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duly appointed according to law. The voter deposits his ticket, or ballot, in the ballot-box. The object of the ballot system is to secure secrecy in the matter of voting, preventing any one from knowing for whom the voter casts his ballot, unless he himself chooses to tell.

149. The California Ballot Law.-It is the object of the law to have elections pure and fair. But many corrupt practices have crept in; intimidation, bribery, and fraud are too common. The ordinary ballot system has not been found to insure perfect secrecy and independence in voting. As an attempt to correct some of these abuses, California, as also some other States, has adopted a system which has been in use in the Australian colonies. The ballots, according to this system, are printed and distributed at public expense, and each ballot contains the names of all the candidates of all the parties. Opposite the name of each candidate is the name of his party-as "Republican," "Democratic," "Prohibition "— and then a vacant square. All the ballots are in charge of the election officers, and are not given out except one at a time to actual voters. Upon receiving a ballot, the voter goes into an inclosed space in the balloting room, marks crosses in the squares opposite the names he wishes to vote for, and then folds his ballot and returns it to the election inspector, who drops it into the ballotbox. If the voter wishes to vote for every candidate on any one of the party tickets, that is, does not wish. to "scratch" his ticket, he simply marks a cross in a vacant square opposite the name of the party ticket for which he wishes to vote, and omits it after the names of the candidates. He is under the supervision of the election officers all the time, and none but these officers and actual voters in the process of preparing their ballots are allowed within the balloting room.

150. The Canvass.-After the polls are closed, the ballots are counted, or canvassed, by the election officers. If the number of ballots in the box agrees with the number of persons marked on the register as having voted, it is presumed that no mistake has been made, and that the election has been fair. If, however, there are more ballots than names canceled, in some States the election is declared void and must be held over again; in other States a number of ballots equivalent to the excess is taken out and destroyed. If the election is a local one, or in a school district or town, the election officers count the votes, and may then and there announce the result, or they may be required to make a return to the town trustees, for instance, who canvass the returns and declare the result. If it is a county election, the inspectors of each precinct send a written return to the county canvassers, who, from the returns of all the precincts of the county, determine and declare the election of the officers of the county. If it is a State election, the several county boards of canvassers send their returns to the State board, who determine and announce the result.

151. Number of Votes Necessary for Election.— The general rule governing elections in the United States is that the person receiving a plurality of the votes cast is elected. This means that the person who has received a greater number than any other person shall be considered elected. Where there are but two candidates, a plurality is necessarily a majority. Where there are more than two candidates, a plurality may be a majority of all votes cast, or it may be a minority.

152. Contested Elections.-Where the results of an election are disputed, means of settling the dispute are provided by law. In the case of an election to a legislative office, the final decision as to who is elected rests with

the legislative body itself. In other cases, a candidate who has not been returned by the canvassing board, but thinks he has received a plurality of votes, brings suit in a court of law for a recount of votes. The court examines into the case, and decides according to the evidence.

CHAPTER XV.

TAXATION.

153. Reasons for Imposing Taxes.-A government in order to exist and carry out the purposes of its establishment must have an income. This income is obtained by taxes. A tax is a portion of a man's property or savings taken under form of law for the support of the government. In return, the government affords protection to the man's person and property.

154. Purposes of Taxation.-The purposes for which taxes may be levied must be public in their nature, and not for the private benefit of individuals. It may not always be possible to tell whether a tax is used for a public purpose, but the people should always be on the alert to see that it is so employed.

155. Extent of the Power of Taxation.-The power of taxation by the government is unlimited. Granted the right to tax any given object, the tax may be made so great as to cause the destruction of the object. Thus, at the beginning of the Civil War, the currency issued by State banks was purposely taxed so high by

*In England the determination as to who is elected to a legislative office, formerly resting with the legislative body, is now given to the courts. Such questions being judicial in their nature, ought, it would seem, to come before a court of law, and not be decided by a large legislative body, where political, and not legal, reasons too often prevail.

together with the Controller. The members of this board. hold office for four years. They visit as a board, or by the individual members thereof, each county in the State whenever deemed necessary, and there hear and decide complaints that may be brought before them by property owners as to unjust or unequal assessment of their property. They hold regular monthly meetings at the State capital, and from the first Monday in August to the first Monday in September are required to sit in daily session. Their duty at this meeting is to equalize the valuation of the taxable property of the several counties of the State. 160. Federal Taxation.-This subject has been sufficiently discussed in Part III.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE THREE DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT.

161. Division of the Functions of Government.The powers or functions of government may be divided into three great classes: (1) The making of laws, or the legislative class; (2) the faithful carrying out of the laws, or the executive class; (3) the application of laws in the settlement of disputes, or the judicial class. When all these classes of powers are concentrated in the hands of one person or body of persons, an arbitrary and tyrannical exercise of them is much easier than when they are distributed among different bodies of persons. therefore, a maxim in political science to intrust each of these classes of powers to a separate and independent department of government. Each department acts as a check upon the other departments, and the liberties of the people are thus much better guarded.

It is,

162. The Legislative Department.-Accordingly, both the Federal and State Constitutions recognize this principle, and provide for the separation of government into three departments-the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Each of these departments acts under and in accordance with the Constitution by which it is created. The function of the legislative branch is to discuss questions of public policy, and to make such regulations and laws as will tend to promote the public welfare. In other words, it is the law-making body. The law-making body of the Union is Congress, and the law-making body of each of the States is its State Legislature. Congress is established by the Constitution of the United States, and passes laws in accordance with the powers granted to it by that document. The State Legislatures are established by the Constitutions of their respective States, and they may pass laws on all subjects, (1) where they are not forbidden by the Federal Constitution; (2) where they are not forbidden by the State Constitution; and (3) where such action would not be inconsistent with the powers granted by the Federal Constitution to Congress.

163. Division of the Legislature. In order to insure care and reflection in the making of laws, it is customary to divide the legislative department into two branches, or houses. It is usual to give these two houses something of a different basis and character. And so, usually, one of the two houses is more numerous than the other. The larger house, too, is elected for a shorter term than the smaller. Both Congress and the State Legislatures are thus divided. In Congress, there is the Senate, composed of two members from each State, elected by the State Legislatures and holding office for six years; and there is the House of Representatives, composed of

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