Wise and Unwise Extension of Federal Power

Abstract

Washington was the President of the Convention of 1787 which framed our present Constitution. The sketchy and laconic journals do not show that he took much part in the deliberations of the body, but they do show that he was very constant in his attendance, and his correspondence indicates that he followed closely the proceedings. We cannot doubt that, with his commanding influence, his well-balanced judgment, and his high patriotism, he was a power for good in securing the wonderfully wise compromises of that remarkable instrument of government, and that his title to credit in the ultimate result cannot be overestimated. This great charter from the people of the United States, organizing a national government, is in nothing more exceptional than in its preservation down to the present moment substantially as it was when it was ordained by the people one hundred and twenty-eight years ago