State and National Sovereignty eighteenth century as sovereign, the oath of allegiance would not have been limited to the State. With one exception, the State constitutions now in force accord with public opinion on national sovereignty. The excepting constitution-that of Massachusetts of 1780-is in this particular a solitary survival of the eighteenth century, and it practically conforms by statute with the other forty-four. The growth of the idea of national sovereignty kept pace with the degree to which the general government identified itself with the interests of the people. At first the States did the more for them. As soon as the States began to fall behind, the idea of national sovereignty developed. The State constitutions kept pace with the idea, and gradually prescribed allegiance to both governments. Education at public expense, which now constitutes an element so essential to the general welfare, was quite unthought of in the eighteenth century.* The need of schools was felt, and was met in part. The silence on the subject, at the time, should not be construed as evidence of wilful neglect of learning. The States were poor and deeply in debt. Individualism ruled the hour, and Massachusetts Constitution, 1780. Pennsylvania, 1790-the provision was put in to protect the then newly established College of Philadelphia; Art. vii., Sec. 3, was inserted to protect the old college, whose charter had been attacked by the Legislature. See Stone's edition of Wood's History of the University; third edition, Philadelphia, 1896. Five States made the support of schools obligatory on the Legislature - Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts; Georgia, 1798. it was not thought to be a function of the State to do for a citizen what he ought to do for himself. We defend public education as the fathers defended property and religious qualifications—as a deterrent of crime. A slight change in the phrase, "Education, the cheap defence of the nation," puts us in touch with eighteenth-century thought. John Adams was the father of the public school, the State university, the State college, and the normal school. He realized when he inserted the educational clauses in the constitution of Massachusetts that he was departing from precedent and feared lest all would be struck out.* Save in New England, the idea lay dormant until the national government began to make donations of public lands exclusively for school purposes. The State constitutions then introduced an administrative article on education. This act of the general government strengthened the national idea. In our day, the right to education, in popular estimation, ranks as a civil right. Temporary features are found in all constitutions; those in the first refer chiefly to pending questions of boundary-settled later by surveys, although nearly every commonwealth is still vexed by some boundary dispute. Traces of abuses in legislation that still survive are found, such as filibustering and the granting of gratuities. Legislatures acted under a free, general grant of powers. The exceptions scarcely suggest the later almost Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. i., p. 24. Powers of State Legislatures tropical growth of provisions against special legislation. The first limitation of this kind was a rather feeble attempt to regulate divorces.* Incompatible offices were defined; clergymen were disqualified from civil office, not so much to separate Church and State as to improve the profession. The compensation of members was a per diem allowance, regulated in some States by the constitution, in others by the Legislature. A member was disqualified by receiving fees or by loss of property. The House possessed the exclusive right to originate money bills. Tennessee ‡ inaugurated the change which after 1800 was gradually to overspread the country, that the bill may originate in either House. Departure from English precedent was inevitable, as the Senate, being an elective body like the House, was responsible to the same constituency: a condition that never prevailed in England. It was a case of cessat ratio, cessat lex. The change begun in 1796 intimated that others might be expected, bringing the Legislature into the condition -practically set by the later constitutions-of one body differing only by tradition from the other. The House was the chief heritage from colonial times. It was the assembly to which for a century and a half the people had turned for protection and relief. It preserved many colonial tradi * Georgia, 1798. New York, 1777; North Carolina, 1776; South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, 1799; Tennessee, 1796. Tennessee, 1796. tions and practices, of which the distinguishing one was its exclusive powers of taxation. The Senate was a product of the times, springing into existence when colonies became commonwealths. Its origin is suggested by the name it bore in several States-the Legislative Council.* This original must not be confused with the Executive Council which for a time also existed in most of the States and survives in three.t The Senate sprang from an idea, embodied in the New England charters, that, in addition to the colonial Assembly, Assistants to the Governor should be chosen. As the theory of checks and balances took possession of the public, the Senate as we now know it was devised as a set-off to the House. It was the most artificial part of the new civil system, and its functions have never been as distinct, in the popular mind, as those of the House. It is not strange that the proposition to dispense with it has been made from time to time. As its functions become identical with those of the House, its existence becomes precarious. It seems to weaken as the administrative strengthens, but the House has weakened also at the same time. It would seem, previous to experience, that the Senate would be strengthened by being em * Delaware (1776), called Council of the General Assembly; New Jersey, South Carolina (1776), Legislative Council; New Hampshire, The Council; Connecticut, Rhode Island, The Governor and Assistants. Until 1790 there was no Upper House in Pennsylvania, nor in Vermont till 1836. + Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. Efforts have been made to abolish it, especially in Massachusetts (1880-1895). The Senate a New Device powered to originate money bills. On the contrary, the idea has strengthened that the dualism is superfluous, and that the junior body should be permanently dissolved. The fate of the State Senate is a problem for the future. The original, advisory functions of the Senate are now performed largely by commissions, administrative boards, and individuals, who, in theory, are experts. All this body of administrative agents was wanting in the first constitutions, excepting a few military, fiscal, and land officers. The Executive Council was an illustration of the popular distrust of Governors. The Crown was not yet forgotten. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF SENators as PresCRIBED BY THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS, 1776-1800. STATE CONST. AGE RESIDENCE PROPERTY RELIGION TERM REMARKS N. H. 1776 66 Inhabitant. Freeholder. 1 yr. This upper 1784 30 7 years in- Freehold Protestant 1 yr. was chosen by the lower, and called the Council. 1786 * Vermont had no Senate until 1836. Vermont had a Council, but Senate. no |