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СНАРТЕR VIII.

THE COMMON DEFENCE.

90. THE words "common defence and general welfare" were not inserted in any part of the Constitution till Sept. 4, 1787, just ten working days before the labors of the Convention were finished. They were then reported by the "grand Committee," appointed on motion of Mr. Sherman, and of which Mr. Brearley was chairman, as they now stand with the rest of the second line of the 8th section of Article I.; and adopted in the same form by the Convention, on the same day, nem. con. Four days after, Sept. 8, the whole work of the Convention was sent to the Committee of Revision, "to revise the style and arrange the Articles" agreed on. They reported the final draft, with the 8th section as it now stands to the end of the second line, and with these important words also added to the new or amended draft of the introductory or enacting clause, on the 12th. On the 14th, the Convention added, after the words "general welfare " in the 8th section,

the third line on uniformity as it now stands; having, on the 13th, approved the revised draft of the enacting clause, without objection. On Saturday, the 15th of September, the Convention completed their re-examination of the whole draft of the Committee of Revision. They

had taken up every clause in detail; altered, amended, or approved of each one particularly; then adopted the whole generally; and sent it to the proper clerk for engrossment. On Monday, the 17th, they signed it as engrossed, and dissolved the Convention.

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§ 91. The fourth purpose, in the order in which they are placed, for which the American people established their government, was provide for the common defence."-" Safety," says Mr. Jay, "seems to be the first object."

ce The safety of the whole is the interest of the whole, and cannot be provided for without government."1 This may be said to be the most important object of the people, and the first, most obvious, and most imperative duty of the government. It is, in fact, the one on which the value of all the others depends. If a nation cannot defend its own existence, in the possession of its own prerogatives and rights, it is of little consequence what those rights are, or how else they may be estimated and regarded. This, therefore, is an object of primary necessity for every nation, and a primary duty

1 Federalist, Nos. 3, 4.

for every independent and supreme government, however that government may be constituted and organized.

§ 92. Our Constitution rightfully gives it this prominent place among the avowed purposes of the people, to be accomplished by their government. The necessity and duty being imperative; the magnitude of the obstacles to be met. and overcome, indefinite and unknown, the power to meet them, in order to be commensurate, without which they are worthless, must be broad and unlimited, co-extensive with all the resources of the nation, moral and physical, present and prospective. "It is in vain to oppose constitutional barriers to the impulse of self-preservation."-" Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continued danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to be less free." 2

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§ 93. In this view, the words of this part of the Constitution are peculiarly apt and well chosen," provide for the common defence." 1 Madison, Federalist, No. 41.

2 Hamilton, Ibid, No. 8.

They include not merely the making defence when called for, -all the powers, demands, and appliances of actual war, when it comes,— but the providence necessary to anticipate and secure, in times of profound peace, the appropriate means for making the defence effectual when wanted;-not only collecting and preserving all kinds of warlike implements, but cultivating and securing the raw material for the same, above ground and under ground,— the forest-trees and minerals, together with the science necessary for nurturing and working them; - not only fostering and encouraging the profession of soldiers and sailors, but establishing and maintaining permanent institutions of learning and science for disciplining and educating, in adequate numbers, the youth of the land, for future officers and men of war by sea and land.

§ 94. It is not a little singular, that this great and really unlimited power of national defence should have been, from the origin of our government, universally admitted in theory, and practically used, so far as the principle is concerned, to the extent of its whole length and breadth; and yet that its source in the Constitution has never been generally admitted, if indeed it has often been sought or discovered. It has not been admitted to be in this part of the instrument; because, it is said, this is only a preamble, and can confer no power itself, or even enlarge any

power otherwise conferred, but is essentially outside of the Constitution, and no part of the supreme law of the land. It is said also that it is not in section 8 of Article I., -the only other place where the words "provide for the common defence" occur,- because the sole object of that clause is to confer on Congress the power of taxation, or, as some say, that of taxation and appropriation; either of which excludes from it any more general power of national defence, than such as may be made by the use of a revenue derived from taxation. It certainly is not in any other clause; for the same words, or any others of equivalent signification, are nowhere else to be found in the instrument.

§ 95. Alexander Hamilton says the common defence is one of "the principal purposes to be answered by union;" and James Madison says, "it is an avowed and essential object of the American Union."1 The idea seems to be taken directly from this first sentence of the Constitution; for it is here expressed precisely, and not at all in any other part. Yet these writers do not expressly refer to it as the origin of this or any other power of the government, or as imposing on them the duty of executing it. The Constitution had never been objected to on this ground; and it was no part of their duty, as advocates of its adoption, to enlarge the field of operation for the objectors. They

1 Federalist, Nos. 23, 41.

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