Civil Government of Virginia

W >> William F. Fox >> Civil Government of Virginia

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

The word circuit means a going round. A district in which the same
judges go round at certain times and hold courts in several places
is called a circuit, and the courts so held are called circuit
courts.

QUESTIONS.

1. For how many years and by whom is the governor elected?

2. Where must the governor reside?

3. Is the governor eligible for a second term?

4. What is the governor's salary?

5. What is the seat of government?

6. What qualifications are necessary in a candidate for governor?

7. Mention some of the powers and duties of the governor.

8. Why is the governor called the chief executive officer?

9. What is the governor's message?

10. What is the militia?

11. Define naval forces, invasion, insurrection.

12. What is a fine?

13. What is a reprieve?

14. What are political disabilities?

15. What is capital punishment?

16. Define commissions and grants.

17. What is the veto power?

18. When does the lieutenant-governor act as governor?

19. In case of the inability of both the governor and lieutenant-
governor, who acts as governor?

20. How is the lieutenant-governor chosen?

21. What are the qualifications of the lieutenant-governor?

22. Does the lieutenant-governor ever vote in the Senate?

23. What is an equal division?

24. What is an attorney?

25. For how long is the attorney-general elected?

26. What is his salary?

27. What are his duties?

28. What are circuit courts?

IV.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT--Continued.

Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Elected. By the people at the General Election for a term of four
years. Salary, $2,500.

Duties. Shall keep a record of all executive acts; shall attest
the signature of the Governor on all official documents; shall
keep the seals of the commonwealth; shall arrange and preserve all
records and papers belonging to the Executive Department; shall be
charged with the clerical duties of that department, and render
the Governor such services as he may require in the dispatch of
executive business; shall be general librarian, and have charge of
the library fund; shall receive and transmit election returns
directed by law to be sent to him, and keep a record of the
certified statements and determinations of the Board of State
Canvassers; issue certificates of election; collect tax on State
seal; keep on file the reports of other departments and make and
record a summary of each; record all charters of incorporation;
shall make quarterly reports to the Governor.

COMMISSIONS are fees or payments for certain work done. The
secretary of the commonwealth may charge fees for making out
copies of any public papers or documents kept hi his office, or
for issuing commissions (letters of appointment) to certain public
officers. The person who receives the copy or commission must pay
the fee.

A RECORD is a written account or description of any business or
work done. EXECUTIVE ACTS are official acts of the governor. The
secretary of the commonwealth must make records of such acts and
preserve them in his office. He must sign his own name after the
signature of the governor on all official documents. This is
called ATTESTING the signature.

There are two SEALS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. One is called the GREAT
SEAL, and the other the LESSER SEAL. (For form and description of
seal, see under POWERS AND DUTIES of governor, page 28.) The great
seal is much larger in size than the lesser. It is affixed to
documents signed by the governor which are to be used for purposes
outside the jurisdiction of the State, or, for example, in a
United States court, or in another State or foreign country. The
lesser seal is affixed to public documents signed by the governor
which are issued for use within the State.

CLERICAL DUTIES are the duties of writing letters, records, and
other papers or documents. A GENERAL LIBRARIAN is one who has
general charge or control of a library. The LIBRARY FUND is the
books and maps belonging to the State. These are kept in the State
library at the capital, and the secretary of the commonwealth is
the librarian.

ELECTION RETURNS when made up by the judges of election are sent
to the commissioners of elections and afterwards to the Board of
State Canvassers. The board determines and decides who have been
elected, and the secretary must KEEP A RECORD of the Board's
DETERMINATIONS.

After the election returns are examined by the State board, the
secretary makes out CERTIFICATES OF ELECTION for certain State
officers elected at the polls. The certificate is a paper
certifying or stating that the person has been elected. There is a
TAX or charge on the use of the State seals on certain documents,
and this tax is collected by the secretary of the commonwealth.
The secretary must KEEP ON FILE--that is, preserve--in his office
the reports of other public departments of the State, and make a
summary, or sketch, of the contents of each.

