put on the piles which their second choices indicate. For example, the first ballot on F's pile may give D as second choice. If so, it is placed on D's pile and counted for him. After F's pile has been distributed still no candidate has a majority of the votes. Therefore we break up E's pile, for that is the next smallest, and distribute it as the second choices indicate. In this way the smaller piles disappear until one candidate has been given more than half of all the ballots. He then has a majority vote. If one of the ballots with F as first choice was placed on E's pile, then if E's pile was broken up and these ballots distributed, the third choice on this ballot would be used; for F, the first choice, and E, the second choice, would already be out of the race. 29. One Objection to This Plan. Some say that this plan cuts F out of the race too soon because many of C's ballots might show a second choice for F. Those who think this objection important have invented another method of counting, but it is too difficult for us to describe at this time. The purpose of our present plan is to find a simple method by which the preferences of the voters may be expressed. SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS 1. How successful would an athletic team be which had no captain? 2. Try to describe the way an athletic association would work if it had no officers to plan its work and to take care of its money. 3. Which is the more useful member of a team; a pretty good player who does just what the coach tells him, or a somewhat better player who violates the rules and gets penalized? 4. For which member of the association do you have more respect; the one who helps the officers or the one who is always finding fault with them? 5. Which requires more brains; to criticise what is being done or to suggest a more helpful way of doing it? 6. If those who do not vote for the officers, try to spoil the work of these officers, are they faithful to the idea of selfgovernment? 7. If you have time in class try this experiment: elect a president of the class in the old-fashioned way without preferential ballots, and then with them. See if the result is the same. 8. If you try this experiment, arrange for it beforehand and Ery nominating by petition. 9. Why is it unfair to elect people to offices and then not try to help them enforce the rules? 10. The people of the city elect the school officers, and these officers make rules for the good of the pupils and the school. What do you think of a pupil who does not help the teacher to enforce the rules of the school? Is not such a pupil a sort of anarchist? CHAPTER IV A CONSTITUTION 30. Kinds of Rules. It is important to distinguish between rules or laws which form a part of the constitution and those which are made by the legislature after the government has been organized under the constitution. The former have to do with the organization of the government, and the latter with carrying on the work of the government after it is organized. The organic law of a State or Nation is called a constitution; that of a city is called a charter. Laws made by a State legislature or by Congress are called statutes; those made by a city council are called ordinances; and those made by a club are called by-laws. Statutes, ordinances, and by-laws are, therefore, but different names for laws of one kind, while constitutions and charters are names for laws of another kind. 31. Charters and Constitutions. When you begin to form an association or club, or when older people begin to form a government for a city or a State, the first step is to write a constitution or charter. The difference between these two is that a constitution is made for a government which is independent of higher authority, and a charter is made for one which is subject to higher authority, such as the government of a city; for a city is under the control of a State. Most people speak of the constitution for an association of pupils in a school, but it would be more correct to speak of it as a charter. The association is not independent; it is under the control of the school, and its members should always keep this fact clearly in mind. The word constitution is so generally used, however, for the organic law of clubs and associations that it will not be misleading to so use it if you understand the difference between charters and constitutions. 32. Organization. Nothing should be put into a charter or constitution except the rules which have to do with the organization. If other regulations are put in, the members or citizens may find it difficult to understand their government. This is one reason why it is so hard for us to understand the governments of our cities and States. The charters and constitutions often contain many things which should rather be in the ordinances or statutes. Let us see what the word organization means. It means to provide organs and it comes to us from the Latin. An organ, the dictionary tells us, is an instrument, and an instrument is something we work with. Therefore the charter or constitution, which organizes our government, provides something to work with. It provides for a legislature, which is an organ for making statutes; it provides for a court, which is an organ for trying cases; and it provides for an executive department, which is an organ to enforce the laws after they are made. Your association will need only a few organs; your constitution or charter therefore need not be long or complex. You will need a simple organ for making rules, and you will need some persons who will enforce these rules and do other things such as manage athletic teams and collect money. 33. A Constitutional Convention. We have already seen that a convention is an assembly or parliament. A constitutional convention is a meeting to discuss and to write a constitution. Such a convention needs the ordinary officers, such as a chairman, a secretary, and possibly a few others. It will save time if at its first meeting it selects committees on the subjects discussed in the following paragraphs of this chapter. These committees will study the subjects referred to them and bring in reports. Subsequent meetings of the convention will then discuss the reports of the committees, and so will have something definite to do. Each committee might write one article of the constitution. 34. Legislation. The committee on legislation will consider several problems, such as, first, who shall make rules; second, how these persons shall be elected; third, on what subjects they shall make rules; and fourth, how they shall go about their work? Therefore the article on legislation will contain at least four sections, each dealing with one of these problems. The first section will describe the legislature, which for an athletic association might consist of eight to fifteen or more members. It will perhaps be called the council or commission, and may be made up of representatives from the various teams or from the various classes in the school, so that all pupils may feel that they have a part in making the rules. The second section will describe the method of electing these representatives, possibly saying that the preferential ballot shall be used, and that elections must take place at some definite time in the school session. The third section will give a list of subjects on which the legislators are to make rules, such as membership on the teams, the award of the school numerals or letters, and the handling of the money of the association. The fourth section will describe the method of voting in the legislature, the number which must be present when |