Evening star., 1914-11-16
FOUNDING THE GOVERNMENT.
George Washington's Ideas and La.
bors to That End.

From the Portland Oresonlan.
The American people cannot be too
grateful to George Washington for his
labors toward the establishment of the
federal government under which our
country has arisen to greatness and pros
perity. He was a member of the con-
vention which framed the Constitution
and he took an active part in the cam
paign for its adoption. In his farewell
letter to the army, which was written in
1888, Washington laid down the principles
upon which he believed the republic ought
to be founded and in later years he
never departed from them. The first Of
these principles was, in his own words,
IAN indissoluble union Of the states under
one federal head" Whatever others may
have thought of the union Of the states.
to Washineton's mind 1t was indissoluble.
The doctrines of secession which after
ward crept into the minds of statesmen
had no place in his thought and we may
confidently believe that the convention
knew nothing of them. They were a
later development which emerged from
the poisonous root Of slavery.
Washington was insistent upon the ne
ceSsity for strong central authority. He
wrote to John Jay In August, 17S6 that he
did not conceive we could exist long as
a nation without having lodged some
where a power which will peryade the
whole Union IN as energetic a manner
as the authority of the state governments
extends over the several states. The
true federal theory was thus clearly
marked out in his mind before the con-
stitutional convention met. The later
Developments. of our constitutional law
have been strictly in accord with the con-
cept which Washington SO lucidly ex-
would now wish the federal government
TO exercise any less authority over the
nation as whole than the states enjoy
within their own boundaries.
But strongly as Washington advocated
a Arm central power. he had no incli-
nations toward monarchy. Il am told" he
wrote to John Jay, that even respectable
characters speak of monarchical form OF
government without horror. What a
triumph that would be for our enemies"
he Comments Ito verify their predictions.
What triumph for the advocates of
despotism to find that we are incapable
of governing ourselves and that systems
founded on the basis Of equal liberty are
ideal and fallacious." Liberty was Wash
ington's great. watchword. The maxims
of the Declaration of Independence were
as dear to him as they were to Jeffer-
son.
There was real danger at that time
that the dread of anarchy would lead TO
a hasty adoption Of the monarchical
calamity haunted Washington necessarily
in the months preceding the final victory
of the Constitution. He wrote to James
Madison. among others. upon this mo-
rnentous subject II am fully of the
opinion" he said In his letter of March
81. 1897. that those who lean to q mon
archical government have either not con-
suited the public mind or that they lived
IN part OF the country where kings
we're more popular than in the south :"
Washington was convinced that things
But IN common with other public men
could not endure long as they were
your opinion that our affairs are draw
ing rapidly to a crisis accords with my
own. he wrote to John Jay in the same
letter in which he denounced monarchy
He doubted whether the old confedera-
uon could really be called a govern
slow. debeiitated and liable to be thwart-
cd by every breath" 1t was perfectly
natural for Washlngton's sane and logical
mind to react from this condition of
things toward a vigorous national au-
thority. He confessed to James Madison
tnat he hoped Congress would, upon all
proper occasions. exert its powers with a
firm and steady hand instead o. ritter
ing them back to the states"
In his younger days Washington seems
TO have been something of political
idealist. His Imagination was full of the
romantic virtues which poets ascribed
10 the ancient Romans and he expected to
find them repeated among the colonial
statesmen Sad experience caused him to
lower his hopes. He lost the belief that
men would conduct themselves properly
without restraint MY opinion of public
virtue Is so far changed that I have my
doubts whether any system, without the
means of coercion in the sovereign, will
enforce due obedience to the orders of
the government This was one of his
condolences to Madison before the Con-
stitution had been framed.