Thus confusion is avoided when the National Government transacts all international business instead of leaving it to the separate states. It is only by uniting into the United States of America that we are strong enough to impress other nations.

Other Divisions of Government

So far it has been pointed out that the people are strong because they have divided themselves into certain workable groups called villages, towns, counties, cities, states, and the nation; that each group has certain duties to perform; that if it were not for the harmonious working together of all of these groups the people could not rule.

We may now consider another wise arrangement that we, the people of the United States, have made so that our government would work smoothly. Just as we have divided ourselves into great groups, so we have divided the people that represent us into three main divisions, each having a special kind of work to do. These three divisions are the legislative, the executive and the judicial.

The Legislative Division From the very nature of the case the first task of our government is to lay down the rules by which all of us must be guided in our actions. These rules must be made to suit the wishes of the majority, and to promote the welfare of the people in the community. As we put it: The Majority Rules. In order that these rules may be formed in an orderly manner, we elect certain men to study our problems and to put the needed rules into

laws. When such lawmakers represent the people of a city, they are generally called city councils. Bodies of this sort make rules that are known as local ordinances.

When the elected lawmakers, representing the various sections of the state, come together in a body, they are known individually as legislators and together as the state legislature. For convenience and thoroughness in handling their work, such state legislatures are divided into two groups, usually known as the Senate and the House of Representatives or the Assembly.

When the elected lawmakers representing the various states come together as a group, they are known individually as United States congressmen, and collectively as Congress. For convenience and thoroughness in handling its work, Congress is divided into two parts which are called by the same names as the two divisions of the State legislature, namely: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

All of these bodies come together for the same purpose-to make laws. Each has its own field within which it must work. The local group makes only local laws; the state group makes only state laws; the national group makes laws which concern the whole country.

The Executive Division After laws are made they must be enforced. There must be some definite group chosen to carry out the will of the majority. There must be some group that will carry out the laws and see that the people do their legal duties. For this purpose the

people have selected a group of officers that is known as the Executive.

The Mayor is the head of the town and city law-enforcing body. Under the mayor are several chief city officers who in turn have under them men and women who administer the laws.

In the states the executive consists of the Governor and a corps of chief officers, many of whom are elected by the people, but some of whom are appointed by the governor with the approval of the senate.

For the nation the President is the chief executive. With him work the Vice President and a small group of men known as the Cabinet and selected by the President. These officers constitute the group which administers the law.

The Judicial Division

Beside the law-making group, and the law-administrative group, there must be a law-judging group. The meaning of the law has to be made clear. Questions continually arise. Some people claim that a given law means one thing, while other people say that to them it means just the opposite. Decisions must be reached and people must be compelled to abide by the laws, or to suffer the legal penalties if they disobey them. That part of the government which decides what the laws mean and which inflicts penalties for violation of the laws, is called the judiciary. The sep

arate persons in the judiciary are known as judges.

A justice of the peace is a judge who acts in a village or township. A magistrate is a judge in a city. Judges of the State Supreme Court decide upon the meaning of the laws pertaining to the state. They are known as chief justices and associate judges. The nation has also its law-judging body-the federal courts, with the United States Supreme Court at its head. They interpret the law as it applies to the United States, more especially as it touches the Constitution.

The preceding paragraph completes a general description of the three great functions of government: (1) to make the law; (2) to administer the law; (3) to interpret and enforce the law. All three working together promote the best interests of the people.

Government is intended to improve living conditions. It compels us to uphold definite standards. It produces order and security. Through it we enjoy liberty, for it makes it possible for us to carry on our chosen work without interference from the thoughtless and the criminal. Government represents the system that we ourselves have built. Without it, as a people, we should be weak. It is our duty to do all in our power, as individuals, toward making these three divisions of governmentthe legislative, the executive and the judicial-always work properly.

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ILL THE UMPIRE; he's rotten! yell the fans as the local star slides home and is called out. Rules and umpires, what troublesome things they are, yet how necessary wherever people play or work together! 'Play ball," snaps the umpire as the argument among the players becomes hot over a decision. Get off the field,"

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he orders an offending player who uses abusive and profane language.

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States, do we lift our hats to the ladies? Why do drivers of wagons and automobiles in America use the right side of the road, but in England the left?

These common every-day customs and habits are rules which have been carried down through generations of people, from father to son, until today we do not even question them. They are part

Laws, rules; umpires, penalties are necessary in every walk of life. Despite our dislike of being hemmed in by restrictions, we may not act as we please. Life is too complex. We live among too many neighbors. The game of life without rules or umpires or penalties would simply mean the trampling of the weak by the strong. This would be a world in which selfishness would be supreme. There would be no respect for, and understanding of, the rights of others.

How Rules Began

How have many old customs-everyday customs-of life arisen? Why, in the wedding ceremony, is a ring used? Why is there a "best man"? Why are straw hats put away each year on the fifteenth day of September, rather than on the thirtieth? Why, in the United

of our daily life. In a great great many cases they run back to a time before a record of the deeds and thoughts of man was kept.

Custom and Caste

In India customs have been carried to such an extreme as to separate the people of that great country into groups so distinct and so cut off from each other that a member of one group, usually called a caste, cannot marry into another. Differences between groups are

so sharp that members of one of these groups cannot eat with the members of another, cannot even touch the other's hand or garment without losing caste. In India an individual is born into his work, into his occupation, into a place in life, and he can never move into another place, because he belongs to a certain established caste.

How different the United States would be if every citizen belonged to a caste! If, because a boy's father was