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Still later delegates from nine of the colonies met in the Stamp Act Congress, for the purpose of drawing up a protest against the taxation policy of the mother country.

The two continental congresses may also be regarded as steps toward union. The first of these met in 1774 and concerned itself chiefly with a declaration of rights and grievances. The second assumed revolutionary powers, and, with the consent of the people, exercised those powers during the greater part of the war period.

Thus the new government was a confederation or league of states, rather than a federal government such as we have to-day. There was no national executive, and no judiciary. All authority was concentrated in a one-chambered congress, in which each state was represented by not fewer than two and not more than seven members. The delegates were subject to recall by the legislatures of their respective states. Each state had one vote, which was determined by a majority of the state's delegates who were present when the vote was taken.

Not only did the central government fail to enlist the respect and support of the states, but it could not induce the states to respect or support one another. Congress had no power to regulate either foreign or domestic commerce, each state being free to control the commercial activities of its citizens as it saw fit In many cases the states engaged in trade wars, that is, they levied heavy duties upon the commerce of one another, or even refused to allow their citizens to buy goods from, or sell goods to, persons in neighboring states. Matters calling for unity of action and friendly co?peration, such as roads and canals, were ignored or neglected because of interstate jealousy. Whereas they should have united against the grave dangers of the period immediately following the war, the states often wasted time and energy in controversy and strife.

According to John Fiske, the five years following the peace of 1783 constituted the most critical period in the history of the American people. Business was demoralized. Most of the states were issuing worthless paper money, and several of them passed laws impairing the obligation of contracts. In a movement known as Shay's Rebellion , a portion of the debtor class of Massachusetts attempted to prevent the collection of debts. Paper money depreciated so greatly that in many places it ceased to pass as currency. The central government could not raise money to meet its ordinary expenses, and in 1783 Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia to escape the wrath of some eighty Pennsylvania soldiers whom it could not pay.

Demoralization and civil strife at home were matched by ridicule and suspicion abroad. Congress could not pay the interest on the national debt. As early as 1783 our foreign credit was gone. Many European statesmen scoffed at the American government. France denied the existence of a general government in America. In England our diplomatic representatives suffered numerous humiliations. They were told, for example, that the British would not relinquish the western forts promised us by the Treaty of Paris until our national government was able to force the several American states to observe the treaty.

In the first place, each state considered itself a sovereign body, and of governments above and beyond itself it was naturally suspicious. Many of the Americans had regarded the British government as a super- government, imposed against the will of the American people, and maintained in spite of their protests. The Dominion of New England, which, prior to the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, had been the nearest approach to union, was recalled with anger and in fear. This plan, forced upon the Americans in 1686 by the king, united eight of the colonies under the rule of Governor Andros. The union was dissolved by the Bloodless Revolution of 1688, but the arbitrary rule of Andros was long cited by the Americans as proof of the despotic character of any government beyond that of the individual states.

A second explanation of the failure of the states to unite before 1787 is to be found in the social and economic differences existing among the states. Most of the inhabitants of New England were grouped in small, compact communities, and were engaged in shipbuilding and commerce, rather than in agriculture. There was an aristocratic group, but most of the people belonged to the middle class, and were simple and even severe in their tastes. In the middle colonies, on the other hand, most of the people were small farmers of mixed religious and racial character. Social classes existed to a considerable extent. Finally, the South was devoted to large plantations, cultivated by black slaves. Social lines were sharply drawn, and a genuine aristocratic class was already well formed.

A third reason for the weakness of the co?perative spirit among the states is to be found in the lack of means of transportation and communication. Travel was mostly confined to natural waterways, or to rude paths over which horses proceeded with great difficulty. As late as 1800 it often took a horseman longer to go from Boston to New York than it now takes to go by rail from New York to San Francisco and back again. There were no railroads in those days, no telephones, no telegraph, and practically no postal service. Life was primarily rural, even on the seacoast. Most interests centered about the local community, or at farthest, about the colony or state. In many sections there was little exchange of products or of ideas. From the resulting isolation there developed a strong feeling of localism or provincialism. Ignorance and suspicion of intercolonial affairs gave rise to misunderstandings, and emphasized differences and disputes which in themselves were unimportant. Thus jealousy and hostility often sprang up where mutual confidence and co?peration were sorely needed.

In spite of the numerous jealousies and rivalries among the various sections of the country, there were at work forces which tended to break down the spirit of localism or provincialism. Though the Revolution established thirteen separate states, the war had encouraged the Americans to feel that they were a single people with a common destiny. The soldiers of various sections had rubbed elbows with one another during the French and Indian wars, and during the Revolution. This had served to encourage a feeling of comradeship between the inhabitants of different communities. The population of the country was doubling every twenty years, and groups previously isolated were coming into contact with one another. Interstate co?peration was not only more necessary than ever before, but it was less difficult to bring about. Highways were being improved, and the postal service gradually extended, with the result that a more wholesome social life was made possible.

In an economic sense the American people were increasingly interdependent. Especially on the frontier many communities were still economically self-sufficing, but to an increasing extent the development of commerce and manufacturing was everywhere calling for a closer co?peration between various sections of the country. The Annapolis Convention of 1786, indeed, was called for the purpose of promoting commercial co?peration among the states. According to Professor Beard, the formation of the Federal Constitution itself may in large measure be traced to the desire throughout the country for interstate co?peration in industry and commerce.

