towns; but the township government extends over the village, and its inhabitants take part in town affairs the same as if the village did not exist. Where there is a village government within a town, each division has its powers; and the village and town are parts of a county, whose government has dominion over both.

In addition to these complex local arrangements, school districts often include parts of two or more towns, and sometimes parts of two or more counties. A person who wishes to take an intelligent part in public affairs, and to perform the highest duties of a citizen, will find it necessary to become acquainted with the organization of these elements of municipal government. They often constitute wheels within wheels, all deriving their powers from the great source of authority,—the state.

Villages.

The village is an important municipal subdivision of the state. Village governments and city governments are quite similar. A village charter can easily be made a city charter, often by simply changing the names of certain officers. A village, like a city, possesses powers of local government, varying according to circumstances. Thus, a village has a chief executive officer, usually called a president. It also has local administrative officers, and a legislative body with substantially the powers conferred on similar bodies in cities. Quite often, especially in some states, there is very little difference between a city government and a village government; the larger villages sometimes have a greater population than the smaller cities, and their interests are equally as important. So far as administration is concerned, the difference is often more in name than in fact.

School Districts.

For purposes of education the state is usually divided into a number of small districts, conveniently arranged, with a school or schools in each, maintained at public expense, for the instruction of the children residing in the district. These school districts have local officers, who in most cases possess certain powers of government, including the power to employ teachers, raise taxes and maintain the school; and the people, either directly or acting through boards or other officers, control the purpose and amount of taxation in extraordinary cases, leaving to the local officers the power to maintain the schools in the ordinary way.

Thus, the American schools are public institutions maintained by the people in small districts. They not only receive support from local taxation, but are also aided by the state; and, in some parts of the country, grants of public land have been made for educational purposes, which have been the means of establishing a fund available for the maintenance of public schools, and which has relieved the people from burdensome taxation for these purposes.

SUFFRAGE.

The right to vote is the fundamental element in popular government; by the exercise of it a citizen may compel consideration of his opinions; without it, he cannot express his views in the most effectual manner. The "consent of the governed" is manifested through the ballot box. Members of society who can vote, and those only, possess real powers of government.

Suffrage is not universal. The people who organize popular government have, or at least exercise, the power

to determine who shall vote; and they have sought to confer the right on those who are deemed to be most competent to exercise it intelligently. It should not be forgotten that the elective franchise is not a right, but a privilege. The persons in control of a government at its organization determine the quality of the elective franchise, and prescribe the persons or classes of persons who may use it. From our earliest history, the right of suffrage has been limited.

In the colonial days, when the right to choose one branch of the legislature was conferred on the colonies, persons who might vote for representatives in the legislature were particularly described and their qualifications fixed. Usually they must have been freeholders, or at least tenants of real property. In some instances, voters must have been church members; but little by little the scope of the right of suffrage was enlarged, property qualifications were abrogated, and manhood suffrage was generally established. In some states the right has also been conferred on women for all purposes, and in other states the right has been conferred on women as to certain propositions relating to taxation, but not for the election of officers. In some states an alien may vote upon making a declaration of his intention to become a citizen, but in most states a foreigner cannot vote until he has been naturalized and has become a citizen in all respects.

In general, the elective franchise is a matter of state regulation. The constitutions and laws of the various states should be consulted for regulations relating to suffrage.

In this connection the 15th Amendment to the Federal Constitution should be noted, which provides that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state,

on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." (See post, 170.)

For the duty to exercise the right of suffrage, see post, 34.

CITIZENSHIP.

It is presumed that a person who leaves his home in another country, and comes to the United States with a view of permanently residing here, not only hopes to improve his condition and prospects, but intends to become a citizen and assume and perform all the duties of citizenship which are imposed by the laws of the country. The process of becoming a citizen is called naturalization. This process is given in detail in the naturalization law of 1906, which appears in another part of this book. (See post, 177.) It need only be said here that at the time of his admission to citizenship a person must have been a resident of the United States continuously for five years, and for one year a resident of the state, territory, or district where the application is made. He must also show by the affidavits of two witnesses that he is a person of good moral character, and that "he is in every way qualified, in their opinion, to be admitted as a citizen of the United States."

Before the national Constitution was adopted, each state had the power to regulate naturalization; and the state laws of those earlier years show frequent instances of the admission of foreigners to citizenship, usually by name, and on compliance with certain requirements specified in the statute, among which was an oath of allegiance to the state. The person thus admitted to citizenship became a member of the state, was subject to its laws, and owed to it his allegiance. It was provided by the Articles

of Confederation that the "free inhabitants" of each state, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, should be entitled to "all the privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states," with the right of “ingress and regress," and the privilege of trade and comThis gave state citizenship a national character for general purposes, but there was no national citizenship.

merce.

All the citizens of all the states were deemed to have taken part in making the national Constitution, and the preamble to that instrument recites that "we, the people of the United States," for the purposes specified, “do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The original Constitution did not define the term "citizen," but the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, declares that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." This includes the two classes of citizens recognized in every nation, namely, citizens by birth and citizens by naturalization, and also recognized national citizenship and state citizenship.

The Constitution gives to Congress the exclusive power to enact naturalization laws. Acting on this authority, the Congress, early in our history, passed laws regulating the admission of foreigners to citizenship by the process of naturalization; and these laws have, with modifications, continued in force to the present time.

The latest naturalization act was passed on the 29th of June, 1906, and with a few exceptions took effect at the expiration of ninety days after its passage. It may be found in full in another part of this book. (See post, 177.) It seeks to persuade foreigners to take a more intelligent interest in the subject of citizenship by imposing two new requirements; namely, that an applicant must