CHAPTER IX

FROM WASHINGTON TO JACKSON

1789-1829

293. The New Government Established-1789.-On the recommendation of the Continental Congress, all the ratifying states except New York, acting in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, proceeded to elect presidential electors,—and all elected senators and representatives to congress.

The presidential electors, assembling at their respective state capitals in February, 1789, performed the work required of them, and sent their reports to the seat of government at New York-that city having been designated by the Second Continental Congress as the place at which the government should be instituted on the 4th of the coming March.

In New York, the 4th of March was ushered in by the firing of cannon and the ringing of bells. These demonstrations were repeated at noon and sunset, but on account of the bad habits of delay that had crept into all affairs relating to public business-and due, also, to the lack of public conveyances and the inconvenience of travel at that time-but eight senators and thirteen representatives had arrived at the hour appointed. The 30th of March saw but a bare quorum of the members of the lower house present, when that body proceeded to organize by electing a speaker and other officers. One week later (April 6), a sufficient number of senators having arrived, the senate organized by electing a chairman "for the sole purpose of opening and counting the votes for president of the United States." The house thereupon adjourned to the senate chamber in Federal Hall, where, in the pres

ence of both bodies, the votes were opened and read aloud by the chairman of the senate and counted by tellers appointed from each house. This work finished, the representatives withdrew to their own chamber, when the presiding officer of each body officially announced the result, which had been known throughout the country since the month of February.

George Washington had received sixty-nine electoral votes, and was declared unanimously elected president of the United States. John Adams-just returned from England as minister to that coun

FEDERAL HALL

gers were at once sent to Mount Vernon and to Massachusetts, to notify the newly-elected officers, and to present them with their certificates of election. John Adams soon arrived in New York and assumed his duties as the presiding officer of the senate.

294. Washington Inaugurated April 30, 1789. --George Washington arrived a few days later,

and on April 30 was accompanied by the entire senate and house of representatives to the balcony of old Federal Hall, where the chancellor for New York, Robert R. Livingston, stood awaiting him, to administer the oath of office. A vast company of people filled the streets in every direction. The scene was imposing and solemn. As Chancellor Livingston concluded, he exclaimed: "Long live George Washington, president of the United States," to which the

people responded in long-continued shouting. Thus was the new government established.

WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION

FEDERALIST: 1789-1797.

295. The First President.-No wiser choice could have been made for president. Washington held the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. His trip from Mount Vernon to New York was one continual series of ovations, in which men, women, and children vied with each other to do the new president honor. At Philadelphia, his reception was imposing; at Trenton, in view of old memories, it was solemnly patriotic. When he crossed the bridge at Princeton, over which he had retreated when pursued by Cornwallis, he passed under a triumphal arch, and his roadway was strewn with flowers. His reception at New York was a grand and imposing spectacle, in which the whole city joined. The love and the devotion of the people for Washington was deep and sincere. As president of the United States, his very name gave to the new republic a little larger importance in the eyes of the civilized world than it could otherwise have obtained.

296. The President's Cabinet.-Congress having already authorized the president to select a body of advisers, this Washington did at once. These advisers constituted the "president's cabinet," which consisted of but four departments the departments of state, of the treasury, of war, and of the attorney-generalship.

Since that day four other departments have been added'the department of the navy, created in 1798; the department of the 'interior, in 1849; and that of agriculture, in 1889. The postmaster-general became a member of the cabinet after 1829.

In the first cabinet, Jefferson was secretary of state; Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury; General Henry Knox, secretary of war; and Edmund Randolph,

attorney-general. All were men of distinguished ability. Jefferson, as Franklin's successor to the court of France, had devoted most of his time to the settlement of disputes with foreign governments. Hamilton, though but thirty-two years of age, had already established a reputation for great ability, especially in the field of finance. Knox had been an officer of distinction in the Revolution, and had been at the head of military affairs since the close of the war. Edmund

Randolph was a lawyer of fine ability; had been governor of Virginia; attorney-general of that state; and a delegate in the Continental Congress, and the Constitutional Convention.

297. The Condition of the Government Finances in 1789.— The first serious question which confronted the new government was that of its finances. At the time of the inauguration, there was hardly a dollar in the treasury with which to meet even the running expenses of the new republic; and yet, the government owed to foreign nations, in round numbers, the sum of $13,000,000; to its own private citizens, $42,000,000. In addition to this, the several states had contracted Revolutionary debts of their own, amounting in all to $25,000,000.

298. Hamilton's Financial Policy.-It now devolved upon Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, to reform the finances of the country. On his advice, congress agreed:

(1) To pay the foreign debt and all interest due thereon. (2) To pay all debts due from the government to its private citizens.

(3) To assume all debts contracted by the separate states during the Revolution.

This assumption of all debts involved but the first part of Hamilton's plan. There still remained the necessity of devising a scheme of revenue sufficient to pay these debts, and to meet the running expenses of the government.

299. The Tariff of 1789: The Excise Tax-1790: Bank of

the United States-1791: The United States Mint-1792.Congress now passed a tariff bill, laying a tax on all imports. All custom houses, which had heretofore been under control of the states, now passed to the national government, which located collectors at every port of entry in the United States. The purpose of this tariff legislation was twofoldto raise a revenue, and to protect home manufactures.

An excise law was passed, which levied a tax on every gallon of lquor distilled in the United States, and also on all liquor imported into the United States.

The Bank of the United States, with a capital of $10,000,000, was chartered for twenty years. The government held one-fifth of the stock, and agreed to receive the bills of the bank in payment of all claims due the United States. The bank was of great service in establishing the national credit?

Congress, having power to coin money, established at Philadelphia the United States Mint, which was soon turning out copper coin, silver dollars, and gold eagles. Foreign coins, which, on account of their varying values, had always been annoying in business transactions, were now driven out of circulation.

All these measures were adopted by congress on the advice of Hamilton. To him belongs the credit of establishing the finances of the country on a firm basis. Of him, in later years, Daniel Webster said: "He smote the rock of our national resources, and abundant streams of revenue poured forth; he touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet."

300. The Judiciary Established-1789.-The executive and legislative departments being now established, it devolved upon congress to organize the judicial department. Accordingly, in 1789, congress established a supreme court, to consist of one chief justice and five associate justices. As inferior courts, it created both the circuit and the district courts So wisely was this act drawn up that