A CHARTER OF INCORPORATION is a paper or document granted by the
General Assembly, and giving power to a number of persons to carry
on business as a corporation, or to the people of a town or city
to carry on the business of government within their own districts.

TREASURER.

Elected. At the General Election for term of four years. Salary,
$2,000 and commissions allowed by law.

Duties. Shall receive and disburse, only upon a warrant from the
proper Auditor, all moneys paid into the Treasury of the State;
shall pay interest on certain bonds as they become due and
payable; shall be the custodian of bonds held by the Commissioners
of the Sinking Fund, and of bonds deposited by foreign express and
insurance companies doing business in the State; shall make
quarterly and annual reports to the Governor.

The treasurer is the person who receives and takes charge of money
belonging to the State. The building in which the money is kept
and in which the treasurer has his office is called the treasury.
The treasurer also disburses money. To disburse is to pay out, and
the treasurer cannot disburse without a warrant from the auditor
(see next section).

The warrant is a writing giving the treasurer power to pay money.
The treasurer pays the interest on State bonds. A bond is a
written paper by which a person binds or pledges himself to pay a
certain sum of money before a certain day. Sometimes the
government has to borrow money, and when it does so it issues
bonds to the persons who loan the money. In these bonds the
government binds itself to pay the money by a certain time, and to
pay a certain amount every year as interest until the principal
(the full amount borrowed) is paid back.

The sinking fund is money set apart at certain times to pay the
debts due by the government. It is in charge of officers called
commissioners. These commissioners hold bonds for debts due to the
government on account of the sale of public lands, and the
interest of the State in railroads and other corporations. Express
companies and insurance companies whose head-quarters are in
foreign countries, and who do business in Virginia, are required
to give bonds to the State as security that their obligations to
citizens of the State shall be honestly carried out.

AUDITOR OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

Elected. By the General Assembly for term of four years beginning
on first day of March succeeding election. Salary, $4,000.

Duties. Shall audit all pecuniary claims against the commonwealth,
except those chargeable to the Board of Education, Corporation
Commission, or any corporation composed of officers of government,
of the funds and property of which the State is sole owner; shall
settle with officers charged with collecting the revenues of the
State; shall issue warrants directing the Treasurer to receive
money into the Treasury, and warrants upon the Treasurer in
payment of all claims except those mentioned above; shall report
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction by September 15th, in
each year, ninety per cent, of the gross amount of funds
applicable to public school purposes for the current year; shall
make quarterly and annual reports to the Governor.

An auditor is a person who audits or examines accounts or
statements of the receipt and expenditure of money, to see that
they are correct.

Pecuniary claims are claims for the payment of money. Such claims
made against the commonwealth are not paid until they are examined
by the auditor of the public accounts. Claims that are chargeable
--that is, to be charged--against the Board of Education, the
Corporation Commission, or corporations of government officers,
are not audited by the auditor of public accounts, but by the
second auditor (see next section). To report ninety per cent, of
the school funds is to state the amount to that extent that is
ready to be apportioned or divided among the cities and counties
for school use (see under sections Superintendent of Public
Instruction and School Funds).

SECOND AUDITOR.

Elected. By the General Assembly for four years from the first of
March next succeeding election. Salary, $1,700 and commissions
allowed by law.

Duties. Shall register all coupon and registered bonds and
fractional certificates issued on account of the public debt, and
all bonds redeemed and cancelled by the Commissioners of the
Sinking Fund; shall be the custodian of the books of the
Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, and securities for money
belonging thereto; shall audit all claims on account of the Board
of Education, Corporation Commission, and any corporation composed
of officers of government, of the funds and property of which the
State is sole owner; shall issue his warrant for all moneys
received into the Treasury, or drawn out of it on account of these
boards and corporations, the Sinking Fund and the Literary Fund;
shall make quarterly and annual reports to the Governor.

