all the rest to the State authorities. Nor will it escape the notice of the English reader that, in the few examples we have been able to give of legislation which has been held to be ultra vires of the States, there are some bearing a strong likeness to measures now before Parliament or already passed into law. What may be termed exceptional legislation, particularly with reference to contracts, has doubtless been chiefly called for by the exceptional circumstances of Ireland; but even in the general legislation of the Imperial Parliament many things are done or proposed to be done which would be either incompetent or of very doubtful validity if attempted by a domestic Legislature under the American system. STATE LIMITATION.-Then above and beyond the Imperial restrictions there are the limitations which the people of the State themselves impose upon their own Legislature through the enactments of the State Constitution. When these enactments are violated by a measure passed by the State Legislature, it is the duty of any court in which the question may be raised to declare them null and void. It is the business of the State courts to interpret both the Constitution and the statutes of the State, and, subject to what is said elsewhere, the opinion of the State court will be followed as conclusive by the courts of the United States. A STATE CONSTITUTION usually contains, first, a Bill of Rights; secondly, a scheme for the organisation of the State government in three branches, legis lative, executive, and judicial; and thirdly, a series of restrictions on the powers of the Legislature, mandatory or prohibitive. "It may generally be said that the Constitutions of the Western States are more elaborate, more cumbrous, and more frequently amended than those of the Eastern. One reason for this is, that in the West the State Constitution is frequently made the instrument for making laws which are in most States unconstitutional; another, that in the West many things are put into the Constitution which are elsewhere left to the Legislature." In other words, the Western democracies are less inclined to trust their representatives, and accordingly withdraw many subjects altogether from their control. The Bill of Rights in a State Constitution is generally a compendium of declarations on the subject of the fundamental rights of the citizen. The English Bill of Rights is generally incorporated, modified "by the addition of new provisions of a similar nature founded on Magna Charta, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States and old Province Charters." The right to life, liberty, equality, property, and the like need not be regarded. as a limitation on legislative powers. Freedom of conscience, especially in matters of religion, is pretty generally asserted. Five Constitutions expressly provide that there shall be no established Church, and twenty-four that no man can be compelled against his consent to support or attend any church. In fourteen * Stimson's "American Statute Law," p. 1. States the Constitution prohibits grants of public money to any Church or sectarian institution. In New Hampshire the Legislature is empowered to authorise towns or parishes to provide at their own expense for the support of Protestant ministers. Twenty-seven Constitutions declare that no religious test shall be required as a qualification for office; but five exclude those who deny the existence of a Supreme Being. In all the States except New Hampshire and Delaware the Legislature is directed to establish a system of free education, which, moreover, is pretty generally required to be of secular, or at least unsectarian, character, and less generally includes regulations compelling the attendance of children between specified ages. Freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the right to hold public meetings for the redress of grievances and the instruction of representatives, trial by jury in civil and criminal cases, are all specially protected from legislative interference in the Constitutions of many States. Imprisonment for debt is prohibited in most Constitutions, and the exemption of the homestead and of necessary personal property from sale or seizure under ordinary legal process is ordained in nearly one-half of the Constitutions.* Most of the State Constitutions contain provisions to protect private property from being tampered with *The principle of exempting necessaries to a limited amount is practically universal in legislation, but in nineteen States it is made compulsory by the Constitution, and in sixteen the homestead is similarly protected. by the Legislature. Thus in twenty-six States it is specially ordained in the Constitution that no man's property shall be taken from him for public purposes without due compensation, which, as a rule, must be ascertained by a jury. In others, no property is to be taken for public uses without the owner's consent or full compensation. Some Constitutions have similar declarations as to the taking of property in certain cases for private uses, such as rights-of-way, drains, flumes, &c. A few Constitutions prohibit discriminations between citizens and aliens with respect to the enjoyment and possession of property, real or personal. Provisions safeguarding the rights of accused persons under the criminal law are also very general. Trial by jury, excessive bail, Habeas Corpus, change of venue, the right to appear by counsel and compel the attendance of witnesses, restraints on excessive punishments, are among the most frequent headings. Most of the Constitutions repeat the language of the Federal Constitution in prohibition of ex post facto legislation.* Some Constitutions contain special provisions relating to particular kinds of offences, as duelling, bribery, "lobbying," corrupt legislation, embezzlement of public funds, &c. These, it may be presumed, are placed in the Constitution because the Legislatures were more or less reasonably supposed to be unlikely to handle them with sufficient stringency. * The rule against ex post facto legislation applies only to the criminal law. In the general provisions restraining and defining the province of legislation there is obvious a prevailing policy of uniformity and equality between man and man and between class and class. Nearly all the Constitutions contain a clause expressly forbidding partial legislation in large classes of subjects, which vary in the different Constitutions. Sometimes it is declared generally that no special, local, or private law may be passed in any case for which provision is or may be made by general law, or where relief can be obtained in the ordinary tribunals of the State. The following are examples of matters respecting which local or special legislation is forbidden by many Constitutions, viz., matters concerning The opening or vacating of public roads, highways, squares, &c. The sale or conveyance of real estate. The validation of informal deeds. The interest on money. The legitimation of children. Divorce, Corporations, in respect of their creation, charters, franchises, or exclusive privileges. The powers and duties of justices of the peace, magistrates, &c. The incorporations of cities, towns, and villages, location of county seat, &c. The assessment and collection of taxes and exemptions from taxation. Fees and salaries of public officers. |