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5. Executive officers: (a) Mayor : appointing power in connection with the council; has superintending control of all officers and affairs of the city ; enforces the laws of the city ; recommends measures for "im- provement of finances, police, health, security, ornament, comfort, and general prosperity of the city." (b) City Clerk : term two years. (c) Treasurer : receives and pays out money for city and keeps account of it; term two years; must give bond for $200,000; is collector of the city taxes. (d) Comptroller : general financial officer of the city.
6. Boards: (a) Council as a board of equalization. (b) Board of public works. (c) Board for inspection of buildings. (d) Park commis- sioners: Five members appointed by the judges of the judicial district inwhich the city is. Term, five years.
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Cities and Villages.
council together, and still others are elected
Other by the people. There is much difference
Officers. of opinion about the amount of power that should be given to the mayor. Usually his power and responsibility are small, and many
Should
the things which he might look after are done Power of
the by committees or " boards." In cities of
Mayor be
Great? the first class, like Lincoln, there are sev- eral of these committees, such as the board of public works, board of health, and excise board. It is now strongly urged that a mayor be given control of city government more completely, and made more responsible for the manner in which the business of the city is done. The reas- ons for this are many, one being that a single of- ficer acts more promptly and systematically than
a committee. A still stronger ground is a belief that the chances for corruption are less when the power and responsibility of the mayor are great.1
The police judge is the judicial part of the mu- nicipality. There are justices of the peace, it is true. In metropolitan cities six are elected. Yet the justices' court is a county institution, while the police judge is a city office.
SUGGESTIVE TOPICS AND QUESTIONS.
1. Derivation of words municipal, ward, city, village, and mayor.
2. May a city be a county ? Look up the character of the city of London.
3. Why does a city need more rules and regulations than a country district ?
4. If you live in a city or village, make a complete dia- gram of its government as it actually exists.
1 See John Fiske, Civil Govt., Chap V., Sec. 3, especially pp. 124-136.
-
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Civil Government of Nebraska.
IV .- THE COUNTY.
The question "Why do we have counties ?" probably would be most frequently answered by saying that they are merely districts taken for convenience. But, in truth, counties exist in Ne-
braska because older states had this form. REASON FOR The officers of the Territory so divided it
COUN-
TIES, for a similar reason. It appears that orig- inally in England a county, or shire, was not one of the divisions of a state, as now, but it existed under another name before the kingdom was formed. It was an "isolated tribal state" of the old Saxons. Small kingdoms were first formed by the union of these tribal units. A long period of conflict and growth resulted in larger groups, until at last all the small states were banded together under one name. " Scholars are now agreed that the first English shires were merely the old tribal states, each bearing a new and common name. As if in recognition of their nationality, of their equal rank and power, each of the latter was called a shire or share of the new commonwealth."1 Offi- cers and assemblies belonging to the several dis- tricts before their union, have been changed little by
ANTIQ- little, until now there are left only a few
UITY. traces of their original character. The course of this development has been long, commenc-
1G. E. Howard, Introd. to Local Const. Hist. of U. S., I., 299.
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The County.
ing far back in the time of early England. A careful study on this subject must be made else- where.1 There is barely room in this book to no- tice what the old shire has developed into. After being transplanted into the colonies, the county system has been adopted all over the United States with the progress of settlements westward. Two distinct forms of organization have
THE
TWO resulted, known as the commissioner sys-
COUNTY
SYS- tem and the supervisor system. In the
TEMS.
first form, the main feature is a board com- posed of commissioners, elected in districts of the county, each for a term of three years. The other plan is to have the county divided into town- ships, in each of which a supervisor is elected. Each supervisor represents his town in the county board, which thus becomes a representative as- sembly instead of a committee. The laws of Ne- braska permit a county to adopt either of these forms.2
In this State the board of county commissioners is intrusted with all the important business interests of the people, such as roads and
1G. E. Howard. Local Coust. Hist., I. 289-473.
John Fiske, Civil Govt. of U. S., Chap. III., pp. 48-95.
Jesse Macy, Our Government, Chap. 11., 13-19.
2 "The first type prevails in the great majority of states and territo- ries, and * * * has descended in direct line from the colonial laws of l'ennsylvania through those of the Northwest Territory, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,-to be variously modified by the legislation of recent times. The second type exists in a small group of states:" New York, Michi- gan, and Wisconsin; Illinois since 1849; Nebraska since 1883. It began by a law of the New York Assembly in 1703. Howard, Local Const. Hst., I., 438-9.
