has not the right to vote. Although the Legislature of Hawaii is elected by the people, yet any bill passed by the Legislature may be vetoed by the Governor, who is not elected by the people; and to overrule his veto a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature is necessary. In respect to laws that have already been enacted Congress has complete power; it can at any time do away with any law that the Legislature has passed. In this way the National Government keeps a firm hand upon this Territory.

Alaska. The vast region of Alaska came to us in 1867 by purchase from Russia. It is governed by Congress somewhat in the way that Hawaii is. It has a Governor, a secretary, and judges who are all appointed by the President. It has a Legislature, but the powers of this body are limited in certain respects by Congress. It has a delegate in the House of Representatives.

Our Island Possessions.-Through the war with Spain in 1898 the United States gained possession of Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands. The duty of governing these islands rests upon Congress. For Porto Rico Congress has provided a Governor, a secretary, an attorney-general, a treasurer, an auditor, a commissioner of the interior, and a commissioner of education, all to be appointed by the President and all to hold their office for a term of four years. This executive department, it will be noticed, resembles very closely the executive department of a State government. The Legislature of Porto Rico has two branches. The lower branch is elected by the people, but

the upper branch consists not of elected representatives, but of eleven appointed members, including the six executive officers below the Governor and five other persons also appointed by the President. The principal judges of the island are appointed by the President. Porto Rico has no delegate in Congress, but it sends to Washington a commissioner who by the grace of the House of Representatives is permitted to speak in that body. For all practical purposes, therefore, the commissioner in reality has as much power as a delegate from a Territory.

For the government of the Philippine Islands Congress has created an executive department consisting of a Governor-General, a secretary of the interior, a secretary of commerce and police, a secretary of finance and justice, and a secretary of public instruction, all to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Legislature of the islands is almost precisely like that provided for Porto Rico: the lower house is elected by the people and the upper house consists of the executive officers named above and four members appointed by the President. The Philippine Islands send two commissioners to Washington.

Although Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands belong to the United States, the people of those islands are not citizens of the United States and do not enjoy all the rights and privileges of American citizenship. It is the policy of the National Government, however, to treat these people fairly, and as a matter of fact they enjoy most of the civil rights that Americans enjoy.

The District of Columbia.-Under the Articles of Confederation Congress had no fixed home and at times it was treated badly in the places in which it held its sessions. It will be remembered that in Philadelphia Congress was once attacked by a crowd of drunken soldiers. The framers of the Constitution provided that the National Government should have a district (not exceeding ten miles square) for its permanent home and that in this district Congress should have complete control. In 1790 a tract of land on the Potomac River was chosen as the site for the new seat of government and was named the District of Columbia.

Congress has governed the District of Columbia now in one way, now in another. At present the District is governed by a Board of Commissioners appointed by the President. These Commissioners act as an executive body to do the will of Congress, which makes the laws of the District. Judges of the courts of the District are appointed by the President. Since the District of Columbia is practically the city of Washington the District government is a city government with the usual departments of service that must be rendered by a city (p. 113).

In the management of the affairs of their city the people of Washington have no responsibility whatever and no power whatever. The District of Columbia has no delegate in Congress, or commissioner, or representative of any kind. Of all the dependencies of the United States the District is the only one in which there is no provision whatever for the expression of the popular will. The in

habitants, however, are of course citizens of the United States.

QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. Prepare a table showing the population and area of each of the Territories and dependencies and give the total.

2. Of our Territories and dependencies name those that are likely to become States.

3. If you lived in the city of Washington do you think you would like the way it is governed?

4. Give an account of the government of Guam; of Samoa.

5. Write a composition on the city of Washington, describing its location, its streets, its buildings, and its attractions.

XXXVI. THE NATIONAL COURTS

"The Supreme Court is the living voice of the Constitution, that is, of the will of the people expressed in the fundamental law they have enacted. It is the conscience of the people who have resolved to restrain themselves from hasty or unjust action by placing their representatives under the restriction of a permanent law."-James Bryce.

The Kind of Cases Tried in the National Courts.-The third article of the Constitution describes the powers and the nature of the judicial department of the National Government.

The courts of a State try those cases that arise under the laws and constitution of the State, while the courts of the National Government try those cases that arise under the Constitution of the United States, and the laws passed by Congress. A man charged with the crime of burglary would be tried in one of the courts of the State in which the crime was committed; for the laws against burglary are passed by the Legislatures of the States. A man charged with counterfeiting money would be tried in one of the national courts; for the laws against counterfeiting are passed by Congress. A person charged with breaking a street lamp would be tried in a State court, for his offense concerns a State; but a person charged with robbing a letter box attached to a lamp-post, would be tried in a court of the United States, for his offense concerns the National Government.

Again, the national courts may try those cases that arise