impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.

"2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports and exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of Congress.

"3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay."

The state constitutions limit the action of the legislatures by preventing interference with certain individual rights; by preventing a state from incurring debts beyond a certain amount; by prohibiting grants to institutions admitting only certain religious sects, etc. It is quite common to have provisions in regard to taxation, railroads, banking, education, and suffrage placed in the state constitutions and thus control the action of state legislatures in these matters. Most state constitutions provide against local and special laws.

State Privileges Guaranteed by the United States. Each state is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States: (1) protection in case of invasion by a foreign enemy,

(2) a republican form of government, (3) that the state shall not be divided except with its own consent.

Relations of the States to Each Other. The Constitution of the United States requires that full faith shall be given in each state to the public records and judicial proceedings of every other state. This does not mean that the law of one state is binding in another state, but that judicial decisions shall be accepted as facts in other

states.

A person charged with any crime, who shall escape into another state, may, on the demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime. The governor of the state in which the criminal is arrested is the sole judge as to whether the accused shall be returned, and too many cases are on record in which, on account of personal dislike, a governor has refused to honor a demand for the return of a person accused of crime.

"Citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States."1

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

I. Describe the duties of the governor of a state.

2. Name the other executive officers of the state, and explain the duties of each.

3. What are the duties of the chief state commissioners, or administrative boards?

4. What is the "indeterminate sentence"? Show its value. 5. Describe the state legislative department.

6. Show the progress of a bill from its introduction to its becoming a law.

1 Article IV., Sec. 2, U. S. Const.

7. Name two ways in which it is possible for a bill to become a law without the governor's signature.

8. What is the initiative? What is the referendum?

9. How do state and federal constitutions limit the powers of state legislatures?

10. What privileges are guaranteed the states by the United States?

QUESTIONS SUGGESTED BY THE TEXT

1. Should the governor have power to pardon criminals?

2. What is the term of the governor in your state? Is a four-year term better than a two-year term?

3. Find the names and duties of the administrative boards in your

state.

4. To what extent are the initiative and referendum in use in your state?

5. What are letters of marque? Why will the government of the United States probably never again authorize them?

CHAPTER VIII

THE STATE JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL TRIALS

State Courts. - In all the states there are at least three grades of courts.

I. Local courts.-Minor cases are tried in courts presided over by a justice of the peace or by a police magistrate. A first hearing is often given to more serious cases in these courts, and if there is enough evidence the defendants are sent to a higher court. Municipal and county courts have jurisdiction over more serious cases, and hear appeals from the lower courts.

2. Superior courts. These courts have jurisdiction over serious cases, and have districts which usually cover large areas. The judges are generally not confined to sessions in any one place, but travel over their districts. In addition to original jurisdiction in certain cases, appeals from lower courts come before them. In some cases these courts are known as circuit courts.

3. Supreme courts. Generally these courts have no original jurisdiction,1 and therefore try cases only on appeal from the decisions of lower courts. "In five states there are supremest courts above the 'supreme.' Thus, in New York a court of appeals reviews errors made in certain cases by the supreme court; in New Jersey there is a su1 In New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey the supreme courts have original as well as appellate jurisdiction.

1

preme court above the circuit, which is itself of high appellate jurisdiction, and a court of errors and appeals above the supreme; in Louisiana the order is reversed, and there is a supreme court above a court of appeals; in Illinois a supreme court above certain district appellate courts; and in Kentucky a court of appeals above a supreme court which is called 'superior' simply. In Texas there are two coördinate supreme courts; one, called the supreme, for the hearing of civil cases only, the other, called the court of appeals, for the hearing of criminal cases brought up from the county courts."1

In most matters the decrees of state courts are final, but in cases that deal with matters over which the Constitution of the United States gives the federal courts jurisdiction, there may be an appeal to the United States

courts.

The Selection of Judges. During the colonial period judges were appointed by the governor; their tenure of office was for life or during good behavior. After the Revolution judges were elected, as this plan was considered more democratic. At present in most of the states, judges are elected by the voters for a term of from ten to fifteen years; in a few states judges are appointed by the governor for life; and in a still smaller number they are elected by the legislature. Judges should be made independent of politics, and this can only be accomplished by giving them a long term of office. Salaries of judges are far below those received by the leading lawyers, but fortunately the office is held in such high esteem that it attracts the best talent.