whose circulation shall contract and expand with the wants of trade.

No Legislature since 1815 has had a more serious task before it than this, and we doubt if any Legislature has ever had. It will need a Congress either of remarkable intelligence or of remarkable docility. It will need a first-rate financier to direct the operation, one who is intimately acquainted with currency problems both as affected by home trade and by foreign exchange, such a man, in truth, as Alexander Hamilton or Albert Gallatin.

Facts about all our Presidents.

ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON.

1789-1797.

THE 4th of March, 1789, was the time appointed for the Government of the United States to go into operation under its new organization; but several weeks elapsed before quorums of both Houses of Congress were assembled. The city of New York was the place where Congress then met.

On the 6th of April the electoral votes were counted. At that time, and until 1805, each elector voted by ballot for two persons. If a majority of all the votes were cast for any person, he who received the greatest number of votes became President, and he who received the next greatest number became Vice-President. When the votes were counted they were found to be for George Washington, of Virginia, 69 (all of the electors having voted for him), John Adams, of Massachusetts received 34 votes, and 35 votes were cast for various other candidates.

Charles Thompson, the oldest secretary of Congress, was sent to Mount Vernon to notify Washington of his election. Washington promptly signified his acceptance of the office, and, two days later, started for New York. He was desirous of

travelling as quietly and unostentatiously as possible, but the people of the States through which he passed would not permit him to do so. His jour

ney was a constant ovation.

Crowds greeted him

at every town with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of affection and confidence; triumphal

arches were erected, and his way was strewn with lowers by young girls; and maidens and mothers greeted him with songs composed in his honor. In consequence of these demonstrations his pro gress was so much retarded that he did not reach New York until the latter part of April.

On the 30th of April Washington appeared on

the balcony of Federal Hall, New York, on the site of which the United States Treasury now stands, and took the oath of office in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and a large crowd of citizens assembled in the streets below. He then repaired to the Senate chamber, and there delivered an address to both Houses of Congress. The plan of the new government being now completed, Congress proceeded to its organization through the departments of the judiciary, of state, of the treasury, of war, and of attorney-general.

President Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury, and General Henry Knox, of Massachusetts, Secretary of War. John Jay, of New York, was made ChiefJustice of the United States, and Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, Attorney-General.

Frederick A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, was chosen Speaker of the House; but his election was not a party triumph, for parties were still in a state of utter confusion. Between the extreme Anti-Federalists, who considered the Constitution a long step toward a despotism, and the extreme Federalists, who desired a monarchy modeled on that of England-there were all varieties of political opinion. Washington, through the universal confidence in his integrity and good judgment, had the ability to hold together the conservative men

of all parties for a time, and prevent party contest upon the interpretation of Federal powers until the Constitution should be tested and its value demonstrated to the people.

In 1792 the second Presidential election took place. Washington was anxious to retire, but yielded to the wishes of the people, and was again chosen President by the unanimous vote of the electoral colleges of the several States.

The electoral votes were counted in February, 1793, and found to be for George Washington 132 (all the electors having voted for him), for John Adams 77, for George Clinton 50, for Thomas Jefferson 4, and for Aaron Burr 1. Washington was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1793.

At the close of his term of office Washington withdrew to his home at Mount Vernon, to enjoy the repose he had so well earned, and which was so grateful to him. His administration had been eminently successful. When he entered upon the duties of the Presidency the government was new and untried, and its best friends doubted its ability to exist long; the finances were in confusion, and the country was burdened with debt; the disputes with Great Britain threatened to involve the country in a new war; and the authority of the general government was uncertain and scarcely recognized. When he left office the state of affairs was changed. The government had been severely tested, and had been found equal to any demand