The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1873-05-30
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE FED
ERAL GOVERNMENT.
NO. VII.

The convention which met at
Annapolis, un der the lead of Madi-
son and Hamilton, refused to under
take the limited task assigned it,
and after a brief interchange of
thought among its members, adopt
ed report, drawn up by Hamilton,
recommending Congress to call a
convention with full powers to con-
slider not only the questions of tariff
and revenue, but also the entire
question of a national government.
His recommendation proposed the
appointment by the States, of COM
missioners to meet in Philadelphia,
and the object of this convention
was set forth in the follwing words:
"To take into consideration the
state of the United States, to devise
such further provision as shall ap-
pear to them necessary to render
| the Constitution of the Federal
gencies of the Union, and to report
| SuCll III ihCJ 1OE NAldb pun pOSO " tLlO
United States, in Congress assem-
bled, as when agreed to by them
and afterwards confirmed by the
legislature of every State, shall
eflectually provide for the same"
1t will be seen at once that this
recommendation admits the exist
ence of Confederate government
only, and while every man was a
citizen of q State, no one could be
citizen of the United States, since
they owed obedience to their re-
spective State governments but
owed no obedience to the Federal
Government. In the Virginia leg
islature this recommendation re-
ceiYed an unanimous approval, and
New York was the next State that
acted upon it. Her Legislature in
structed her delegates in Congress
to move n resolution recommending
to the States the appointment of
delegates to meet in convention for
the purpose of proposing amend
ments to the Articles of Confedera-
ton. February 2Sth, 1887, Congress
passed a resolution recommending
a convention to meet in Philadel-
phia in May of that year. Dele
gates were appointed by all the
States except Rhode Island. The
14th of May was the day appointed
for the opening of the convention,
but owing to the small number of
delegates who had arrived by that
day, the opening was postponed I'M
til the 25th; at which time %
delegates were present, from nine
States. This number was soon in
creased until the whole number was
fifty-five. "This assembly is known
in history as the Federal conven-
tion-the convention which framed
the Federal Constitution" The
amount of wisdom and patriotism
assembled in this convention has
never been surpassed in ancient or
modern times. Washington, Madi-
sou, Hamilton and Franklin were
there; so also were Robert, and
Gouverneur Morris, and King, and
Ellsworth, and Pinckney, and Liv-
ingston; nor ought we to neglect to
mention Sherman, Dickinson, Will
son aud many others who were dis
tinguished for great ability, and for
valuable service rendered to their
country. Madison, who was not
absent from the debates of the con-
Yention single day, says of it's
members:
feel it my duty to express my
profound aud solemn conviction,
derived from my intimate opportu-
nifty for observing and approaching
the views of the convention, col
lectively and individually, that
there never was a set of men charg-
ed with great and arduous trust
who were more pure in their mo-
ives or more exclusively and anx-
ously devoted to the object COM
united to them, than were the men,
bers of the Federal convention of
1857 to the object of deTising and
proposing q constitutional system
which should best supply the de-
fects of that which it was to replace,
and best secure the permanent lib
erty and happiness of their country.
The delegation romPennsylvania,
through Robert Morris, nominated
Washington as President of the
convention; he was unanimously
chosen. By one of its rules no
transaction of the convention was
to be made public without permits
sion, hence all its proceedings were
secret. Madison, however, perceiy-
ing what an interest posterity
would take in the proceedings of
the convention, made a daily record
of the same. He carefully prcserv-
ed this record, and after his death
Congress ordered it TO be publish
ed. From this record a very full
and satisfactory account can be had
of all the doings of the convention.
The main business of the conven-
ton was opened by Mr.. Randolph,
of Virginia, by a speech, in which
he set forth the defects of the Con-