Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/163

Rh and judicial proceedings of every other state, and citizens of each state are entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. Slavery is prohibited by the thirteenth amendment of the constitution. All persons born or naturalized in the United States are declared to be citizens thereof, and every state is prohibited from making or enforcing any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of such citizens. New states may be admitted into the Union by congress, but no new state can be erected within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of congress. The several states have exclusive power to prescribe the qualifications of voters and state officers, and the form of their state government. The constitution only requires that the form of government be republican, and that no law or ordinance be passed which would conflict with any law of the United States. Congress has power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territories or other property belonging to the United States. Amendments to the constitution may be proposed by two thirds of both houses of congress, or by a convention convoked by congress on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the states; they become valid when ratified by the legislatures of or conventions in three fourths of the states.—The army of the United States comprises 25 regiments of infantry, 10 of cavalry, and 5 of artillery, besides a corps of engineers, &c. The chief officers are: the general (in 1876, William T. Sherman), annual salary $13,500; the lieutenant general (Philip H. Sheridan), $11,500; three major generals, $7,500 each; and six brigadier generals, $3,500 each. The United States is divided into four military divisions, which are respectively under the command of the lieutenant general and the three major generals. The division of the Atlantic, with headquarters in New York, constitutes but one department; that of the Missouri, with headquarters in Chicago, comprises the departments of Dakota, Missouri, the Platte, and Texas; that of the South, headquarters in Louisville, Ky., includes the departments of the South and of the Gulf; that of the Pacific, headquarters in San Francisco, the departments of California, the Columbia, and Arizona. The numerical strength of the army is about 25,000 enlisted men. The national armory is at Springfield, Mass. There are United States arsenals at Augusta, Ga.; Augusta, Me.; Benicia, Cal.; Fort Union, N. M.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Jefferson Barracks, Mo.; New York city (arsenal and agency); Old Point Comfort, Va.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Pikesville, Md.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rock Island, Ill.; San Antonio, Texas; Vancouver, W. T.; Washington, D. C.; Watertown, Mass.; and West Troy, N. Y. The soldiers' home, for honorably discharged soldiers of the regular army who have served 20 years or have been discharged for disability contracted in the service, is situated in the District of Columbia, near Washington. It is under the supervision of a board of commissioners consisting of the surgeon general, adjutant general, and commissary general of subsistence of the army. The national home for disabled volunteer soldiers is at Dayton, Ohio, and has branches at Augusta, Me., Milwaukee, Wis., and Hampton, Va. These homes are under the direction of a board of managers, and are maintained by annual congressional appropriations. (See .) In 1876 there were for the interment of soldiers and sailors 81 national cemeteries in the United States, most of them being near famous battle fields of the war. The total number of interments to 1875 was 306,053. The cemeteries were classified as follows:

The law provides for the enrolment in the militia of every able-bodied male citizen of the respective states between the ages of 18 and 45 years, except those specially exempted. The organization and control of the militia when not in active service are left to the respective states. The president is empowered to call out the militia whenever the United States is invaded, or in imminent danger of invasion from any foreign nation or Indian tribe, or in case of rebellion. (See, vol. xi., p. 540.) In 1876 the navy comprised 147 vessels