The sun., 1898-01-23

on the shoulders OF tho Magistrate. and often
placed the duty Of deciding urgent questions
entirely In the hands Of tho regularly constitut-
cd Council or Senate. which always remained at
the centre OF affairs, We nro not informed re-
specting other the numbers or tho mode Of
composing this Senate but the fact that Il could,
and often did, act for tho General Assembly.
leads one TO suppose that, like the Senate OF
Etolla. It was composed Of permanent repro.
sentatives appointed by the States. Mr.. Green
idge deems 1t probable that the Senators wero
appointed annually. and woro real representa-
tives and not mere delegates with fixed instruc-
tions. We may hero mention that the ordinary
meetings of tho General Assembly took place
at Egion, whereas the extraordinary meetings
were called for any time or place that might be
convenient; in B. G. 1870 the unfairness Of hav-
ing fixed capital for tho federal Government
30 far as distant cities were involved an unfair
ness seriously felt in tho ancient world on
account Of the difficulties of communication,
was romedied by measure which obliged
the assemblies to be held in every city of the
league in turn.
Tho chief executive officials OF tho AchGan
League wero the Strategoi or Generals. who
stood at the head Of the Government, and ten
purely civil Ministers. called Dcmiurgoi, who as
sisted them in the work Of administration. For
tho first twenty-five years Of tho renewed ex-
istenoe Of the league. 1t was guided by two
Generals. but. in d. c. 255, the number was re-
ducod to one. The General was COMMANDMENT
Chief OF the army; he also conducted negotia-
tions with foreign states; ho was expected to
initiate all important decrecs OF the General
Assembly. whereof, unlike the Etolnn Gen.
eral, he was not merely tho President, but
member. Tho fact that the General had no col
leagues invested with tho combination Of civil
and military authority made his ministerial
powers far greater than those Of similar
officials In q city democracy. In tho
Strategus, or General of the Achean League,
we may discern the prototype Of the President
OF the United States. There was this difference,
however. that the vast powers possessed by the
Chief Magistrate were felt by tho Acheans to
be 80 dangerous that rule prohibited immedi-
ate reelection to tho post. Moreover he was
held responsible after the expiration Of his year
OF Office. General might, however, be elected
In alternate years. and, II he retained the
confidence Of tho people. might secure
in the intermediate period the election
of of his owr adherents. This was
the way In which Aratus secured the continuity
OF his rule. We observe, finally, with regard to
this example of federal system, that 1t bears
many resemblances to modern popular govern
ments. For the mass of nominal citizens in
was. as 1t is with us, a nero potentiality. The
power OF the central Government increased as
the limits of nominal citizenship were extended,
and the exercise Of this power involved q fore.
shadowing of the modern ministerial system.
AS our aim Is to show where suggestions may
have been obtained from Hellenic history by the
authors of our own Federal Constitution, it
would be mistake to take leave Of Mr.. Green
idge's book without referring to n nearly perfect
example of confederation evolved by a race
which. though non.Hellenic. was Hellenistic.
What was known as the Lycian League is pro-
nounccd by Mr.. Greendge the fairest product
of that mastery OF the barbarian mind by Greek
political thought which took such strong root In
Asia Minor. The origin OF the league is un-
known. and the period Of its independence
when It's assembly used to decide on war. peace
and alliance is blank. In its later history
Lycia appears, first dependency of Rhodes
tB. c. 1ss16s), thon free State under
the Roman protectorate, until its independence
was taken away by the Emperor Claudius.
Through all the changes that preceded the clos
ing scene, it preserved its federal institutions.
description Of which was given by Strabo for
his own time (about 90 B. c. to 1s A. d. From
this description we learn that twenty-three
Lycian cities met in Federal Assembly. the place
of meeting being any city which was thought
best suited to the immediate purposes of the
gathering. 1t is interesting to Americans
who recall the debates on this point in the Phila
delphia Convention to hear that the voting
power of the city States was regulated in pro-
portion to their size; tho greatest had three
votes, the middle-sized two. the rest one vote
each. In the same proportion did they pay war
taxes and share in the public burdens. 1t is
alsO noticeable that tho I,yciarch Chief
Magistrate, together with the other Magistrates
of the league, and the members of the federal
courts. were chosen by tho Federal Assembly.
1t will be remembered that the Chief Executive
of the United States, under the Articles of Con-
federation was the presiding officer of the Con-
gress. and that certain members of the Phila-
delphia Convention desired to have our Chief
Magistrate elected by the Federal Legislature.
Returning to Lycia, VIC observe that the
principle of proportion was observed oven in
tho election Of Magistrates and Judges. who
were appointed from each city in accordance
with the number OF votes which it possessed in
the Federal Assembly. 1t is obvious that this
proportioning of votes. executive powers and
burdens TO the size Of the constituent cities
exhibited q close approach to q national as dis.
tinguished from federal Government. AS q
matter Of fact. the Lycian League stood mid
way between the Two politics and ignored the
principle of equal representation which should
be found somewhere in a true federal system
las. in the United States. it is found in tho Fed.
eral Senate and in the electoral colleges). since
1t Is tho expression Of the equal interest and of
the equal sovereignty of the only true unit of
such governments. tho individual State.
NJ. w. II.
Auduban's Journals.