Excerpt from The National Government of the United States This book is a study of the national government of the United States. Many excellent texts have been issued upon state, city, and local government, and the presentation of these subjects in special courses gives the opportunity to devote an entire volume to the national government alone. The development of our national institutions has been discussed from many points of view: political, historical, and economic. In discussing this theme I have endeavored to show the historical origins and the development of our national political institutions and to present an adequate picture of the actual workings of the government. But I have also attempted never to lose sight of the fact that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and its interpretation by the Supreme Court is, until altered, authoritative. The important fact is emphasized that in all phases of our national life the government is a government of law. To make this clear I have quoted freely from the opinions of the Supreme Court. There is a double advantage in so doing: the decisions of the court are authoritative, and the exact words show the process of arriving at conclusions or, in the case of minority opinions, at the reasons for dissent. This feature of the book gives it a twofold character, that of a textbook in which institutions are described and analyzed and that of a source book in which appear the actual words used by the court in expounding or limiting the powers of the government. To this end I have selected both historical cases and present problems, but rather by way of illustrating permanent principles than for the sake of discussing the merits of particular problems. It has seemed more important to explain a principle than to win a convert. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.