To register bonds is to enter particulars of them in books kept
for the purpose. Coupon bonds are bonds with interest coupons or
certificates attached to them, and bearing no name, but payable to
any person who presents the coupons at the treasury at certain
times. Registered bonds are bonds bearing the name of the person
who receives them, and payable to that person or any person to
whom he may sell or transfer them.

Fractional certificates are certificates or bonds issued for any
fractional part of one hundred dollars of the public debt. All
other bonds are issued for amounts of one hundred dollars or some
multiple of a hundred.

A bond is redeemed--that is, bought back--when it is received at
the treasury or office of the sinking fund and the amount of it is
paid to the holder. The bond is then cancelled. To cancel is to
deface or destroy so that the paper or bond cannot be used again.

A security is something given or deposited as a pledge that money
loaned shall be repaid. Debts may be due to the sinking fund by
railroad or other companies in which the State has an interest,
and securities have to be given that such debts shall be paid.

The literary fund was formed in 1810 from the sale of public
lands, some of which had been possessed by the Church in colonial
times. The fund has since been increased by the sale of lands
given to the State by Congress for public school purposes. and by
fines collected for offences committed against the State, and by
donations made by private individuals. It is called the literary
fund because it is used for purposes of education.

Register of the Land Office.

Elected. By the General Assembly for a term of four years from the
first of March next succeeding election. Salary, $1,800. He is
also Superintendent of Public Buildings.

Duties. Shall issue grants to all purchasers of waste lands;
record all grants and patents, and furnish lists to the clerks of
the county and corporation courts; shall keep the records,
documents, and entries of Northern Neck Lands, and of lands
granted, or to be granted, by the Commonwealth; shall have care of
the public buildings and all other public property at the seat of
government not placed in charge of others; shall have control of
Capitol Square; shall try, prove, and seal weights and measures;
shall report semi-annually to the Auditor of Public Accounts.

The land office is the office in which business connected with the
sale or granting of public lands is conducted. This business is
under the control of an officer called the register of the land
office, and public buildings in the State are under his care. He
is also superintendent of weights and measures. At his office are
kept weights and measures, provided by the State, to be furnished
to counties and corporations as standards by which the weights and
measures in business use throughout the State are tested. The
State weights and measures are tried by the register once every
ten years, and when proved to be correct are marked with a seal.
In every county there is a sealer of weights and measures, who
must examine, once every three years, the weights and measures in
use throughout the county, to see that they are up to the
standard.

A patent is a government paper granting to some person or persons
the sole right to any lands, privileges, or inventions.

The Northern Neck was the name given in colonial times to the
peninsula lying between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers.

State Corporation Commission.

Composed of three members appointed by the Governor, subject to
confirmation by the General Assembly, for a term of six years
each. Salary, $4,000 each.

At least one of the Commissioners must have the qualifications
prescribed for judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Duties. Shall issue all charters or amendments thereof for
domestic corporations and licenses to do business in the State to
foreign corporations; arrange for visitation, regulation and
control of all corporations doing business in the State; prescribe
the forms of all reports and collect and preserve such reports.
Shall control all transportation companies; fix the amount of
their taxes; prescribe rates, charges and classifications of
traffic and enforce the same.

Has the powers and authority of a court of record to administer
oaths and compel attendance of witnesses, and all appeals from the
Commission shall be to the Supreme Court of Appeals only. Shall
make annual reports to the governor.

The term corporation or company includes all trusts, associations
and joint stock companies having any powers or privileges not
possessed by individuals or unlimited partnerships. Charter means
the charter of incorporation under which any such corporation is
formed.

A transportation company is any company or person engaged in the
business of a common carrier. A transmission company includes any
company or person owning and operating a telephone or telegraph
line for hire. Public service corporations include transportation
and transmission companies, gas, electric light, heat and power
companies and all persons authorized to use or occupy any street
or public place in a manner not permitted to the general public.

Bonds are certificates of indebtedness issued by any corporation
and secured by a mortgage or trust deed.

