of citizenship to maintain our public- school system and all our educational agencies, as of the greatest value to the State. On the diffusion of education among the people rests the safety of our free institutions. Religion. It is the duty of citizenship to fear God and keep his commandments, and to maintain the Christian min- istry and the institutions for church worship. Let nothing extinguish the moral illumination of the Sab- bath day in the United States. The Race Question. It is the duty of citizenship to remember that there are seven million colored people in the United States^ 18 A ]\IANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. and that under the influence of education and freedom they will improve as the rest of the human race do, and become good citizens, intelligent and well-to-do. They should be treated as good, loyal, law-abiding citizens who would with equal readiness with the rest of us fight under the stars and stripes to preserve our coun- try if it should be periled by war. They should be protected in all their civil rights. Tlie Law. It is the duty of citizenship to remember that every citizen owes the State submission to the laws when regularly pronounced constitutional. Resistance to the laws is revolution or rebellion. The criminal law restrains the liberty of the few offenders, that the many who do not offend may enjoy their liberty. It punishes to prevent the repetition of crimes. Every unpunished murder takes away from the security of human life. The upright administra- tion of justice renders it necessary that in the of&ce of judge, upon whom rests the responsibility of lives, lib- erty, and property, there should be spotless integrity and high character. Arbitration is settling a dispute between nations or individuals by peaceful adjustment instead of by re- sort to war or to the law. It is always to be preferred whenever possible. CHAPTER V. LAWS AGAINST REBELLION AND INSURRECTION IN THE UNITED STATES. THE Government of the United States has enacted laws to protect itself and its authority as a govern- mentj and to protect its authority over those agencies to which, under the Constitution and the laws, it ex- tends governmental regulations. To protect itself and its authority as a government it has enacted that "every person who entices, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto," and " any two or more persons in any State or Territory who conspire to over- throw, put down, or destroy by force the Government of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or pos- sess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof," shall be visited by certain penalties. ''Insurrection is a rising against civil or political authority ; the open and active opposition of a number of persons to the execution of law in a city or State." The Supreme Court of the United States has held that "the laws of the United States forbid, under penalty, any person from obstructing or retarding the 19 20 A IVIANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. passage of the mail, and make it the duty of the officer to arrest such offenders and bring them before the court. If; therefore, it shall appear that any person or persons have wilfully obstructed or retarded the mail, and that their attempted arrest for such offense has been opposed by such a number of persons as would constitute a general uprising in that particular locality, and as threatens for the time being the civil and political authority, then the fact of an insurrection within the meaning of the law has been established." Laws against Interference tvith Commerce. — Criminal Conspiracy against the Laws. The Supreme Court of the United States holds : " The Constitution places the regulation of commerce be- tween the several States and between the States and foreign nations within the keeping of the United States Grovernment. Anything which is destined to be trans- ported for commercial purposes from one State to an- other and is actually in transit, and any passenger who is actually engaged in any such interstate commercial transaction, and any car or carriage actually transport- ing or engaged in transporting such passenger or thing, are the agencies and subject-matter of interstate com- merce 5 and any conspiracy in restraint of such trade or commerce is an offense against the United States. To restrain is to prohibit, hmit, confine, or abridge a thing. The restraint may be permanent or temporary. It may be intended to prohibit, limit, or abridge for all time or for a day only. The law draws no distinc- AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 21 tion in this respect. Commerce of this character is in- tended to be free^ except subject to regulations by law, at all times and for all periods. Temporary restraint is therefore as intolerable as permanent, and practical restraint by actual physical interference as criminal as that which flows from the arrangements of business and organization. Any physical interference, there- fore, which has the effect of restraining any passenger, car, or thing constituting an element of interstate com- merce forms the foundation for this offense. "But to complete this offense, as also that of con- spiracy to obstruct the mails, there must exist in addi- tion to the resolve or purpose the element of criminal conspiracy. Criminal Conspiracy Defined. " What is criminal conspiracy 1 If it shall appear to you that any two or more persons corruptly or wrong- fully agreed with each other that the trains carrying the mails and interstate commerce should be forcibly arrested, obstructed, and restrained, such would clearly constitute a conspiracy. If it shall appear to you that two or more persons corruptly or wrongfully agreed with each other that the employees of the several rail- roads carrying the mails and interstate commerce should quit, and that successors should, by threats, in- timidation, or violence, be prevented from taking their places, such would constitute a conspiracy. ''The railroads carrying the mails and interstate commerce have a right to the service of each of their employees until each lawfully chooses to quit, and any 2* 22 A MANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. concerted action upon the part of others to demand or insist, under any effective penalty or threat, upon their quitting, to the injury of the mail service or the prompt transportation of interstate commerce, is a con- spiracy^ unless such demand or insistence is pui-suant of a lawful authority conferred upon them by the men themselves, and is made in good faith in the execution of such authority. The demand and insistence, under effecti^^e penalty or threat, and injury to the transporta- tion of the mails or interstate commerce being proved, the burden falls upon those making the demand or in- sistence to show lawful authority and good faith in its execution. "If it appears to you, therefore, that any two or more persons, by concert, insisted or demanded, under effective penalties and threats, upon men quitting their employment, to the obstruction of the mails or inter- state commerce, you may inquii'e whether they did these acts as strangers to these men, or whether they did them under the guise of trustees or leaders of an association to which these men belonged. And if the latter appears, you may inquire whether their acts and conduct in that respect were in faithful and conscien- tious execution of their supposed authority, or were simply a use of that authority as a guise to advance personal ambition or satisfy private malice. " There is honest leadership among these our