Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen

Page 28

CllAP'lElt IT. TilE l!'JW~:HAl, CONV J~N 'l'JON. TnE following, from the pn pcrs of Mr. J\fadi ·on, is the concluding portion of an article uy him, detailing the causes whi ·h 1 'd to the formation of the Con. ti t ution: A resort to a general con vcn Lion to re-model tho con­federacy, wns not a. r1cw idea. It lwcl en l •r tl n t an early date into the convcmmtions and speculations of the most reflecting and foreseeing oiJse rvers of the inadequacy of tho powers allowed Lo Congress. In a patuphl et. publi ~ hed in May, 1781, nt the scat of Co n g r e~s, l'cletia.h 'Vel>Hler, an able though not COIL' picuous citizen, n.!'l 'r c1 iscussi ng tho fiscal system of the United States, and sng-g('st in g, among other remed ial provisionR, one inclul1ing a national hnnk, remarks, that "the authority of Congr . s at pres<•nt i~ very inadequate to the performance of' th eir duli<'H; and this indicates the ncccs. ity of their calling a Continental Con­vention for the express purpose of nscerta.ining, defining, enlarging, and limiting the duties and powers of th eir Con­stitution." On the 1st of April, 17 3, Col. llnmilton, in a debate in in Congress, ob. erved, " rl'hat he wi shec1, i nstcad of them, (parti al conventions), to sec a genera.! convention take place; and that he should soo n, in pnr: uance of hi · instruc­tions from his constituenlH, propose to CongTcss a plan for that purpose, the ol>jcct of which would be to strengthen the Federal Constitution.'' lie alluded, probably, to the resolutions introduced by General Schuyler, in the Senate, and passed unanimously by tho Lc•gislature of N cw York, ( 4.4) TilE FEDE LlAL CONVENTION. 45 in tho snmmcr of 1782, dccluring 11 Lhnt the confederation wns d ·fecLive, in not g iving Cong ress power Lo proviclc a revenue for itself, or in not investing them with funds from esLal>lished o.nd. productive so urces; and. that it would be advisable for Congress to r cco mrnend to tho SLates to call a general convention, to rev ise and amend tho confedera­tion." It docs not appear, however, that his cxpcctalion had been fulfill<'<l. In a letter to ,Tamef:l JVfaclison from lL II. L ee, then pres id ent of CongrcflH, daled the 2GLh of November, 17 4, he says : " it is by muny here sug-ge ·Lc<l, as a very nccessnr·y step for Cong ress to lake, tho calling on tho tu.te. to form a convention, for the so le purp ose of rcvi:ing tho confedera­tion, so far ns to enable ongr 'SH to rxecutc, with moro energy, eil'ect, and vigor, the powers nHsignrd to it, than it appcurs hy experien ce thnt they cnn do under the present stale of thin gs." rrho answer of J\1r. Mad ison remarks : 11 I hold it for a mnxiu1, th :tt the Union of the Stales is essential to their sa.fety against foreign danger anu internal contention; and that the p 'rpctu ity nnd effi cacy of tho present system cannot be co nfid e<l in. The question, there­fore, is in what mo<1c ancl at what moment, the experiment for supplying the defects ongh t to he made." In the win ter of 17 4-5, Noah vVcb. Lcr, who!=iC pol ili ·al nnd other valnn.ble writings hnd made 1tim kn own to tho public, proposed, in one of his publicntions, "A new system of government, which shoulu ac t, not on the States, bnt directly on individuals, and vest in Congr ss full power to curry its laws into efT eeL. " rrllc proposed and expcctc<1 Convention at Annapolis, the first of a g nera.l character that nppcnr to have hecn real ized, and the stale of' the public min<l awakened by it, hu.d nttrnclecl the particular at ten Lion of Cong-ress, and f'n.­\' orccl the idea thoro of a Convention with full er powers for amenrling the eonfccl<'rncy.