The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-06-19

| Runlrs. EaCn township mas us local 'e2lSiA'
ture. the town meeting. and Its elected local
executive aud Judiciary. Next above the
township stands the county, which also has a
local assembly and county executive and
judiciary. Above tho counties rises the state
| Government with State administrators and
Judges and Legislature which passes laws
relating to Stat affairs. Over all is the Fed
eral Government. which deals solely with ma
tional concern. The whole forms o graduated
and harmonious system.
| Now how came this system to America? II
was only whore the Puritans settled that the
township AMI the town meeting were de-
veioped Virginia. which was most purely
English and least Puritan attem pied to re-
produce tho chaotic condition Of things In tho
mother country: to copy directly the parishes
and vestries. the boroughs and guilds Of Eng
| land. The origin Of our system of local gov
eminent must be sough: elsewhere. and 1t Ia
| one OF the objects OF this book to show TINT
this. like most other distinctive American In
situations. came from Holland.
| Besides the institutions thus far mentioned
| there are some characteristic traits OF Amsri.
can society which nee1 to be glanced at In Or
der to complete the negative part Of Mr.. Camp
| BELLS exposition. Cons picuous among these
| dom OF religion. freedom OF the press. md the
| secret ballot. For no one OF these are we in
| dpbted to the legislation or the example Of the
! mother country As to the Introduction OF
, religious Liberty in tho two countries. a few
dates are decisive To this hour the Es-
tablished Church IN England exacts a
tax from every English subject. With
! tho exception OF this tax. however.
| all religious denominations stand to-day
! in England on basis OF equality before the
law. except that Catholic is disqualified from
| holding certain ottl,ea But the estahl shmsnt
OF this equality is OF very recent data The
partial Act of liberation enacted In 1859. was
not extended to Unltarans until 1913 to
Roman Catholics until 1922. and to jews until
| 1858. Up to thos, dates tn b, mrmhers Of the
prescribed religious bodies were excluded
| from public ofilce, md it was not until 1871
! that all religious tests were abolished in the
universities OF Oxford AMI CAMBRIDGE. The
| removal of this last restriction to,k place
ncnrly hun Ire years after rsli go IL liberty
! had been proclaine in the United States.
Now as to tho re don Of tho press: here
only few facts AMI dates need to DO brought
| forward. About ac"ntu'y ate tho printing
press was introduced into England 1t was placed
| under rigorous censo h p. and this system
! continued until lG!cs. when the lcen.in:
law WAS permitted to expire. With the abolition
! OF the censorship, however. the English Judges
! took UP the supervision Of tho press. and
! under their mnninulntion OF the law Of libel
| especially through th-ir proca nation OF the
| maxim, The greater the truth the greater the
| litel"-the press WAS aim ,St eTec: ualy
strnnglcd as under the licensing system. 1t was
only In the year 1915. under Lord CAM bels
Lii 81 bill. that the proof was finally admitted in
| evidence. and the jury was allowed to decide
| whether the dcfen liant was actuated by malice
| or by q desire for the good OF the commu-
! nifty. On the other hand. in the United
| States the first amen ments to the Federal
Constitution. adoptei in 1871. provided that
| Congress should make no laws restricting the
| Freedom OF speech or Of the press. and most OF
the early State Constitutions had already con-
| tained similar or more stringent guarantee.
| But in 1880 further stop had been taken by
one OF the Middle States. In that yenr Penn
! sylvana adopted her second Constitution.
! which included a provision that in prose-
| cutlons for the publication Of papers In.
vestgating the official conduct OF Off
GERS or men in a public capacity or where
| the matter published was proper for public
| Information. the truth thereof might he given
| in evidence: and in all indictments for libel the
| jury should h ave right to determine the law
aud the facts. This was nfty-live years
before Lord CampbeIls bill. Initiating
Pennsy.vRnia's example the other States soon
made with similar provisions. 1t Is especially
noteworthy from tho viewpoint Of Mr.. Camp
BELLS inquiries that in New York. and rs
early rs 1888. the lawyers insisted that the
English law OF libel was not I'D plicable to that
province. and the court held with them so far
as to permit tho jury to pass upon the law as
we'll as the facts.
We come finally to the secret ballot. the
safeguard Of free Institutions and her,
again Mr. Campbell exhibits America as
! an instructor. an not as q copvist OF gland.
When the thirteen Colonies III Jpted their first
State Constitutions. from l71j to 1870 Ave Of
the thirteen q aware. Pennsylvania. North
Carolina. Georgia. and Vermont provided
that all voting at elections should be by bal
lot. The Constitution OF New York per-
mitted the legislature to try It ms an ex-
pertinent. This was done In the cleo
ton OF Governor and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In l77S and ton years later the new
system was fully introduced. Following these
examples all tho States. oil AMI new have by
their Constitutions provided for the same
mode OF voting In Great Britain. on the
other hand. all municipal elections and all
elections for m bers OF Parliament wsre
conducted by show OF hands. or oral declara-
tions up to twenty years ago. The provision
for voting by ballot which figured in the
original graft OF the reform Dill OF Loru john
Russell was denoun 'ed and repndiatcd as
"mouse-trap" scheme. The influence OF the
men who proilted by Intimidation or corrup-
ton was powerful enough to prevent the
adoption OF tho ballot until 1872 when Mr..
Forster passed his famous act
"
Leaving finally the Great institutions which
lie at the base of tho republic. Mr..
Campbell completes tho groundwork OF his
book by showing that In the treatment o! her
abnormal ard criminal population. America Is
not the pupil. but the instructor OF Great
Britain. This is true OF our asylums for the
blind. deaf and dumb and imbecile. and OF
our prison roforms There remains still an
important topic In connection with the authors
subject. Wiz. the American system of law.
which is usually reg trded as OF English ori-
gin. AS for the machinery OF justice. We did
certainly not derive from England tho pro-