Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1863-10-21

man, he also greatly distinguished himself as one
Of the most profound thinkers of that age on the
science Of government, by his letters TO Duane and
Morris At the close Of the war, he was elected to
the Legislature Of New York. and was the author
Of the celebrated resolutions adopted by that body
in 1882, which finally led to the calling of the Fed
eral Convention of 1887. Before his term of SER
vice expired in that body, he was elected by it q
member Of the Congress of the Consideration, and
at once arose to the highest eminence among Amer
lean statesmen. He became member of the Con-
vention of 1887, and was the advocate of strong
national government, but the State governments
we're to form an essential part Of his plan. He was
q member of the Convention of the State Of New
York to deliberate upon the new Constitution, and
it was manly owing to his great exertions in that
body, that New York finally ratified it. After its
adoption he was for six years the first Secretary OF
the Treasury of the United States, and such es
tablished complete financial system and raised the
dropping credit of the United States to as high
point, as that of any of the nations Of the earth
And though he is now universally acknowledged to
have been as pure true, and as upright patriot
as ever lived, yet during his whole life he was
charged With design to subvert the government,
first by extinguishing the State governments and
then, by establishing monarchy upon their ruins.
These charges rung by the leaders of the ultra
States rights party in thousand publications which
were spread broad cast over the land Hewas pur-
inAuence, or cnvied his intellectual superiority,
with ell the ferocity d fend and all the maligni
ty of devil, till he finally met his death at the
hands of the traitor, Aaron Burr; and now the
leaders Of this same party attempt to hold him up
as an authority for their doctrine of secession! .
shame where is thy bush9
In the quotation made by President Davis, Gov.
Ellis and Marion, Gen. Hamilton is made to say
that "to coerce the States is one of the maddest
projects ever devised" admit that Gen. Hamilton
did say that and in the and in the connection
in which he said it, it is of the very wisest of all
the sayings of that wsest and greatest of American
statesmen. In the celebrated speech from which
this quotation is made, Hamilton was discussing the
merits of the national and federal systems. There
was in the State Of New York great and powerful
party headed by Geo. Clinton, Gen. james Clinton,
Yates, lansing Smith and others opposed to ma
tonal government in any form. They wished to
retain the old plan with very little alteration, but
as the subjects of the old were not citizens but
States, the laws or rather the acquisitions of Con-
gress were almost wholly disregarded There was
no express power in the articles Of Confederation
authorizing Congress to use force in their execu-
ton, though as showed in my first communica
ton on this subject, many of the abest statesmen
of that age believed that they did possess such q
power constructvely. Among the amendments to
the confederation proposed by the opponents Of the
new plan was to vest Congress with the right of
military cosi9n to compel the States to comply with
the acquisitions of Congress. This principle per-
vaded the Constitutions of all the Confederacies Of
both ancient and modern times with the single ex
ception of Holland, which did not, indeed admit of
it paper but even there it had been several times
exercised. Mr.. Hamilton, even in the gerry speech
from which the foregoing quotation was made show
cd all this to be So and showed the result Of the
workings of such system that the States compos
ing those Confederacics were almost always at war
with their federal head, exhibiting the deplorable
spectacle of nation at war with ITSELF He went
much into the details of their history, and showed
that weakness in the head produced resistance in
the members; that this had been the immediate
parent Of civil war; that auxiliary force had been
invited in; and that foreign power had annihilated
their liberties and name. Thus Phillip of Macedon
subverted the Amp5ictyonic, and Rome the Achaian
republic"
1t was the workings of this vicious system, as
exhibited in the history all the preceding Confed-
eracies which in that same speech he traced some
what minutey-that caused Mr. Hamilton to
claim, to coerce the States would be one of the
maddest projects ever devised" But what did he
propose did he propose to dispense with the pow
er? Not at all He simply proposed to abandon
the oeious system ITSELF or merge it into the nation
al system in which the laws of Congress would
operate not upon the States but upon the citizens
of the United States. He wished to retain or rath
er to introduce the coercive power in full vgor for
the enforcement Of the laws of the United States,
not against the States themselves, but against the
citizen. In a speech made in the Federal Conven-
ton the 18th Of June 1887, he said tia: good
government ought to contain among other principles
that of force, and added, "by force mean the
coercion of law and the coercion of arms; and IN
the 18th number of that immortal work the FEEDER
alst, he says: "That there may happen cases, in
which the national government may be under the
necessity of resorting to force cannot be Denied
Our own experience has corroboraed the lessons
taught by other nations; that emergencies OF TINS
sort will sometimes exist IN all societies. however
constituted that setitons and instructions are un-
happily malades inseparable from the body poll.
tic, as tumors and eruptions are from the natural
body that the idea of governing at all times by the
simple force Of law (Which have been told is the
only admissible principle ofrepublican government
has no place but in the reverie OF those political
doctors whose sagacty dlsclalmS thRtAdmonluons OF
experimental instruction" IT,
"Should such emergencies at any time happen un.
der the national government, there could be no
remedy but force The means to be employed, must
be proportional to the extent of the mischief lift
should be slight commotion in small part of o
State the militia of the residue would be adequate
to its SUPPRESSION and the natural presumption is
that they would be ready to do their duty. An in
surrection whatever may be its immediate cause,
eventually 'enoangers all governments. heSau "
the public peace if not the rights of the Union,
would engage the citizens, to whom the contagion
had not communicated ITSELF to oppose the insur-
gents; and if the general government should be
found in practice conducive to the prosperity and
felicity of the people, it were irrational to be-
lieve that they would be dsinclned to its support
If on the contrary, the insurrection should per-
nnzs ..A.1S.state principle part Of It, the EN-.
ploymen. Of different Kind of force might become
unavoidable"
And in treating of the same subject in number
16 of the same work, he says: g And as to those
mortal feuds, which, in certain conjunctures spread
conaagraton through whole nation or through
q very large proportion of it, proceeding from
weighty causes of discomfort, given by the govern
ment, or from the contagon of some popular parox.
ysm they do not fall within the ordinary rules Of
calculation. When they happen they commonly
amount to revolutions. and acknowledgements of EN-.
pireW Will any candid and impartial man after
reading this COMMAND that Alayapd,r uan;lt..