The Washington herald., 1909-08-13

ended with a brilliant banquet in the
main dining room OF the hotel Capt.
Micajah Woods, the retiring president,
acted as toast master. Beside him sat
Dr. Hannis Taylor. former United States
Minister to Spain; William Shepherd
Bryan, OF Baltimore, Nd; Roswell Page,
/ Of Richmond; r. Tate Irvine, of Big
Stone Gap; Robert W. Withers. OF suf-
folk. and Aubrey z. Strobe, Of Amherst.
all Of whom responded to toasts.
DR.. Taylor. in his speech. said:
DIR. Taylor Speaks.
Mr.. President and Gentlemen: II our
complex Federal Constitution may be
compared 10 a great Corliss engine, our
systems Of party organization may be
described as the steam power that drives
It. The history OF political parties in
the United States really begins with the
conflict in the Federal convention Of
l7SI. that divided the representatives Of
the larger States intent upon creating
an entirely new type Of Federal govern
ment national in spirit. from the rep
resentatives Of the smaller States. in
tent upon retaining the older type, pro-
vincial in spirit The creation Of the new
type. which has revolutionized Federal
government throughout the world, is, per-
haps, the most notable single event in
the political history OF mankind. As
early as TS1-mark the date-Pelatiah
Webster. native OF Connecticut, and a
citizen of Philadelphia, who was at once
political philosopher and a successful
hnancier. declared that our first Federal
Constitution was so complete a failure
that II must be rejected as a whole. AS
early as February l6 I1S3-mark the date
this path-breaknE genius put forth,
as his invention. IN a published document
Of more than thirty pages. as authentic
as the Constitution itself, the finished
and elaborated plan. containing every
new idea tha; enters into the creation
declared by Gladstone 10 be "the most
wonderful work ever struck OF az a
given time by the brain and purpose OF
man" When that notable statement was
made more than slovenly historical
scholarship had failed TO make clear the
fact that this wonderful work was struck
or az a given time by the brain and
purpose Of one man IN the entire his
tory OF inventions. no instance can be
found in. which an original conception
emerged from the brain Of the inventor
In a more perfect form That fact. at
tested as IL is by an immortal docu-
ment. is no longer in eclipse. II now
stands forth in ali its splendOr before the
world. which is beginning 20 understand
that the master-builders who composed
/ the Federal convention Of 17S7 simply
carried out the plan laid down by the
great architect in 17S5. In the face Of
explicit and complete documentary evi-
dence, IL can no longer be denied. either
with grace or decency. that the greatest
of all political inventions had a personal
Inventor. At last he is coming into his
kingdom as the truth is made manifest
that across the sea Of his majestic mind
the new thought came streaming like
a blazing ship upon a mighty wind.
And yet, after every other contributor
20 the American Revolution has beer
honored. the great architect alone sleeps
in his humble grave at Philadelphia, neg
lected by the ungrateful nation whose
marvellous system Of Federal govern
ment he made possible.
Peace Between Two Parties.
The large State. or National. party IN
the convention which transformed Pela-
tlah Webster's creation into a system
! Of government, and then submitted Il
= for ratification or rejection. took the nam,
70 OF Federalists, while their opponents took
S the name Of Anti-Federalists. These o.
posing camps reappeared in Washing.
toms administration as Federalists and
Republicans. the latter being sometime:
called. in deriSion, Democrats. The domi-
nant political force among the Federalist.
was Hamilton who advocated a liberia
and reasonable method Of constitutions
construction. sharply opposed by Jeffer.
son. as the leader Of the Republicans Tn,
basic issue that thus arose was hnaIly
made up when the Federalists went L
the limit in the enactment Of the alier
and sedition acts OF I79S, which drew from
the Republicans the counter-blast knowr
as the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
When in 1901 the Republicans came into
power. under the lead OF Jefferson, tn,
rOut Of the Federalists would have beer
complete had il not been for the all-im.
portant fact that before John Adams sur
/ rendered the Presidency he placed in thu
very citadel Of the new Constitution tn,
q greatest jurist Of all time, the real ere
! ator Of our Federal judicial system, who
through an uraided process Of judicia
E logic, announced 10 the world that IN
r Supreme Court Of the United States pos
- sessed the power to put the stamp o
/. nullity on a national law, a power neve,
, before exercised by any court in all his
: tory. The time was ripe for the adven
Of a jurist and statesman clear-visionet
enough 70 sweep the entire horizon o
: Federal power and bold enough to pres
each element of II 10 its logical conclu
n sion. Pelatiah Webster, Of Philadelphia
ca ~ n Tf,o 81.
Federal convention Of 1857 organized Il a.
/. a system Of government; John Marshall
q OF Virginia, breathed into the marbl
= Galatea thus sculptured the breath of life
/, On February l. 1901. Chief Justice Mar
shall took his place at the head Of tn
y Supreme Court. which ne dominated 70
u thirty-four years, and on March Jeffer
son assumed the Presidency at the hea
/ Of triumphant party whose permanen
platform he compressed into an inaugura
p address that will abide for all time Wit
D. comsummate art he won over. by IN
y judicious statement Of his partys prin
ciples. so many Of the moderate Federal
4 lists that in due time the complete domi
nance Of the Republican party was as
?; sured. In that memorable address it wa
a, that Jefferson declared:
I'VE are ali Federalists; we are all Re
!, publicans"
r First Ticket without Opposition
= For eight years jefferson ruled in hi
/ own right for sixteen years longer h
ruled through his able and trusted dis
7 ciples, Madison and Monroe II any proc
:. be required Of that statement. it can b
found in the touching act OF homage pai
by Monroe when, as a pupil OF his mas
ter he went in 1893 to the lonely old ma