which a person has as a citizen of the United States, not as a citizen of a State. For instance, no State shall abridge the right to plead in the United States courts, to share in the offices of the United States, to become a citizen of another State, to use the navigable waters of the country, to go abroad and enjoy there the protection guaranteed to American citizens by treaty or otherwise, etc.

176. Parts Inoperative.-The first sentence in Section 2 is an amendment to Clause 3, Section 2, Article I (sce p. 41). The second sentence, it is believed, is made inoperative by the Fifteenth Amendment, which altogether forbids the denial of the franchise on certain grounds and evidently permits the denial on other grounds. It would seem inconsistent for the Fourteenth Amendment indirectly to sanction what is forbidden and indirectly to punish what is permitted in the Fifteenth. There are no longer any persons living on whom Section 3 can operate, for all Confederates still living have had their disabilities removed as prescribed in the section.

177. Civil War Debts.-The fear that Congress might some day attempt to question any of the debts incurred by the United States during the Civil War, or to assume the debts incurred by the Confederate States, was the reason for adopting Section 4, in the Fourteenth Amendment.

Questions on the Sections.-Define a citizen of the United States. Is a child of a foreign minister and born in this country, a citizen? What must a State secure to a person not a citizen? How are Representatives apportioned? What debts of the United States shall not be questioned? What debts shall not be assumed? What prohibitions are laid on the States in regard to debts and claims arising out of the Civil War?

ARTICLE XV.-AS TO THE RIGHT TO VOTE

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

178. Voting a Political Right.-The right to vote is not a civil right, like those, for instance, designated in the Declaration of Independence as "unalienable." It is classed with the political rights, those which are allowed to individuals in the government, like the right to hold office, to serve as a juror, etc.

179. The States Grant the Right to Vote.-The Fifteenth Amendment does not confer the right to vote on anyone; that power belongs to the States. It merely prohibits the States from discriminating against anybody "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In all the States which had the words "white man" as a qualification for voting in their constitution when the amendment went into effect, the Fifteenth Amendment did indirectly give the negro the right to vote.

Questions on the Section. Can a State grant the right to a person not a citizen? Can a State deny the right on account of sex? Can a State deny the right to a Chinese as such?

CHAPTER VI

A COMPARISON OF GOVERNMENTS

ENGLAND

1. The Executive.-Nominally the King is the executive; but practically the Cabinet conducts the government and is in reality the executive. The chief executive power was last exercised by the King in the time of the Stuarts. During their reigns Parliament had gained so much supremacy that when it offered the throne, made vacant by James II., to William and Mary, 1689, it did so only on condition that the new sovereigns would recognize it as the supreme power in the government. Since that time, except during the reign of George III., the Sovereign of England has had to content himself (or herself) with being an honored and more or less influential hereditary councillor. The President of the United States has far more power than the Sovereign of Great Britain; but it is derived from the people and limited in time and extent. The English Government, however, pays liberally for its royal rule. The whole royal family receives annually about $4,000,000.

2. Parliament.-Parliament had its origin in the ancient shire-mote (see p. 19). When shires became consolidated into kingdoms the legislative power of the shires was transferred to a wider representative body, called the "Witenagemote," or the Assembly of the Wise.

When William the Conqueror came to the throne the Witenagemote merged into the Great Council. The members of this body were not representatives elected by the people, as in the Witenagemote, but every man who held land under the King had a right to a seat. But as only great land owners, like the barons and bishops, would attend a national council, these at length became the exclusive members. Such was the composition of the Great Council until June 15, 1215, when King John reluctantly signed the Magna Charta at Runnymede. It was then that the principle of representation was revived. Commoners, as well as nobles and churchmen, were given seats in the national assembly. At first all these classes sat as one house; but as there was much difference of rank and station the commoners formed another house-the House of Commons. The nobles ("lords temporal”) and the higher clergy (“lords spiritual") thenceforth constituted the House of Lords. These changes were completed in the fourteenth century.

3. The House of Lords.-The membership of the House of Lords consists of English hereditary peers (dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons) and of the two archbishops and a number of bishops; of Scottish peers elected by the whole body of Scotch peers for the term of Parliament; of Irish peers elected by the peers of Ireland to sit for life; and of three judges appointed for life, known as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary. The total number of Lords-temporal and spiritual-is about 600. Peers can be created at will by the Crown. Two-thirds of the present number were created in the nineteenth century.

The House of Lords, like the King, has much more

nominal than real power. Its consent is necessary to every act of legislation; but it dares not to withhold it when the House of Commons has the unquestioned support of the people on a measure. The House of Lords is also the supreme court of appeal in England; but this function is exercised by the Lord Chancellor, speaker of the House of Lords, assisted by the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, and other Lords who are especially learned in the law.

4. The House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons are elected by counties, boroughs, and universities, in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The total number since 1885 has been 670, of which England elects about seventy-five per cent. The term is seven years; but no House of Commons has ever lived so long, for it has always been dissolved before the term expired. Any subject over twenty-one years of age is eligible to election, except clergymen, government contractors, sheriffs, English and Scottish peers (certain Irish peers are), bankrupts, and elective officers. The members cannot resign their seats except when appointed to a position of honor and profit under the Crown, or are otherwise disqualified.

5. The Sessions of Parliament.-There is at least one session a year, which lasts from the middle of February to the middle of August. The daily sessions begin at 4 P.M. in the House of Commons and at 5 P.M. in the House of Lords, and frequently extend far into the night. They are practically night sessions. The Commons organize by electing one of their members Speaker. The choice must be nominally approved (which is always done) by the Crown. The Speaker does not debate, but