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ESSENTIALS OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

This division of powers is threefold. First, there is a division of power between the Federal government and the governments of the several states. The states are obliged to act in concert on most questions involving the nation as a whole, but the Federal Constitution safeguards the rights of the states by reserving to them all powers not specifically delegated to the Federal government. Second, in both Federal and state governments, power is still further distributed among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in such a way that each branch constitutes a check upon the other two. Third, in both Federal and state governments there is a division of power within each of the three branches of government. Thus both the President of the United States and the governors of the various states are at least partially controlled by subordinate executive officials, while in the legislative branch of both Federal and state governments the upper and lower houses constitute a check upon one another. In the case of both Federal and state judicial systems there is a division of jurisdiction.

The significance of a properly applied check and balance system appears clearly when we compare our government with that of various other republics. In many of the ancient republics, for example, the powers of government were so unequally and so indefinitely divided that republican government degenerated either to despotism or to anarchy. Within the last century many Latin-American republics have modeled their governments after ours, and yet some of these republics are constantly threatened by either revolution or despotism. The explanation of this, according to Elihu Root, is that these republics have adapted our check and balance system so carelessly that they find it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain a really stable government.

The Federal government attends to most matters which are of national importance, and which cannot properly be looked after by the states individually. For example, foreign relations, the postal service, and the coinage of money, are Federal functions. The separation of Federal and state functions is not always clear, but such matters as contracts, property rights, crime, and education are probably best administered by the state. There is, similarly, no sharp dividing line between the functions of state and local governments, but at present it appears that the local authorities are the most efficient administrators of roads and bridges, water and paving, the elementary schools, and similar concerns.

The essential economy of this threefold division of functions is that each of the three sets of officials tends to concern itself with those matters with which it is best acquainted, and which are most advantageously administered by it.

Nor has the decentralized character of American government kept us from presenting a united front in foreign wars. The concentration of war powers in the hands of President Lincoln during the Civil War was matched by the temporary dictatorship wielded by President Wilson during the World War. In both cases, the national executive became, for the period of the emergency, as powerful and as efficient as the executive of a highly centralized monarchy. This ability to exhibit unity of control and singleness of purpose in war-time enables us to claim for our form of government one of the most important assets of the centralized monarchy.

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THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

We in America are confronted by an ever widening circle of problems, and this chiefly for two reasons. In the first place, we have felt the impact of those forces which for the last two centuries have been creating problems the world over. In the second place, the whole period of our national development has fallen within this age of change and readjustment This means that we have had to grapple with the problems common to all modern countries during a period in which the origin and development of American democracy have been creating purely domestic problems. These facts at least partially explain the growing importance of the problems of American democracy during the past century.

These questions must prove of fascinating interest to those who think of democracy as a living institution which is constantly growing, developing, adapting itself to changed conditions.

Here we have all the raw materials out of which to build a great nation. Already we have made marked contributions to civilization, and yet it should not be forgotten that our chief claim to national greatness rests upon the promise which we show of being able to perfect American democracy.

To what extent will this promise actually be realized? As a nation we are yet young, as a people we have scarcely begun the greatest experiment in democracy which the world has ever seen. Shall we endure, shall we attain to a half-success, shall we succeed gloriously?

Much depends upon the extent to which each of us assumes the responsibilities of citizenship. Those who have gone before us conquered a wilderness, expanded and preserved the Union. But it is not for us complacently to accept the result. Much has been done, but much more remains to be done. Our goal is the greatest possible perfection of our economic, social and political life. Each age may be said to have its peculiar burdens and responsibilities: the prime task of the colonist was to foster the tender shoot of democracy; that of the western pioneer was to fashion homes out of a wilderness; the burden of our generation is to grapple with the present-day problems of American democracy. Without a high sense of personal responsibility, coupled with an intelligent and consistent effort, we can never reach the high goal admittedly possible.

Nor should problems be looked upon as something to be ashamed of. Where life is dull and civilization static, there are relatively few problems; where life is progressive and civilization steadily advancing, problems are numerous and pressing. Problems imply adjustment, development, the desire for improvement and advancement. They are signs of progress, the growing pains of civilization. If we bear this in mind, we shall be in a fair position to see American democracy in true perspective, without undue distortion of our viewpoint, and without prejudice to our judgment.

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PART II--AMERICAN ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

A. ECONOMICS OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY

THE NATURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY

Few mountain ranges hamper the development of transcontinental railroads in this country, and of these only one, the Rockies, is a serious obstacle to effective transportation. Our railroad mileage is enormous, a half dozen transcontinental lines being supplemented by numerous smaller roads and feeding lines. We have more than 2000 miles of canals in operation. Cheap and rapid transportation between the different parts of the country, supplemented by adequate means of communication by telephone, telegraph, and the postal service, undoubtedly has been one of the greatest factors in our national prosperity.

But though a very small proportion of our products are sent abroad, the foreign trade of the United States exceeds in value the foreign trade of any other country. This predominance is due, not so much to our search for foreign markets, as to the steady demand in other countries for three classes of goods in the production of which we have a distinct advantage. These three classes of goods are, first, raw materials of which we have a great abundance, such as cotton and copper; second, specialties invented and patented by Americans, such as inexpensive automobiles, typewriters, and phonographs; and, third, commodities which may be advantageously produced by large-scale methods, such as agricultural machinery and the cheaper grades of textiles.

This is not the whole of the story, of course. It must be admitted that, with all of our wealth, we continue to face serious charges of poverty and industrial maladjustment. These charges are of great importance, but it should be remembered that no problem can be solved, or even intelligently attacked, until the essential facts are well in hand. We have briefly described the nature of American industry. What we have now to do, as a preliminary to considering the problem of poverty and industrial reform, is to analyze the economic laws in accordance with which American industry has developed. The essential facts of the next four chapters cannot be weighed too carefully.

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