The farmer and mechanic., 1906-11-27

There is Il reason why Judge Wilson
was allowed to rest in an obscure
grave during the lifetime Of his as
sociates who knew him too we'll to
think he deserved special honors, and
that reason is thus given by the
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
WHY Wilson Was Forgotten.
'.In this era of revived Federalism,
in the administration of the first Fed
eralist President since John Adams
unless we credit Buchanan TO the
school from which he camc-the rca-
sons for the re-diSCOTcry of James
Wilson are plain. He was the lawyer
and Iogician of the original Federal
lists. and in looking back for a ReVo-
lutiOnary ancestor the neO-FederalIst@
of today do wisely in selecting him.
But the reasons why a man 80 nm
portant and influential as he IS now
shown to have been dropped 50 quick
Iy out Of sight, and lay quite forgot
ten in his obscure grave until a cen
tury had passed, seem to require cN-
planatiOn.
':The explanation is not difficult.
If Wilson had lived into the nineteen
tn century his influence must have
been felt in the Supreme Court ac-
centuating the line Of development 1T
followed under Marshall but probably
without his sharing more Of the popu-
lar fame Of the great Cmef justice
than did some of his actual associates
Of large attainments. But Wilson died
just before the great democratic wave
SWEET away the party with which he
was identified, and there was no one
left to keep his memory alive.
He was never popular man at
honc and his association with Rob
ert Norris in his disastrous land spec
h in m iY
esteem. 1t was this that made it nee
essary for him to exchange circuits
with Justice Iredell to avoid a mass
of litigation upon which he could not
sit as a Judge. He took the Southern
Circuit. and after two fruitlcss years
died in distant North Carolina.
morris is another man we have
lately been rehabiIitating. In the
light Of a century he appears Il man Of
large enterprise. whose mistake was
overconfdence in the development Of
the country. 70 his contemporaries
he was q reckless speculator who
mixed public and private business in
a dangerous way, and whose failure
involved Il multitude in ruin. Morris
was our first ''\apolcOn Of Finance
and Wilson our first 'cOrporation law
yer" However we esteem Morris
now, We can understand that at the
time his fabric Of credit was totteTing
to its fall. his friend. associate and
counsel on the bench Of the Supreme
Court was not an object OF popular
affection.
"Thc new revolution which swept
away tho Fedcralists and brought
in Jefferson was not concerned
primarily with theories Of the relation
of the Federal Government to the
States II was primarily concerned
with the rights Of the mass Of the
people as against those who We're
cal tendencies against the government
machine and its suspected graft
and also incidentally AGAINST English
bo~n Hamilton, Morris and Wilson
were assumed to be. Hamilton's
great services in the Treasury, his
winning personal qualities and his
romantic death secured him from
oblivion. but the fame Of the two
Pennsylvanians went down in the
crash. and it has required Il century
Of history TO rcSuscitatc it."
Il Is fitting that Pennsylvania
administration that is erecting a mon
ument to Matthew Stanly Quay, the
NOSE vicious boss and cor-uptionist
Of his age and has built Il new state
Capitol cementcd with graft. should
seek 10 reverse tho opinion Of his con
temporarics and try to make the
federallsm and the Graft Of Wilson
and Morris ohjects Tor the emulation
Of the men Of the twentieth century.