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of the American legislator, to go straightway to the outermost verge of the constitutional limit, has been stimulated by the fact that the limit has been set; and the Englishman's tendency, not to pass beyond the long respected limits, has been caused by the consciousness that he has the power to do mischief, and may do it if he is not careful. The American beats against the constitutional barrier, the Englishman carefully confines himself within it; the one is impatient of the restraints that confine him, the other sets restraints upon himself.

We come thus to a leading principle in American government. It rests as much as possible upon the laws, and as little as possible upon men. We are apt to think that that principle is of fundamental soundness and safety. If the laws are wise and right, it makes very little difference to the people 7 by whom they are administered, so long as it is honestly and efficiently done. If we had a Gladstone or a Bismarck at the head of our government, we should be no better off than we are with President Cleveland, or Harrison, or any other fair man of good intelligence. The Constitution and laws having been made, we ask that they shall be carefully observed. Thus the Constitution and the laws are our real rulers; the men who for the time being are at the head of the government are the servants of the laws, and are simply called upon to see that they are properly respected and administered. And So, it may well be that it is even better to have as rulers honest men of moderate ability, who will strive diligently to know their duty and to do it, than to have men of higher capacity, whose consciousness of their great abilities might tempt them, in the interest of their ambition, to leave the old and safe ways, and experiment in new and dangerous ones.

Some reference to the respective functions of the national and state governments may be useful before we enter upon the history of the Constitution and its practical application to the government of the nation and states.

The relations which the United States holds to the states. are peculiar. The United States can hardly be said to have physical existence. It is rather a power than a body power like gravitation, compelling stability and order, and

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most felt when most resisted. It holds a small township on the Potomac, where are situated its principal public buildings and the headquarters of its chief officers. The imperial domain of the continent is parcelled among the states, existing or to exist. The United States, it is true, owns land in the territories, and in some of the states, but this it purposes to sell, and then the states will govern those who occupy it. It cannot buy land in any state upon which to erect a fort or public building, without obtaining the "consent of the legislature of the state." In short, it is a great corporation, of which every person within the states and territories is a member. It is itself invisible, but its power and influence are always and everywhere present. We confide in its presence and power, though we have no need or desire to invoke or witness them. Silent, invisible, and motionless, until needed; then its force, obedient to the written law, regulates, controls, and protects.

The government which most affects us is, however, committed to the state. Our lives, liberty, character, and property are mainly under the protection of the state laws. The state regulates, so far as governmental regulation is necessary, our local and domestic affairs. If one is injured in his person, property, or character, he looks to the state government for redress. He buys and sells; is married or divorced; establishes schools, churches, manufactories, and railroads; makes his will; inherits property; organizes societies and corporations, under the state laws. Shall property descend to the oldest son, or to all the children equally? Shall any limitations be placed upon the power to make a will, upon marriage, upon the sale of liquor, upon the right to vote, upon the hours of labor, upon the age at which children shall be hired to perform it, or upon carrying on dangerous or unhealthful occupations? These are questions committed to the state; and, in these matters, recourse must be had to the state courts for the enforcement of rights, or the prevention of abuses, whenever any contention arises between citizens of the same state. These instances illustrate, but do not exhaust, the subjects committed to state regulation. In short, the state has every governmental power except those which

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fall within three exceptions, namely: First, the powers committed to the United States as enumerated in the United States Constitution. Second, the powers denied by that Constitution to the state. Third, the powers denied by the state constitution itself to its own government.

These exceptions are involved in and will be unfolded in the discussion which will follow.

