, 1899-02-24
HAMILTON AS AN EXPANSIONIST

A paragraph credited to the New
York Times is going the rounds of the
press which says that Samuel Gompers
at an anti-expansionist meeting ex-
claimed, 81 am with jefferson and the
people rather than with Hamilton and
the federalists." The Times very tru-
ly remarks that "the allusion is most
laundering" but adds that "on the
question of expansion in his day Hamil-
ton took no prominent stand, because
he happened to be killed by Aaron Burr
in 1904 before the question had really
arisen"
Gompers apparently thinks that on
the Louisiana annexation question
Hamilton and the federalists'' were
the annexationists. This, of course, is
a blunder in the case of the majority of
the federalists and jefferson. jefferson
favored the Louisiana acquisition, al
though he thought he was going
against the constitution in the case.
l. buih vi " lNuV SllSlS dSdlllSl
annexation. They were against it for
two reasons-because they were jeal-
GUS and d%istrustful of the west, and be-
cause the annexation policy was JEFF
ferson's. At this particular time the
once mighty federal party was a feeble
and discredited sect. Washington was
dead, Adams was ~estranged and sullen,
Jay was out OF politics, Hamilton was
in retirement, all its old chieftains
were out of harness, and men of smaller
caliber were in the lead in that party.
On two points, however, the Times
is astray-in saying that the expan-
sion question had not really arisen at
the time that Hamilton was killed and
in assuming that Hamilton was not an
expansionist. The senate ratified the
Louisiana annexation treaty in 1903,
and house and senate enacted the legis-
lation to put the treaty into operation.
The largest annexation ever made by
the United States was accomplished,
after a hard contest in both branches of
congress and an earnest discussion by
the people all over the country, more
than half a year before Hamilton's
death. You know my general theory
as to our western Affairs wrote Ham
ilton to C. C. Pinckney on December %,
1902. Il have always held that the uni
ty of our empire and the best interests
of our nation require that we shall an
mex to the United States all the terri
tory east of the Mississippi, New Or
leans included" AT that time Spain
owned Florida, which included a strip
on the southern ends of the present
states of Mississippi and Alabama, ex-
tending to the Mississippi river Ham
ilton wanted all of that territory an
nexed to the United States. That is as
far as Jefferson or anybody else wanted
to go at that time. That, with New Or
leans and it's vicinity, was what Jeffer-
son sought to buy when Bonaparte
thrust the whole of Louisiana on him.
Hamilton favored the ratification OF the
Louisiana treaty and the development
of Louisiana when that issue came up
a few months after this letter to Pinck-
ney was written. Hamilton was one OF
the broadcast men of his day. No man
condemned that narrow particularism
revealed in Jefferson's Kentucky reso-
buttons Of 1898 and Madison's Virginia
resolutions of the same date more Wg-
orously than did Hamilton. He always
on all issues, favored what he caiieu
continental politics." Hamilton was
an expansionist at a time when ex-
pansion had relatively far fewer frlends
than IT has today.-St. Louis GLOBE
Democrat.