The prohibition contained in the last para graph of this section was set up to defeat a forfeiture of real property employed in vio lation of the revenue laws, as making the act under which the remedy was applied in practical effect a bill of attainder within this provision, and it was said by Hall, J., that the clauses in this section "have respect to high crimes, and punishing them, restraining rigor and guarding against arbitrarily enact ing guilt. The case before the court is a civil suit in rem, against the thing, to ratify the seizure of it, and the provision of the act of congress under which it is alleged to be forfeited, and therefore was seized, is a regu lation of civil policy, framed to secure to the United States fair payment of taxes imposed for the support of the government, a regula tion of civil policy to accomplish a purpose vital to government ; for without revenue the government cannot exist ; and what meas ures may be requisite to enforce the collec tion of a tax, it is for congress in the exer cise of its, legislative power to determine." Accordingly, the objection was overruled, and the information sustained, and a decree of condemnation was made; U. S. v. Distil lery, 2 Abb. U. S. 192, Fed. Cas. No. 14,965.
The fourth article is composed of four sections. The first provides that state rec ords, etc., shall have full faith and credit in other states. The second secures to citizens of each state all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states, and the de livery of fugitives from justice or from labor. The third provides for the admission of new states, and the government of the territories. The fourth guarantees to every state in the Union a republican form of government, and protection from invasion or domestic vio lence.
Sec. 1. As to the full faith and credit to be given in one state to the records and judi cial proceedings of another under this sec tion, see FOREIGN JUDGMENT.
Sec. 2. As to the privileges and immunities to which citizens of each state are entitled in other states, see PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNI TIES. As to the delivery of fugitives from justice by one state to another, see FUGITIVE FROM JUSTICE, sub-tit. Interstate Rendition.
The third paragraph of this section relates mainly to slavery and is necessarily obsolete, but the .expression "no person held to service or labor" includes apprentices; Boaler v. Cummines, 5 Clark (Pa.) 246; id., Fed. Cas. No. 1,584.
Sec. 3. It was held in Luther v. Borden, 7 How. 1, 12 L. Ed. 581, that the power of recognizing state governments is vested in congress. The territories cannot without the consent of congress take legislative ac tion for the formation of constitutions and state governments, but the people of a terri tory may meet in primary assemblies or con ventions for the purpose of making applica tion .to congress for admission into the
Union as a state; 2 Opin. A. G. 726. The admission of a new state gives it the same status as the other states; Bolln v. Nebras ka, 176 U. S. 83, 20 Sup. Ct. 287, 44 L. Ed. 382; Huse v. Glover, 119 U. S. 543, 7 Sup. Ct. 313, 30 L. Ed. 487; and its sovereignty and equality cannot be restrained by con gressional action; Withers v. Buckley, 20 How. (U. S.) 84, 15 L. Ed. 816; and imme diately upon its admission, the federal laws extend over and into it; Calkin v. Cocke, 14 How. (U. S.) 229, 14 L. Ed. 398.
The consent of the legislature to the di vision of a state requires that it be one rep resenting and governing the whole state and not merely a part of it ; 10 Opin. A. G. 426.
The power of congress over public lands is unlimited; U. S. v. Gratiot, 14 Pet. 526, 10 L. Ed. 573 ; and that power is not affected by the admission of a territory as a state; Camfield v. U. S., 167 U. S. 518, 17 Sup. Ct. 864, 42 L. Ed. 260. See LANDS, Punuc.
Sec. 4. The guarantee of a republican form of government to every "state" means to its people and not to its government: Texas v. White, 7 Wall. (U. S.) 700, 19 L. Ed. 227. Where it was also held that this clause was sufficient authority for the reconstruction, after the Civil War, of the governments of the states included within the Confederacy.
No precise definition of what constitutes a republican government under this clause has been judicially declared; it does not involve the recognition of woman suffrage ; Minor v. Happersett, 21 Wall. (U. S.) 162, 22 L. Ed. 627; nor is it violated by a pro vision for minority representation in a con stitutional convention ; Woods' Appeal, 75 Pa. 59; nor by an act of a state legislature giving the courts control over municipal boundaries; Forsyth v. Hammond, 166 U. S. 506, 17 Sup. Ct. 665, 41 L. Ed. 1095. The decision as to what is a republican govern ment must necessarily remain absolutely with congress ; Luther v. Borden, 7 How. (U. S.) 42, 12 L. Ed. 581; and the execution of this constitutional power belongs to the political department of the government and not the judicial; Taylor v. Beckham, 178 U. S. 548, 20 Sup. Ct. 890, 1009, 44 L. Ed. 1187. See REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERN MENT.
The authority to grant federal aid in the suppression of domestic violence may be ex ercised upon the call of the executive when ever the legislature cannot be convened ; U. S. v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 23 L. Ed. 588.