To illustrate the powers which are delegated to the United States and are not exercised by the states: You go to the postoffice, and mail or receive a letter, and you are dealing with the United States. For a two-cent stamp your letter can be carried to California, or any other state; for a five-cent stamp to any country in Europe. It is much better that one government should regulate this business than many. New York might have one rate of postage, Pennsylvania another, and every state its own system of carriage, and it would be difficult to tell how much it would cost, or how long it would take to get your letter to California. The United States can do it so much better for every state, and can so much better make the necessary regulations with foreign countries, that we concede at once that in this respect the United States is a useful creation. The United States regulates commerce with foreign nations and among the several states. This makes the navigation laws uniform at every port, and the rate of duties uniform. It prevents one state from making a discriminating tax against the products of another state. Practically, it results in free trade between the states. The United States makes the treaties with foreign powers. It coins money and establishes its value, so that money is of equal value in every state. It maintains the army and navy, declares war and establishes peace, and guarantees to every state a republican form of government. It is plain that these great powers are better intrusted to one government than to many, simply as a matter of convenience. But it is also necessary that these powers shall be exercised by a government that has the strength to enforce them; and in that view the United States is many times more powerful than the average single state. You are citizens of the state in which you reside, but you are also citizens of the United States. When you travel abroad

your citizenship of your state might not prove adequate to your protection; but citizenship of the United States implies that you may, if necessity properly requires it, invoke the protection of the united strength of all the states. And the fact that this is so will make it unnecessary for you to invoke it. Might can compel right, but the knowledge that the might exists is usually the only compulsion necessary. Moreover, it costs less to provide one strong army for all, than so many separate armies.

The United States has not had committed to it a great many powers. I have already enumerated the most important of them. The number is limited, for none were given to it which were not thought to be of general necessity, convenience, and usefulness. But, generally speaking, the pow ers committed to it are exclusive and supreme. In order to execute them efficiently, great detail of operations has been found to be useful. From the multitude of details, as we read about them in the newspapers, we are led to think that the nation overshadows the states. But in fact this is not so. If we pay careful attention, we shall see that it is the habit of the daily press to go largely into the small details of the action of the President and of the great officers of state at Washington. The people are interested in these trifles, perhaps more than in great affairs. The fact is not unworthy the notice of the practical statesman. He ought to know to what extent the people are interested in gossip and trifles. Nor should he despise the smaller matters, which give pleasure and satisfaction and do no injury. But the United States is not the real governor or ruler of the people. The affairs committed by the Constitution to its control are too few for that. Its direct governing powers are limited to the measures necessary to give it complete control of its own departments and agencies. Thus, if one defrauds the revenue, counterfeits the coin, robs the mail, violates the rights conferred, or regulations imposed, by the laws of the United States, or resists its authority, he will feel the force of the government of the United States. Indirectly, through the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, in the cases enumerated in the Constitution, the United States influences

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the action of the state governments, and prevents their interference in the national affairs, and sometimes remedies the injustice done by the state to its citizens. But this influence over the government of a state is not any suspension of that government. Its governmental functions may be corrected, without being in the least impaired. The greater part of the government, certainly that which most usually and nearly affects us, is exercised by the states. Our interests centre in domestic and local affairs. We are interested in the concerns of our neighborhood, town, county, and state. Aside from the post-office officials, we rarely come in contact with a fed eral officer, except now and then a military or naval officer on leave of absence. If we take an interest in moral, social, educational, or humanitarian reforms, the nation cannot lawfully help us; our field is the state or under its favor.

With the great growth of the nation, the interests committed to its care and control have grown to be great. Our foreign relations are extended to every civilized nation; our commerce and commercial relations are world-wide; our revenue system brings to the treasury nearly one million dollars. a day; our postal system reaches every hamlet in the United States, and unites with other systems that extend around the globe. Should foreign or domestic war require it, our little army would enlarge to mighty hosts, our navy expand with the magic that skill and energy and money would evoke. But in times of peace, all these national agencies move on in the grooves that time and natural growth and routine have formed. The treasury, postal, and foreign departments are great organisms. The officers in charge preside over the operations of these organisms. They are intelligent men, if in their short terms of office they come to a full knowledge of the systems, which have been established pursuant to law, and developed and perfected under the direction of their predecessors.

To a great extent, also, the executive department is managed in conformity with long established system. The President must do what the usages of his office require. The great executive offices have grown to be greater than any officer in them. If these offices are at first established upon the proper