The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-08-24
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GOveFnmemG.O

GOveFnmeme.N
Ibeliecs, Mr.. Speaker, that tho fame Of Jefferson
is soaming, and tie 6asss Of Hamilton soaring IN
the esttm0tioa Of ne AMERICAN people, and that zee
are grapitaan0 t0so0rd Stronger Government
| I ana glad zoe ars.-James A. Garfield, January
20, 1885. See Globe, page 40, SSth Congress,
| Cd session
The Stronger Government Hamilton
desired and towards which Mr.. Garfield
is "glad we 4" are gravitating" differed
totally from the government established
by the fathers" Hamilton's Plan of Gov
eminent" was embodied in a paper read
by him in the convention of 1887, the
prominent features of which were as fol-
lows:
l. A Congress to consist of two dis
tinct bodies of men, the one to be called
the Assembly, the other the Senate. The
Assembly to be elected by the people and
the members to serve for three gears
The Senate to consist of persons chosen
by electors to serve during good be-
hduio,w.
2. The executive authority to be vested
in a Governor President) to be elected to
serve during good behaviour. He to be
clothed with an absolute veto on all
laws passed or about to be passed.
8. The Senate to have the sole power of
declaring war and making treaties.
4. The Governor of each State to be APP
pointed By the general government and
to have an unqualified negative upon all
laws about to be passed in the State Of
which he is Governor.
5. The States to keep no militia.
Hamilton would thus have established
government modelled after the British
form. He had no confidence in the peo-
pie or in form of government which ad-
mitted the people to full participation
in its administration. He would have
made the States mere provinces. AS late
as 1902, only two years before he fell at
the hands OF Burr, in letter to Mr..
Governor Morris he declared the Con-
| stitution ga frail and worthless fabric"
Mr.. Morris, who was Hamilton's intimate
friend, afterwards said of him, that he
"hated Republican Government and
"never failed on every occasion to advo-
cate the excellence of and avow his at
tachment to Monarchical government"
Jefferson, who did SO much to shape the
Constitution and prevent the establish
ment of a government fashioned on the
| English model, declared that Hamilton
was not only a monarchist, but for "a
monarchy bottomed on corruption" The
difference between Adams and Hamilton,
Mr.. Jefferson said, was this "Adams was
for two hereditary branches and an hon
est elective one; Hamilton was for an
hereditary king, with House of Lords
and Commons corrupted to his will, and
standing between him and the people. "
Here in brief is the kind of man towards
whose ideas of government Mr.. Garfield
is "glad " eve are gravitating." We
hear much of the tendency to centralise
the government, and no one need be at a
loss to know what that means when the
Republican candidate for the Presidency
avows his qualification that the teachings
of Hamilton are becoming popularised.
And no one can doubt that if free gov
eminent among us is ever destroyed it
will be through that legitimate offspring
of the old Federalists, the miscalled
Republican party" whose end and
aim is to reduce the States to subordinate
importance and erect on the ruins of the
Constitution a government with priv
LEGGED orders.