The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-10-08
GOVERNMENT FEDERAL, NOT NATIONAL
Constitution the Creation Of the States. Not of the
People of the Whole Territory.
BY ). u. KERR.

- bi1 severance OF the ties Hnlcn
mad bound them to England. and at
the SANE time II was equally IS sol
efnn a declaration of the eparatenes
ana sovereignty OF the individual
States.
The long struggle fo= independence
was over and the victory won. But
the a~ntiCipatet happiness and har-
nony were not fully real eel. New
troubles presented themselves. The
colonies were greatly IN debt ny their
Joint liability for the expenses Of the
war, as we'll as Individually Al
though 2 considerable fo: eign trade
had sprung Up, the treasures OF the
various colonies we're emit. the Con
2resS was largely in arrears, not
only WIFI It's officers. but with the
men q the army. and il had no power
uAdef the existing Constitution to levy
IaEes Iirectly upon the people. There
was no way for the Fedora Govern
ment to raise one except by calling
upon the States for their quotas of
what might be deemed sufficient to
nflns relief The basis upon which
these quotas was fixed By the Articles
OF Confederation or the old Constitu-
tl9n. Wa ths value Of the real es-
tate in the several States. Thfs was
claimed 10 be unjust. In April 1888,
congress proposed to amend the Con
~Stitution in this ~particUlar by making
the population the basis instead Of the
land This seems to have been the
original idea in f176. The States
were slow in adopting this. Another
trouble was that each state had its
own regulations as to foreign trade.
Different states had different rates of
duttes Oh imports, which Of course
worked badly. Washington. just be-
fore resirning from the army, hal
addressed a letter t. the governors OF
the States in which he urged zveraI
changes II the Constitution to meet
these difficulties. ON the 18th April.
1889, Congress passed a resolution
a@klnG tho states to give it power to
IeVy import duties. This request was
not granted. a year later Congress
again asked that such power be given
II tor a period Of fifteen Years. This
ais falied- h next move to change
the Articles Of ton was
made by Mr.. Monroe in thu Congress
IN 1885. This vas not acted upon.
1T was maintained by the States that
the initiative should be taken by
them if the Constitution was to be
changed. You see by his how our
Revolutionary fathers regarded the
taxing power, and how careful they
were Of States Rights, on the 21st
1885. in the Legislature of
Virginia, Mr.. Madison 2
resolution naming certain men as
commissioners who, or any five of
whom. shall meet with such commits
sloners as may be appointed by the
other States of the Union =
to take into consideration the trade
of the United States and
to report to the several States such an
act relative to this great object as.
when unanimously ratified by them
fthe States will enable the United
States in Congress assembled to pro
vide FOR the same"
Only four States responded to this,
namely, New York, New Jersey. Penn
sJlVania y Delaware. These COM
missioners met at Annapolis, Mary
land. however, on the 18th of Septern-
Der, 1856, and while they did nothing
more, they paved the way for the
convention at P~hiladelphia in Nav.
1897, that framed the revised consti-
tuition which, with the amendments
adopted Immediately after its ratif-
cation b. the States, is practically the
fundamental law of the government
today.
On the 21st Of FEBRUARY. 1857. the
Congress passed the following reso-
luton:
Resolved, That in the opinion of
Congress, it is ~elpedient that. on the
second Monday in May next, a con
ventfon Of delegates, W h shall have
been appointed by the several States,
be held at Philadelphia. for the sole
and express p OF revising the
Articles of Confederation, ana report
ing to the Congress and the several
legislatures such alterations and revis-
ions therein as shall, when agreed to
in Congress, and confirmed by the
States, render the Fedora Constitu-
ton adequate to the exigencies Of gov
errment, and the preservation Of the
Union"
It will be observed that there was
no suggestion Of changing the form
Of the government as il existed under
the Old Constitution, in this resolution,
but on the contrary il was distinctly
stated that the convention was to be
1,nlE Tnr~ fIn sEcnin I'D n--prNc tpynn {
Of revising the Articles Of Confedera-
tion,' so that. when agreed to in Con-
EreSs, and confirmed by the States" its
acts should become effective. Those
who Wouid give the general govern
nent the maximum OF power, and al
low the States only the minimum of
power. dare not assert that this was
the fact under the old Constitution ,
or Articles Of Confederation, but some
Of them are SO bold and reckless of the
facts as 10 say that the whole form
Of the government was changed by the
Constitution Of 1887.
It was about this time that the new
thought as to Federal Republics,
which differentiates ours from any
preceding one, was discovered. I think
that Mr.. Jefferson was the originator
Of this thought. In q letter written
by him TO Mr.. Madison from Paris
on the 10th Of December. 1856, this
matter Was referred 10. and the state
ment mace that he hEO 0Iten mention
ed it When las, III Congress. This
thought was that Of distributing the
powers to be delegated to the general
into legislative and IKE
cutive departments, each distinct from
tue judicial, and the latter TO be made
coordinate with the others, something
that Was never lone before. and GLOW
ing the Federal machinery to act di-
Tectly upon the citizens OF the States
in specific subjects. and not upon the
States in the capacity. as
EaG been the case in ali former con
fedeTacieS. Distribution as agains
concentration was MI. Jeferson'S idea.
and herein, in nay Judgment, lies the
genius and safety of our institutions.
4 little thought viii disclose the sig
niGC0nt difference etWeo "distri-
buticn'' and division in this connec-
ton. Power may be so divided that
one department might have largely
more than another, but where the
idea IS to distribute the power between
.te depart9 c4ts ca Il coordinate con
centration is Impossible.
There never was, so far as my read
ing has extended, any complaint by