The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1919-08-15
THE OBSERVATORY.

While | have been waiting for the
IT s senate to ratify the treaty with
Germany, with the league Of nations, !
have been reading history; among
nther works that of "The American
Nation. A History" 1t has been
adted by Prof. A. B. Hart, of Harvard
eollege. who has "been advised by
lions historical societies" While
the discussions have been going on at
par;s and Washington l have often
thought of what l read of the Con-
vention which drew up the Federal
SCInnstitution in 1887, and the long
drawn out wrangles in some of the
states, as Rhode Island, North Caro-
lima and New York, before it was
adopted by all. Volume X of the
above work treats of "The Confedera-
t;on and the Constitution and was
prepared by A. c. Mclaughlin, of the
University of Michigan, and is an ex-
tremely interesting book. Each of
the thirteen colonies had its own in
d;viduality, and with the close of the
Revolutionary war considered itself an
INDEPENDENT nation, and what national
government existed was simply con-
federacy of nations; it had no ability
mr. power to function anything as a
nation of the whole, and in the years
following the close of the war in 1882
anv semblance of national govern
ment grew less and less; there was no
authority to enforce terms of peace
which had been made so ably by
Franklin, John Adams and John Jay;
taxes could not be laid, or if laid
could not be collected; the currency
had deprecated to almost nothing;
everybody was anxious and expecting,
nothing was final and settled; there
was Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsyl-
yania and a sort of l. w. w. "Shays'
Rebellion" in Massachusetts,. Each
of the states was jealous of the others
some observed the terms of the peace
with England, but usually only so far
as it favored them; the treaty had
been signed in 1888; three years after
wards John Jay, who was then secre-
tarv of state, said there chad not been
a single day since it was ratified on
which it had not been violated by one
or the other of the states" And about
that time wrote John Adams, who had
been his associate in negotiating the
treaty, "I suspect that our posterity
years with regret"
Such men as Jay, Adams, Madison
and Washington clearly say that a
real national government must be or
gained to weld the thirteen states to-
gether or all the effects of the Revo-
lutionary war would be lost; and they
urged and secured. the convention
which formulated our national Con-
stitution, which the Mormon church
declares was an inspired document
So doubtful and distrustful of each
other we're the delegates that they
solemnly agreed that no record should
be kept of the discussions, and all we
have is the notes which ADDISON
made, with few other random ones
but it is evident that few if any had a
distinct plan in mind for which they
would labor and struggle; they wanted
a government; just what they could
not say in detail; those of the group
which comprised Washington, Madi-
son, Jay and Adams, who were after
wards leaders in the Federal party
excepting Madison, leaned strongly
toward strong central government
and as one reads between the lines
one imagines a mild royalty of z
strong aristocracy would have pleased
them; on the other hand the other
extreme would have only semblance
of national government. The great.
est struggle was over the formation Of
senate; the small states were fearful
of popular vote by the whole nation
al population, seeing that would wipe
them off the map politically And the
happy expedient of a senate represent
ing the states, in which Rhode Islanc
and Delaware should have as much
voice as New York or Virginia, wa.
nobody's inspiration; it just happened
as solution of a deadlock. Their
almost all of the public men of thai
day were afraid of pure democracy
they would not trust the common PEG
pie; so the senate was to be chosen
by the legislatures of the severa
states and the president by electors
chosen by the states in similar man
ner.
But the struggle in the convention
to make the Constitution was milo
compared to the excitement in thu
various states whether to adopt it
Some did so at once; others haggled
some cried wolf" some made reser
vations; how familiar that word nov
sounds; it is queer fact that "Littl,
Rhody" and "The Empire State,
should have been associated as thu
two most displeased with it.
1t has been doubly interesting t.