Civil Government of Virginia

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The Senate.

Number. There are forty Senators, from thirty-nine senatorial
districts. The Lieutenant-Governor is the presiding officer.

Elected. By the people; one-half being chosen every two years
until the general election in 1907. At that time, and every four
years thereafter, the entire senate will be chosen at one time for
a term of four years.

Qualifications. A Senator must be an actual resident of the
district for which he is elected; must be legally qualified to
vote for members of the General Assembly; must hold no salaried
office under the State government.

Powers. Shall select its own officers; choose from its own body,
in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he exercises
the office of Governor, a president PRO TEMPORE; confirms or
rejects nominations; has sole power to try impeachment.

SENATORIAL DISTRICTS are the districts into which a State is
divided for the election of senators. There are thirty-nine
districts in Virginia, and each of them elects one senator, except
the district formed of Richmond and the County of Henrico, which
elects two. PRESIDING OFFICER is a person who PRESIDES or acts as
president or chairman in any assembly or meeting.

A candidate for the Senate must be LEGALLY QUALIFIED TO VOTE for
members of the General Assembly. This means that he must be a
citizen of the United States, a resident of Virginia for two
years, and have the other legal qualifications of voters as
required by the Constitution.

PRO TEMPORE is a Latin phrase meaning FOR THE TIME--that is, for a
short time or temporarily. The Senate elects one of its own
members to preside PRO TEMPORE if the lieutenant-governor happen
to be absent, or when he is called upon to act as governor. (See
under Powers and Duties of governor, page 28.) The Senate has the
power to CONFIRM OR REJECT NOMINATIONS. Many public officers of
the State are appointed by the governor, but when he nominates or
NAMES a person for a public office he sends the nomination to the
Senate, and it may confirm--that is, approve of--the nomination,
or it may reject it. If it should reject the nomination, the
person nominated is not appointed.

IMPEACHMENT means a charge of dishonesty or serious neglect of
duty made against a public official. In an impeachment it is the
House of Delegates which must make the charge and act as
prosecutor, but it is the Senate which must try the case and pass
sentence on the accused, if proved guilty.

House of Delegates.

Number. Composed of one hundred members apportioned by statute
among the counties and cities of the State.

Elected. By the people for two years.

Qualifications. Same as for Senators.

Powers. Elects its own Speaker and all other officers; impeaches
State officers, and prosecutes them before the Senate. The Clerk
of the House of Delegates is also Keeper of the Rolls.

Apportioned means divided or distributed or allotted. A statute is
any law, but the word is most commonly understood to mean a law
made by a legislature representing the people. The number of
delegates appointed to the counties and cities--that is, the
number which each is entitled to elect--is decided by statute in
proportion to the number of inhabitants.

The chairman of the House of Delegates is called the speaker. The
same title is given to the presiding officer of the lower house in
nearly every legislature in English-speaking countries.

The rolls are the statutes in written form as passed by the
Assembly. A law when proposed in the Assembly is called a bill. To
become a statute a bill must be voted on and have a majority three
times in the House of Delegates and three times in the Senate and
be signed by the governor. Then it is an act, or a Statute, or a
law. The copy signed by the governor is an engrossed or written
copy, and the official copies of the laws so engrossed are the
rolls, and are preserved by the keeper of the rolls, who is the
clerk of the House of Delegates.

General Assembly. (Senate and House jointly.)

Sessions. Biennial. Beginning the second Wednesday in January of
every even year, and continuing sixty days. The session may be
extended not exceeding thirty days. It may be convened in special
session by the Governor.

The Senate and House of Delegates jointly--that is, both together
--are called the General Assembly. Sessions means sittings or
meetings for business, and biennial means happening once every two
years. The General Assembly meets once every two years, and it
does business for sixty days. If the business necessary to be done
require more time, the session may be extended--that is,
lengthened--thirty days. A special session is a session convened--
that is, called to meet--for some special or particular business.
The governor may convene such a session whenever he thinks it
necessary.