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Civil Government of Nebraska.
bridges, support of the poor, and taxation. The COMMIS- county is a corporation and the board acts SOINER
SYSTEM. for it in every instance. Officers at the county seat, or capital, cannot easily reach each neighborhood, and for that reason it is pro- OF THE vided that they shall divide the county into POWER BOARD. convenient districts. What could be more natural than that the board should make use of the geographical township for these divisions called PRE- precincts? This is what is usually done.
CINCTS
In sparsely settled places a precinct may be made up of four townships, or it may even be smaller than a township where the population is dense. But in general it corresponds to the geographical township. The precincts are not legal persons at all. They are merely units for the transaction of local business. They do not even have meetings such as a school district has. They are necessary on account of the large area included in a county, some districts being far re- moved from the seat of government. The ancient assembly of the shire, the scirgemot, would be im- possible now. In county elections the voters of a precinct cast their ballots at a place in the precinct designated by the county board, from which the ballots are sent to the county seat. At
PRE- the same time that county officers are
CINCT elected, the people of a precinct choose OFFI-
CERS. minor officers, whose duties lie wholly in their own district. Such are two justices of the peace, two constables, three judges and two
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The County.
clerks of election, and one assessor. Justices ROAD of the peace and constables hold office for TRICT. two years, but the others for one. There DIS- are usually four road districts in a precinct, for COM- each of which an overseer of the high- SIONER way is chosen. The precincts are grouped MIS- DIS- TRICTS.together to form commissioner districts, which elect a commissioner every three years.1
Although the power of the commissioners is quite extensive, there are many things that they cannot attend to. Other officers, county judge, sheriff, coroner, treasurer, clerk, survey- COUNTY or, and county superintendent, share the OFFI-
CERS. work. Their powers and duties may be briefly summarized as follows: the judge may hear cases that are ordinarily tried before the jus- tice of the peace, and civil cases not involving over $1,000 that may come before the district THEIR court. His is the probate court, which DUTIES. has exclusive right to try cases concern- ing wills, property of deceased persons, and guar- dianship of minors, insane persons and idiots. The sheriff executes the orders of the courts and arrests violators of the law. Perhaps it is not necessary to specify the duties of treasurer, clerk and sur- veyor, but those of the coroner are somewhat pe-
1 In Nebraska one or two counties ouly have five commissioners. There are as many districts as there are officers of this kind to elect, the elections being so arranged that not all are chosen in one year. In the case of three districts, one election occurs each year, but in a different district. Where the population of the county is from 70,000 to 125,000, the commissioners are elected by a vote of the entire county. Otherwise they are voted for only by the electors of the district from which they come. Consol. Statutes, 1591, § 898.
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Civil Government of Nebraska.
culiar. As the person who investigates all cases of death, presumed to be by unlawful means, by hold- ing a coroner's inquest, he is the survival of the old " crowner," whose business was to inquire into wreckage, destructive fires, and sudden deaths. The county superintendent, of course, has charge of the school work. His duties embrace exami- nation of persons wishing to teach, laying out boundaries of school districts, and visiting every school in the county at least once a year. He is subject to the rules of the state superintendent. The schools of a city are not under his super- vision.
On the other hand, if a county adopts the su- pervisor system, or township organization as it is SUPERVI- called, the scope of the county govern- SOR ment is much more limited. The inter- SYSTEM. est of the people is more closely drawn to local affairs. Precincts are only districts of the county, and the power is all at the county seat. Such a government is said to be centralized. In TOWNS. the other form, the county is divided into towns1 or townships. Here, as in the case of the precincts, the geographical division of six miles square is largely followed. Every one of these towns is a corporation, with a special name. Every city of over 6,000 inhabitants constitutes a
1The word town is commonly used in the west for a small village, but there are numerous uses besides. (See Webster's International Dictionary or Century Dictionary.) It is used here to mean only the township under the supervisor system. This is the meaning of the word in the Consol. Statutes of Nebraska, 1891, and prevails altogether in New England. See etymology of the word.
