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Show s4 yyTWB HIE FEIST PSISotV4X the southern men would consent tA vote for the assumption of the state debts if the northern members would vote for a capital on the Potomac? The suggestion came as if upon the thought of the moment, at a chance meeting on the street, as the two men walked and talked of matters of the day; but it was very eloquently ' urged. Mr: Jefferson declared he was "really a stranger to the whole subject," sub-ject," but would be glad to lend what aid he could. Would not Mr. Hamilton dine with him the next day, to meet and confer with a few of the southern members? In the genial air of the Installment 23 A chain had been stretched n cross the street In front of tile house where he lay, to check tiff' noisy traffic that might have disturbed him more deeply deep-ly in his fever. But the government had not stood still the while. He had steadily attended to important mutters mut-ters as he could. 'Twas scarcely necessary nec-essary he should be out of bed and abroad again to make all who handled affairs feel his mastery; and by the time the summer was ended thr t mastery mas-tery was founded upon knowledge. The First Cabinet. rty the end of September (1789) -congress had completed Its work of organization and Washington had drawn his permanent advisers about him. The federal courts, too, had been erected and given definitive jurisdiction. ju-risdiction. The new government had taken distinct Bhape, and was ready to digest its business in detail. Washington Wash-ington chose Alexander Hamilton to be secretary of the treasury, Henry Knox to be secretary of war, Thomas Jefferson secretary of state, and Edmund Ed-mund Randolph attorney general young men all, except Jefferson, and he was but forty-six. The fate of the government was -tertain to turn, first of all, upon questions ques-tions of finance. It was hopeless poverty pov-erty that had brought the Confederation Confedera-tion into deep disgrace; the new government gov-ernment had inherited from it nothing but a great debt; and the first test nf o.hflrnetpr tn whteh the. npw nlnn liberal allowance for differences of opinion, would inv'Ue no man to stand with him in the new service who did not thoroughly believe in it. He was careful to seek out six of the best lawyers to be had in the country when he made up the Supreme Su-preme court, and to choose them from as many states John Jay of New York to be chief justice; John Rut-ledge Rut-ledge of South Carolina, William Gushing of Massachusetts, John Blair of Virginia; James Wilson of Pennsylvania, Penn-sylvania, and U. H. Harrison of Maryland Mary-land for he knew that the government govern-ment must draw Its strength from the men who administered , and that the common run of people must learn to respect it in the persons o Its officers. But he was equally careful to find out In advance of every appointment what the man whom he wished to ask thought of the new government and wished its future to be. Many to whom he offered appointment appoint-ment declined; minor offices seemed most to go a-begging amongst men of assured position such as it was his object to secure. It needed all the tact and patience he could command to draw about him a body of men such as the country must look up to and revere. His letters again went abroad by the hundred, and, as bo often before, be-fore, to persuade men to their duty, build a bulwark of right opinion round about the government, make his purposes pur-poses clear and his plans effective. He would spare no pains to make the power, not an influence and a shadow merely. Here was a man, unquestionably, who had a quick genius in affairs; and Washington gave him leave and initiative initi-ative with such sympathy and comprehension com-prehension and support as only a nature na-ture equally bold and equally original could have given. Hamilton's measures meas-ures jumped with Washington's pur pose, ran with Washington's perception percep-tion of national Interests; and they were with Washington's aid put into execution with a promptness and decision de-cision which must hare surprised the friends of the new government no less than it chagrined and alarmed Its enemies. en-emies. His Plan of Finance. Having done Its work of organization organiza-tion during its first summer session, the congress came together again, January 4, 1790, to attempt the formulation formu-lation of a policy of government, and Hamilton at once laid before it a "plan for the settlement of the public debt" which he had drawn and Washington had sanctioned. He proposed that provision should be made for the payment pay-ment of the foreign debt in full that of course; that the domestic debt, the despised promises ana paper of the Confederation, should be funded and paid; and that the debts contracted by the several states in the prosecution of the war for independence should be assumed by the general government govern-ment as the debt of the nation. No