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a number of members from each State, varying according to the population of the States, elected by the people of the State and holding office for two years. In the State Legislature of California, there is a Senate, composed of forty members, elected by the people, one Senator from each of the forty senatorial districts into which the State is divided, and holding office for four years; and the Assembly, composed of eighty members, elected by the people, one Assemblyman from each of the eighty assembly districts into which the State is divided, and holding office for two years.

Now, every measure proposed in either of these two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress, or the Senate and Assembly in the State Legislature, after having passed the house in which it is first proposed, must pass the other house also. The purpose of this arrangement is to secure as thorough deliberation as possible on every measure that is considered by the legislative body before it shall become a law of the State or nation.

164. The Executive Department.-The legislative body does not execute the laws which it has made; it directs what is to be done, and the manner in which it is to be done, and then leaves the actual carrying out of its acts to the executive department. The discussing and framing of measures for the public welfare requiring deliberation and interchange of opinion, the legislative body is composed of a large number of members. The enforcing of the laws requiring promptness and energy, this executive duty is intrusted to a single officer, who is assisted, of course, by a vast number of subordinate officials. The national executive is the President; the State executive, the Governor; and the city executive, the Mayor.

165. The Judicial Department.-The majority of the laws made by the Legislature are for the purpose of defining and regulating the rights of individuals as between themselves, and the defining and punishing of offenses against the public peace and order. Authorities must, consequently, be provided, whose duty it shall be to decide questions of dispute that may arise between individuals as to what are their respective rights under the law, and to decide whether a person charged with a public offense has in fact committed the offense or has broken the law. These things involve an inquiry into the meaning of the law and the applying of the law to particular cases. These duties, of deciding controversies, administering justice, interpreting and applying the law, belong to the judicial department of the government. This judicial department consists of the courts of the State or of the nation, presided over by their respective judges.

166. Unconstitutional Legislation.-The Constitution of the State and the Constitution of the United States are the supreme law. Congress may pass laws only upon subjects over which it is given power by the Federal Constitution. The Legislature of the State is restrained by both the Federal and State Constitutions from making laws in certain cases. Therefore, in the discharge of the duties above mentioned, the courts may have to decide the question whether an act or law of Congress is within the powers given to Congress by the Federal Constitution, or whether an act or law of a State Legislature is inconsistent either with the State Constitution or the Federal Constitution, or with the grant of powers to Congress. If the court finds that an act of Congress was not authorized by the powers given to Congress in the Constitution, or that an act of the Legislature is inconsistent with the

provisions of either the Federal or the State Constitution, it must decide that the act was no law, or, as it is usually termed, was unconstitutional.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE NATURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

167. Local Self-Government.-It is one of the distinguishing marks of the American form of government, following in this the English example, that the preservation of health and order, the protection of life and property, the actual administration of the law of the State in nearly all that concerns the safety, peace, comfort, and happiness of the citizens, is left to local authorities elected by the people of the local community. In the people of the State as a whole resides the ultimate power and authority, limited only by the Constitution of the United States and by that greater power which resides in the people of the whole Union as a nation. But the people of all the States, in framing their Constitutions and establishing their governments, have everywhere, in accordance with the instinct and traditions of the English-American race, made provision for a system of local self-government. The people of each county, or township, or city, elect their own officials for the application of the law and the administration of the affairs of the community. The State officers have, in general, no supervision of these local officers, and the latter are not responsible to the former, but solely to the people of the district by whom they have been elected.

168. Local Divisions of the State.-The names of the local divisions of the State differ somewhat in different States of the Union, and the distribution of functions

among such divisions varies. All of the States, however, are divided into civil divisions, called counties, except Louisiana, where the parish takes the place of the county. The county may be considered the primary division in California. The counties, again, are subdivided into townships and school districts. Within the county, too, may be established, formerly by special charter granted by the Legislature, now under a general law, incorporated cities and towns. The county always exists with its corps of officers. The township and school district sometimes become absorbed in the town or city; sometimes, however, they continue in existence as separate divisions, with their own officers, even when a town may have grown up within them. And, of course, the township may include several towns within its borders. Sometimes, as in the case of San Francisco, the limits of the county and city coincide, and there is a consolidated government of city and county officials.

169. Duties of Local Government.-Having obtained this general view of the local divisions in a State, we will now see what are in general the duties of local government. These functions of local government are the administration of justice in all cases except those that come before the Supreme Court, the establishment of police and sanitary regulations, the licensing of trades, the support and management of schools, the assessment and collection of taxes, the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public buildings, such as court-houses, city halls, school-houses, hospitals, jails; the care of the poor; in short, they embrace everything coming under the control of government that tends to the protection and improvement of the citizens of the community. The distribution of these functions among county, township, town, or city governments is purely

a matter of convenience, and is regulated by general laws of the State Legislature.

170. Methods of Local Government.-The operation of local government is in accordance with the directions of the general laws of the State. Consequently, there is less call for a strict division of local officials into the three departments of legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislation needed for the county has already in large part been accomplished by the general laws of the State. The judicial officers administer these general laws, and are thus really a part of the judicial department of the State. The principle of local self-government, however, is carried out in their case by having the judges elected by the people of the local districts, and by having them administer justice between the residents of the local district. Most of the duties of local government are executive or administrative in their character, requiring the application of general laws to local circumstances. But there is also some field for local legislation. And the legislative bodies of the local divisions of the State, called boards of supervisors, councilmen or town trustees, boards of education or school trustees, have authority to pass any laws that may be necessary in the discharge of their duties, under the names of ordinances, by-laws, rules and regulations, which are not inconsistent with the general laws of the State.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE NATURE OF STATE GOVERNMENT.

171. Position of the States in the Federal Union. The Federal Constitution recognized the existence of the thirteen original States. It was by the people of

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