The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-02-03

trail government. He is criticized To-
having proposed constitution VIII
strong centralizing features; but wa;
Il not Just such government as
great practical statesman would have
| proposed to meet the evils of that
time? BY his vehement stand 1t Is
probable that the constitution was
given the strength that it finally had
tue has only to glance specifically
at the condition Of anarchy that per
yaded the country for half dozen
years before the constitution was es
tablished to appreciate the course OF
Hamilton.
There was nominally central
government, but il had no real power
IL had made treaty Of peace recog'
nizing our independence, and 1t was
unable to carry out it's obligations. In
spite of its agreement, States were
RAISING laws in the very teeth of the
treaty, and Loyalists whom the con-
federation had agreed to protect wer
HANGED and shot and beaten and rob-
bed. Laws were passed by the DIFF
ferent states making it difficult for
British merchants to collect debts.
The soldiers who had fought on the
fields of the Revolution were unpaid
and dissatisfied; States were levying
tariffs against each other, were dis
putting with each other over claims.
furnishing up their flintlocks, AMI
some of them were upon the brink Cs
war. They were hopelessly in debt
and had nothing resembling public
credit. Poverty was general and trade
and commerce were near the point
of extinction.
The one unfailing resource usu'
ally called into play when public cred.
1t Is gone was still left; they could -.
sue paper money. and the printing
presses were set In motion. There was
indeed an era of magnificent prices.
The farmer received 81 a pound for
his meat, but when he desired to buy
a suit of clothes he was compelled
to carry his money with him in bales.
This STATE OF things could not has
continued much longer without civil
war and the destruction four indie.
pendence either by force from the
outside or as u result of our own ap'
peal tosome foreign nation to deliver
us from anarchy. The only thing thai
could deal with this condition Of
chaos was n central government
which should have certain jurisdic.
zion over the common concerns and
he strong enough TO stand before the
world as a nation. Hamilton. with his
practical craftsmanship, dealt his
llow at the vital point. He proposed
10 meet fully the conditions that then
existed; he proposed to put it be
yond question that the laws of the
National Government should operate
upon individuals and that states
should not have the power to nulify
national laws or national treaties.
Under his plan neither Mr.. jefferson
nor Mr.. Madison could have drawn
up Virginia or Kentucky resolutions
H. which the doctrine of notification
was scarcely yelled and which lent
strength to the forces of disunion. II
il had not been for his powerful ap
peais after the convention in his
speeches and in the Federalist, il :
probable that the constitution would
never have been ratified, just as it IL
probable that it would never have
been adopted but for his efforts be-
fore the convention was held.
I'VE Gre told today that he proposed
too Grong Il central government In
century has given us, IL is probable
that he did, but he was very frankly
for the nation. lie had seen enough
OF 10 independent soyereigns operat
ing under a single confederacy. Il
can at least be said thai no war would
have been necessary in order to ad-
Indicate his meaning
The Constitution has shown its
sufficiency to maintain a nation, be-
cause IL has been developing in the
direction OF Hamltons idea. 1t is
certain that as construed by Madison
and others of the great men of thnt
time, II did not clearly fix the re
lGtions of the national government to
the states. The Virginia and the Ken
lucky resolutions and the Hartford
convention reflect The opinion, very
commonly held before 1881, that the
states under certain conditions might
assume to nuliity national laws. 1t
was left to the eloquence of Webster
to make popular the idea Of union AMI
Inc cOnDlptp suprpmac of the Nation