GOUT 



2546 



GOVERNMENT 



ing water, which remains cool in such a vessel. 

 Pilgrims in the Orient used bottle gourds, and 

 they might be called the original thermos 

 bottles. 



Another species, the nest-egg gourd, produces 

 small, egg-shaped fruits, which may very well 

 be used as nest-eggs, as the name implies. 



Other species are the dipper, pipe gourd or 

 calabash, apple-shaped, orange, pear-shaped, 

 powder horn and Hercules club. All can be 

 used as dippers, and they are ornamental and 

 excellent as toys for children. A gourd in 

 which the interior has dried and the seeds have 

 loosened makes a good, natural rattle for a 

 baby. M.S. 



GOUT, gowt, a constitutional disorder, chiefly 

 in the male sex, occurring in paroxysms of se- 

 vere pain in the great toe, in the heel, or in 

 the calf of the leg. It often spreads to the 

 larger joints and the internal organs, and is 

 usually accompanied by acute indigestion. 



The disease is due to an excess of uric acid 

 in the blood. Indolence, inactivity and in- 

 temperance in eating rich foods and drinking 

 fermented liquors are the principal causes. 

 Gout may be acquired or it may be hereditary. 

 If the former, it rarely appears before the vic- 

 tim reaches the age of thirty-five ; if the latter, 

 it is frequently observed earlier. Strict regula- 

 tion of the habits of life is an important factor 

 in the treatment of gout. 



GOVERNMENT, the political machinery by 

 which a community or state exercises control 

 over its public affairs; the term also popularly 

 embraces the body of men through whom this 

 control is exercised. Official oversight of all 

 the public affairs of men and also of many 

 of their more private undertakings has been 

 necessary since people first came into contact 

 with each other. Every man has a right to 

 a certain^ degree of personal liberty. He is 

 not to be denied this right so long as in its 

 exercise he does not encroach upon the rights 

 of others. One man cannot take from another 

 any privileges he may justly claim for him- 

 self. If among inalienable rights are those 

 of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" 

 then all men must consent to such control as 

 will preserve the balance between right and 

 wrong in human affairs. 



The general purpose of all government is 

 broadly stated in the, preamble to the Consti- 

 tution of the United States, namely, "to es- 

 tablish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 

 provide for the common defense, promote the 

 general welfare and secure the blessing of lib- 



erty * * * ." To attain these ends a gov- 

 ernment defends the people against foreign 

 aggression; supports courts of justice; regulates 

 property rights of individuals, and determines 

 the political rights and duties of citizens or 

 subjects and the privileges of aliens. 



A government assumes control of various 

 matters directly relating to the welfare of its 

 people which might conceivably be trusted 

 to private enterprise. It coins money; regu- 

 lates trade and commerce; maintains roads, 

 highways and postal systems; provides sani- 

 tary regulations ; enforces public education, and 

 cares for the sick and the poor. As to the 

 extent to which a government should control 

 at least a few of the functions above noted, 

 statesmen are unable to agree. Some contend 

 that all matters should be left to individuals 

 to the limit of their ability to manage affairs, 

 while others, on the contrary, would have the 

 field of governmental action greatly extended. 

 The extreme of this latter view is represented 

 by the theories of socialism; the socialists 

 would have the government not merely regu- 

 late all great public business enterprises but 

 actually own and operate most of them, such 

 as railroads, telegraphs, express companies, and 

 the like. The argument directly opposed to 

 state ownership and control and representing 

 the extreme of individual liberty is offered by 

 nihilism and in the theories of the anarchists; 

 both of the latter would use force to abolish 

 all centralized authority and to substitute abso- 

 lute individual freedom. 



Some kind of government has existed among 

 peoples from the earliest times, but while 

 scientific development has been steady, there 

 is not -yet a normal or absolute type which 

 may be pointed to as a fairly perfect model. 

 Governments have grown, developed and 

 changed with the advancing times; all coun- 

 tries are more carefully administered to-day 

 than formerly, but no two nations employ 

 exactly the same means to put into effect their 

 policies. With respect to their nature, govern- 

 ments may be classified broadly as autocratic. 

 and constitutional, or popular. In the former, 

 power is exercised without restraint by an 

 individual or by a few selected members of 

 the state; in the latter, comprising republics 

 and limited monarchies, power is vested in the 

 entire body of persons who compose the state, 

 and these delegate immediate authority to 

 their agents. Only constitutional governments 

 "derive their just powers from the consent of 

 the governed." Of autocratic governments the 