Powers. General powers of legislation under the constitution.
Elects U. S. Senators, County and City Electoral Boards, Auditor
of Public Accounts, Second Auditor, Register of the Land Office,
Superintendent of Public Printing, the Judges of the Commonwealth;
decides contests in the election of Governor and Lieutenant-
Governor; confirms or rejects nominations of certain officers made
by the Governor, the State Board of Education, etc.

Powers means what the General Assembly has power to do.
Legislation is the making of laws. The Assembly has powers of
general legislation under the constitution--that is, of making all
such laws as the constitution directs or does not forbid.
(Explanations are given later on as to the boards and officers
mentioned here which the General Assembly has power to elect.)

Contests--that is, disputes or differences--may occur in the
election of governor and lieutenant-governor. There may be
contests as to counting of votes or as to the qualifications of
candidates. Such contests are decided by the General Assembly.

Membership. Each house settles its own rules of proceeding; is
judge of the election, qualification, and returns of its members.
Members are not subject to arrest under any civil process during
the session of the General Assembly, nor for fifteen days next
before the convening, and after the termination of each session;
are privileged from arrest in all cases during the session, except
for treason, felony, perjury, breach of the peace, or a contempt
of court of a criminal nature.

What is meant by each house being judge of the election,
qualification, and returns of its members is, that it can decide
whether the members are legally elected and qualified. Returns are
the particulars as to names of candidates and the number of votes
cast for each, which the election judges are required to make up
after the close of the poll on election day. The qualifications
necessary for a member of either house are as follows: he must be
twenty-one years of age or over, and a voter of the State of
Virginia, and he must reside in the district for which he is
elected.

Civil process is a law-proceeding in a case where no crime is
charged, but such as for the recovering of a debt or for the
settlement of a difference relating to business matters. Perjury
is the crime of wilfully making a false oath. When a person
appears as a witness in a court of law he has to take an oath that
he will tell the truth. If after taking such oath he tells what he
knows to be untrue, he is guilty of perjury.

A breach of the peace is any act of violence which causes public
disturbance, such as one person assaulting another and thereby
causing a quarrel or riot.

Contempt of court is disobedience to the orders or decrees or
rules of a court of law. Insult or violence to a judge in court
would he criminal contempt.

Salaries. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
of Delegates, each, $400; and the other members, each, $240 for
attendance and service at each regular session; at all extra
sessions, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of
Delegates shall receive, each, $240, and the other members, each,
$120. Members are entitled to mileage.

In addition to his salary each member of the Assembly receives ten
cents per mile for expenses of traveling to and from the sessions
of the Assembly. This allowance is called mileage.

Bills may originate in either of the two houses. No bill shall
become a law until it has been read on three different days in
each house except by a vote of four-fifths of the members voting
in each house.

Every bill which shall have passed the Senate and House of
Delegates shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the
Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it and it is then a law,
but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the house in
which it originated; who shall proceed to reconsider it. If after
such consideration two-thirds of the members present shall agree
to pass the bill, it shall be sent to the other house, by which it
shall be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the
members present, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the
objections of the Governor.

He may also veto any particular item of an appropriation bill, but
this item may also be passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote of
both houses.

If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five days
after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in
like manner as if he had signed it.

A bill is a draft or statement of a proposed law. A bill may
originate in either house--that is, it may be first proposed in
either the Seriate or House of Delegates. Any senator or delegate
who wishes to have a new law made must first put it in writing.
Then he himself introduces or proposes it in the house of which he
is a member, or it may be introduced by a committee.

A committee is a number of persons, usually not a large number,
appointed by a legislature or other body to take charge of and
attend to some particular business. The members of the House of
Delegates and of the Senate are divided into committees, and some
special subject or business is entrusted to each. For example, in
the Senate there are committees on Privileges and Elections,
Public Institutions and Education, and many other subjects; and in
the House of Delegates there are committees on Courts of Justice,
Schools and Colleges, and other subjects.

