Q. How many Congressmen are there?

A. 435, one for about every 211,000 inhabitants.

Q. After Congress passes a law, what is necessary for it to go into effect!

A. The President must either sign the law, or if he does not sign it, it becomes a law ten days after its passage, if Congress is still in session, unless the President in the meantime should veto it.

Q. What is meant by the President vetoing a bill?

A. Under the Constitution, after Congress passes a law, the President can either approve it or disapprove it, and this disapproval is called a veto. The law can not then go into effect if the President should veto it unless the law is passed. over his veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. Q. Who elects the President and in what manner?

A. The President is elected indirectly by the people, as follows: Every four years there are elected in each State according to the population of the State, Presidential electors, and these electors from all of the States vote for a President and a Vice-President. The man receiving the largest number of votes for President is elected President, and the same in the case of the Vice-President. The people do not vote directly for President. These electors are men who are nominated by the various political parties to be elected as electors, and although they are not required by law to vote for any particular man, yet as they are nominated by different political parties, they always vote for the man who has been nominated for President by their political party.

Q. For how long is the President elected, and what are his duties!

A. The President is elected for four years, and is eligible for re-election. He is Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and it is his principal duty to see that the Constitution and laws of the United States are enforced. With the consent of the Senate, he appoints all the United States Judges, foreign Ambassadors, Secretaries of Departments (called his Cabinet) and Commissions all the officers of the Army and Navy. He performs such other duties as are imposed upon him by Congress.

Q. How is the Vice-President elected?

A. He is elected in the same manner as the President.

Q. What are the duties of the Vice-President?

A. He presides over the Senate, and in case of the death of the President, he becomes President.

Q.
A.

Q.

What is the Judicial Branch of the Government?

It consists of the United States Courts.

What are these!

A. They consist of the Supreme Court of the United States, and of such inferior Courts as Congress may constitute.

Q. What is the Supreme Court of the United States?

A. It consists of one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, who are appointed by the President with the approval of the United States Senate, and the Supreme Court has the power to decide whether laws passed by Congress are in accordance with the Constitution or not, and if the Supreme Court decides that the laws passed by Congress are unconstitutional, then such laws have no effect.

Q. What other United States Courts are there besides the Supreme Court?

A. District Courts, Circuit Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal, between the Circuit Courts and the United States Supreme Court, and the Judges of these Courts are appointed by the President with the advice of the Senate, and are generally known as Federal Judges.

Q. Does Congress make the laws for the States!

A. It does only in such cases as are allowed by the Constitution of the United States, but each State has a Legislature which is modeled for each State like Congress is modeled for the United States.

Q.

What are the Legislatures of the various States! A. The Legislature of each State consists of the State Senate and an Assembly. Each State is divided, according to the laws of the State, into a certain number of Senatorial Districts and Assembly Districts, and the State Senators and Assemblymen who are members of these two branches of the Legislature, are elected directly by the people of the State. Q. For what term are the State Senators and Assemblymen elected?

A.

The State Senators are elected for four years and the Assemblymen for two years.

Q. Into how many branches are State governments divided?

A. Into the same number of branches as the United States Government is divided, the Executive or Governor, the Legislative or the State Legislature, and the Judicial or the Supreme Court of the State, and such other inferior courts as the Legislature may constitute.

Q. How is the Governor elected?

A. The Governor of a State is elected by the votes of the people.

Q. Do States have Constitutions!

A. Yes. Each State has a Constitution of its own, but not conflicting with the Constitution of the United States. Q. What are the duties of the Governor!

A. His duties are to see that the laws of the State are enforced, and he has the right to veto any law that is passed by the Legislature. If he vetoes the laws passed by the Legislature, they must be re-enacted by a two-thirds majority of both houses of the Legislature to go into effect. He is Commander-in-Chief of the State Militia.

A. In most of the States, the voters can sign a petition in favor of a law, file the petition with the Secretary of State of the State and the proposed law is placed on the ballot at the next election. If a majority of the voters then vote for the proposed law it becomes a law.

Q. What is the REFERENDUM ?

A. When the Legislature of a State submits a proposed law to the voters or the voters file a petition to have the law submitted to a vote of the people before it can become effective. The voters at the next election can then either vote to adopt it or reject it.

Q. What is the RECALL?

A. The right of the voters to dismiss, at an election called for that purpose, a person holding a public office.

Q. How is this done?

A. Registered voters, in sufficient number, sign a petition to recall an office holder. Unless the office holder resigns a special election is called and if a majority of the voters vote to recall him, the office holder is dismissed from his office. At the same election another person may be elected to the office after his name has been placed on the ballot of recall

by petition. If the person thus nominated receives a majority of votes he is elected to the office, while the holder of the office is dismissed. The percentage of registered voters that is required to sign a petition to recall an officer holder varies in different States, but is usually about 15 per cent. Not all States have laws providing for Initiative, Referendum and Recall, only such as have these provisions in their State Constitutions. No such laws apply to persons holding office under the Federal (National) Government.

Q. How are cities governed in the United States!

A. Some are governed under laws passed by the Legislature, or by Charter granted to the Cities. Some cities in the United States are governed by a Mayor and the City Council, and some are governed by Commissioners.

Q. How are these elected?

A. By the votes of the people residing in the city.

Q. Are all the people living in a City, County or State allowed to vote!

A. No, only those who have lived in a City, County or State for the time required by the laws of the State, and who have registered to vote as required by the laws of the State.

Q. Into what are States divided?

A. Each State is divided into the number of Counties convenient for its local government.

Q. Who governs in the various Counties!

The general local rules of government in each County are called Ordinances and are passed by the Board of Supervisors who are elected by the people.

Q. How are laws for a city enacted?

A. The City Council or City Commissioners, as the case may be, pass the laws for the City that are in accordance with its Charter and with the State laws. In some cities the members of the City Council are called Councilmen and in others they are called Aldermen. Some cities have two branches of the Council called the Select Council and the Common Council according to the laws or Charters provided for such Cities.

Q. How are Charters for Cities obtained?

A. As a rule City Charters are adopted by a vote of the people qualified to vote in each City, and are then passed by the Legislature of the State.

OF THE UNITED STATES

The Declaration of Independence.

In Congress, July 4th, 1776.

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, . and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.