Читать книгу Civil Government of Virginia - William Fayette Fox - Страница 12

1. All power is vested in and hence derived from the people; magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them.

2. Government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people.

3. No free government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

—Bill of Rights.

The BILL OF RIGHTS is the title of the first article, or chapter, of the Constitution of Virginia. It is so called because it is a declaration or statement of the RIGHTS of the people in regard to government. In English history the name BILL OF RIGHTS is given to a declaration of rights adopted by the two houses of Parliament in England in 1688, and soon afterwards passed into law.

VESTED IN means entrusted to or put in possession of. To vest is to invest or clothe with power or authority.

MAGISTRATES are public officers whose duty it is to administer the laws. The President is the chief magistrate of the nation. It is his duty to see that the laws of the United States are executed Or carried out. The governor is the chief magistrate of the State; the mayor is the chief magistrate of the city. Judges are magistrates who preside in the courts and administer the law as applying to the cases brought before them.

Trustees are persons who hold or have charge of the property of others in trust, and as guardians, for those to whom it belongs. Magistrates hold their offices as trustees for the people, and they are amenable, that is, answerable, to the people. If they do not perform the duties of their offices honestly, the people can call them to account and punish them.

A FREE GOVERNMENT is a government instituted, that is, established, by the consent of the people. The government of the United States is a free government, because it has been established by the people, and the people can change it when they please.

"Government ought to be established for the COMMON BENEFIT." This means that government ought to be for the benefit of all the people, poor as well as rich, and under a free government all the people have equal protection from the law.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES are principles or truths according to which, or upon which, systems, or laws, or institutions, are FOUNDED. The fundamental principles of free government are that all men are born equal, and that all men have equal rights to life and liberty.

RECURRENCE means A GOING BACK TO. We must frequently recur, or go back to, fundamental principles in order to preserve free government. We must also firmly adhere to, or practice justice, moderation, temperance, and virtue.

JUSTICE is the doing of what is right. MODERATION means the avoiding of severity or harshness in our conduct towards others. TEMPERANCE is the moderate or reasonable use or enjoyment of the pleasures of life. FRUGALITY is the practice of thrift and economy as opposed to extravagance. VIRTUE is the practice of the moral good taught by religion.

The constitution guarantees to the people the right to make and to change their own laws; the right of speedy trial by jury; protection in the enjoyment of their inherent rights; freedom of elections; freedom of speech; freedom of the press; religious freedom; equal civil and political rights and public privileges.

It prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments, and the taking of private property for public uses except by law and with just compensation.

A CONSTITUTION is a system or plan of government, or a written or printed statement of the principles and rules according to which a government is to be conducted. The constitution tells how the government is to be formed, what it has power to do, and what it must not do. The Constitution of Virginia GUARANTEES, that is, secures or makes sure to the people, the right to make or change the laws. A government under a constitution is called a CONSTITUTIONAL government.

TRIAL BY JURY is trial by a judge and certain citizens who are called the jury. The duty of the judge is to see that the trial is conducted according to law, and to pass sentence on the accused person if found guilty. The duty of the jury is to decide, after hearing the evidence, whether the accused person is guilty or not. This declaration of the jury is called a VERDICT, a word which means a TRUE SAYING.

INHERENT means inseparable from, or not to be taken away. INHERENT RIGHTS are rights that cannot justly be taken away from the people. The right to life and liberty is an inherent right of man which cannot be taken away by any constitution or government.

FREEDOM OF ELECTIONS means freedom to hold elections to choose the officers of government, and freedom for every citizen to vote for the candidate of his choice. FREEDOM OF SPEECH and FREEDOM OF THE PRESS mean liberty for all to speak or publish what they desire to say on any subject, being liable to punishment by law if they speak or publish anything injurious to the reputation of others. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM means liberty to belong to any religion, or to worship God in any way that one thinks proper.

CIVIL RIGHTS are the rights a man is entitled to as a member of the community, such as the right to trial by jury, the right of freedom of speech.

POLITICAL RIGHTS are the rights that belong to men as citizens, Such, as the right to vote, the right to be candidates for public office.

PUBLIC PRIVILEGES are benefits or advantages possessed by some and not by others, such as charters to corporations or licenses to carry on certain kinds of business. For example, a license to sell liquors is a public privilege. It is not for the public good that it should be given to everybody, but the Constitution guarantees that under necessary restrictions as to the number of such licenses granted, all citizens shall have equal rights to such privileges.

PRIVATE PROPERTY is property that belongs to private individuals. It may be taken for public use when necessary. If a government building has to be erected or a railroad made, the land required for the purpose may be taken from the owner, but a just price must be paid for it.