Usually proposals for new laws are referred for consideration to
the committee having charge of the subject or business to which
the proposed law relates. Committees in the Senate are elected by
the senators themselves; committees in the House of Delegates are
appointed by the speaker.

When a new law or bill is introduced it is either proposed by a
committee, or by some member and given for consideration to a
committee. In order to pass, it must be read three times on three
different days (once each day) in the house in which it
originates.

The first reading is the formal placing or presenting of the bill
before the house. At the second reading the bill is discussed, and
any member who wishes to say anything for or against it is at
liberty to do so.

Amendments may also be proposed at the second reading. An
amendment is an alteration or a change in the wording or matter of
a bill. After an amendment is discussed the house votes upon it,
and if a majority is for it, the change is made in the bill.

When all amendments are discussed and voted on, a vote is taken on
the bill as a whole, and if a majority of the members vote for it,
it is read a second time.

It is then engrossed, or written out, by the clerk of the house,
and read a third time, after which a vote is again taken, and if
there is a majority for it, it passes the house.

When the bill is passed in the house in which it originated, it is
taken to the other house by the sergeant-at-arms. There it goes
through the same forms of reading and discussion, and if it be
read three times and have a majority in its favor it is passed. It
is then enrolled, after which it is signed by the presiding
officer in each house, and when this is done it is sent to the
governor for his signature.

The sergeant-at-arms is an officer whose duty it is to preserve
order in the chamber where the sessions of either house are held,
to distribute among the members any papers or documents they may
require, and in general to perform such services as are necessary
for the proper transaction of business. Each house has its own
sergeant-at-arms.

(For enrolling, see under House of Delegates, page 19.) The
requirements with regard to a bill after it is sent to the
governor are stated in the text above. (For the veto power of the
governor, see page 28.)

QUESTIONS.

1. In whom is the legislative power of the commonwealth vested?

2. What is the legislative power?

3. Define commonwealth.

4. What is a delegate?

5. How many members constitute the Senate?

6. What are senatorial districts, and how many are there in the
State?

7. Who is the presiding officer of the Senate?

8. For how long are senators elected?

9. What are the qualifications of a senator?

10. What are the powers of the Senate?

11. What does impeachment mean?

12. Who tries a case of impeachment?

13. How many members of the House of Delegates?

14. Define statute.

15. For how long are members of the House of Delegates elected?

16. What are the qualifications of delegates?

17. What are the powers of delegates?

18. Define apportioned.

19. What is the chairman of the House of Delegates called?

20. What are the rolls, and by whom are they kept?

21. What does the General Assembly consist of?

22. How often are the sessions of the General Assembly held?

23. What is a special session?

24. What are the powers of the General Assembly?

25. What officers does it elect?

26. What is legislation?

27. What are contests in elections of governor and lieutenant-
governor, and who decides them?

28. What is meant by each house being judge of the election,
qualifications, and returns of its members?

29. What are election returns?

30. Define civil process.

31. What is perjury?

32. What is contempt of court?

33. What are the salaries of the officers and members of the
Assembly?

34. What is mileage?

35. What is a bill?

36. Tell how a bill becomes a law.

37. What is a committee?

38. Define amendment.

III.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

Governor.

Elected. By the people for four years. Must reside at the seat of
government during his term of office; not eligible for the next
succeeding term. Salary, $5,000 a year. He shall receive no other
emolument from this or any other government.

The seat of government is the city or town in which the
Legislature holds its sessions. Richmond is the seat of government
of the State of Virginia. Term is the period of time for which a
public officer is elected. The term of the governor is four years.
He is not eligible--that is, he cannot be elected--for the next
succeeding term--that is, he cannot be governor for two terms, one
immediately following the other. Emolument is salary or
compensation or pay.

Qualifications. Must be at least thirty years of age; must be a
citizen of the United States; must have been for the five years
next preceding his election a resident of the State. If of foreign
birth, he must have been a citizen of the United States for the
ten years next preceding his election.

