Government in the United States, National, State and Local

The Organized Territories: Hawaii and Alaska.– The territories and dependencies of the United States may be grouped into two classes: the organized and the unorganized. A territory of the first class is said to be "organized" because it has its own local legislature, both houses of which are elected. At present the only territories of this class fully included as parts of the United States are Hawaii105 and Alaska,106 but since most of the states were organized territories before being admitted to the Union, this kind of government is of more than ordinary interest to the student of civics.

Executive.– In a fully organized territory there is a governor who is appointed by the President with the consent of the senate for a term of four years, and who enjoys the usual powers of a state executive. The appointment is usually made from the residents of the territory, though in a few cases outsiders have been appointed. There is also a secretary who keeps the records of the territory, compiles and publishes the acts of the legislature, and serves as governor during the absence or disability of the latter official. Other administrative officers of the territory are the attorney-general, treasurer, commissioner of public lands, superintendent of public education, surveyor, and auditor.

The Legislature is composed of two houses, both of which are popularly elected. Regular sessions of the legislature are held every two years and are limited to sixty days, though the governor may call extraordinary sessions with the approval of the President of the United States.

The territorial legislature is empowered to enact laws in respect to all rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of the United States. Congress, however, has from time to time imposed various limitations upon the power of the territorial legislatures, and has shown a tendency to increase the restrictions, especially in regard to financial matters. Congress may veto any act of a territorial legislature.

Judiciary.– For the administration of justice, a fully organized territory has a supreme court, a number of district courts, and such inferior courts as the legislature may create. The judges of the higher court are all appointed by the President of the United States for a term of four years. The territory also has a United States district court, a district attorney, and a marshal.

Finally, a fully organized territory is given a limited representation, in the Congress of the United States through a delegate, elected by the people of the territory every two years, who is allowed a seat in the house of representatives with a right to serve on committees and take part in debate, but not to vote.

Alaska, acquired by purchase from Russia in 1867, was for seventeen years after its acquisition administered directly by the President without any express authority from Congress. In 1884, however, an act was passed providing a system of civil government for the territory, to be administered by a governor appointed by the President for a term of four years. The general laws of the state of Oregon, so far as applicable, were extended to the territory. In 1898 a criminal code was provided for the territory, and in 1900 a complete civil code and a code of civil procedure were enacted. Finally, in 1912 Alaska was made a fully organized territory, with a legislative assembly consisting of a senate of eight members and a house of representatives of sixteen members. Acts can be passed over the governor's veto by vote of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislative assembly.

The Organized Dependencies.– Porto Rico and the Philippines, acquired from Spain in 1898, were formerly, and are now to a certain extent, regarded more as colonies than as territories, although they are governed much like a territory. For many years they were classed as "partly organized" because in their legislatures only one house was elective. They now have legislatures in which both houses are elective; but unlike the territories they are inhabited by a foreign race, and had been at the time of their cession to the United States for centuries governed by an entirely different system of laws and administration from that to which the people of the United States were accustomed.

Porto Rico.– By an act of Congress in 1917, the supreme executive power of the island is vested in a governor appointed by the President, for an indefinite term. He has the usual powers of a territorial governor. There are six executive departments, namely, justice, finance, interior, education, agriculture, and health. The attorney-general and the commissioner of education are appointed by the President for a term of four years; the heads of the other four departments are appointed by the governor for the same term. The department heads collectively form an executive council charged with the performance of such duties as the governor may prescribe.

The Legislature.– Formerly the legislature was composed of an upper house, known as the council, the members of which were appointed by the President, and a house of delegates, popularly elected. The act of 1917, however, provided for a legislature, both houses of which are elected by the voters. The upper house is called the senate and is composed of nineteen members, elected for a term of four years. The lower chamber, called the House of Representatives, consists of thirty-nine members, elected for a term of four years. The legislature is required to meet biennially and the governor may call extraordinary sessions. Laws vetoed by the governor and passed over his veto by the legislature must be transmitted to the President for his approval or disapproval. All acts of the legislature are required to be laid before Congress which may annul the same. To prevent deadlocks in the administration of the government, as several times happened in former years, the law provides that whenever the appropriation bills for the support of the government fail of passage the amount appropriated for the past year shall be considered to have been appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year.

