THE COMPOSITION OF CONGRESS AND THE ELECTION OF ITS MEMBERS. 296-308 ITS METHODS OF DOING BUSINESS 309-315 XXVIII. IMPEACHMENT OF CIVIL OFFICERS.. 316-319 XXIX. GENERAL POWERS OF CONGRESS.. 320-332 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. The character of the volumes that will comprise The State Government Series is indicated by the name of the series itself. More definitely, they will combine two important subjects of education, History and Government. It is proposed in this Introduction briefly to set forth the educational character and value of these subjects, and to offer some hints as to the way in which they should be studied and taught, particularly as limited by the character of the Series. 1. THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE STUDY OF HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT. Not much reflection is required to show that both of these subjects have large practical or guidance value, and that they also rank high as disciplinary studies. 1. History.—When it is said that men need the experience of past ages to widen the field of their personal observation, to correct their narrow views and mistaken opinions, to furnish them high ideals, and to give them inspiration or motive force; and that history is the main channel through which this valuable experience is transmitted to them-this should be sufficient to show that history is a very important subject of education. On this point the most competent men of both ancient and modern times have delivered the most convincing testimony. Cicero called history "the witness of times, the light of truth, and the mistress of life." Dionysius of Halicarnassus said "history is philosophy teaching by examples," and Lord Bolingbroke lent his sanction to the saying. Milton thought children should be taught "the beginning, the end, and the reasons of political societies." Another writer affirms that "history furnishes the best training in patriotism, and enlarges the sympathies and interests." Macaulay said: "The real use of traveling to distant countries, and of studying the annals of past times, is to preserve them from the contraction of mind which those can hardly escape whose whole commerce is with one generation and one neighborhood." In every great field of human activity the lessons of history are invaluable-in politics, religion, education, moral reform, war, scientific investigation, invention, and practical business affairs. The relations of history and politics are peculiarly close. There could be no science of politics without history, and practical politics could hardly be carried on. But, more than this, there can be no better safeguard than the lessons of history against the specious but dangerous ideas and schemes in relation to social subjects that float in the atmosphere of all progressive countries. In fact, there is no other safeguard that is so good as these lessons; they are experience teaching by examples. The man who has studied the history of the Mississippi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble, or some of the less celebrated industrial or economical manias that have afflicted our own country, is little likely to embark in similar schemes himself, or to promote them. The man who has studied the evils that irredeemable paper money caused in France in the days of the Revolution, or the evils that the Continental money caused in our own country, will be more apt to form sound views on the subjects of currency and banking than the man who has had no such training. The school of history is a conservative school, and its lessons are our great defense against cranks, faddists, and dem. agogues. 2. Government.—Politics is both a science and an art. It is the science and the art of government. As a science it investigates the facts and principles of government; as an art it deals with the practical applications of these facts and principles to the government of the state. Now it is manifest that the art of politics, or practical government, directly concerns everybody. Few indeed are the subjects in which men, and particularly men living in great and progressive societies, are so deeply interested as in good government. The government of the state is charged with maintaining public order, securing justice between man and man, and the promotion of the great positive ends of society. For these purposes it collects and expends great revenues, which are ultimately paid from the proceeds of the labor of the people. Furthermore, in republican states, such as the American Union and the forty-five individual States that make up the Union, government is carried on by the people through their representatives chosen at popular elections. The voters of the United States are a great and rapidly growing body. In the presidential election of 1888, 11,388,007 citizens participated; in the presidential election of 1896, 14,071,097 a growth of more than 2,680,000 in eight years. Moreover, these voters are felt in many other ways and places; they vote for National representatives, for State legislatures, executives, and judges, for county, township, and city offices, for the supervisors of the roads and the directors of the public schools. There is not a point in the whole round of National, State, and Local government that the popular will, as expressed at elections, does not touch. Every man is, therefore, directly concerned to understand the nature and operations of these governments, and almost equally concerned to have his neighbors also understand them. We have been dealing with practical politics exclusively. But the art of government depends upon the science of government. The government of a great country like our own, at least if a good one, is a complicated and delicate machine. Such a government is one of the greatest triumphs of the human mind. It is the result of a long process of political experience, and in its elements at least it runs far back into past history. It is, therefore, a most interesting study considered in itself. All this is peculiarly true of our own government, as will be explained hereafter. However, this complicated and delicate machine is not an end, but only a means or instrument; as a means or instrument it is ordained, as the Declaration of Independence says, to secure to those living under it their rights-such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and the extent to which it secures these rights is at once the measure of its character, whether good or bad. It is also to be observed that a government which is good for one people is not of necessity good for another people. We Americans would not tolerate a government like that of Russia, while Russians could hardly carry on our government a single year. A good government must first recognize the general facts of human nature, then the special character, needs, habits, and traditions of the people for whom it exists. It roots in the national life and history. It grows out of the national culture. Since government is based on the facts of human nature and human society, it is not a mere crea |