The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-02-01

law has to do with the regulation of prop
erty rights and their protection, sanitary
arrangements and so forth. Civil law pre-
scribes the manner in which person may
acquire property and how he must use it
when he does acquire it. 1t lays down
rules governing the intermarriage of its
subjects and for the protection of the home.
Criminal law on the other hand has to do
with the duty of citizens to the public or
the state. 1t prescribes certain definite
courses of actions, in reality by prohibiting
definite overt acts, the observance of which
are theoretically more important to the state
as whole than to any particular member
of it. Thus man may inAict an irrepara-
BILE injury on another citizen, by assault for
example, yet it does not punish the guilty
party SO much because of the particular in
jury inflicted but on the ground that such a
person is menace to the community at
large and unless restrained will in all pro-
| liability impose other and more serious in
juries on other citizens. This is the theory
underlying all criminal law and if it were
not for its existence we should probably re-
vert to ancient times when in the majority
l,of cases infraction of the criminal law was
punishable, not by incarceration, but in the
first instance by the inAiction on the
guilty party of bodily pain, commensurate
with the gravity of the offence committed,
in accordance with the old Hebraic Law,
of ga tooth for tooth and eye for an eyes"
then afterwards in later times by the impo-
sition of monetary fines and frequently by
Punishment,
Another important branch of the law has
to do with prescribing in certain definite
| terms the inherent and fundamental rights
attaching to citizenship in any particular
sovereign state, and the form of government
under which it shall be ruled. This is
called Unconstitutional Law" 1t will be
observed at once that in the case of oligar-
chy, or an unlimited monarchy, there can
not be any such thing as constitution.
The person in control of the government
in such cases simply imposes his own per-
sonal will on his subjects and if he has
large enough army behind him there is no
| redress.
Thus in England for example in early
days constitution was unknown. Gradu-
ally, however, certain pledges guaranteeing
the liberty of the subject and his voice in
the state were extracted by force of arms
from successive sovereigns, until today En-
United States. By reason of the spasmodic
manner in which it was evolved, it is of nee
essity what is called an "unwritten consti-
tution,' in contradistinction to the docu-
ment which was promulgated by the Fathers
of Independence in the United States in
1916, and which is called "written consti-
tution.''
Thus in England there is what is known
as the Cabinet System of responsible gov
eminent. The Prime Minister, although
theoretically chosen and appointed by the
King, is in reality forced on the King by
the party in power. The Prime Minister
then appoints number of his own party to
the various other offices of state and jointly
these few men form the Cabinet. These
men are responsible to the House of Com
mons or legislative branch of the govern
ment, for all their official acts. They must
stand or fall, not as individuals, but as
unit. They must Immediately resign from
Office when the House passes vote of want
of confidence. In short the Cabinet sys-
TEN in England is pointed to as the triumph
of democratic government, for it bridges
over that huge gap between the King and
the people, in most satisfactory and har-
monious manner. If, however, we should
search the statute books of England for the
rules or laws governing the constitution and
working of this Cabinet, we should do so
in vain, because they do not exist. The
whole Cabinet System has been evolved by
custom throughout many ages and the rules
governing it are just as rigid and inhexible
as are the written laws of the United States
governing the election of members of Con-
gress.
This then is what is meant when we say
that the constitution of England is an Gun
written constitution
1t is a rule of English law that when
Britons emigrate to new country they car
ry with them the Common Law Of Eng
land. The Common Law is composed of
all that body of judicial decisions and Gus.
toms pertaining to the personal and proper
ty rights of British subjects, which has ac-
cumulated during centuries and the term
Common Law is used to distinguish it from
laws passed by the House of Commons and
called Statute Law, which latter is supposed
to cover only those local conditions pecu-
liar to Great Britain. When, therefore,
the Pilgrim Fathers landed in the United
States they brought with them the Com
mon Law of England and were subject to it
and so it became rooted in the United
States and today is the basis of its laws.
From time to time after the arrival of the
Pilgrims the British House of Commons
Daccod c,,ch ctotutoc Uaro nacoSSarv in