Studies in Civics | Page 2

each of which may be
answered in a few words; have the pupils write their answers; and the
correct answers being given by teacher or pupils, each may mark his
own paper. Each pupil may thus discover where he is strong and where
weak.
The questions given for debate may be discussed by the literary society.
Or for morning exercises, one student may on a certain day present one
side of the argument, and on the following day the negative may be
brought out by another student.
A student should not be required to submit his good name to the
chances of answering a certain set of questions, however excellent, at
the examination, when from anxiety or other causes he may fall far
short of doing himself justice. One good plan is to allow each student to
make up 50 percent of his record during the progress of the work, by
bringing in, say, five carefully prepared papers. One of these may be a
_resumé_ of matter pertaining to his local organization; another may be
an account of a trial observed, or other governmental work which the
student may have seen performed; a third may be a synopsis of the
president's message; the fourth, a general tabulation of the constitution;
the fifth, a review of some book on government, or a paper on a subject
of the student's own choice.
Among reference books, every school should have at least the Revised
Statutes of the state and of the United States, the Legislative Manual of
the state, a good political almanac for the current year, the
Congressional Directory, and Alton's Among the Lawmakers.
A Teachers' Manual, giving answers to the pertinent questions
contained herein, and many useful hints as to the details of teaching
Civics, is published in connection with this book.

TO STUDENTS.
You will notice in chapter one that at the close of nearly every
paragraph questions are thrown in. They are inserted to help you
cultivate in yourself the very valuable habit of rigid self-examination.
We are all liable to assume too soon that we have the thought. Not to
mar the look of the page, the questions are thenceforward placed only

at the close of the chapters.
You will soon discover that these questions are so framed as to require
you to read not only on the lines and between them, but also right down
into them. Even then you will not be able to answer all of the questions.
The information may not be in the book at all. You may have to look
around a long time for the answer.
If you occasionally come to a question which you can neither answer
nor dismiss from your mind, be thankful for the question and that you
are bright enough to be affected in this way. You have doubtless
discovered that some of your best intellectual work, your most fruitful
study, has been done on just such questions.
After studying a provision of the constitution of the United States, you
should be able to answer these four questions: 1. What does it _say?_ 2.
What does it _mean?_ 3. Why was the provision inserted? 4. How is it
carried into practical effect? Some of the provisions should be so
thoroughly committed to memory that at any time they may be
accurately quoted. The ability to quote exactly is an accomplishment
well worth acquiring.
After you have got through with a line of investigation it is a good
thing to make a synopsis of the conclusions reached. Hints are given at
appropriate places as to how this may be done. But the doing of it is left
to you, that you may have the pleasure and profit resulting therefrom.
Finally, without fretting yourself unnecessarily, be possessed of a
"noble dissatisfaction" with vague half-knowledge. Try to see clearly.
Government is so much a matter of common sense, that you can
assuredly understand much of it if you determine so to do.

STUDIES IN CIVICS.

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.
GOVERNMENT: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT IS.
At the very beginning of our study, two questions naturally present
themselves: First. What is government? Second. Why do we have such
a thing?
These questions are much easier to ask than to answer. The wisest men
of the ages have pondered upon them, and their answers have varied
widely. Yet we need not despair. Even boys and girls can work out

moderately good answers, if they will approach the questions seriously
and with a determination to get as near the root of the matter as
possible.
Beginning without attempting an exact definition of government,
because we all have a notion of what it is, we notice that only certain
animals are government-forming. Among these may be mentioned the
ant, the bee, and man.