Suffrage and Citizenship.– Practically all citizens over twenty-one years of age who can read and write are qualified voters. Formerly a source of complaint among the inhabitants was that they were denied the status of United States citizenship. They were designated as citizens of Porto Rico and were entitled to be protected by the United States and were eligible to receive passports for travel abroad, but they were not citizens of the United States. The law of 1917, however, removed this grievance by providing that all citizens of Porto Rico should be deemed to be citizens of the United States. The act also contains an elaborate bill of rights similar to those in the state constitutions.

Judiciary.– The elaborate system of Spanish courts and the Spanish legal system generally have been done away with, and in their place a system of law and procedure and a judicial system modeled upon those of the American states have been substituted. There is a supreme court consisting of five judges appointed for life by the President, and of these, three are Porto Ricans and two Americans. Below this court are a number of district courts each of which is presided over by one judge appointed by the governor with the consent of the council for a term of four years. There are also twenty-four municipal courts, and in the several towns there are courts held by the justices of the peace. The act of 1917 provided for the establishment of a District Court of the United States for the island.

Resident Commissioner at Washington.– The interests of the island are looked after at Washington by a resident commissioner who is elected by the qualified voters for a term of four years. Unlike the delegate from an organized territory he has no right to a seat in the house of representatives, but the house has granted him the courtesy of this privilege. He is, however, entitled to official recognition by all the executive departments whenever he wishes to discuss with them matters of business affecting Porto Rico.

The island has its own internal revenue system for raising taxes, and the receipts from all customs duties on goods imported into the island are turned into the insular treasury. Unlike the Philippines, however, the island does not have its own monetary system, but uses that of the United States.

The Philippines.– The problem of governing the Philippines has proved much more difficult than that of governing Porto Rico. Instead of a single island inhabited by a fairly homogeneous population, the Philippine archipelago consists of several hundred islands inhabited by various races and peoples representing almost every stage of development from savagery to fairly complete civilization. It has been a difficult problem to develop a system of government adapted to the needs and capacities of so many different elements. In addition to the difficulties presented by these conditions, the Filipinos in various parts of the archipelago have resisted American rule, and no small amount of effort and expenditure of money has been directed toward the suppression of outbreaks and the maintenance of order.

Organic Act of 1902.– In 1902 Congress passed an organic act for the government of the islands, and shortly thereafter William H. Taft was inaugurated civil governor. This act continued for the most part the form of government that had been created by the Philippine Commission. The organic act provided, however, that as soon as the insurrection then existing was suppressed, a census of the inhabitants should be taken and if the islands were in a state of peace, steps should be taken toward the establishment of a legislative assembly, the lower house of which should be popularly elected. This provision was duly carried out, and in 1907 the assembly was chosen. The upper house was a commission of nine members, including the governor, appointed by the President; and members of the commission also served as heads of executive departments.

In 1916 the government was altered by abolishing the commission and creating a legislature in which both houses are elective. The governor general, at the head of the executive department, is appointed by the President, as are also the vice governor and the auditor. Acts of the Philippine legislature may be vetoed by the governor general (or finally by the President if passed over the governor general's veto), or may be annulled by Congress. The act of 1916 declared it to be the purpose of the United States to grant the Philippines independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.

Resident Commissioners.– The legislature is allowed to choose two resident commissioners to represent the islands at Washington. Like territorial delegates, they have seats, but no vote, in the house of representatives.

The Judicial System of the islands consists of a supreme court of seven judges who are appointed by the President, a court of first instance in each province, the judges of which are appointed by the governor general, and various municipal courts. Unlike Porto Rico and Hawaii, no United States district court has been established in the islands. Appeals lie from the supreme court of the islands directly to the United States Supreme Court in all cases in which the Constitution or any statute or treaty is involved or in which the amount in controversy exceeds $25,000.

Local Government.– Each province is governed in local matters by a board consisting of a governor and other officers elected by the voters. The organized municipalities are governed by elective councils. Special provision has been made for the government of districts inhabited by certain non-Christian peoples by the creation of a Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes.

The Unorganized Territories and Dependencies.– The third group of territories or dependencies embrace those which have no legislative assembly whatever. These include Samoan Islands, Virgin Islands, Guam, the Panama Canal Zone, and the District of Columbia.

The American Samoan Islands, the chief of which is Tutuila with its valuable harbor of Pagopago, are governed by a naval officer – the commandant of the naval station at Tutuila. He makes the laws and regulations, and sees that they are enforced, but so far as possible the inhabitants are allowed to govern themselves.

By treaty of 1916, three of the Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark for $25,000,000. They were placed under the jurisdiction of a governor appointed by the President, but the local laws were kept in force.

Guam was seized by the United States during the war with Spain, and was retained by the treaty of peace. It is governed by the commandant of the naval station.107

The Panama Canal Zone is a strip of land ten miles wide extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean across the Isthmus of Panama, and was acquired by treaty from the Republic of Panama in 1904, upon the payment of $10,000,000. Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, Congress passed an act placing the entire government of the Canal Zone in the hands of the President. The powers of the President prior to 1914 were exercised through the Isthmian Canal Commission consisting of seven members, with authority to make and enforce all needful rules and regulations for the government of the Zone and to enact such local legislation as might be needed, subject to the condition that it must not be inconsistent with the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. In January, 1914, President Wilson, in pursuance of an act of Congress passed in 1912, issued an order abolishing the commission and organizing a system of civil government for the Canal Zone. Colonel George W. Goethals was appointed the first civil governor.

The District of Columbia is a territory with an area of seventy square miles, and was ceded to the United States in 1790 for the site of the national capital. The district was administered from 1801 to 1871 under the forms of municipal government, that is, by a mayor and council, but in the latter year Congress vested the government in a governor, a secretary, a board of public works, a board of health, and a legislative assembly. At the same time the district was allowed to send a delegate to Congress. Largely on account of the extravagance of this government in under-taking expensive public improvements, Congress in 1874 abolished the whole scheme and established the present system, which vests practically all governmental powers in the hands of a commission of three persons appointed by the President. Two of these must be appointed from civil life and the other must be an officer belonging to the engineering corps of the army. This commission has the general direction of administrative affairs and the appointment of employees, and exercises wide powers of a quasi legislative character, such as the issuing of health and police regulations. The legislature of the district, however, is the Congress of the United States. In each house there is a committee on the District of Columbia to which all bills relating to the district are referred, and on one day of each week an hour is set apart in the house of representatives for the consideration of such bills. No provision is made for the representation of the district in Congress, and the inhabitants take no part in presidential elections.108 One half the expense of conducting the government of the district is defrayed out of the national treasury, and the other half is raised from taxation on private property in the district.

The judicial establishment of the district consists of a court of appeals of three judges, a supreme court of six judges, and the usual police courts and courts of justices of the peace. (See page 364.)

American Protection over Spanish American States.– In addition to the ownership of the various insular dependencies mentioned above, the United States, in pursuance of a long established policy known as the "Monroe Doctrine," exercises a certain degree of protection over Latin American states. As this policy is now interpreted it forbids the further acquisition by European powers of territorial possessions in the western hemisphere, or the extension by such powers of political influence on this continent. By virtue of special treaty arrangements the United States exercises a virtual protectorate over certain of the smaller Latin American republics. Thus under the "Platt Amendment," to the constitution of Cuba (also embodied in a treaty between the United States and Cuba) the United States has the right to intervene in Cuba for the maintenance of a stable government and for the protection of public order and security; and this power was exercised in 1906. Naturally it exercises the power of protection over the republic of Panama through whose territory the Panama Canal runs, and recently (1915) it has established a sort of financial protectorate over Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In pursuance of treaty arrangements it collects the customs revenues in those republics, applies them to the payment of their foreign debts, and has the right to intervene for the maintenance of order.

References.– Beard, American Government and Politics, ch. xxi. Bryce, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xlvi. Hart, Actual Government, ch. xx. Willoughby, Territories and Dependencies of the United States, chs. iii, iv, vi.

Research Questions

1. From what clause or clauses in the Constitution is the power to acquire foreign territory derived?

2. By what different methods has foreign territory been added to the United States?

3. Are there any limitations on the powers of Congress in legislating for the territories?

CHAPTER XX

CITIZENSHIP

Who are Citizens.– The population of every country is composed of two classes of persons: citizens and aliens. The larger portion of the inhabitants are citizens, but the alien class is considerable in some states of the Union, much more so than formerly, owing to the large influx of immigrants from Europe in recent years.109 A citizen is one who has been admitted to full membership in the state, though he may not have been given full political privileges, such as the privileges of voting and holding public office. There is a large class of citizens in every state who can neither vote nor hold public office, such, for example, as minors, sometimes illiterate persons, those who have not paid their taxes, those who have been convicted of serious crimes, and others. On the other hand, aliens in some states are allowed to vote and hold office, especially if they have formally declared their intention of becoming citizens. The terms "citizen" and "voter," therefore, are not identical, since there are some citizens who cannot vote and some voters who are not citizens. (See page 125.)

