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city is the mayor, whose position is one of great impor

tance.

His duties are various, - often onerous and difficult, -and his powers must be, in the nature of the case, somewhat unlimited. He is the executive officer of the city. It is his duty to see that the laws of the city are properly enforced, and in general to supervise the conduct of subordinate officers. He may call special meetings of the city council and give such information and make such recommendations as he shall deem necessary. In some cases he presides over the board of aldermen. He usually has the veto power similar to that of the governor of the commonwealth.

ALDERMEN. The city is divided into wards of convenient size, in each of which is usually chosen an alderman (sometimes two) and such other officers as are prescribed in the charter. Sometimes two or more wards have but one alderman. In some cases the mayor and aldermen constitute the city council, which is a kind of legislature, having power to pass such laws as the government of the city requires. The city laws are commonly called ordinances. In other cases, another, larger board is elected, called the common council. In some cities it is the custom for each ward to elect annually or otherwise a warden and a ward clerk. In some cases inspectors or judges of elections are appointed from the great political parties, whose duty it is to receive, sort, and count the ballots cast at elections. The duties of the warden correspond somewhat to those of the moderator at the town meeting. The ward clerk keeps a record of the proceedings of the ward meeting. The city usually elects a school committee or a board

of education, assessors of taxes, overseers of the poor, city clerk, treasurer, collector of taxes, superintendent of streets, engineers of fire departments, a city physician, a city solicitor, an auditor of accounts, and sometimes other officers. In some cases these officers are elected by the people, in other cases by the joint vote of the two branches of the city council, and in others still, they are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by vote of the aldermen or the council.

VILLAGE OFFICERS. — The chief executive officer of an incorporated village is usually termed president of the village. The village has also a board of trustees or directors. The president of the village is generally chosen by the trustees from their own number.

CHAPTER II.

THE OBJECTS OF GOVERNMENT.

We have treated briefly some of the functions of government as related to the town and city. What has now been considered may prove sufficient to prepare the way for a brief discussion of the province and objects of government. It is sometimes said that the sole functions of government are to maintain peace and execute justice. These are, undoubtedly, the primary functions of government, but let us see if they cover the entire

case.

We have found that the town or city not only assesses and collects taxes and appoints constables to arrest wrong-doers, but it also appoints overseers of the poor, school committee-men or school directors, surveyors of highways, — officers not required to maintain the peace and execute justice.

All civilized governments consider themselves bound to perform other duties of an entirely different character from what pertains to peace and justice. When our fathers framed the constitution of the United States, they gave in the preamble to that instrument an admirable definition of the province of government. This preamble reads as follows:

"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the

general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America."

The first of these six objects of government, namely: "To form a more perfect union," grew out of the fact that this government was to be a union of thirteen separate colonies. Omitting that, the remaining five points. in this admirable exposition of the objects of government are observe them carefully: (1) To establish justice, (2) To insure domestic tranquillity, (3) To provide for the common defence, (4) To promote the general welfare, (5) To secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

JUSTICE.The first object is, therefore, to establish justice; to see that each person has his rights, and is not interfered with in the exercise of these rights.

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PEACE. The second is to maintain the peace within the borders of the government, and the third to take care that peace is also preserved as against enemies from without.

THE GENERAL WELFARE. -The fourth clause:-"To promote the general welfare"-is one that requires here our special attention. In the earlier times, as illustrated in the feudal system, the principal object of government seemed to be to protect the people from enemies from without; that is, from foreign nations, tribes, and peoples.

MILITARY GOVERNMENT. - The basis of this government was essentially military. In process of time, as the race progressed and improved, the danger from without diminished, and the danger from within increased; that is, the government found less to do in providing for the common defence, and more to do in insur

ing domestic tranquillity. To preserve the peace from wrong-doers within became more important than to preserve the peace from wrong-doers without. This condition of affairs after a time brought us to the second stage of the government theory. The first was the military period, to preserve from enemies without.

POLICE GOVERNMENT. - The second became the police period, to protect from wrong-doers within. During the past two or three hundred years this has seemed to be the particular province of government, to insure domestic peace and justice. The typical officers of government during this period were the magistrate, the constable or sheriff, and the judge.

A HIGHER IDEAL. Within the last century, however, we have largely advanced into a third period of governmental theory, which has made more and more prominent the grand object and purpose of promoting the general welfare of all the people, of bearing constantly in mind. the question, not what interferes with the public good, not to punish wrong-doing, but what will promote the public good, what will tend to right-doing. It is quite apparent at the present day that the government should occupy itself more and more with this province of its work, and that the government of the future will be not like the government of former times, a military despotism, nor like the government of a later period, a great police organization, but rather a great political corporation, whose duty it is to take such active measures as will best conduce to the highest welfare, to the greatest happiness of the people, constantly bearing in mind that we of the present generation, in view of the blessings received from the past, are in duty bound to provide for

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