nities, such as 5 and cities, ers which apconduct of the unity must be the local govraffic rules are Certain streets rters in large ff for children ules are made Lot go through ets." People ts are not alup. fire-escapes boxes, since in would hinder g to the street. demic strikes th Department ng possible to Es being overust quarantine ple who have ne epidemic is an be repealed. are local and n their nature. or city an inand will have any minor laws These rules rdinances, and a city depart- given by law. by a city counother body of Then, must obey s of the land In the Constituobey statutory been passed by ate legislatures. ey local ordito meet local Where New Laws Come From are Every legislature has all sorts of proposals made to it to put into law. Some may suggest that certain movie films bad for children to see, and may urge the state to appoint a commission to censor such objectionable films. A group of working people, seeing the dangers of unprotected machinery in factories, may request the passage of a law making necessary the introduction of safety devices. A flood may have swept over a town and a bill be introduced to widen and deepen the river channel in question. An epidemic of typhoid fever breaks out in a city, and a bill is drawn up to build a new filtration plant. Congress may have appointed a committee to study some very complex question, such as immigration or savings banks, for the purpose of making a complete report and recommendations for a new law. Proposals flow in from every direction to a legislature. Kinds of Law Every citizen is subject to two kinds of law: criminal and civil. A crime is an offense against public security and peace. An individual who commits a crime has injured his state or his community, and must be punished by the state or community. Any person breaking a law is subject to arrest and punishment by the government. Penalties are attached to every law. If a person murders another, he may be electrocuted or imprisoned for life. If he breaks the traffic rules, he may be fined a few dollars or sent to jail for one day. Every national, state or local legislature h sorts of proposals made to enact into law. of working people, seeing the danger of unpro A machinery, may request the legislature of their to pass a law making necessary tion of SAFETY DEVICES. the int . A FI HAS SWEPT OVER A TOWN and a bill is in duced to widen and deepen the river channel. national legislature may have appointed a committe such as a U. S. Senate Committee, to study son question as, for example, IMMIGRATION. these measures may in time become law. Each Every Citizen is subject to two kinds of law, criminal and civil. He who breaks a law must pay a penalty. If a person BREAKS A TRAFFIC RULE, he may be fined a few dollars or sent to jail for one day. If his offence is greater, HE MAY BE LOCKED UP IN JAIL FOR A LONG TIME. A Difficult Ma Between these two of sentences are hu other laws, each with vidual punishment co imprisonment, a fine, of the privilege of c It is a difficult matte to know what penalt be attached to a crime alty, if possible, shou fit the nature and mag the crime. When a person brea inal law, he may be arr police officer, if there is that he has broken the 1 a citizen may arrest the in case of threatened Warrants or permits are required, however more serious crimes. A is issued by a court, a dence has been given a to that a certain nam vidual has committed a crime. The Grand Jury is body which may warrants for the arrest who have committed crimes. It is a body of who are called togeth vestigate the evidence o The district attorney other prosecuting offic resenting the state, pres evidence and if the evi strong enough, the gra swears out a warrant an individual with the c orders his arrest. Rights of the Accu Constitutions, both S Federal, guarantee an in accused of crime certai se two extremes are hundreds of ch with its indient consisting of fine, or the loss e of citizenship. matter at times penalties should crime. A pen, should always ad magnitude of n breaks a crimbe arrested by a here is evidence n the law. Even est the offender tened violence. mits to arrest wever, for the nes. A warrant ourt, after eviiven and sworn n named inditted a specified ery is another y swear out rrest of people nitted serious ody of citizens ogether to inence of crimes. rney or some - official rep E, presents the me evidence is e grand jury rant charging the crime and Accused oth State and an individual certain rights citizen who is y (a serious of imprison ment or worse), is entitled to a speedy He is en Criminal and Civil Law All cases of this character com the heading of Civil Law. Ma of course, are both civil and c An automobile driver reckless and broken the law and may ha same time injured a person. H be tried in a criminal court by th and he may at the same time b Courts and judges have two pu In the first place they are organi find out whether an individua committed a crime, and if he H sentence him-to punish him. are also organized to settle di personal and property rights. Th between people over the questi group of courts are called Cri Courts, the second Civil Courts. S courts, called Probate Courts, handle cases of inheritan or Surr wills. An individual charged with a crime by the injured for damages. over Civil Law Many disputes arise among people Possibly you have bought a Constitutional Decisions In the United States the courts another important function to perf found in the Constitution of a S Certain very fundamental rules shown before. In America, courts de or of the United States, as has mine whether any statute, law, or o nance is in conflict with constitutio law. This power is very important it gives the court the task of guard the constitution against assault by leg lation. A law, if declared unconsti tional by a court, cannot be enforced. Everyone, under all circumstanc should obey the laws. Every resident a community, whether a citizen or n should obey the laws. The laws of t land must be upheld at all costs. government must execute the laws they should be executed. they are, not as individual citizens thir T Drawing by Hanson Booth for new nations The Constitution of the United States "The Most Wonderful Work Ever Struck Off at a Given Time Brain and Purpose of Man"-Gladstone W MADE E HAVE LATELY It is not an easy Conditions After the Revo On October 19th, 1781, at Y Cornwallis surrendered to the American and French forc battle ended the American R for Independence. The long cessfully concluded. with England had been fought, The Original States faced an inde Twenty Minutes takes but twenty min- ment of Government in There is no better way to know and to understand the CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES than to read it. No writer can explain it in more simple or concise language than is used in the CONSTITUTION itself...It is the foundation of American Government. citizens. These new 47 future in m same condi these new c just mention While th was on, ed conditions H come 1 great moralized. F had been neg Armies had m back and fort New England Carolinas destruction b Paper money been reckless sued until the onists looked u piece of Conti money in mud same way tha strians and sians, since the World War, have l upon kronen and rubles. "Not v a continental" is still a saying in rent use, which has come down those early revolutionary days paper money was so plentifully pri Many of the colonies and thous of the colonists were badly in Prices were high, life was disorgan everything was in confusion, as the nation of America began its indep ent career. Troubles immedia |