Government and Administration of the United States | Page 2

our government as it is. The
constitution was but a foundation upon which to build a government.
Nothing like an analysis or commentary upon the constitution of the
United States is here attempted. The public is already well supplied
with books covering that ground. History proper, except as showing the
basis and reason for the establishment of our institutions, has likewise
found no place here.
The book is to be used chiefly as a manual, to supply information that
would otherwise need to be dictated by the instructor. The Outlines are

in many particulars merely suggestive. Many topics are simply
mentioned, which the teacher must elaborate and explain at greater
length.
Lastly, though this book does not pretend to give a connected account
of our administration or politics, yet the subjects have been carefully
arranged in such an order as would most naturally be followed in a
course to which the work is intended to be an aid.
CHAPTER II.
Government.
From the earliest times of which history furnishes authentic record, and
in all countries inhabited by man, people have found it necessary to
bind themselves together by civic regulations so that certain things may
be done by all in common--in short, to establish some form of
government.
Now, as has always been the case, there are certain things which, from
their very nature, cannot be left to each individual to do, or not to do, as
he may choose, or to do in his own way. First of all, there is the
necessity of some means by which the weak may be protected from the
strong. The individual must be protected in his life and liberty, and
there must be some guarantee to him, that if he is industrious the
enjoyment of the product of his labor will be secured to him. Human
nature being imperfect, disputes and injustice are sure to arise. Hence
comes the necessity of some power above the citizens and able to
command their obedience, some power that can administer justice
according to the rights and not according to the strength of individuals.
To thus control the actions of individuals, this power above the citizens,
this government, must possess functions of three kinds. First,
legislative power, or power to declare the rules of conduct to which the
citizen must conform; second, judicial power, or power to interpret and
declare the true meaning of these rules, and to apply them to the
particular cases that may arise; and third, the executive power, or power
to carry into execution these laws, and to enforce the obedience of the

citizens.
To the student nothing could be more interesting and instructive, than
to trace how, as tribes and nations have progressed in civilization,
government has advanced in its development. How, as men have
progressed, first from the condition of savage hunters to the roving
feeders of flocks, then to tillers of the soil with fixed places of abode,
and finally to builders of cities teeming with trade, commerce and
manufactures; how as men have thus improved in civilization and
material well-being, their mutual duties and common interests have
become more and more important and numerous, and government as
controlling these interests and duties, has developed in form and
improved in structure until it has become an all-powerful, complex
machine, controlling in many ways the actions, and even the lives of its
citizens.
For thousands of years, governments have been developing and
changing in form and functions, and a very large part of the history of
the nations of the globe is identified with the history of the
development and changes of their governments. As new conditions and
needs have arisen, governments have adapted themselves to them. In
some cases this has been done peacefully, as in England, and in others
violently, by revolutionary means, as in France. In some cases
functions previously exercised have been relinquished, in others, new
powers have been assumed; but in the majority of cases, the change has
been merely in the manner of exercising this or that power.
All peoples have not the same characteristics, nor have they developed
under the same conditions of climate, soil or situation. Different nations
have, therefore, developed for themselves different forms of
government. Yet these governments, however different in their
structures and administration, are in all cases distinctly referable to four
well defined types: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Democracy, and the
Republic. #Monarchy.#--A monarchy is a nation at whose head is a
personal ruler, called King, Emperor, or Czar, who has control of the
government, appoints the principal officers of state, and to whom in
theory at least, these appointees are responsible for their actions. Thus

England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and others are monarchies.
The sovereign holds his position for life, and usually acquires his
throne by inheritance. Where the crown is