The Minneapolis journal., 1904-05-21
A Dire Tragedy's Centenary.

: july 1ILn occurs the - centenary |
of the. death Of Alexander Hamilton
from the effects of a pistol shot fired
by Aaron Burr, on the day before.
Both men Were conspicuous figures
in the fervid politics Of that day,
Hamilton the founder Of the federalist
party and Burr, so conspicuous as
a partizan of Jefferson,s republican
or neutrality-suspicious. party that,
when the election went to the house in
1901, he found himself chosen vice.
president, with Jefferson in first place.
The killing Of Hamilton was an in
cident in the social life of the day, SO
to speak, but it was utilized by the
many friends Of Hamilton to compass
the political destruction Of Burr, who
brought upon himself suspicion, ar
rest, imprisonment trial, by. reason Of
his conspiracy, revealed thru much
documentary evidence and verbal tes-
timony. His purpose, as is we'll
known, was separation of the western
and southwestern states and terri
tories, with: a military government
at New Orleans and the ultimate in
vasion Of Mexico, with the object Of
settling up a vast southwestern en-
pire.
Burr, after holding the position of
vice president, spoke contemptuously
Of our government and it's policies,
and boasted Of the ease with which
he could overthrow it. After the
Richmond trial, which resulted in his
acquittal on the dubious ground Of
mot proven" altho the examination
was a very partizan affair, favoring
| Burr, he found himself a back num-
Der, branded as a traitor, and the de-
signs which he had fostered pro-
| claimed against by the government.
| Colonel Claiborne in his valuable
history of Mississippi devotes his
twenty-fourth chapter to the Burr.
movement and a consideration of the
respective moral merits Of Burr and
Hamilton, which bitter controversial
lists have always placed before any
discussion Of the real fruitage Of their
public acts and services to their
country. It were better, Of course, to
draw a veil over the private lives Of
is evidence enough to show that
neither was immaculate. But when it
comes to enduring public service and
craftsmanship, the superiority Of
Hamilton cannot be questioned save
by the most partizan Of democrats.
/ Burr, like Hamilton, fought brave
ly and effectively in the war for
American independence, but Hamil-
| ton not only fought for independence,
but, before the war ended, he had
written those two mastery letters to
Congressman Duane and to Robert
Morris, the financial expert Of the
war, which revealed his mastery of
the true science Of rational govern
ment. His strong influence in bring
ing about the constitutional conven-
ton Of 1887 to give the country a
i government with backbone and able
to enforce its own laws and promote
| peace and prosperity, and his papers
/ in the Federalist, designed to explain
4 by simple and forceful exegesis the
duVcSAIo1SSo " 'FeAAS pAOpOoSu ISuSIdl
4 constitution over the weak patchwork
/ Of the old confederation, were most
4 fortunate for the new nation; for, al
/ tho he was not able to carry out all
A his program, the spirit Of his master
4 ly plan abides In the constitution and
j is the controlling influence in Ameri-
can administration to-day. The or
! ders Of Cleveland, the democrat, to