ment, sometimes take a census, and are the antennæ of the city government.

The police stations are headquarters for the force and for the police courts; they include prisons, which are simply branches of the state prison system, and often lodging-houses for the homeless poor. All these responsibilities give the police an authority which is usually exercised for the good of the community, but which has many times been shown to be capable of abuse.

251. Riots and Insurrections.

The continuance of government and of civilization depends upon the ability and the purpose of public officials to compel the observance of the laws, and to quell all irregular and violent attempts to secure even proper ends. The foundation of criminal law is the conception that the state, and not the person injured, is to take in hand the punishment of the culprit; the foundation of civil law is the conception that there is a preexisting organization of impartial tribunals acting under legal principles, by which disputes may be settled without the use of force; the foundation of constitutional law is the practice of bringing about changes in government by methods prescribed in the form of government itself, by peaceful discussion and by voting for candidates who will favor desired legislation.

The experience of mankind shows that in most highlycivilized communities there is a latent substratum of savage instincts, and that a considerable fraction of the population can be driven by prejudice or mere excitement to lawless destruction of lives and property. A great danger to society begins when men associate themselves, not simply to commit crimes, but to oppose lawful government. Such resistance may take any one of several different forms: (1) a mere mob, formed without preconcert, and anxious only for the sport of wrecking buildings and maiming and killing obnoxious people; (2) a riot, which is a more determined stand against the authority of the

public; (3) an insurrection, intended to prostrate the authority of the existing government; (4) a rebellion, which is a determined effort to overthrow the existing government and to substitute something else. The gradations from one to another of these forms of violence are impossible to trace: the riot to-day may be an insurrection to-morrow, and may turn into a rebellion the next day.

Such disorders were very common in England, which experienced two organized and successful rebellions, in 1643 and 1688. Every colony was accustomed to riots or insurrections, the most notable being the Bacon Rebellion in Virginia in 1676, the Leisler Rebellion in New York in 1690, the New Jersey Quitrent Riots about 1745, the Stamp Act Riots of 1765, the Regulator Riots in North Carolina in 1771, and the Boston Tea-Party in 1773.

The Revolution itself was full of riots, and its main purpose was through rebellion forcibly to destroy the existing government, so as to erect a better structure by a free people. As soon as state governments were established, they began to suffer from disorder: the Shays Rebellion of 1787 came near uprooting the government of Massachusetts. The most persistent effort to overthrow a state government thereafter was the so-called "Dorr Rebellion" in Rhode Island in 1843. Many riots and interferences with state governments grew out of the slavery contest, notably the Garrison Riot of 1836 and the John Brown Raid of 1859. Since the Civil War there have been fearful riots in Pittsburg (1877), in Cincinnati (1884), and in Chicago (1894), in all of which large amounts of private property were destroyed and many lives lost.

The ordinary method of preserving order is through the courts. A person believed to be guilty of riotous and disorderly action is subject to arrest on an ordinary court warrant, served by the sheriff or his deputy as agent of the court. In case of resistance to such arrest, the sheriff may swear in a large number of additional deputies, all of whom have authority

either to serve warrants or, like the ordinary policemen, to arrest persons whom they themselves see committing riotous acts. In case the deputies are not sufficient, the sheriff has the power of calling the posse comitatus, or power of the county; that is, he may summon all the able-bodied men within the jurisdiction of his court to assist him. The posse is a clumsy and undisciplined body, and in practice is used only to compel bystanders to take part with law and order.

A consequence of riots, and especially of insurrectionary acts, may be a prosecution for treason. A few cases of treason against a state have been tried, the most notable being that of John Brown, who in 1859 was executed on a charge of murder and of treason against Virginia. Treason against the United States is a perfectly well-recognized crime, defined in the constitution as "levying war" against the United States, or " adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." Nearly all the violent outbreaks against the United States have been followed by treason trials: men were convicted and sentenced to death for their share in the so-called "Whiskey" Rebellion in 1794 and the Fries Rebellion in 1799; Aaron Burr was unsuccessfully tried for treason in 1807; a man named Hoxie was tried in 1808; and there were several treason trials during the war of 1812. During the Civil War there were some cases; and one man, Dr. Milligan, was convicted of treason by a military commission and condemned to death. After the war the trial of Jefferson Davis for treason was allowed to break down on a technicality. All the men convicted in 1794 and 1799 were pardoned by the president, and Milligan's conviction was held by the Supreme Court to be invalid; so that in the whole history of the United States no person has ever suffered death as a traitor to the United States.

252. Suppression of Disorder.

The administrative function of keeping order is divided between the national and state governments, with some authority

in the local governments. The mayor of a city is usually held responsible for the protection of lives and property through the police; the county sheriff acts through his deputies; the governor of a state controls the militia; the president of the United States may call on the militia of any state, and also on the army and navy of the United States.

Warrants and prosecutions for acts already committed are entirely useless against a sudden riot or insurrection. When it is evident that the ordinary machinery of the courts is unavailing, it is usual for the mayor or the county sheriff to notify the governor and to ask for troops, that is, for the state militia. Those who belong to the organization are legally compelled to turn out on the governor's call, either to fight the mob or to guard persons and property. Often the militia is unwilling to fire on its own townspeople; but sometimes regular street fights take place, and there have been cases in which the militia has been on duty for several weeks or months.

Where the militia is insufficient, under the constitution of the United States the state legislature or governor has a right to call for federal aid. In such cases the president may call out the militia of neighboring states; but the best dependence is the regular army, which has no personal affiliations with mobs and can be depended upon to obey orders exactly. In one of these three ways-by the officers of the courts, by militia under state authority, or by troops sent by the federal government on the call of a state - disorders directed against state governments can be speedily quelled.

Whenever the execution of the federal constitution or of a federal statute or a federal service (like the mails) is opposed, the direct power of the federal government may be invoked. The president may intervene on his own responsibility wherever, as is usually the case in railroad strikes, the carriage of the mails is interrupted, or wherever the prime object of the movement is to paralyze the execution of federal law. Many instances of such resistance have occurred. In 1794, in the

Whiskey Rebellion, a large part of the population of Southwestern Pennsylvania rose to prevent the collection of the excise on distilled liquor; they assaulted federal officials, plundered the mail, and killed one man. The president called out 15,000 militia, who put down the rebellion without firing a gun. In 1799, in the Fries Rebellion in Eastern Pennsylvania, opposition to the collection of a federal tax went to the length of a rising, which was easily suppressed. In 1806 Aaron Burr organized a desperate expedition against New Orleans. In 1808 there was violent resistance to the embargo, especially in Vermont. In 1856 the Mormons in Utah resisted the federal government till a considerable military force was sent out.

The Civil War was by far the most determined of all resistance to the United States: eleven states and parts of several others threw off their allegiance to the United States, and for four years carried on an armed contest. During the war, in 1863, there was a terrible draft riot in New York City, in which 1,000 people were either killed or wounded; and it was only put down by using the army. Since the war there has been very little opposition to the authority of the federal government, except the insurrection in the Philippines following the transfer of those islands by Spain, in 1899.

Among the interesting questions which have arisen in the process of enforcing order is whether United States troops may be called upon to act as a posse comitatus. The ordinary purpose of the posse is to protect legal officers in arresting persons previously charged with crime: the ordinary purpose of the army is to break up armed resistance by assailing any person who is a part of the insurrection, wherever found. Although after the Civil War, under authority of Congress, troops were frequently used as a posse, it is an unusual expedient, which creates as many difficulties as it settles.

Another question is whether troops may be called out without the request of a governor. This was practically settled by Washington in 1794, when he summoned militia to put down.