Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 9.djvu/345

317 A NEW NATION. . 317 I. The National Government alone was charged with the duty and with the power of regulating what may be called matters of national concern. The chief of these were treaties and the foreign relations of the country, the army and navy, foreign and interstate commerce, the currency, and the post office. To insure the per- formance of these duties, power to raise money was granted, and three departments of the National Government were provided for, II. The States were left with all the other ordinary powers of internal government, such as legislation on private law, civil and criminal, the maintenance of law and order, the creation of local institutions, education, and the relief of the poor. III. In a few matters a concurrent power was given to the National Government and the States; e. g. in controversies be- tween citizens of different States, the parties, if so minded, could have their rights determined in the State Courts, or, at the option of any party who might fear unfair discrimination, cases could be taken into the Courts of the United States. IV. Certain prohibitions were provided applicable to both the National and the State Governments ; e. g. that no tax should be laid on exports from any State. V. Certain prohibitions were imposed on the National Govern- ment alone. These were contained in Article I. § 9, and in the first ten Amendments. Among these were provisions intended to secure the life, liberty, and property of individuals from being unjustly assailed by the National Government. VI. Certain prohibitions were imposed on the States alone. These were contained in Article I. § 10. They were of two kinds: First, provisions intended to keep the States from attempting to exercise any of the powers intrusted solely to the National Govern- ment. Second, the following provisions intended to protect indi- viduals against oppressive State legislation, viz. : " No State shall . . . pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts." VII. Provision was made for securing the rights of non-residents, that is, of citizens of one State when in another State. The language used on this point was largely taken from Article IV. of the Articles of Confederation.^ The first paragraph of § 2 is as follows : " The citizen of each 1 See Article IV. of Constitution, §§ i and 2.
 * viz. the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial.