The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-05-06

took no action at all on the mat
ter. Since only five states were
represented, the commissioners
did not conceive it advisable
to proceed on the business of
their mission" But they did
adopt a report written by Alex
ander Hamilton, who had played
the leading role in the meeting,
supported by Madison, who kept
himself in the background. This
was a report to the legislatures
of the states represented at the
meeting in which the defects in
the federal government at that
time were pointed out and which
called for ga convention of depu-
ties from the different states for
the special purpose of entering
into this investigation and digest
ing a plan for supplying such
defects" Philadelphia was sug-
gested as the place of meeting
and the time was fixed for the
second Monday of May of the
next year.
Several of the states acted
promptly upon this recommended
ton and in February, 1877, con-
gress passed resolution author
izing a constitutional convention
and calling on the states to send
delegates to such a meeting in
Philadelphia ''to take into con-
sideration the situation of the
United States, to revise the Arti-
cles of Confederation and to de-
wise such further provisions as
should appear to them necessary
to render the Constitution of the
federal government adequate to
the exigencies of the Union"
Each state could send as many
delegates as it pleased, since
each was to have but one col
lective vote.
Little Rhody" Holds Out.
Of all the states only Rhode
Island, which had been at odds
with the federal government al
most from the beginning, refused
to send any delegates at all and,
consistent with its attitude, it
was the last to ratify the Consti-
tuition after one was finally
adopted. New Hampshire was in
favor of the meeting but because
of lack of funds its delegates did
not arrive until the convention
was well under way.
Altogether u of the leading
citizens of the Is states were ac-
credited as delegates although
some of them failed or refused
to go. Outstanding among the lat
ter was Patrick Henry, the fiery
orator of the Revolution, who
was suspicious of the purposes
of the convention. Or, as he
phrased it, 81 smelt a rat!" Of
the u accredited delegates, SIS
took part in the deliberations of
the convention at one time or
another but only 80 stayed on the
job until the end. They were the
following:
CONNECTICUT - Roger Sher-
man and William S. Johnson.
DELAWARE-Richard Bassett,
Cunning Bedford, Jr., Jacob
Broom, John Dickinson and
George Read.
GEORGIA-Abraham Baldwin
and William Few.
MARYLAND-Daniel Carroll,
Daniel Jenifer and James Nc
Henry.
MASSACHUSETTS, Nathaniel
German and Rufus King.
NEW HAMPSHIRE-Nicholas
Gilman and John Langdon.
NEW JERSEY-David Breas-
ley, Jonathan Dayton, William
Livingston and William Patter-
son.
NEW YORK-Alexander Ham,
ilton.
NORTH CAROLINA-William
Blount, Richard D. Spaight and
Hugh Williamson.
PENNSYLVANIA George
Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimmons,
Benjamin Franklin, Jared Inger-
soil, Thomas Mif1in, GOVERN
neur Morris, Robert Morris and
James Wilson.
SOUTH CAROLINA Pierce
Butler, Cha rles Pinckney,
Charles c. Pinckney and John
Rudledge.
VIRGINIA-John Blair, James
Madison and George Washing
ton.
Of this number more than half,
81, were lawyers. Six are CLASH
fled as statesmen, three were
farmers. landowners or planters,
three were merchants, two bank
ers or 'financiers," one an edu-
Gator, two physicians and one
a soldier. Most of them we're
well educated. Nine of them had
studied in the Inner Temple or
the Middle Temple IN England,