Readings in American Government

stantly changing, the fundamentals are rather definitely fixed, and my purpose has been to select readings which deal almost exclusively with fundamentals, with general principles, so that they should be as useful a decade from now as at present. It is hoped that this collection will provide some diversion from the routine reading of the text-book, and will be at the same time informing and thought-producing.

In several cases it has been difficult to make the proper selection from the thousands of books which have passed through my hands, because of the small amount of material of a permanent, philosophical nature along the lines of their chief contributions to our government, in the writings and speeches of several of our great statesmen. There are many casual, fleeting observations, but surprisingly few with a permanent value, and it has been my desire to choose the classic rather than the ephemeral. In some cases selections have been taken because of their intrinsic value and irrespective of their authorship. Vice versa, a few selections have been taken primarily because of their authorship and secondarily because of their merit. It has been necessary to do this in order to direct attention to both men and ideas.

I have omitted from the selections all matter which was extraneous to my purpose, and where such condensations have been made, I have placed an asterisk after the title of the selection, thus avoiding frequent marks indicating deletions. The headnotes to the selections are intended to give the setting of the articles and to introduce the authors -they do not attempt to summarize. For the sake of convenience the readings are numbered and grouped roughly according to the usual arrangement in the textbooks on the subject. The sources from which the selections have been

taken may be found by reference to the table of contents and the list of citations.

I am especially indebted to Professor Jesse S. Reeves because it was at his suggestion and with his valued assistance that this work was undertaken. My colleagues in the Department of Political Science, together with Dean Henry M. Bates of the Law School, Professor F. W. Coker of Ohio State University and Professor A. N. Holcombe of Harvard University were very kind to give me valuable advice, and I wish to offer my appreciation for their help.

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