cannot call them into active service for a longer period than nine months in any one year. The organized militia, termed the National Guard, consists of State troops trained by State officers, and may be called out by the Governor of the State whenever needed to assist the civil authorities in suppressing riots. The State militia may be called into the service of the United States, in which case it is subject to the orders of the President and is paid and cared for like the regular army (I 16).

The navy of the United States holds high place in the esteem of the American people. Our naval history is singularly free from incidents calculated to diminish admiration for this branch of the public service. The Revolution and the War of 1812 showed that our small navy was not below the greatest in the skill of its captains, the quality of its ships, and the valor of its sailors. In modern times the navy has met every test with such success that few observers will be found to deny its equality, so far as individual efficiency of men, ships, and guns is concerned, with the navy of any other great power. In recent wars the record of the navy has been one of almost unbroken success. Our naval service has always been imbued with a high sense of loyalty to the constituted authorities of the country.

A navy is in an absolute sense an instrument of warfare, and is large or small only with reference to the strength of the enemy it may be called upon to encounter. The main thing to be sought is the keeping up of the efficiency of the various vessels as instruments of defense under the control of skilled officers and men. The annual expenditure at present is about one hundred and four millions of dollars.

The oldest vessels of our battleship division are the veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Oregon, Massachusetts,

Indiana, and the Iowa, the formidable fighting machines at Santiago. Since that time, many great battleships have been put in commission. The Texas lies in Chesapeake Bay, torn and battered by the practice-fire of the New Hampshire. The present tendency as to battleship armament places dependence upon large guns of great caliber and long range; with a numerous battery of rapid-fire guns of small caliber used in repelling torpedo boats.

The officers of the army and navy are not subject to impeachment, but are tried before special military or naval courts called courts-martial, which are appointed for the purpose by the President of the United States.

The power to grant letters of marque and reprisal is vested in Congress. By this is meant the granting of authority whereby private persons are permitted to fit out privateers or armed vessels to prey upon an enemy's commerce. Such license was given in the War of 1812; but the great nations of the world have abandoned the practice.

The District of Columbia.-The capital of the United States is the city of Washington, situated in the District of Columbia, at the head of navigation on the Potomac River. This Federal District was originally ten miles square, and was ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia. The part ceded by Virginia was returned to that State in 1845, and the area of the District is now only seventy square miles. The District is under the direct jurisdiction of Congress. The inhabitants have no representation in Congress, nor any rights of suffrage at local or National elections. The executive and judicial officers are appointed by the President, and Congress acts as the legislature of the District (I 17).

Implied Powers.-Congress is granted the power to make all laws which are necessary and proper for carrying into exe

cution the powers that have been described above, and all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer of the Government (I18). It was impossible to enumerate every particular act which Congress could perform; so, certain powers were expressly granted, and this general grant of power was added. It has been held that this clause confers no additional power; since, wherever the general power to do a thing is given, the particular powers necessary for doing it are included. This has been called the "elastic or sweeping clause," because it can be urged in defense of almost any action of Congress. Patrick Henry, who was a fierce critic of the Constitution and strongly opposed its adoption by Virginia, centered his objections about the single idea that, as it then stood, it seriously endangered the rights and liberties of the people of the several States.

The adoption of the Constitution was sufficient warrant to Congress in the use of all the means which were expressly delegated powers given by that instrument. But the need of a strong government soon gave rise to the doctrine of implied powers, a doctrine advanced by Alexander Hamilton. This doctrine rests upon the idea that unless directly prohibited by the Constitution, all powers found necessary and proper for carrying out the powers specifically granted, are given to the government by implication. The power to do a thing includes the power to use the necessary means for doing it. While the doctrine of implied powers has never been entirely denied by any American statesman, great differences as to the extent of the application of the principle have given rise to the two great schools of political thought which have molded the policy of the nation and brought it to its present proud position. In the Cabinet of Washington, two great men were the

exponents of these contrasting principles. Jefferson, the Secretary of State, believing that the government was one of delegated powers, endeavored to limit Congress as closely as possible to the powers enumerated in the Constitution. The followers of Jefferson took their stand as advocates of the strict construction of the Constitution. On the other hand, Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, advocated the idea of a broad construction. In his view, the Constitution was to be interpreted as granting all powers that go to make up a strong and efficient government; not only those powers expressly indicated in the Constitution, but also those which should be found, as time unfolded, to be fairly and clearly implied in the objects for which the Government was established.

Broadly speaking, the Republican party of to-day may be said to date back to Hamilton, while the Democratic party follows in the policy of Jefferson. Through their mutual control against excesses, these two principles of interpretation, broad construction and strict construction, have wrought for the good of the country. The one gave us a strong financial policy and the extension of the functions of government to all the great objects necessary to the creation of a vigorous and united Nation. The other prevented the Bank of the United States from becoming a vast political force, a menace to the liberties of the people, and gave us instead an independent treasury keeping its vast balances in its own vaults.

QUESTIONS

Is the money you pay for a postage stamp a tax?

Does the Constitution of the United States declare any general principle in reference to taxation?

What three restrictions does the Constitution of the United States place upon the taxing power of Congress?