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Show t p r r H THE FIRST FEDERALIST. M aESTERDAY was the anniversary of the birth of Alexander H Hamilton. It passed unnoticed, although it is a date that his coun- H trymen should always hold dear. Historians are all of the opinion H that the brilliant exponent of American federalization lived far in ad- H vance of his age. What he would say, were he alive today and able 'H to witness the bewildering process of centralization of government H that is now in progress, suggests a most fascinating contemplation. H The probabilities are that with characteristic directness he would de- H clare: "Gentlemen, X prophesied the day when this government, in H order to save itself from possible disaster, would be obliged to assume H extraordinary power over the masses of its citizens. That day is at H hand." Hamilton was a rare type of statesman. His like has never been lfl seen, before his time or since. His theories of government find no H parallel in the whole category of statecraft. Like Napoleon, he be- H lieved in popular rights but was fearful of the ability of the masses to H govern themselves. For this reason he favored a strongly centralized H form of government, founded upon irrevocable powers and adminis- H tered by delegated authority. As constituted at the outset, our sys- fl t?m of government was a compromise between Hamilton's ideas and H H Jefferson's theonyo'f a more or less promiscous scheme of popular Hl government. A century and a quarter of' actual experience in the H operation of the government has demonstrated the practicability of Hf Hamilton's doctrine. The marked changes-that have been; effected, H the assumption of additional powers and the extension of centralized H authority have all been in line with his ideas. And by some freak of H' fate, it remained for a Democratic president to more closely approxi- H matc Hamilton's policies than all of the other American presidents H combined. H That Hamilton would therefore approve of the general policy of H centralized effort now in force there is no Ooubt, but it is also quite H likely that he would strongly disapprove of the scheme to lodge all H the authority in one department of government. Just as he was fear- M 1 ful of the ability of the people to govern their affairs wisely, so he M ' " was fearful of the abuse of power delegated to a single pair of hands. H , To provide against this possibility of abuse he was a strong advocate H of the established system of "checks and balances" among the separ- M ate departments, the system that of late years' has sometimes been M J outrageously overridden. j J And in the administration of governmental affairs at the present H - moment, it is possible that Hamilton might be able to give certain of M the officials at Washington a few pointers. In the matter of financing H the war his services might prove of especial value. With all due re- H spects to Mr. McAdoo and his able associates, we are of the opinion H that the wizard who, in the early days of the Republic, "touched the M corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet'' would be able to H teach the present treasury officials a few tricks in federal finances and B revenue reforms that might open their eyes and make a strong appeal H to the public. Likewise with Congress : it would be interesting to see M Hamilton at work untieing the tangles of appropriations and revenues H that so greatly perplex the statesmen of today. K In such respects Hamilton would be able to work hand in glove Hj with those now in charge of governmental affairs, but when it came B j to playing politics we fear that the present-day statesmen would have H , him sadly outclassed. The game never appealed to him, and even in B the old days he never could understand why his bitter political rival, H the patron saint of Democracy, persisted in playing it with such ex- M treme delight. Perhaps now he would understand. 5JC 5JS 5j! 5c |