ment
among three departments,--legislative, executive, and judicial.

_The Legislative Department_--called in some states the Legislature, in
others the General Assembly, and in still others the General Court--
consists in every state of two branches or houses, usually known as the
Senate and House of Representatives. In six states the legislature meets
annually, and in all the rest biennially; the members of both branches
are everywhere elected by the people, and serve from one to four years.
In most states a session of the legislature is limited to a period of
from forty to ninety days. The legislature enacts the laws (which must
not conflict with the Constitution of the United States, the treaties,
the acts of Congress, or the constitution of the state); but the powers
of the two houses are not equal in all the states. In some the House of
Representatives has the sole right to originate bills for the raising
and the expenditure of money, and in some the Senate confirms or rejects
appointments to office made by the Governor.

_The Governor_ is the executive; is elected for a term of years varying
from one to four; and is in duty bound to see that the laws are
enforced. To him, in nearly all the states, are sent the acts of the
legislature to be signed if he approves, or vetoed if he disapproves. In
some states the Governor may veto parts or items of an act and approve
the rest. He is commander in chief of the militia; commissions all
officers whom he appoints; and in most of the states may pardon
criminals.

_The Judicial Branch_ of government is composed of the state courts,
whose judges are appointed, or elected for a long term of years.

These three branches of government--the executive, the legislative, and
the judicial--are distinct and separate, and none can exercise the
powers of the others. No judge can enact a law; no legislature can try a
suit; no executive can perform the duties of a judge or a legislature.

When the thirteen colonies threw off their allegiance to the British
Crown, the government set up by each was supreme within the limits of
the state. Each could coin money, impose duties on goods imported from
abroad or from other states, fix the legal rate of interest, make laws
regulating marriage and divorce and the descent of property, and do
anything else that any supreme government could do.

But when the states united in forming a strong general government by
adopting the Constitution, they