one could doubt that the foreign talked away. Two of the diners agreed to vote for the assumption of the state debts if Mr. Hamilton could secure a majority for a capital on the Potomac; and congress presently ratified the bargain. There was not a little astonishment at the sudden clearing of the skies. The waters did not go down at once; hints of a scandal and of the shipwreck ship-wreck of a fair name or . two went about the town and spread to the country. But congress had come out of its angry tangle of factions, calm had returned to the government, and Hamilton's plan stood finished and complete. He had nationalized the government as he wished. Jefferson Is Chagrined. It was this fact that most struck the eye of Jefferson when he had settled set-tled to his work and had come to see affairs steadily and as a whole at the seat of government. He saw Hamilton Hamil-ton Bupreme in the cabinet and in legislation leg-islation not because either the president presi-dent or congress was weak, but because be-cause Hamilton was a master in hia new field, and both congress and tjie president had accepted his leadership. It chagrined Jefferson deeply to see that he had himself assisted at Hamilton's Ham-ilton's triumph, had himself made It complete, indeed. He could not easily brook successful rivalry in leadership; must have expected to find himself, not Hamilton, preferred In the counsels coun-sels of a Virginia president; was beyond be-yond measure dismayed to see the In affairs would be put, whether at home or abroad, was the test of its ability to sustain Its financial credit with businesslike thoroughness and statesmanlike wisdom. Hamilton's Critical Post. Alexander Hamilton was only thirty-two thirty-two years old. He had been a spirited and capable soldier and an astute and eloquent advocate; but he had not had a day's experience in the administration administra-tion of a great governmental department, depart-ment, and had never bandied so far as men knew, had never studied questions of public finance. Washington Washing-ton chose him, nevertheless, without hesitation, for what must certainly turn out the most critical post in his administration. No man saw more-clearly more-clearly than Washington did how large a capacity for statesmanship Hamilton had shown in his masterly papers in advocacy of the Constitution. Constitu-tion. He had known Harhilton, moreover, more-over, through all the quick years that had brought him from precocious youth to wise maturity; had read his letters and felt the singular power that moved In them; and was ready to trust him with whatever task he would consent to assume. Henry Knox, that gallant officer of the Revolution, had been already four years secretary of war for the Confederation. Confed-eration. In appointing him to the same office under the new Constitution, Constitu-tion, Washington was but retaining a man whom he loved and to whom he had for long been accustomed to look for friendship and counsel. Jefferson's Wide Experience. He ohose Thomas Jefferson to handle the delicate questions of foreign affairs af-fairs which must press upon the young state because, John Adams being vice-president, vice-president, there was no other man of pnnwl rifts nvnilnhlfi.whn VoH hnH or. c i 11 n i 1 1 l uulu gicai aiiu JlOI mctiiciii. Tours Eastern States. In October, 1789, his principal appointments ap-pointments all made, the government In full operation, and affairs standing still till congress should meet again, he went upon a four weeks' tour of the eastern states, to put the people hi mind there, by his own presence, pres-ence, of the existence and dignity of the federal government, and to make trial of their feeling toward It. They received him with cordial enthusiasm, for he was secure of their love and admiration; ad-miration; and he had once more a royal progress from place to place all the way to far New Hampshire and back again. He studiously contrived to make it everywhere felt, nevertheless, by every ev-ery turn of ceremonial and behavior, that he had come, not as the hero of the Revolution, but as the president of the United States. At Boston Governor Hancock sought by cordial notes and pleas of illness to force Washington to waive the courtesy of a first call from him, and so give the executive of Massachusetts Massa-chusetts precedence, if only for old friendship's sake. But Washington would not be so defeated of his errand; er-rand; forced the perturbed old patriot lo come to him, swathed as he was in flannels and borne upon men's shoulders shoul-ders up the stairs, received him with grim courtesy, and satisfied the gossips gos-sips of the town once and for all that precedence belonged to the federal government at any rate, so long as George Washington was president. Having seen him and feted him, the eastern towns had seen and done homage hom-age to the hew authority set over them. Washington was satisfied, and returned with a noticeable accession of spirits to the serious