The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-03-01

istrations and can tell something
about each one of them. But If some
n said to you, "What do you know
about the following Presidents of the
United States: John Hanson, Elias
Boudinot, John Hancock, Nathaniel
Gorham and David b. A~tchison?'
you'd probably exclaim, "Why, they
never were Presidents of the United
Statesv And therein you might be
wrong, for there are those who say
that those five men should be included
in the list of our Presidents, even
though such a statement would have
to be made with certain qualiica-
! lions.
In the case of the first four, their
right to be known as President is
based upon the following facts which
have to do with the evolution of the
Office of President of the United
States:
The First Continental congress met
I'm Philadelphia September 5, 1774,
and the delegates to it elected Peyton
Randolph of Virginia, president. But
he was only president of the congress,
not President of the United States, for
there was then no United States.
The Second Continental congress
met in Philadelphia May 10, 1775, and
John Hancock of Massachusetts was
elected president. But he, too, was
president only of the congress. Then
on August 2, 17i6, the delegates to
this congress signed the Declaration
of Independence which brought into
being the United States Of America.
But they were United States more In
name than in actual fact of a strong,
well-organized government.
In 1777 a plan for the union of the
states was proposed and within Is
months, twelve of the states had
agreed to form the new nation In
accordance with a proposed plan,
drawn up under the name Of the
Articles of Confederation. The only
! state which opposed it at that time
was Maryland.
! Under the original Articles Of Con-
! federation each of tie states made
claims 10 extensive western lands.
John Hanson and Daniel Carroll, of
the Maryland delegation, refused to
enter the new country under the above
existing conditions and Hanson sug-
gested the alternate plan. Maryland
offered to give up forever its claim to
western lands and to sign over its ter
rifnpinC 20 tho fodnuof Sc
the other states would follow suit.
One by one they fell into line and
finally, on March 1, 1881, there was
adopted. q constitution called the
ARTICLES of Confederation and Per-
petual Union Between the States"
However, the confederation thus
formed had no executive officer, no
judiciary and the sole governmental
body was a single house of congress,
made up of delegates elected by the
legislatures of the states.
On November 5, 1881 John Hanson
was elected president of the congress,
his formal title being president of
the United States in Congress Assem-
bled." Thus the title President of the
United States came into being and
Hanson's right to be included in the
list of our Presidents rests upon that
fact that he not only presided over
congre s but was in fact as well as in
name the country's Chief Executive.
1t is also asserted by Hanson pro-
ponents, chief of whom is Seymour
Wemyss Smith. editor of the Financial
Digest of New York city, who has
striven for three years to win national
recognition for Hanson and who is
planning to carry his fight to the floor
of the United States senate, that
Hanson, rather than George Washing