Domestic corporations are such as are chartered under the laws of
Virginia. Foreign corporations are such as are incorporated under
the laws of some other state or country.

The General Assembly may place under the control of the
Corporation Commission divisions or bureaus of insurance, banking,
etc.

Every domestic and foreign corporation doing business in the state
shall file in the office of the Corporation Commission an annual
report as prescribed by law setting forth various facts regarding
its business, and organization, the names of its officers, its
place of business and such other information as may be required by
law.

A corporation may be established for the transaction of any lawful
business or to promote or conduct any legitimate object or
purpose.

Any number of persons not less than three may associate to
incorporate a college, an alumni association, a literary society,
a cemetery company or association, a fraternal benefit
association, a fraternal association, society, order or lodge, a
society for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, a
charitable or benevolent association, or social, hunting, fishing
club, or any society, organization or association of a similar
nature.

A corporation may be limited as to duration to the time stated in
its charter. But when no time is so limited it shall be perpetual,
subject to the power of repeal reserved to the General Assembly.

A corporation may sue and be sued in any court of law and equity.

With regard to railroads, canals, and all transportation and
transmission companies, the State Corporation Commission has all
the power and authority formerly belonging to the office of
railroad commissioner; examines them as to their condition, the
causes of accidents, etc.; requires changes and improvements;
contracts with them for the conveyance of convicts, lunatics, etc.

Every railroad company in Virginia has a charter from the State,
in which are stated certain conditions on which, in the interests
of the people, they must carry on their business. It is the duty
of the Commission to examine the railroads from time to time to
see that they are operated in such a way that there shall be no
danger to the people who travel upon them.

To contract is to make an arrangement or a bargain for some work
to be done. The Commission makes contracts with the railway
companies for carrying convicts to prison from the place in which
they are tried and convicted, and for carrying lunatics to the
asylum or hospital in which they are to be confined.

With regard to internal improvements in which the State is
interested, the Commission has all the authority formerly
exercised by the Board of Public Works; appoints State directors
and State proxies for works in which the State is interested;
keeps a register of all property belonging to the State;
represents the State in relation to all corporations whether as a
stockholder, creditor, mortgagor, or otherwise.

Internal improvements are public works of various kinds for the
improvement of the State, such as railroads, canals, highways.
Money of the State may be invested in the capital of corporations
carrying on internal improvements, and it is the duty of the
Corporation Commission to watch and protect the interests of the
State in such undertakings.

For this purpose the Commission appoints directors and proxies to
act in such companies. A proxy is a person appointed as a
substitute for another. Proxies are appointed to represent and
vote for the State at meetings of corporations for internal
improvements, in which the State holds stock.

A TOLL is a charge made for passing certain canals, bridges, etc.
The Commission has the power to fix the amount of toll when it is
not specified in the charter of the canal or bridge company.

Superintendent of the Penitentiary.

Appointed. By the Board of Penitentiary Directors for term of four
years. Salary, $1,600.

Duties. Shall reside at the Penitentiary and be its chief
executive officer; shall have control and custody of the property
of the Penitentiary; shall employ a guard; shall report quarterly
to the Governor, and monthly and annually to the Board of
Directors.

The PENITENTIARY is the State prison at Richmond in which persons
convicted in the State courts are imprisoned.

The GUARD is a body of men employed at the prison by the
superintendent to prevent prisoners from escaping and to suppress
rebellion by the prisoners if attempted. The Board of Directors is
the board or body of men who have the management of the
penitentiary. They are also appointed by the governor.

Superintendent of Public Printing.

Elected. By the General Assembly for term of four years. Salary,
$1,500.

Duties. Must be a practical printer; shall have the supervision
and management of the public printing and binding of the
Commonwealth; shall report annually to the Governor, and
biennially to the General Assembly.

The numerous public departments and offices of the State require
to have a great deal of printing done. The acts passed by the
General Assembly, the reports of public boards and of public
officers, and the proceedings and decisions of some of the courts
have to be printed and bound into books. It is the duty of the
superintendent of public printing to make contracts for such work
and all other printing and binding required for State purposes,
and to see that it is properly done.

Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration.

Elected. By the people at the General Election for term of four
years. Salary, $2,000.

Duties. Subject to the Board of Agriculture and Immigration, he
shall be the executive officer of the Department; shall examine
and test fertilizers, collect mining and manufacturing statistics,
establish a museum of agricultural and horticultural products,
woods and minerals of the State; shall investigate matters
pertaining to agriculture, the cultivation of crops, and the
prevention of injury to them; shall distribute seeds; shall
disseminate such information relating to the soil, climate,
natural resources, markets, and industries of the State as may
attract capital and induce immigration.

It is the business of the Board of Agriculture and Immigration to
promote the interests of farming throughout the State and to
encourage the introduction of capital and immigrants into the
State. The COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE is its executive officer.
STATISTICS are statements of facts, usually accompanied by
figures, showing the condition or progress of countries or peoples
or industries.

The MINING AND MANUFACTURING STATISTICS of the State tell how many
mines and manufacturing establishments are open in the State, how
much work they do, how many people they employ, and give other
important information regarding them.

A CABINET OF MINERALS is a collection of specimens of minerals,
such as coal, ores, and metals. The commissioner of agriculture
must keep in his office a collection or cabinet of samples or
specimens of the minerals of Virginia, and the place where they
are kept must be open to the public.

He must also make arrangements for providing from foreign
countries such farm seeds as he may think of value to the people
of the State, and he must DISTRIBUTE them in a careful and
judicious manner among the people.

Commissioners of the Sinking Fund.

Composed of the Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, and the
Second Auditor.

For explanation of the SINKING FUND, etc., see under Treasurer and
Second Auditor, pages 34-36.

Board of State Canvassers.

Composed of the Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Auditor
of Public Accounts, Treasurer, and Attorney-General.

Duties. Shall examine the certified abstracts of votes on file in
the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and make
statement of the whole number of votes given at any General State
election for certain State executive officers and for members of
the Senate and House of Delegates, Representatives in Congress,
and electors of President and Vice-President of the United States,
and determine what persons have been duly elected.

The manner of voting at elections is explained on page 14, and the
duty of the secretary of the commonwealth with regard to election
returns is explained on page 33. The election returns, made up
after the close of the polls on election day, are sent to the
office of the clerk of the county or corporation in which the
election is held.

Election returns are the books containing the names of the
candidates and the number of votes given for each. On the second
day after the election the COMMISSIONERS OF ELECTION meet at the
clerk's office and make out ABSTRACTS of the result of the voting
and send them to the secretary of the commonwealth.

An abstract is a paper containing the name of the person or
candidate who has received the highest number of votes, and the
number of votes received. Abstracts are made out for governor and
lieutenant-governor, for attorney-general, for secretary, for
treasurer, for superintendent of public instruction, for
commissioner of agriculture and immigration, for senators and
delegates, for electors for President and Vice-President, for
congressmen, and for county, district, and corporation officers
voted for at the election. When the abstracts are made out they
are certified and signed by the commissioners and attested by the
clerk, who acts as clerk for the commissioners.

To CERTIFY is to state or declare that anything is true or
correct. The commissioners certify the abstracts that they are
correct, and they sign their names upon them. They are then
CERTIFIED ABSTRACTS, and certified copies of the abstracts for
State officers are sent to the secretary of the commonwealth.
These abstracts are examined in the office of the secretary of the
commonwealth, by the Board of State Canvassers, who determine who
are elected.

The secretary of the commonwealth after recording the
determinations of the commissioners makes out certificates of
election for senators, delegates, congressmen, and State officers
elected, except for the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary,
treasurer, and attorney-general. The certified abstracts of votes
for these officers are transmitted to the speaker of the house of
delegates by the secretary of the commonwealth, and the returns
are opened and the votes counted and declared in the presence of
the two houses of the general assembly within one week after the
beginning of the session.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16