Foreign birth means birth in any country outside the United
States. But the children of American citizens are citizens of the
United States, even though they have been born in another country.

Powers and Duties. The chief executive officer of the
commonwealth; shall take care that the laws are faithfully
executed; shall communicate to the General Assembly, at every
session, the condition of the commonwealth, and recommend such
measures as he may deem expedient; may call special sessions of
the General Assembly; shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Land and
Naval Forces of the State; may embody the militia to repel
invasion, suppress insurrection, and enforce, the execution of the
laws; shall conduct all intercourse with other and foreign states;
may fill temporarily, during the recess of the General Assembly,
all vacancies in those offices for which the constitution and laws
make no provision; may remit fines and penalties, grant reprieves
and pardons, remove political disabilities, and commute capital
punishment; shall attest all commissions and grants; signs or
vetoes bills passed by the General Assembly.

The governor is the chief executive officer. He is called chief
because he is the highest public officer of the State, and
executive because it is his duty to execute or carry out the laws.
It is also his duty to send what is called a message to each
session of the General Assembly. The message is a letter or
statement in which he communicates to the Assembly full
information as to the condition of the State, and recommends such
measures--that is, such new laws--as he thinks necessary.

Militia is a body composed of citizens enrolled and trained as
soldiers for the defence of the State. All able-bodied male
persons between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years may be
called to serve in the militia. Naval forces are military forces
or militia that serve on sea.

Invasion is the entrance into a State of a military force from
another country for the purpose of conquest. To repel invasion is
to oppose it by force, to drive off the invaders. Insurrection is
a rising or rebellion of people in a State against the government
of their own State. It is the duty of the governor to suppress--
that is, to put down--insurrection, and to ENFORCE the EXECUTION
of the laws--that is, to carry out the laws by force if necessary.
INTERCOURSE is correspondence with others by letter or message.
When it is necessary to have intercourse with another State or a
foreign country, the governor, as the chief executive and highest
representative of the people, is the person who conducts such
correspondence.

The recess of the General Assembly is the time when it is not in
session. During recess of the Assembly, the governor may fill
vacancies in public offices for which the Constitution and laws
make no provision. For example, the Constitution and laws make no
provision for the appointment of judges during the recess of
Assembly; therefore, if a judge dies during the recess, the
governor appoints a person to fill the vacancy until the Assembly
meets and elects a new judge.

A FINE is a PENALTY or punishment in the form of payment of money.
Sometimes a person convicted of an offence against the law is
ordered by the judge to pay a sum of money instead of being sent
to jail. This is called a FINE. But it may happen that the person
is convicted by mistake or by false evidence, or that the fine is
too heavy for the person to pay. In such cases the governor may
REMIT the FINES--that is, release or free the persons from having
to pay.

The governor may also GRANT REPRIEVES AND PARDONS if he sees good
reason for doing so. A reprieve is a delay of punishment. When a
person is convicted of murder, the judge sentences him to be put
to death on a certain day. But there may be reason for further
inquiry into the case, and to give time for such inquiry the
governor may postpone the execution of the sentence--that is, put
it off to another day. This is called a reprieve. If the further
inquiry should prove that the person is innocent, a full pardon is
granted and the person is set free.

POLITICAL DISABILITIES are punishments which deprive persons of
certain rights of citizenship. A citizen convicted of bribery in
an election, embezzlement of public funds, treason, felony, or
petit larceny, is by the law of Virginia deprived of the right of
voting. This is a POLITICAL DISABILITY. The person convicted is
legally DISABLED to vote. The governor may remove the disability,
and this restores to the person his right of voting. The governor
may also COMMUTE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. To COMMUTE is to CHANGE, and
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT is the punishment of DEATH--the punishment
inflicted on persons convicted of murder. The governor may order
that instead of being put to death the convict be imprisoned for
life, or for a number of years. (A convict is a person CONVICTED
or found guilty of crime.)