Who May Vote and Hold Office. Every male citizen of the United States, who is 21 years old, who has been a resident of the State two years, of the county, city, or town one year, and of the precinct in which he offers to vote thirty days next preceding any election, has been registered and has paid his state poll taxes, shall be entitled to vote; except idiots and lunatics, persons convicted after the adoption of the constitution of bribery in any election, embezzlement of public funds, treason, felony, or petit larceny, obtaining money or other property under false pretences, or who have been in any way concerned in a duel.

All persons entitled to vote shall be eligible to any office within the gift of the people, except as restricted by the constitution.

Excepting the requirements of residence in the voting precinct, payment of poll tax and registration, the qualifications of jurors are practically the same as those of voters.

A CITIZEN is a native of the United States or a foreigner who has been made a citizen. To be made a citizen, a person must, at least two years before admission, make a declaration before a judge that it is his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce allegiance to all foreign powers or princes. Having so declared his intention, and after residing five years in the United States, he must declare on oath before a judge that he renounces allegiance to all foreign powers, and that he will support the Constitution of the United States. He then receives a paper or document certifying that he is a citizen. The paper is called a NATURALIZATION paper, and the person who receives it is said to be NATURALIZED, because it entitles him to all the rights and privileges of a NATIVE or NATURAL-BORN citizen of the United States.

CONVICTED means tried in a public court for a crime and found guilty. BRIBERY in elections is buying or selling votes, or giving money or payment in any form to a voter for voting for any candidate. EMBEZZLEMENT is the crime a person commits who takes for his own use the money or property of others that has been entrusted to his care. TREASON is to make war against or try to overthrow or destroy the government of one's own country. FELONY is a crime that may be punished by death or imprisonment in state prison. PETIT LARCENY is the stealing of goods of small value.

Every voter is required to be registered. This is a most important proceeding, as it insures the purity of the ballot and the intelligent exercise of the right of franchise. Elections. Shall be by ballot; for State, county, corporation and district officers, shall be held the Tuesday after the first Monday in November; except for mayors and councils of cities and towns, which shall be the second Tuesday of June.

State executive officers elected at a general election shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices the first of February next thereafter; members of the House of Delegates and all county, corporation, and district officers on the first of January, and Senators on the second Wednesday in January next thereafter; and mayors and councils of cities and towns on the first of September next succeeding their election. State executive officers elected by the General Assembly enter upon their duties the first of March following their election.

They shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices until their successors shall have qualified.

The BALLOT is the printed list containing the names of all the candidates to be voted for at an election. The places where the people vote are called POLLS, and they are kept open for one day— from sunrise to sunset. At the polls there are officers called judges or clerks of election. When the voter goes to the poll on election day, one of the judges hands him a ballot. With the ballot he goes alone into a small compartment or BOOTH, where there is a desk with a pencil or pen and ink. There he draws a mark with the pen or pencil through the names of the candidates he does not wish to vote for, leaving the names of the candidates he votes for unmarked He then, folds up the ballot, with the names of the candidates on the inside, and hands it to one of the judges, who drops it into a box, where it remains until the votes are counted after the poll closes. The candidates who receive the highest number of votes are declared elected. This is done by the Board of State Canvassers (which see).

STATE OFFICERS are officers elected by the voters of the whole State. The governor, the lieutenant-governor, and attorney-general are State officers.

A CORPORATION is a body or number of persons formed and authorized by law to carry on business under one name as a single person. Banks and railroad and manufacturing companies are corporations. They are called private corporations because the business they do is for the benefit of private individuals. The people of cities and towns have power by law to carry on the government of their cities and towns as corporations. They are called public corporations because they are formed for the purpose of government, and act for the whole people (see under Government of Cities and Towns)

QUALIFIED, with regard to State officers, means having taken the oath of office. The Constitution requires that every person, before entering upon the discharge of any functions as an officer of the State, must solemnly swear or affirm that he will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the State of Virginia, and that he will faithfully perform the duty of the office to which he has been elected. To take this oath is to QUALIFY for the office.

The State is entitled to two U. S. Senators and ten

Representatives in Congress, and to twelve votes for President and

Vice-President in the Electoral College.

The ELECTORAL COLLEGE is the name given to the body of persons who elect the President and Vice-President of the United States. At a presidential election, which takes place every four years, the people do not vote directly for the candidates who have been nominated for President and Vice-President. They vote for persons nominated to be ELECTORS, and each State has the right to choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. Virginia has two senators and ten representatives in Congress, therefore at the presidential election it chooses twelve electors. This is what is meant by saying that it has twelve votes in the Electoral College.

The members of the Electoral College do not meet all together to elect the President and Vice-President. The electors of each State meet in the capital of their own State in January after they are elected, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President. after which they send lists to the President of the United States Senate showing how they have voted. Those lists are examined in the Senate and the votes counted. Then the candidates who have received the votes of a majority of the Electoral College are declared elected.