work of federal fed-eral administration debt must be paid in run: to tnat congress con-gress agreed heartily and without hesitation. hes-itation. But there was much In the rest of the plan to give prudent men pause. To pay off the paper of the Confederation would be to give to the speculators, who had bought It up in the hope of just such a measure, a gratuity of many times what they had paid for it. To assume the state debts would be taken to mean that the states were bankrupt or delinquent, that the federal government was to be their guardian and financial providence, provi-dence, and that the capital of the country must look only to the government govern-ment of the nation, not to the government govern-ment of the states, for security and profitable employment. This was na-I na-I tlonalizing the government with a vengeance, ven-geance, and was a plain bid. besides, to win the money class to its support Members whose constituencies lay away from the centers of trade looked askance at such measures, and deemed them no better than handing the government over to the money lenders of the towns. But boldness and energy prevailed, as they had prevailed pre-vailed in the adoption of the Constitution Constitu-tion itself, and both measures were carried through the houses the first at once, the second after a close and doubtful struggle by stratagem and barter. Part of Plan Opposed. Jefferson had been in France when Washington called him to assume the headship of foreign affairs at home; had not reached New York on his return re-turn voyage until December 23, 1789; and did not take his place in Washington's Washing-ton's council till March 21, 1790. All of Hamilton's great plan had by that time passed congress, except tho assumption as-sumption of the state debts. Upon that question a crisis had been administration already In the hands, as it seemed, of a man just two months turned of thirty-three. He began ere long to declare that he had been "most ignorantly and Innocently made to hold the candle" to the sharp work of the secretary of the treasury, having hav-ing been "a stranger to the circumstances." circum-stances." But it was not the circumstances circum-stances of which he had been Ignorant; it was the effect of what he had done upon his own wish to play the chlei role in the new government. When he came to a calm scrutiny of the matter, he did not like the assumption as-sumption of the state debts, and, what was more serious for a man of political politi-cal ambition, It was bitterly distasteful distaste-ful to the very men from whom he must look to draw a following when parties should form. He felt that he had been tricked; he knew that he had been outrun in the race for leadership. lead-ership. What he did not understand or know how to reckon with was the place and purpose of Washington in the government. Hamilton had been Washington's aide and confidant when a lad of twenty, and knew in what way those must rule who served undei such a chief. He knew that Washington Wash-ington must first be convinced and won; did not for a moment doubt that the president held the reins and was master; was aware that his own plana had prospered both In the maklug and In the adoption because the purpose they spoke was the purpose Washington Washing-ton most cherished. Washington had adopted the fiscal measures as his own; Hamilton's strength consisted in having his confidence and support. Washington and Jefferson. Jefferson had slowly to discovei that leadership in the cabinet was to be had, not by winning a majority ol the counsellors who sat in it, but by winning Washington. That masterful man asked counsel upon every question ques-tion of consequence, but took none his own judgment did not approve. He had chosen Hamilton because he knew his views, Jefferson only because be-cause he knew his influence, ability, and experience in affairs. When he did test Jefferson's views he found them less to his liking than he had ex-pected. ex-pected. (TO BE CONTINUED.) large an experience in the field of diplomacy. di-plomacy. Again and again Jefferson had been chosen for foreign missions under the Confederation ; he was American minister to France when Washington's summons called him to the secretaryship of state; and he came of that race of Virginia statesmen states-men from whom Washington might reasonably count upon receiving a support sup-port touched with personal loyalty. Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry md George Mason were home-keeping spirits, and doubted of the success of the new government; but Jefferson, though he had looked upon its making from across the sea, approved, and was ready to lend his aid to its successful suc-cessful establishment. In appointing Edmund Randolph to be attorney general, Washington was hut choosing a brilliant young man whom he loved out of a great family nf lawyers who had held a sort of primacy at the bar In Virginia ever fince he could remember almost ever eince she had been called the Old Dominion. Do-minion. Knox was thirty-nine, Edmund Randolph Ran-dolph thirty-six; but if Washington chose youug men to be his comrades and guides in counsel, it was but an- Hamilton His Support. No man stood closer to him in his purpose to strengthen and give prestige pres-tige to the government than Hamilton; Hamil-ton; and no man w-as able to discover the means with a surer genius. Hamilton Ham-ilton knew who the well-wishers of the new government were, whence its strength was to be drawn, what it must do to approve itseif great and permanent, with an insight and thoroughness thor-oughness Washington himself could not match: for Hamilton knew Washington Wash-ington and the seats of his strength In the country as that 6elf-forgetful man himself could not. He knew that It was the commercial commer-cial classes of the country such men as he had himself dwelt amongst at the great port at New York who were bound by self-interest to the new government, gov-ernment, which promised them a single policy in trade, in the stead of policies a half-score; and that the men who were standing to its support out of a reasoned prudence, out of a high-minded desire to secure good government gov-ernment and a place of consideration for their country amongst the nations of the world, were Individuals merely, lo be found only In shrall groups here and there, where a special light i-hone a dangerous heat of feeling. Members Mem-bers from the south, where trade was not much astir and financial interests told for less than local pride and sharp jealousy of a too great central power, were sot hotly against the measure; most of the northern members mem-bers were as hotly resolved upon its adoption. Mr. Jefferson must have caught echoes and rumors of the great debate as he lingered at Monticello in order to adjust his private affairs before entering en-tering upon his duties in the cabinet. The measure had been lost at last in the house by the narrow margin of two votes. But the minority were in no humor to submit. They declined to transact any business at all till they should be yielded to in this matter. There were even ugly threats to be heard that some would withdraw from congress and force a dissolution of the Union rather than make concessions upon the one side or the other. Jefferson's Support Won. It was to this pass that things had come when Mr. Jefferson reached the seat of government; and his arrival gave Hamilton an opportunity to show how consummate a politician he could otner capital proof of bis own mastery in affairs. Himself a natural leader, he recognized the like gift and capacity capac-ity in others, even when fortune had not yet disclosed or brought them to the test. Hard to Fill Offices. It was hard. In filling even the greater great-er offices, to find men of eminence whi were willing to leave the service of their states or the security and ease of private life to try the untrodden paths of federal government. The states were old and secure so men thought Ihe federal government was new and an experiment. The stronger sort of men, particularly amongst thoRo bred to the law, showed, many oT them, a great reluctance to Identify themf-elves with new Institutions set but live ov six months ago; and Wash-1 Wash-1 i - :- !",i lie meant to make very in tame minus. He knew that Washington was loved most for his national character and purro-u amongst the observant middle clisses of substantial people In the richer counties of Pennsylvania, Pennsylva-nia, New Jersey, New York and New-England, New-England, while his neighbors In the south loved him with an Individual affection af-fection only, and rather as their hero than as their leader in affairs. He saw that the surest way to get both popular support and International Interna-tional respect was to give to the government gov-ernment at once and in the outset a place of command in the business and material Interests of the country. Such a policy every man could comprehend, and a great body of energetic and in-'fluentlal in-'fluentlal men would certainly support; that alone could make the government peem real from tb? first a veritable Urz ill OU1JIH-MI. VJL 1110 DLaii..iiiii;aini. The' southern members wanted the seat of the federal government established estab-lished within their reach, upon the Potomac, Po-tomac, where congress might at least be rid of Importunate merchants and money lenders clamoring at its dflors, and of impracticable Quakers with their petitions for the abolition of slavery; and were almost as hot at their failure to get their will In that matter as the northern men were to find themselves defeated upon the question of the Btate debts. Mr. Jefferson was fresh upon the field, was strong among the southern members, was not embroiled or committed com-mitted In the quarrel. Hamilton besought be-sought him to Intervene. The success of the government was. at Btake, he said, and Mr. Jefferson could pluck It out of peril. Might it not be that |
