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Show GOOD CITIZEN Laws Are Rules People Make jo They May Live in Harmony '5n?-o"."''" can. ' and dutl" ' Amert- THE THIRD promise of a good citizen: I will respect and obey the laws. I will assist public of-ncials of-ncials in preventing crime and the courts in giving evidence. Laws are rules people make so they can live together without step-Ping step-Ping on each other's toes. The simplest law of all, perhaps, is the traffic light. When it is green it s supposed to protect you against the other fellow. When it is red it's supposed to protect the other person per-son from you. Ours is a government of laws not men. Our constitution guarantees that our laws may be made in one way, and one way only, by the people, through their elected representativesnot representa-tivesnot by one man, or a few men, or by any appointed group. No man in this country is so big that he is above the law, and none so insignificant that he cannot look to the law for protection. A good citizen cooperates with the law. He assists public agents in preventing crime, and the courts in giving evidence. - A good citizen does not evade the law. He does not say, "I know somebody who can fix my ticket." Laws necessarily change with needs of the times. A good citizen's attitude toward a law which he regards as unfair, unreasonable and out of step with the times is that of working to get it changed but obeying it while it is on the books. There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. You cannot make men good by laws, and the hope of law and order is grounded in the reverence 3J j. I of a major- ity of peo-V peo-V f Ple fr jus-l jus-l tice, truth ' 1 and good-A good-A l ness. But, l the final 1 I analysis, a 4si S M w has SS1 I? teeth in it. I ,-1, Using fed- eral offenses as an example, one great historian says, "If you refuse long enough to make out a correct income tax return re-turn and refuse to obey an order to appear in court, you will get a touch of government power. Three or four husky fellows will take you by the scruff of the neck and the seat of the pants and hustle you into in-to a police van motored by the power of internal combustion." To guard against hasty and ill-advised ill-advised action or the concentration of powers in any one man or body of men, a system of checks and balances is provided by the federal constitution. Of these: It would take six years completely com-pletely to replace the elected branches of the federal government govern-ment composed exclusively of members of one party by the members mem-bers of another. This is due to the fact that: The President is elected- for four years; the members of the house of representatives are elected every two years, and one-third of the senators sen-ators are elected every two years but for a six-year term. Laws passed either by the senate sen-ate or by the house of representatives representa-tives must be approved by a majority ma-jority of the other body. The President can veto laws enacted en-acted by congress, and his veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds two-thirds vote of each house. The courts have the right to interpret in-terpret laws passed by congress and to review the legality of acts of officers of-ficers of the government charged with the administration. In many cases the courts have held acts of congress invalid as being in conflict con-flict with a provision of the constitution. consti-tution. The senate has the power to review re-view and reject Presidential appointments ap-pointments of diplomatic, judicial, and certain other officers of the government, as well as the power to approve or reject treaties with foreign governments. The house of representatives has the power to impeach and the senate sen-ate the place of trial and to remove re-move from office all civil officers of the United States including even the President. This arttele ts Chapter S of the booklet "Good Citizen" prodnoed bj The American Heritage Foundation, sponsors of the freedom train. A complete book may be obtained bj sending 25 oents to the American Heritage Fonndatfon, 17 East 45th Street, New York, N. Y. |