debts, although the wealth of the country makes rapid strides. This reduction is estimated to have been between 1870 and 1880 twenty-five per cent. in the case of State debts, and in that of county, town, and school district debts eight per cent. In cities, however, there was, within the same decade, not only no reduction, but an increase of over one hundred per cent., possibly as much as one hundred and thirty per cent.

This striking difference between the cities and the States may be explained in several ways. One is that cities cannot repudiate, while sovereign States can and do. Another may be found in the later introduction into State Constitutions of restrictions on the borrowing power of municipalities. But the chief cause is to be found in the conditions of the government of great cities, where the wealth of the community is largest, and is also most at the disposal of a multitude of ignorant voters. Several of the greatest cities lie in States which did not till recently, or have not even now, imposed adequate restrictions on the borrowing power of city councils.

CHAPTER IX

THE TERRITORIES

The three organized territories, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, present an interesting form of autonomy or local self-government, differing from that which exists in the several States, and in some points more akin to that of the self-governing colonies of Great Britain. This form has in each territory been created by Federal statutes, beginning with the great Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, passed by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787. Since that year many territories have been

organized under different statutes and on different plans out of the western dominions of the United States, under the general power conferred upon Congress by the Federal Constitution. All of these but the three above-named territories have now become States. At first local legislative power was vested in the governor and the judges; it is now exercised by an elective legislature. The present organization of these three is in most respects identical; and in describing it I shall for the sake of brevity ignore minor differences.

The fundamental law of every territory, as of every State, is the Federal Constitution; but whereas every State has also its own popularly enacted State Constitution, the territories are regulated by any similar instruments, which for them are replaced by the Federal statutes passed by Congress establishing their government and prescribing its form. However, some territories have created a sort of rudimentary constitution for themselves by enacting a Bill of Rights.

In every territory, as in every State, the executive, legislative, and judicial departments are kept distinct. The executive consists of a governor, appointed for four years by the President of the United States, with the consent of the Senate, and removable by the President, together with a secretary, treasurer, auditor, attorney-general, and superintendent of public instruction. The governor commands the militia, and has a veto upon the acts of the legislature, which, however, may (except in Arizona) be overriden by a two-thirds majority in each House. He is responsible to the Federal government, and reports yearly to the President on the condition of the territory, often making his report a sort of prospectus in which the advantages which his dominions offer to intending immigrants are set

forth. He also sends a message to the legislature at the beginning of each session.

The legislature is composed of two Houses, a Council, and a House of Representatives elected by districts. Each House is elected by the voters of the territory for two years, and sits only once in that period. The session is limited (by Federal statutes) to sixty days, and the salary of a member is $4 per diem. The Houses work much like those in the States, doing the bulk of their business by standing committees, and frequently suspending their rules to run measures through with little or no debate. The electoral franchise is left to be fixed by territorial statute, but Federal statutes prescribe that every member shall be a resident in the district he represents. The sphere of legislation allowed to the legislature is wide, indeed practically as wide as that enjoyed by the legislature of a State, but subject to certain Federal restrictions. It is subject also to the still more important right of Congress to annul or modify by its own statutes any territorial act. In all these territories Congress may exercise without stint its power to override the statutes passed by a territorial legislature.

The judiciary consists of three or more judges of a Supreme Court, appointed for four years by the President, with the consent of the Senate (salary $3,000), together with a United States district attorney and a United States marshal. The law they administer is partly Federal, all Federal statutes being construed to take effect, where properly applicable, in the territories, partly local, created in each territory by its own statutes; and appeals, where the sum in dispute is above a certain value, go to the Supreme Federal Court. Although these courts are created by Congress in pursuance of its general sovereignty-they do not fall within the provisions of

the Constitution for a Federal judiciary-the territorial legislature is allowed to regulate their practice and procedure. The expenses of territorial governments are borne by the Federal Treasury.

The territories send neither senators nor representatives to Congress, nor do they take part in presidential elections. The House of Representatives, under a statute, admits a delegate from each of them to sit and speak, but of course not to vote, because the right of voting in Congress depends on the Federal Constitution. The position of a citizen in a territory is therefore a peculiar one. What may be called his private or passive citizenship is complete: he has all the immunities and benefits which any other American citizen enjoys. But the public or active side is wanting, so far as the national government is concerned, although complete for local purposes. It may seem inconsistent with principle that citizens should be taxed by a government in whose legislature they are not represented; but the practical objections to giving the full rights of States to these comparatively rude communities outweigh any such theoretical difficulties. It must, morever, be remembered that a territory, which may be called an inchoate or rudimentary State, looks forward to become a complete State. When its population becomes equal to that of an average congressional district, its claim to be admitted as a State is strong, and in the absence of specific objections will be granted. Congress, however, has absolute discretion in the matter, and often uses its discretion under party political motives. When Congress resolves to turn a territory into a State, it usually passes an Enabling Act, under which the inhabitants elect a constitutional convention, which frames a draft constitution; and when this has been submitted to and accepted by the voters of the territory, the act of

Congress takes effect; the territory is transformed into a State, and proceeds to send its senators and representatives to Congress in the usual way. The Enabling Act may prescribe conditions to be fulfilled by the State Constitution, but usually without narrowing the right which the citizens of the newly formed State will enjoy of subsequently modifying that instrument in any way not inconsistent with the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

Self-gov

These arrangements seem to work well. ernment is practically enjoyed by the territories, despite the supreme authority of Congress, just as it is enjoyed by Canada and the Australian colonies of Great Britain, despite the legal right of the British Parliament to legislate for every part of the King's dominions. The want of a voice in Congress and presidential elections, and the fact that the governor is set over them by an external power, are not felt to be practical grievances, partly, of course, because these young communities are too small and too much absorbed in the work of developing the country to be keenly interested in national politics. Their local political life much resembles that of the newer Western States. Political parties have their regular organizations.

The District of Columbia is a tract of land set apart to contain the city of Washington, which is the seat of the Federal government. It is governed by three commissioners appointed by the President, and has no local legislature nor municipal government, the only legislative authority being Congress.