95
The County.
separate town. The voters hold an annual town meeting on the first Tuesday in April, and spe- cial meetings when called. Much of the work done by the commissioners is disposed of under the other system by the citizens at their annual meeting, such as supervision of roads and bridges. Even in the case of township organiza- tion, however, the county bears the expense of costly bridges. At the annual meeting the citi- zens tax themselves for all the necessary pur- poses of self-government, and elect their officers,1 SUPER- the most important of whom is the supervi-
VISOR. sor. The clerk, justice of the peace and su- pervisor constitute the town board, which meets three times each year to examine the accounts of the TOWN town. The supervisors of all towns com-
BOARD. pose the county board, so called whether made up of commissioners or of supervisors. The county board meets semi-annually, two-thirds of the number constituting a quorum. The repre- sentation of the towns in the county board is a revival of a right which the tunscipe, or township of Anglo-Saxon times, had in the shire.
SUGGESTIVE TOPICS AND QUESTIONS.
1. Derivations and meanings: Shire, precinct, probate, town.
2. Is township organization successful? What points of disadvantage?
1 Town clerk, town treasurer, three judges and two clerks of elec tion, assessor, one overseer of highways for each road district, with an- nual terms. Two justices of peace and two constables, with terms of two years. In cities and villages, one additional supervisor for every 4,000 inhabitants.
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Civil Government of Nebraska.
V .- THE STATE.
The citizen of the school district is not only a member of the precinct and county, or of the township and county, as the case may be, but he also belongs to the greater corporation called the State of Nebraska. The number of dis-
PLACE
OF A CITI- tricts1 to which he belongs, one within the ZEN. other, is confusing. Nevertheless it is his duty to know what his place is within the Com- monwealth and the Nation. According to the democratic theory, in which American es- THEORY
OF DEM- pecially believe, the rights which kings OCRACY. and emperors have, belong to the people
themselves. In a little democracy where the people all meet to discuss their affairs, there is no need of any representatives. But here it is manifestly impossible to get along without them. Although the powers of government belong to the voters, they may be delegated to a fewer
1(1) Road Districts.
(2) School District.
(3) Town.
(4) Commissioner District.
(5) County.
(6) Representative District.
(7) Senatorial District.
(8) Judicial District.
(9) United States Land District.
(10) Congressional District.
(11) United States Judicial District.
(12) Circuit of U. S. Judicial System.
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The State.
number to exercise. This explains why voters
DELE- do not make laws, while they pos-
GATION
OF POW-
ERS. sess the power. The first step in build- ing a state is to adopt a written statement of principles and form of government. Not only ADOP- is such a document drawn up by men TION OF elected for this particular purpose, but A CON-
STITU- when it is completed the people them- TION. selves adopt or reject it. Sometimes a state repeats this process several times before it is satisfied. Such a writing not only out- lines the system, showing what officers there shall be and of how many members the legisla- ture shall be composed, but it also prescribes minutely how each part shall be organized, and how each officer shall perform his duty, and reg- ulates very carefully the manner of making laws. With this to be followed, the people may safely intrust the public interest to chosen men, only providing penalties for a betrayal of the trust.
It may be well to notice a very interesting fact before beginning a study of the constitution of Nebraska. The earliest written constitutions
STATU- contained only the most general state- TORY They did not go be-
LAW IN ment of principles.1
CONSTI-
TU- yond the limits of what is termed "consti- TIONS. tutional." But gradually there crept into them more and more of matters formerly left to legislatures. This means that the people wish to
1 On written constitutions, see John Fiske, Civ. Govt., 197-196. 7
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Civil Government of Nebraska.
put many important subjects of legislation beyond the reach of the legislature. Constitutions, containing the supreme law in a state, have now come to be very long, some of them covering scores of pages in the statute books.
I .- CONSTITUTIONAL STUDIES: THE FRAME OF GOVERNMENT.
[In Appendix I., at the end of this book, the constitution of Nebraska is to be found. It is placed there to use. The following topics are intended to aid the student in studying its provisions. The language of that instrument is plain, and a student will seldom fail to understand it, as far as his vocabulary goes. Certainly there are words to study, but that is just what every scholar does all his life. Webster's International Dictionary, or some other complete work of the kind, should be within reach. Notes are added, explain- ing some of the more difficult points. No attempt has been made to repeat what there is in the constitution. The judg- inentof the teacher should decide the amount to be discussed at a lesson, for not only are the topics of different impor- tance, but the recitation period varies in different schools.]