The governor shall ATTEST ALL COMMISSIONS AND GRANTS. To ATTEST is
to certify, or bear witness to, and a COMMISSION is a written
paper giving power or authority to some person or persons to
perform a public duty. When a judge is elected he receives a
commission authorizing him to act as such, and the governor
attests the commission by signing his name to it. GRANTS or gifts,
such as grants of public lands or money for educational or other
public objects, are also made in writing, and must be attested by
the governor. (Commissions and other important papers must have
upon them an impression of the seal of the State. The seal is a
circular piece of metal made like a medal or large coin and
bearing on each side certain figures and mottoes. The impression
of the seal shows that the paper has been officially attested or
certified.)

The VETO power is one of the most important powers possessed by
the governor. When a bill is passed by the General Assembly it is
sent to the governor for his signature. If he SIGN it--that is,
writes his name upon it--it is then a law. If he VETO the bill, or
any item contained in it appropriating money, the bill, or such
part of it as is vetoed, cannot become a law until it is again
passed by a two-thirds vote of both houses. (VETO is a Latin word
meaning I FORBID.)

In case the Governor dies, or is in any way incapacitated for
performing the duties of his office, the Lieutenant-Governor shall
act; and in case of the inability of both, the President PRO
TEMPORE of the Senate shall act.

INCAPACITATED for office means legally disqualified. The governor
would be incapacitated if he should refuse to qualify by taking
the necessary oath, or if he should reside out of the State, or if
he should be convicted on impeachment.

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.

Elected. At the same time and for the same term as the Governor,
and his qualifications and the manner of his election in all
respects shall be the same.

He shall be the President of the Senate, but shall have no vote,
except in case of an equal division.

For the same term means for the same length of time. The governor
is elected for four years. That is his term of office. The term of
the lieutenant-governor is the same.

An equal division is an equal number voting for and against the
same proposal. If a bill is proposed in the Senate and twenty
senators vote for and twenty against it, that is an equal
division. In such case, and in no other case, the president votes.
He may vote on either side he pleases, and his vote is called a
casting vote.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

Elected. By the people for four years. Salary, $2,500 and mileage.

Duties. Shall give his opinion and advice when required to do so
by the Governor, or by any of the public boards and officers at
the seat of government; shall appear as counsel for the State in
all cases in which the commonwealth is interested, depending in
the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United
States, the District and Circuit Courts of the United States for
the State of Virginia, and shall discharge such other duties as
may be imposed by the General Assembly. Member of the State Board
of Education.

An attorney is a person who acts for and in the place of another.
The word is usually applied to a lawyer who is employed by another
to act for him in any law business he wishes to have done. An
attorney who appears in a court of law and acts or defends a
person, or acts against a person accused of crime, is called a
counsel.

The attorney-general is a lawyer who is elected to do law business
for the State. He must appear in court as counsel for the State in
every case in which the commonwealth (meaning the whole people) is
interested. The commonwealth is interested in every case of crime,
because it is for the interest or well-being of the people that
those who commit crime should be punished. If this were not done--
if criminals, persons who commit murder or burglary or theft--were
not arrested and punished, no man's life or property would be
safe. The attorney-general must appear and act for the
commonwealth in any of the courts above mentioned whenever there
is a case in any of them in which the people of the State are
interested.

Depending or pending with reference to a case means that the case
is in court waiting to be tried or decided. (For information as to
Supreme Court of Appeals and Circuit Court of the City of
Richmond, mentioned above, see under Judiciary Department.)

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court of the
United States. Its members or judges are appointed by the
President and hold office for life, and it sits at Washington and
tries cases in which any person or persons are accused of
violating the Constitution of the United States. The members of
the district and circuit courts of the United States are also
appointed by the President. These courts sit in various districts
of States, and try cases in which persons are accused of violating
the laws of the United States--that is, the laws made by Congress.

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