Elements of Civil Government / A Text-Book for Use in Public Schools, High Schools and Normal Schools and a Manual of Reference for Teachers

by Alexander L. Peterman

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

1. Why is military government more severe than civil government?

2. Could society exist without law? Why?

3. Why is a republic a bad form of government for an ignorant people?

4. Are the people of the United States growing wiser and better?

5. Is this State improving in civilization?

CHAPTER XVI.

JUSTICE.

The object of government is to protect the people, and to render justice to them. Justice is the security of rights. A right is a well-founded claim; that is, a just claim of one person upon other persons.

Rights are the most important things that a person can possess, because his happiness depends upon them. They are real things, for whose protection governments are instituted. The kind and extent of the rights recognized and protected in any country determine the form of its government. As a rule, there is more freedom among citizens of a republic than among those of other governments, because a republic guarantees more rights.