A .- PERSONAL RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY THE CON- STITUTION. 1 Art. I.
1. Inherent Rights. Art. I., SS 1, 26.
2. Object of Government. § 1.
3. Slavery. $ 2.
4. Freedom of Conscience. $ 4.
5. Freedom of Speech and of the Press. § 5.
6. Trials by Jury. SS 6, 10-13.
7. Search and Seizure. $ 7.
1 The idea of putting a Bill of Rights into a constitution has de- scended to newer states from the original thirteen. It is largely a statement of the rights denied to the colonists by Great Britain.
99
The State.
8. Habeas Corpus.1 § 8.
9. Bail, Fines, and punishments. § 9.
10. Treason. § 14.
11. Penalties: Corruption of Blood; Forfeit- ure; Transportation.' § 15.
12. Relation of Military and Civil power. SS 17, 18.
13. Right to Assemble. § 19.
14. Right of Petition. § 19.
15. Penalty for Debt. § 20.
16. Right of Property.3 SS 21, 25, 3.
17. Right to Vote: Franchise. § 22.
18. Right of Appeal, Error,4 etc. § 24.
B .- DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS. Art. II.
C .- LEGISLATURE. Art. III.
1. Number of Houses. § 1.
] A writ is in the form of a letter stamped with an official seal. It is addressed by a court to a person, commanding something to be done or not to be done. Habeas Corpus means "you may have the body." The writ of this name is directed to an officer in whose charge a person is, bringing the prisoner before a certain court, in order to test the legal- ity of his imprisonment.
2 These three are old English penalties. Formerly, in case of high crimes, not only was the offender punished, but his descendents also. The taint that once attached to an offender for the commission of a fel- ony in England, deprived him and his descendents of the right to inherit and transmit property. This taint is called corruption of blood. A forieiture was the penalty by which the state deprived one of his prop- erty. Transportation suggests the Russian exile system, by which po- litical prisoners are banished far Into the interior of Siberia. Such a penalty is entirely foreign to the spirit of American institutions.
3 The right of the government to appropriate the property of a cit- izen for public use is called the right of Eminent Domain.
4 Section 23, Article 1., secures a right of some importance. The word error refers to mistakes in judicial proceedings, that would take away some right from the person being tried. A writ of error is- sues from a court of review to a lower court, commanding a case to be brought before the court of review. The writ of error is a personal right guaranteed by the constitution, like other personal rights.
100
Civil Government of Nebraska.
2. Census and Apportionment. § 2.
3. Membership and Organization of each House :-
Number of members. § 3. See p. 64.
Term. § 4.
Pay. SS 4, 16.
Qualifications. SS 5-6, 13.
Commencement of session. § 7.
Quorum.
$ 7.
Rules of each house. § 7.
Officers. § 7.
Keeping a journal. § 8.
Adjournment.
§ 8; Art. V., § 9.
Privileges.
§§ 12, 23.
Regular and extra sessions. § 3; Art. V., § 8.
4. Law-Making :--
Origin of bills. $ 9.
Enacting clause. § 10.
Separate readings. § 11.
5. Committee of the whole1 :-
Subject matter of a bill. § 11.
Signing of bills by officers. § 11.
Veto. Art. V., § 15. -
Voting. $ 8.
1 Committee of the whole: A name given to the whole senate, or house of representatives, acting as a committee. By this means the members secure more freedom in discussion, not being subject to the same rules as under the moreformal organization, When a house "goes into committee of the whole," the presiding officer names a chairman. Upon arising the committee can only recommend, like any other com- mittee; but because all members took part, a house usually adopts the report.
101
The State.
6. Powers of the Legislature and of each House. §§ 7, 9, 14; Art. V., § 4.
7. Prohibitions upon Legislation. §§ 15, 18, 21; Art. I., 16.1
8. Appropriation Bills. §§ 19, 22.
9. When are Laws in Force ? § 24.
10. Publication of Laws. § 24.
D .- EXECUTIVE. Art. V.
1. Term. § 1.
2. Qualifications. SS 2, 3, 25.
3. Election returns. § 4.
4. Governor :-- Powers and duties. SS 6-15, 20; Art. VI., § 21.
Succession to office in case of vacancy. SS 16, 18.
