Government—Originally based upon church membership, the conditions surrounding the suffrage have been subject to successive modifi cations. Dissenters from the Established Church, were released from paying taxes for church purposes in 1815, and in 1833 all denominations were given equal standing before the law, Since the adoption of the original State cons& tution (1780) it has been three times revised by constitutional conventions held in 1820, 1853 and 1917-19. Numerous amendments to the origi nal articles have been made and new articles adopted from time to time. All male persons, 21 years of age and upward, able to read and write in the English language, and neither paupers, imbeciles or convicts are entitled to vote. The State legislature, called the General. Court, consists of the senate, 40 members, and the house of representatives, 240 members. elected in senatorial and representative dis tricts respectively. Annual sessions are held beginning on the first Wednesday of January and continuing until prorogation after the com pletion of the business of the session. One of the most important articles in the recently revised Constitution provides for legislation subject to popular initiative and referendum, so that a specified number of voters by petition may initiate constitutional amendments and laws, or may require laws enacted by the General Court to be referred to the people for ratifi-' cation or rejection.
The executive branch of the State govern ment consists of a governor, lieutenant-gov ernor, eight councillors who are the governor's' constitutional advisers in the matter of appoint ments and other minor executive duties, and who are chosen in councillor districts, a secre-' tary of the Commonwealth, treasurer and re ceiver-general, auditor of accounts and attor ney-general. Beginning with the election to be held November 1920 these state officers and the members of the legislature, all of whom have heretofore been elected annually, will be chosen biennially; but annual sessions of the legislature will be continued as in the past. The governor is by virtue of his office com mander-in-chief of the military forces of the State. He has a constitutional power of veto over the acts passed by the legislature, but, notwithstanding this, vetoed bills may he passed over the veto by a two-thirds vote of both branches. Important executive functions are exercised by commissions of from one to three or more members, appointed by the governor, including among others the boards of agricul ture; education; charity; conciliation and arbi tration (dealing with labor disputes) ; the in dustrial accident board; the board of labor and industry; the commissioners of insurance; banks; waterways and public lands; the public service commissioners; the commission on men tal diseases (lunacy) ; the bureau of prisons; the department of health; and the director of the bureau of statistics (controlling the census, social and industrialstatistics), etc. The re
cently revised Constitution requires that. on or before 1 Jan. 1921, these commissions and boards, and all other executive and adminis trative work of the Commonwealth shall be organized in not more than 20 departments in which every executive and administrative office shall be placed, except those . directly con trolled by the governor and council. All judges are appointed by the governor and hold offices good behavior. The judicial system comprises police, district and municipal courts, having original jurisdiction in minor civil and criminal cases, sometimes exclusive of the Su perior Court and sometimes concurrent there with; a Superior Court with original jurisdic tion in higher cases, and original and concur rent jurisdiction with the Supreme Judicial Court; and a Supreme Judicial Court, which general supervision over all courts of in ferior jurisdiction, hears appeals, decides ques tions of law, etc. This court has also original jurisdiction in certain cases, and original and concurrent jurisdiction with the Superior Court in others. The Superior and Supreme Judicial Courts hold regular term sittings in the several counties. The judicial system also includes courts of probate and insolvency in each county, and there are trial justices and justices of the peace, with limited jurisdiction.
Cities are incorporated by special legislative charter, the minimum population required be ing 12,000. City governments are administered by a mayor and city council. Towns are inde pendent municipal bodies other than cities, the chief executive officers being the board of select men, elected in town meeting by those entitled to vote. The town meetings also make appro priations and decide, by vote, other important matters relating to the affairs of the towns.
The cities and towns are grouped into coun ties, 14 in number, namely, Barnstable, Berk shire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hamp den, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Nor folk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester. The chief executive officers in the counties are county commissioners, elected annually.
Militia.— All able-bodied male citizens be tween the ages of 18 and 45 are in emergency liable to perform military duty. The ordinary State militia force consisted in 1916 (including officers) of land forces numbering 9,649 men, and a naval force of 842 men. These were organized in five regiments of infantry (in two brigades), one squadron of cavalry, one regi ment of field artillery, one corps of coast artil lery, one field battalion of signal troops, one corps of cadets, one naval brigade and a depart ment of sanitary troops comprising one am bulance company, one field hospital company and sanitary detachments for the various regi ments. During the late war, by special legis lation, the land forces were much enlarged by a so-called home guard, recruited by volun tary enlistment.