How Citizenship is Acquired.– Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution, all persons born in the United States110 are citizens of the United States, and also of the states in which they reside. Persons who come here from abroad may become citizens only by being naturalized.

Naturalization Law.– To acquire citizenship in this way, they must reside here for a period of five years, they must also be persons of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. Under the law of 1906 they must also be able to write their own language and be able to read and speak English. Two steps are necessary in the procedure of naturalization: first the applicant must go before a federal court or a court of record in some state and make oath that he is at least eighteen years of age, and that it is his intention to become a citizen of the United States. At the same time he must renounce all allegiance to the foreign state of which he is a citizen or subject and must furnish the court with a variety of information concerning his past life, including the date of his arrival in the United States and the name of the ship on which he arrived. He is then furnished with a certificate which is popularly known as his "first papers." When he has resided in the United States at least five years and possesses all the necessary qualifications the court will issue him a certificate of naturalization which makes him a citizen. Fees amounting to five dollars are now charged for filing the petition and issuing the final certificate. In order to prevent the wholesale naturalization of aliens in the large cities for election purposes, the law provides that no certificate of naturalization shall be granted within thirty days prior to any general election. Any honorably discharged alien from the United States army may be admitted to citizenship after a residence of one year, and the preliminary declaration of intention is not required of aliens who have served five years in the navy.

Disqualifications.– In addition to the qualifications mentioned above, there are certain disqualifications which serve to debar many foreigners from acquiring American citizenship. Thus only white persons and persons of African nativity are capable of being naturalized under our laws, so that those belonging to the Mongolian or other races, such as Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, and East Indians, cannot become citizens of the United States unless born here. Other persons excluded for different reasons are polygamists, anarchists, and certain other classes of criminals who are not considered worthy to enjoy the high privileges of citizenship.

The naturalization of a husband makes the wife and minor children citizens, so that they do not have to go through the process of taking out their "papers."

Other Methods of Acquiring Citizenship.– Citizenship may be acquired sometimes in other ways than the method described above. Thus a foreign woman becomes a citizen by marriage to an American citizen, and the inhabitants of foreign territory annexed to the United States become citizens by virtue of their incorporation into the body politic. In this way the inhabitants of the Louisiana territory, acquired from France, became citizens. In the same way those of Florida, Texas, California, Alaska, and Hawaii became citizens, but not those of Porto Rico and the Philippines. Residents of Porto Rico, however, were made citizens of the United States by act of Congress in 1917.

How Citizenship may be Lost.– As citizenship may be acquired in various ways so it may be lost by different acts. An American woman loses her citizenship by marriage to an alien. Acceptance of a commission in the service of a foreign country; if it involves the taking of an oath of allegiance to a foreign government, operates to divest one of his American citizenship. The most common mode by which citizenship is lost, however, is through voluntary removal from the country and naturalization in a foreign state. The right of the citizen to withdraw from the United States, renounce his allegiance, and acquire the citizenship of a foreign state, is declared by our law to be an inalienable right. Mere removal from the United States and the establishment of a residence in a foreign country, however, does not of itself operate to divest one of his citizenship. An American citizen may reside abroad many years for the purposes of business, education, or pleasure, and so long as he preserves an intention of returning to the United States he is not held to have abandoned his American nationality.

In order to prevent foreigners from coming to the United States, acquiring our citizenship, and returning to their native country for the purpose of living there without being subject to the burdens and obligations of military service, the law declares that a naturalized American who returns to his native country and resides there for a period of two years will be presumed to have abandoned his American citizenship, and unless he can show an intention of returning to America he will be considered as no longer being a citizen.

Federal versus State Citizenship.– In a country having the federal form of government, the inhabitants have a dual citizenship, that is, they are citizens of the country as a whole and of the particular state in which they are residents. Thus our federal Constitution declares that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside. A person, however, may be a citizen of the United States without at the same time being a citizen of any state, as is the case with those inhabiting the territories, the District of Columbia, and other places not forming a part of any state. On the contrary, it seems to be generally admitted that one may be a citizen of a state without necessarily being a citizen of the United States. Thus a state may give an alien full political and civil rights and declare him to be a citizen of the state before he has become a citizen of the United States. Some states have in effect done this. It follows, therefore, that federal and state citizenship are not necessarily identical and coexistent, since there may be a class of state citizens upon whom the United States has not conferred its own citizenship, and a class of United States citizens who are not citizens of any state. The citizenship of a particular state may be relinquished for that of another by removal from the former state and the establishment of a residence in the latter. No legal formality whatever is required to put off the one and take on the other.