The Washington herald., 1907-12-25
PELATIAH WEBSTER
OR BENZ. FRANKLIN
Continued from Page One.

which should superseGe the first Consti-
tuition Of l06 The completed product
was published in Philadelphia, February
Is, 11S3 in thirty closely printed pages.
and there repubrshed with notes in 1891
In that epoch-making paper he propound-
ed to the world, as the original thoughts
Of a private individual. dictated by the
nature Of the subject only the four novel
and basic principles upon which our ex-
istlng Constitution now reposes
]. The principle Of a Federal government operating
directly on the individual, instead Of upon the
States corporations
2 The division of a Federal government into three
depatments-legisiatiyc. executive. and judicial.
3. The division Of a Federal legislature into two
chambers on the bcameral plan.
T. A Federal government with delegated powers.
The tesidgmm Of power remaining in the States
Senator Knox VIII. of course. admit.
with all the rest OF the world that prior
90 the publication of Websters paper no
federal government. ancient or modern.
had ever possessed any one Of those four
attributes. Every one WAS entirely novel
so far as the actual history of states is
concerned. The way in which Webster
reasons ont his plan best demonstrates
The originality of his thoughts As a
hnancier he saw that no fiscal system
could be built up on Franklin's scheme
Of thirteen popular assemblies armed alb
soluteiy with the taxing power.
Devised system of Taxation.
AS Webster expressed IL: 80 make all
payments dependent on the votes of thlr-
teen popular assemblies, who viii un-
dertake 20 judge of the propriety of every
contract and every occasion of money
and grant or withhold supplies. accord
ing 10 their opinion, while al the same
time the operations of the whole may
be stopped by The vote or n single one
of them is absurd. In order 20 remove
that ancient absurdity. as Franklin had
restated IL. Webster devised the system
of Federal taxation under which we now
live. Having established that as his
Fundamental concept he advanced al
once To the inevitable cor0haries He
saw that q Federal government operat-
ing directly on the citizen through a sys-
TEN of national taxation must of nCces-
sity be a strictly organized and self-sus-
tanning government He. therefore. pro
posed that the mass of Federal power.
which Franklin had consolidated In the
old continental Congress. should be di-
vidcd into three departments, as I'm the
state constitutions, and that the Federal
legislature should be divided into two
chambers. Then. rs a climax, he drafted
the essence Of what IS now the Tenth
Amendment by providing that the pow
ers Of Congress and an other departments
acting under them shall be restricted 10
such matters only OF general necessity
and utility 70 an the States as cannot
come within the Jurisdiction Of any par
ticular State. or to which the authority
OF any particular State is not competent,
so that each particular State shall enjoy
an sovereignty and supreme authority
Webster's Great Invention.
When we consider how Pelat.ah Web
ster thus delivered us by his great in
vention from Franklin's stupendoUs fail
ure, il does seem ungracious for any one
10 attempt 10 place the laurels Of the
victor upon the broWs OF the vanqulsEed.
II one spark Of justice stin burns in the
breast OF the American people no such
result can ever be reached by the impos-
sible process Senator Knox has suggested.
His startling contention is that the path
breaking principle Of a federal govern
ment operating directly on the individ-
ual, instead Of upon the States as cor
porations-a principle OF which Franklin
proved himself 10 be profoundly ignor-
ant in 1175-w3s really invented by him
In l15A The scene of the miracIe-Iess II
can hardly be called-is laid in a provin-
cial assembly OF commissioneries from
The different colonies. ordered by the
lords Of trade TO convene at Albany in
1854. 10 confer with the chiefs OF the
Sfv Natf,ug f,,. fIrly ....,,.,-,.- .l-r---
In the words Of the Hon John Rige-
low, Franklin there submitted a. plan for
organizing system Of colonial defence
which was adopted and reported. il
provided for 4 president general OF an
The colonies 20 De appointed by the
Crown. and grand council 70 be chosen
by the representatives Of the people OF
the several colonies These are Frank
Inns own words in describing his plan:
By this plan tine general government was 90 he ad-
ministercd 0y a un-sldCnt general appointed and
supported 6y the crown, and grand council % be
chosen hy the rcTresntatiTcs Of the people of the
several colonies. met In their respective assem-
hes but another scheme was f0g ned SID
posed 20 answer the same purpose better. whereby
the governors Of the provinces. with some members
Of their respective councils were 20 meet and order
the raising Of troops, building Of forts &c and
30 draw ON the treasury of Great Britain for the
cxreHsc which was afterwards % be refunded by an
act Of Parliament laying tax ca America.
Historian McMaster Cited.
IN the light Of that statement by
Franklin himself Il viii be easier TO
grasp the full import Of the best account
that has been given OF the matter. Ref
erence is made 10 the life Of Franklin
by Pennsylvania's Hlustrious historian,
John Bach McMaster, who says:
The idea Of union had long been IN his mind. and
to the conference which gathered al Albany De
brought carefully drawn plan. The credit Of that
Plan is commonly given him. But il ought IN JUS
tice never 20 De mentioned without a reference TO
the name Of Daniel Coke. So carly as I722 Coke
forcsaw the French aggression called the colonies
10 unite TO prevent IT, and draw up The heads Of a
scheme for united action. Coke proposed a governor
general appointed By the crown and a congress
Of delegates chosen by the assemblies OF the cooEies
Franklin proposed the very same thing. Coke would
have each colony send two delegates annually
elected. Franklin would have from two % seven
delegates trannually elected BY each the governor
general given a veto. fly each the grand coun-
cil with consent Of the governor general 20 de-
ternine the quotas C: men. money, and provisions
the colonies should Dntribute 10 the common de-
fense The difference between them Is difference in
detail not in plan. The detail belongs TO Franklin.
The plan must be a.eibed 20 Coke.
If the Senator had only consulted the
oracle at his door, he would have been
saved from a very serious misapprehen-
sion. In the first place, he would have
learned that Franklin was not the real
author Of the plan Of 1874; in the second,
he would have learned that the scheme
of taxation contemplated in that plan
was the old reQuistiOn system embodied
by Franklin IN the articles of confed-
GRAFTON. SIcMaster so declares in express
terms when he says: BY each the grand
councils. with the consent Of the gov
ernor general, was to determine the
quotas of men. money. and provisions
the colonies should contribute 10 the COM