here are those 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 any one; 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."

Questions on the Sections. 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 Chinaman as such?

ARTICLE XVI.—INCOME TAX

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatsoever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

180. Occasion of Its Adoption. For many years the high tariff rates yielded an abundant revenue to the United States, but when it was desired to reduce these rates some other means of securing sufficient revenue was sought. A law providing for a tax on in

comes was passed by Congress but declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1895, because it was not apportioned among the States according to population in accordance with Clause 3, Section 2, Article 1, of the Constitution. Then, as in the case of the Dred Scott decision, an amendment was passed to nullify the judgment of the court. So difficult is it, however, to change the Constitution that it was not until 1913 that Congress obtained the power to tax incomes without apportionment among the States according to population.

Questions on the Section.-Did the Sixteenth Amendment actually lay a tax on incomes? May Congress tax an income from stocks and bonds? An income from a salary? May Congress lay all kinds of direct taxes without apportionment among the States according to population?

ARTICLE XVII.-ELECTION OF SENATORS

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

181. A Fundamental Change.-The direct election of Senators is a change that the framers of the Consti

tution would have thought very radical. They purposely provided for the election of the Upper House by the State Legislatures so that the two Houses of Congress might not represent the same class of people, but might act as a check upon each other (see p. 40). For some time, however, people have felt that the old system did not work well, that the Senate was opposing the will of the voters as expressed by the House of Representatives, and that the trouble arose because the Senators were not directly responsible to the people. It was because this feeling grew so strong that the Seventeenth Amendment was finally passed. Although direct election of Senators tends to make the Senate more directly representative of the people, it should be remembered that the House is still the more "popular" branch of Congress, since its members are apportioned according to population. Thus Nevada has one Representative and New York has forty-three. But each State has two Senators.

Questions on the Section.-When may the Governor of a State appoint a Senator? Who may vote for a Senator? How are vacancies filled?

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.

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