be abolished.

PART II.

CHAPTER XV.

GOVERNMENT.

Government is defined as _rule_ or _control_. It is that which
governs, and also the act of governing. In its political sense, it
means the supreme authority of a State or other political community, or
the act by which this authority is applied. It is sometimes said to be
a system of institutions for the restraint of people living in the
social state or social condition.

The word _govern_ is derived from a Latin word which first meant _to
steer the ship_, and then very naturally came to mean _to guide, to
direct, to command_.

"The comparison of governing with steering is a very happy one," for
the interest of him who steers is the same as that of the people in the
ship: "all must float or sink together." So the interest of those that
govern, of those that guide "the ship of state," as we often express
it, is the same as that of the people.[1]

ORIGIN AND NECESSITY.--The origin of government is unknown; its
beginning can not be traced. People everywhere, in all the varying
degrees of civilization, recognize the necessity of a supreme
authority, to whom all owe and render obedience.

Men can not long live in the same vicinity without some kind of
political organization. Without some sort of government--that is, some
supreme power to settle disputes--the people would be in continual
warfare; there could be no security to person or property; each
individual could look to himself alone for safety; "his hand would be
against every man, and every man's hand against him."

Wherever men are found they live under some form of government, however
rude and imperfect. In all parts and in all ages of the world they
have seen the necessity of some power to protect the weak and restrain
the strong, and have therefore set up a supreme authority for the
common welfare.

A body of people living under government is called _society_, and the
agreement existing between them, for their common welfare, is called
the _social compact_.

Men are so constituted that society is necessary to their happiness.
Therefore they seek the social state and join the social compact, thus
agreeing to be governed by law and order.

FOR THE PEOPLE.--Government is for the people, and not for the rulers.
Officers, the highest and the lowest, are merely the servants of the
people.

All governments derive their just powers from the consent of the
people, and are established and mai