"A Government of the Nation, A Course In Civil Government. "The Government of the People of the United States", written by Francis Newton Thorpe, Professor of Constitutional History, University of Pennsylvania, in 1895.

"The Four Groups of Rights"

31. Industrial Rights.—The citizen has the right and the duty to support himself and those dependent upon him by honorable labor : such rights and duties are called Industrial. These are many and of first importance. Within this group fall all the rights of laborers, operatives and of makers of things of every description. Industrial rights and duties affect the business, the material interests of the household, and the productive interests of the country — the farms, manufacturing plants, the wages of men, women and children, the hours of labor, the means of transportation, such as railroads, canals, steamship lines, express companies and common carriers. Industrial rights and duties also extend to society at large. America has vast industrial relations with other countries; we use articles produced in foreign lands, and they use articles made by us. Our industrial interests comprise a large portion of our wealth, and government guards them with extreme care.

32. Political Rights.—The citizen has also opinions as to what he himself and society should do and what ideas should be supreme in the state. These ideas of control or government are called political ideas. His political ideas are his own property, and he has the right to express them and to carry them into effect with the aid of his fellow citizens, provided that neither he nor they do or suffer wrong. His right is to do unto others as he would have them do unto him. Men are always trying to enforce their ideas upon others i. e. to govern them. In this second group of rights and duties are all those rights of opinion concerning government, such as, what kind of government is best; how government should be administered; who should exercise authority; where that authority should be located. Political rights and duties affect all our opinions about human laws, the nature of public offices and the character of public officers. Political rights and duties are concerned when public servants are chosen, such as school directors and assessors, tax collectors and judges, governors and senators, members of Congress or the President of the United States. Political rights and duties are concerned in such ordinary and important matters as the carrying of the mails; the material, the quality, the quantity and the denominations of our money ; the fixing of county, State and national boundaries; the support of an army and of a navy; and they are concerned also in such seemingly trivial matters as the shape, color and value of a postage stamp and the selection of the man's face upon it. These rights and duties are of such importance that men organize powerful political parties to maintain their opinions, give their energies, time and money for the support of these opinions, and seek peaceful solution of governmental problems by elections, or compel the solution of them by wars and treaties. The political rights and duties of individuals have assumed so much importance in this country that they are often said to be the supreme interests of the citizen. But they are only one of a group of rights of equal interest with other rights.

33. Social Rights.—An American citizen is also part of society ; he has social rights and duties. These are of a comprehensive character, because they affect the nation as a whole. Social rights and duties are concerned in the establishment of all kinds of schools for the benefit of the public; for the reformation of criminals; in the maintenance of asylums for the aid of the afflicted, such as the blind and the insane. Society is interested in the preservation of health and public comfort, public order, good roads and bridges, clean and passable streets, safe public and private buildings, the lighting of public places, the removal of all substances that may poison the air we breathe or the water we drink. These rights and duties are liable to be neglected, although they are commonly admitted to be of vast importance. The welfare of society is often of greater moment than the comfort of an individual. When the interests of the individual and of society conflict, the individual must yield to society if society insists upon the yielding. This right of society is called the right of eminent domain. The right of eminent domain is a sovereign right exercised by a government or by a corporation, by which individual interests are compelled to yield to the interests of society, of the corporation or of the government. A corporation is a body of persons authorized by law to act or do business as a single individual. A railroad company, a manufacturing company, a bank, a chartered city, are illustrations of corporations.

34. Moral and Religious Rights.—The citizen has also moral and religious rights: he is a child of God and lives in relations with him. Man naturally worships some being superior to himself. We have rights of conscience and we have moral duties. These we are permitted to exercise freely so far as they do not break the peace of the State. These rights and duties are concerned in the maintenance of religion; the proper regard for the Sabbath; the reverence for sacred things and ideas; the support of public worship; the bettering of the world; the conscientious attention to the duties of life. For many centuries men struggled to realize the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience: that right has been and is fully realized in this country. Closely related to these rights and duties are those of a moral character which are implied in the word "ought." All good government is moral in its character.