The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-09-11

Xll1S
/, to the States to appoint delegates te
d convention at Philadelphia to devise
1nenas to make the Constitution OF the
| United States adequate to the needs
| of the Union.
Twelve OF tho thirteen States re.
sponded. Rhode Island stayed out
That convention was heartbreaking
/ It opened May IA, 1887, and the tina
draft OF the Constitution was no
signed until September II. and theI
| by only thirty-nine OF the sixty-fly'
| delegates. It was not such Constl
tuition as Hamilton hoped for. HI:
| plan had been rejected. Ee want4t
something akin to a limited or electiv,
monarchy. He wanted i'residen
elected for life. Senator for life, {
Capitalization of power in the govern.
ment and a lessening, II not wiplne
out of State rights. He wanted one
4 nation. not group OF thirteen sover-
eign States.
! Nothing stands out more nobly in tho
career of Alexandria Hamilton thar
1 his conduct after the Constitution was
/ framed at Philadelphia. He looked
upon the instrument as thing OF
| little value. but 1t was the best he
could get after all the work he and
Washington had done to. awaken the
people to the need of national policy.
| But the Constitution had to be adopt
ed by nine States before 1t could be
put in force. To get the people to
accept 1t was the next task. Nowhere
was the struggle harder. than in New
| York Governor Clinton and all his
fol- ;t IT.
explain the Constitution and It's needs
Hamilton started the Federalist. one CT
| the most remarkable of political papers
than fifty We're by Hamilton. OF the
the country has known. or the eighty
five essays printed in the paper more
rest Madison, wrote the most Jay
wrote few. They were the greatest
forces that worked on mems minds
to make them consent to adopt the
CONSTITUTION. They are as striking IN
their logic. IN their appeal and in their
literary beauty as any political papers
,in history t4A
But all the power of the Federal!st
could not sway Clinton and his fol-
lowers. When the New York conven-
ton met in Poughkeepsie in juno. 1883,
Hamilton wrote that .'two-thirds OF the
convention and four sevenths Of the
people are against u.s." He was beaten
on the first day by vote of forty
struggle. Day after day he argued.
DAY after day he explained every
point, met every argument. He drew
tears and he Won applause, but every
day it was the same--forty-six to
nineteen. For SIX weeks he labored.
Other States were voting. He fought
for delay. hoping and expecting that
ratification by other states would help
to turn the scales in New York At
last he triumphed. AT last the forty
six began to waver. On July 25 Ham
ilton had a majority of three and New
York had adopted the Constitution.
The most masterful man in America
had triumphed in one of the most re-.
markable struggles in the history OF
the State.
Master Of the Cabinet.
Washington when he was elected
President committed grave blunder
In his effort to allay sectional or party
strife he selected his Cabinet from
rival camps, Jefferson he made Sec
rotary of State and Hamilton Secru-
tary of the Treasury. Knox ana Ran
dolph were the other members. IT was
as easy to get Jefferson and Hamilton
to agree as 1t is to make oil anu
water mix. The same, too. was true
of Knox and Randolph.
Hamilton had three main ideas to
work out. One was to bring order
out of the financial generalization into /,
which the government had been plung-
ed. Another was to promote manu-
facturers and commerce. The third
was to establish foreign policy that
would guard the United States from
Tar cr1{ o11 Snt nh oil
things, he meant to breathe into the
Constitution all the power 1t did not
specifically carry. but which might be
implied to 1t.
1t did not matter to Hamilton that
he was invading Jefferson's domain in
the matter Of foreign policy. Ham
ilton acted as II he was premier,
not Secretary of the Treasury. Daily |
he and Jefferson We're pitted against |
each other. Daily there was a tie
when the men voted on measure.
Knox supported Hamilton and Ran
doph supported Jefferson. Nearly|
always Washington decided as Hamil.
ton voted.
The labor Hamilton did in the frs,
of Washington was
prodiglous, Where he got his mastery
Of finance IS as great mystery as
style, of law, of the various other de-
partmcnts in which he showed such
genius. Surely he did not learn n
nance In the three years in Cruger's
store in the West indies His post
was the hardest under the government,
The currency was in disorder Com
merclal credit had ceased to exist,
The nation was BANKRUPT. He had to
devise q method by wnith the debt
Of the nation would be paid, Create a
machine. find and train servants ana,
hardest of all, furnish revenue for I'M
mediate needs. II, did it, Not only
that, but he Insisted that every dol
lar owed by the nattoa or the states
should ha nad hv IL dollar, lie had
Tho Ndehts Of tho various States ass
sumed by the general government and
fe rejected with scorn the proposition
% .repudiate1sonle Gift because thers
lad been rank and outrageous specu-