labor- ing fellow-citizens, and there is doubtless dishonest leadership. You should not brand any act of leader- ship as done dishonestly or in bad faith unless it clearly so appears. But if it does so appear, if any person is AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 23 shown to have betrayed the trust of these toiling men, and their acts fall within the definition of crime as I have given it to you, it is alike the interest, the plea- sure, and the duty of every citizen to bring them to swift, and heavy punishment. Law must he Vindicated. " I wish, in conclusion, to impress upon you the fact that the present emergency is to vindicate law. If no one has violated the law under the rules I have laid down, it needs no vindication • but if there has been such violation, there should be quick, prompt, and ade- quate indictment. "I confess that the problems which are made the occasion or pretext for the present disturbances have not received the consideration they deserve. It is our duty as citizens to take them up and by candid and courageous discussion ascertain what wrongs exist and what remedies can be applied. But neither the exist- ence of such problems nor the neglect of the public hitherto to adequately consider them justifies the vio- lation of law or the bringing on of general lawlessness. Let us first restore peace and punish the offenders of the law, and then the atmosphere will be clear to think over the claims of those who have real grievances. First vindicate the law. Until that is done no other questions are in order." CHAPTER yi. NATIONAL AND STATE GO^^RNINIENT. THE Congress of the United States consists of the Senate and Honse of Representatives. The Senate is composed of two members from each State. In most States they are elected by the votes of the Legislature. The members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people of each State. All measures which are to become laws must be passed by both Senate and House of Representatives. The bills are then sent to the President, and if ap- proved by him become law. There are several executive departments of the na- tional Government, and the heads of these departments are cabinet officers or advisers and counselors of the President as to the whole work of the administration. There is a Secretary of State ; Secretary of the Trea- sury; Secretary of War ; a Postmaster-General; Sec- retary of the Navy; Secretary of the Interior; and Secretary of Agriculture ; and we have also an Attor- ney-General. The Secretary of State conservatively guards over our relations with other nations and sees that they remain 24 NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT. 25 undisturbed by any serious controversy. He adjusts any complicating and threatening differences that may arise with other countries. He negotiates commercial agreements relating to reciprocal trade with other coun- tries. He takes especial care to secure markets for American farm products, in order to relieve the great underlying industry of our country of the depression which the lack of an adequate foreign market for our surplus often brings. He also takes especial care to make an opening for manufactured products, so as to augment the export trade of the country. He opens new lines of trade and thus helps commerce, agri- culture, and manufactures. He watches over the polit- ical relations and trade relations existing between the United States and foreign countries, and preserves mu- tual respect and confidence and a friendly intercourse and peace. The Secretary of the Treasury takes care of the state of the public revenues ; reduces the public debt as far as possible ; watches over what is paid out for pen- sions; sees that the revenues are collected and the expenditures for all purposes are paid and the surplus properly used; makes estimates based upon existing laws and a continuance of existing business conditions ; sees that public confidence remains unshaken in the purpose and ability of the Government to maintain the parity of all our money issues whether coin or paper ; takes care that the demand for gold in Europe does not drain our national treasury of gold, etc. The Secretary of War watches over the reorganiza- tion of the infantry and artillery arms of the service ; 26 A ]\IANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. keeps the organization of oiu' small standing army on the most approved basis j sees that new army-posts have the proper strategic relations to onr sea-coast and to our northern and southern boundaries ; works for the organization and enlargement of the Bureau of Military Information, and for our armament and coast defenses. The Postmaster- General sees that the great business of the Post-office Department is conducted efficiently and progressively. He watches over the increase in post-office revenues, the number of post-offices, and the miles of mail-carriage. He sees that new hamlets and towns have new offices and that new routes are estab- lished for the extension of border settlements. He extends to the post-offices of the larger cities the merit system of promotion. He contracts for new ocean mail- routes to develop our merchant marine upon the sea. TJie Secretary of the Navy presides over the construc- tion of our new navy ; he increases the navy, that we may become, as we should, a great sea power. He sees that we have the best capacity in construction, in ordnance, and in everytliing involved in the building, equipping, and sailing of great war-ships. He sees that the war-ships have the best defensive plates of the highest resisting power 5 that we have the best torpe- does and armor-piercing shells, and the best powder and projectiles. He builds up a strong naval militia as a powerful influence for peace and a sense of security. The Secretary of the Interior presides over the taking of the national census; the opening of areas of new lands to settlement ; the cessions of Indian lands for NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT. 27 settlement^ the general land-office; issues agricul- tural patents to settlers upon the public lands, which give them an assured title to their entries, which is of great benefit in developing the new States and the Territories; watches over the Indian Bureau, seeing that the Indians are civilized and educated ; and takes care of the disabled soldiers. The Secretary of Agriculture presides over and looks out for an enlarged usefulness and progressive work in this important department. He breaks down, wher- ever he can, restrictions to the free introduction of our meat products in the countries of Europe. He works for increased exportation, and has careful in- spections made to exclude from all cargoes diseased or suspected cattle. He also exercises careful super- vision of aU cattle brought into this country, by in- spection and quarantine, to prevent diseases being introduced which would injure our own cattle indus- try. He works for large agricultural exports and for the benefit of the American farmer. He suggests new use of various products as articles of human food, and watches for large and important markets for our Amer- ican products. Tlie Attorney- General conducts the work of the de- partment of justice. He secures from courts decisions giving increased protection to the officers of the United States, and brings some classes of crime that escape local cognizance and punishment into the tribunals of the United States. He watches over the claims pend- ing against the Government in the Court of Appeals. He gives advice in the cases where applications for 28 A MANUAL OF CITIZENSHIP. 