The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-01
I

The time OF course. has long since gone
S1y when our Constitution was assumed 70
have been an original creation for the con-
Cepion Of which those who formed il owed
no thanks 10 aught beyond their own in
SELECTS and the conditions 81 their material
and political environment our author
recalls Sir Henry Names remark that there
is not originality enough in the human race
30 invent do moro code Of laws. II Is true
Tint Nj Gladstone once described the
American Constitution az the most won
depfIi work ever struck Of at a given time
by the brain and purpose Of man; hut he
must have known that a- n matter OF fact
Sc was the outcome Of centuries Of political
development. and not the product OF spon-
faneous invention, Inc American Consti-
tuition did not originate in the memorable
philadelphia Convention of 1857. bat was
made up Of Auglo-Sayou presidents and
of governmental principles tried and ap-
proved by English sreahiug folk on both
tides Of the Atlantic. supplemented with
suggestions or warnings derived from the
experience II other aucieu, 1r modern peo-
pea A. Prof Moran points out, 1t was in
conformity 20 tine iueNorahl, Jaws Of political
evolution that the members OF the Con-ti-
7utional Convention -ecognizing that reason
and judgment are not infallibe guides IN
constitution making turned their attention
TO the page- OF history and utilized the
accumulated observations OF the human
race.
As Prof Freeman reminds us in his I'M
completed narrative a federal government
was no new thing in 1881. Various forms
Of confederation had existed at intervals
almost from the beginning Of history
OF the early attempts ut federal govern
meut. the Greos leagues were the most
conspicuous. aud IL is worth noting how
frequently they are mentioned in the die
cussions Of Our constitution making period.
such members OF the Philadelphia Conven-
tion rs Madison. Hamilton and Wilson often
referred 10 the Acilalau Lvkan nd Ito
han Leagues and ~ the Amphctyouic
Council and sought Instruction from those
experiments. The federal systems Of the
Greek leagues however were cited a.
negative rather than a- positive prece-
dents: as thing. 70 tc avoided rather than
copied Yet they aided yhe mon Of 1857
70 avoid political quaunires into which
the Greeks, untaughf 10y long federative
experience. had fallen Thus Madison. in
discussing tho New jersey plan. remarked
that 1T would not seizure the Mon against
the influence OF foreign Powers over it,
members, but LEFT tine door open for per-
nicious Vaccinations such Us had taken
place in the Amphictvouc Council ana the
Achnian League He again cited the
history Of the Greek ieagre- to substan-
tate his assertion that iu such oombina-
tons the tendency was Tor the -part- TO
encroach upon the authority of the whole
Alexander Hamilton pointed 20 certain
features Of the Amphictyouic Council
which M his opinion should ba excluded
from the new constitution. Again when
Oliver Ellsworth 81 Connecticut urged that
each State should have an equal repre-
sentation in the Senate. on the ground
that no instance of coufederacy has ex-
isted in which AN equality Of voices has not
been exercised by the members Of II.
Madison called his attention 10 tho fact
that the cities comprising the Lykian League
had a representation -pTcroriiou.d to their
Importance. On file whole. however. the
experience Of Greece Nas mainly useful in
indicating governmental principles which
had been tried aud found wanting As for
t1e constitutions ~ tho italian Republic
Of the German Confederation, Of the Swiss
oantona and Of tho United Netherlands
illusions 10 them occur continually In the
debates Of the Philadelphia Convention
and in the F5devdiH Ia a word, the gov
eruments Of an Important confcderacies,
ancient and modern. we're scruhni2ed in
the quest for historical illumination