5. Lieutenant Governor. §§ 16, 17.
6. Board of Public Lands and Buildings. § 19.
7. Reports and Accounts of Minor Officers. SS 21, 22.
8. Seal of the State: In whose keeping? § 23.
9. Salaries. § 24.
E .- JUDICIARY. Art. VI.
1. Supreme Court :- Number, term, qualification, etc., of judges. §§ 2-7, 13, 14. .
Reporter, state librarian. § 8.
Jurisdiction.2 § 2.
1 An ex-post-facto law is one made to apply to cases arising before its enactment.
2 Original jurisdiction in a case is the power to hear and determine it from the beginning.
102
Civil Government of Nebraska.
2. District Court :-
Districts. §§ 10, 11.
Number, term, etc., of judges. §§ 11, 14.
Jurisdiction : what cases can it try ? § 9.1
3. County Court :-
Term, etc., of judge. § 15.
Nature and jurisdiction of the court; special jurisdiction. § 16. See above, p. 93.
4. Justice of the Peace, and Police Magis- trates. § 18.
5. Appeals. § 17.
6. General Provisions.2 SS 17, 19, 22, 23.
As the State grows in wealth and numbers, changes in the laws are required. Not only do demands for legislation arise from this cause and from special circumstances in the State, but a LEGIS- spirit of improvement revises old ideas
LATION. and calls for new and better things. Such a change was made by the Australian ballot law enacted in 1891, a reform measure adopted largely throughout the United States. Between real ne- cessity for legislation and schemes of members who have axes to grind, the time of the legisla- ture is fully occupied. It is fair to say that the work is seriously done, on the whole. Yet there
1 Chancery, from English Chancellor, a judicial officer. Chancery means the same as equity. Cf. Consol. Statutes, 1891, § 4538.
2 The Board of Transportation constitutes a sort of court. It is composed of attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of public lands and buildings, assisted by three secre- taries. Consol. Statutes, 1891, §§ 597 ff.
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The State.
are several points in which the work might be criticised. A common feature of politics in the
LOBBY- legislature is lobbying. Bills rarely pass
ING AND LOG- both houses of the legislature on their
KOLL-
ING. merits alone, but are engineered through by the skill of some interested person or persons. Log-rolling also largely prevails, a term applied to trading votes, where A agrees to vote for a bill in which B is interested, if B will support a measure for which A is working.
The growth of the importance of committees in law-making is more noticeable, perhaps, in Con- WORK gress than in the state legislatures, yet BY COM- MIT- it is coming to be a great feature of TEES. them also.
Students have learned from the constitution1 that a census of the inhabitants may be made every ten years, beginning with 1885, and that after these enumerations, as well as after each Federal census, the members of the legis- APPOR- lature may be apportioned among the MENTS.
TION-
counties. The thirty-three senators and one hundred representatives are elected from these districts. Their arrangement is subject to frequent change and need not be dealt with in detail. It is a general fact of much interest, that with these and with the congressional dis- GERRY. tricts, most of the gerrymandering oc- MAN- This kind of fraud consists in DERING. curs."
a careful arrangement of districts, in such a
) Art. III. § 2.
2 Fiske, Civ. Gov., 216.
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Civil Government of Nebraska.
way as to give the dominant political party the advantage. Instead of districts of uniform shape, form is not considered at all. By a republican legislature, a democratic precinct, city, or county is frequently placed in a district in such a way that its majority is counterbalanced by other votes. Formerly this device was not much opposed, either party practicing it when opportu- nity offered. Lately, however, people are discuss- ing the subject and apportionments are care- fully watched.
The governor is not to the state what the presi- dent is to the United States. The latter is really THE EX - the head of his department. Secretary of ECUTIVE. state, secretary of treasury, etc., are sub- ordinates to him. Not so with the governor. In- stead of the head, he is merely a portion of the executive department. His co-workers POSI-
TION are elected along with him, and owe him OF THE
GOV- nothing, except as the law prescribes. ERNOR. Nevertheless the governor represents the State in its dealings with other states. Much of the executive work is now performed by bodies that are really permanent committees. The board of public lands and buildings1 is as important as any of these bodies, having, in fact, general su- STATE pervision and control of all the public BOARDS lands and buildings in the State, except those devoted to educational purposes. Hardly less important, is the state board of equalization,
1 Constitution, Art. V., § 19.
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