CHAPTER XIV INTERNAL HISTORY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS UNDER JEFFERSON AND MADISON. REPUBLICAN REFORMS Democratic FROM the beginning of his administration Jefferson rejected the ceremonials which his party had denounced, and which the federalists defended on the ground that they created respect for the government. The carriage of state with six horses was Simplicity. discarded, and he rode horseback and unattended through the streets of the capital, like any other well-mounted citizen. The formal weekly receptions became levees to which any citizens who chose might come unannounced. The annual speeches to congress, which reminded the republicans too pointedly of the king's speech to parliament, became written annual messages, reports of the executive on the state of the nation. Federalists ridiculed these changes, but the people were pleased. The Inauguration. The inauguration was equally simple. Jefferson came to Washington as a private citizen, lodged at a tavern, and just before noon on March 4 walked up Capitol Hill, accompanied by a group of friends, to take the oath of office administered by John Marshall, a strong and determined federalist, whom Adams a few weeks earlier had appointed chief justice. His inaugural address has long been considered a great state paper. Good citizens, he said in effect, must recognize the right of the majority to rule, but the majority must not oppress the minority. It was time to lay aside the bitterness of controversy and to remember that political intolerance was as bad as religious intolerance. Differences of opinion are natural, but federalists and republicans are alike Americans and should unite to preserve the union and representative Conciliation. government. He pleaded in noble language for peace, coöperation in developing the resources of a great country, and patriotism and good will in realizing the blessings of liberty. These words were calculated to pacify the fears that the republicans would overthrow the foundations of society, so sedulously aroused by the federalists in the late campaign. It was Jefferson's dearest wish to conciliate his enemies, especially those in the North, who had been led to believe him an atheist and something of an anarchist. He announced his principles in terms his followers never forgot. He wished to see, he said, "a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave Political them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of inPrinciples. dustry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned." He enumerated many means of achieving these ends, among them "equal and exact justice to all men," "honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliance with none," the preservation of the rights of the states as the best guardians of domestic concerns, the support of the union "in its whole constitutional vigor," "the supremacy of the civil over the military authority," the rights of popular election as the only arbiter short of revolution, the sufficiency of a well-established militia, payment of the national debt, and economy in public expenditures. So deeply did these principles sink into the minds of the people at large that no later party or candidate has dared to repudiate them. The new cabinet was wisely chosen. Madison became secretary of state, Albert Gallatin, the best financier in the party, became secretary The of the treasury, General Dearborn, of Massachusetts, was secretary of war, Levi Lincoln, of the same state, attorney-general, and Robert Smith, of Maryland, secretary of the navy. The postmaster-general, Gideon Granger, of Connecticut, was not then in the cabinet, but the post was important because of the many subordinates. Assigning three of these places to New England shows how much it was desired to conciliate the people of that section. Dearborn and Smith were not strong men, but Jefferson did not propose to make much use of army or navy. Appointments to In their day of power the federalists were very bitter toward the republicans. They called them "the rabble," filled the offices with their own partisans, appointed only their friends to the federal judgeships, and in February, 1801, created a number Office. of new courts, spending their last moments of power in filling them with their own followers. Their opponents were naturally exasperated, and came into office eager for spoils. Jefferson wisely withstood the demand; for he saw that the thing for his party to do was to dispel the charge that it would overthrow the established order. He refused to remove officials unless it was shown that they were guilty of misconduct or of partisanship. He was thus able to prevent wholesale removals, which disappointed some of his hungry supporters. He refused to deliver commissions for the "midnight appointments," that is, the court officials under the act of February, 1801, which Adams had signed but left undelivered in the executive offices. At his suggestion congress repealed this act in 1802. On the other hand, Jefferson appointed his own followers, saying when as many republicans were in office as federalists he would continue the parity. GALLATIN AND THE FINANCES Financial 293 Next, he turned to the national debt, which under the federalists had grown from $77,500,000 to $80,000,000. Jefferson was pledged to reduce it and gave Gallatin a free hand. That careful financier examined his resources and concluded that the Gallatin's debt could be paid in sixteen years. The revenue then yielded $10,600,000 a year, of which $4,500,000 went for interest, $5,500,000 for army and navy, and the rest for general expenses. Gallatin proposed to pay $7,300,000 a year for interest and to curtail the debt, and as the ordinary expenses could not well be lessened he would effect most of the saving by reducing the army and navy. At the outset he encountered a difficulty in the loss of $650,000 of the revenue, because the republicans were pledged to abolish internal revenue duties. Thus it happened that he had but $2,650,000 for the support of army, navy, and the civil establishment. This sum he divided with the greatest care. To the army he allowed $930,000, to the navy $670,000, which left $1,050,000 for ordinary expenses. This made it necessary to reduce the army to a mere handful and to tie up in the dockyards most of the ships of the navy. Jefferson was pleased. He did not like a standing army, and considered a navy a useless toy which, as he said, might well be assembled in the eastern branch of the Potomac, where Jefferson the ships "would require but one set of plunderers to take care of them." Many congressmen winced under Gallatin's economy; but he was inexorable, Jefferson supported him, and the plan was adopted. and the Navy. Achieve ment. The result justified Gallatin's hopes. At the end of a year the revenue was nearly $3,000,000 more than he had expected, which gave him a comfortable surplus. In 1803 we purchased Louisiana, paying $11,250,000 in bonds and $4,000,000 for claims Gallatin's (see page 299). Gallatin announced that he could pay the latter out of the surplus and that the new bonds would postpone the payment of the debt only eighteen months. In 1804 congress ordered the construction of a frigate to replace the Phila delphia, lost at Tripoli (see page 296), and all eyes turned to Gallatin for the money. He would not take from the funds set aside for the debt, and congress had to lay a special duty, the "Mediterranean Fund." In 1805 the revenues rose to $14,000,000, and in 1806 to $14,500,000, yielding a surplus of $6,000,000. Many congressmen thought the time for economy was now past, but Gallatin and Jefferson urged patience, promising if the policy of economy were followed for two years longer there would be an ample reserve and at least $5,000,000 for such uses as congress might deem fit. 1807 was another fat year, and the surplus was now $7,600,000, and the debt, including the bonds paid for Louisiana, had been reduced from $92,000,000 to $69,500,000. In 1808 the embargo was in force, revenues fell off, and this splendid progress was halted. Gallatin and Gallatin's financial policy pleased the mass of thrifty people. It was that of the careful husbandman, who, finding himself overwhelmed with debt, sets aside from his annual income a sum necessary to liquidate his obligations within a reasonable time and rigidly reduces expenditures accordingly. It looked to the ultimate extinction of the debt, on the principle that freedom from debt is as good for a nation as for an individual. In contrast with it was the policy of Hamilton, who thought little of paying the debt and much of making the nation strong enough to weather financial storms. He would have a navy to protect commerce, which would increase the revenues, manufactures to build up the industrial efficiency of the country, and a strong capitalist class to promote the development of the nation's resources. He looked farther into the future than Gallatin, but he did not appreciate so well the desires of the average citizen. The Repub licans and the Judiciary. Jefferson's first term saw a remarkable and probably an unexpected development of the power of the federal courts. Asserting the right to interpret the constitution, they began to declare null laws both of congress and the state legislatures (see page 357). As the judges were federalists, it seemed that the opposition, ensconced in this seat of power, were defeating the will of the people expressed in the elections. The case seemed more difficult, because the constitution afforded no other way of removing a judge than impeachment, which must be for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." But if the senate, as a court of impeachment, chose to consider partisanship in a judge a misdemeanor, no power could gainsay them. So clear was this that the republicans determined to proceed, believing that if they established the principle that the senate could remove the judges, future partisanship in that quarter would be avoided. The first case was that of Pickering, judge of a district court in New Hampshire, a man whose inebriety had led to insanity. He was impeached and removed from office in 1803, and the people approved, although it seemed singular that insanity was pronounced a misdemeanor by the highest court in the land. Then the republicans turned to Judge Samuel Chase, of the supreme court. He was a violent partisan, as his conduct in the cases under the alien and sedition laws in 1800 showed. He expressed his views openly, and in 1803 declared to a federal grand jury in Baltimore that the republicans threatened the country with mob rule. At this the house impeached him, and the senate sat as a tribunal. John Randolph, an able but erratic Virginian, was chief prosecutor on behalf of the house. He included so many charges besides partisanship that opinion rallied to Chase and the impeachment failed. It was believed that a contrary verdict would have been followed by the impeachment of Marshall. As it was, the republican attack on the courts was checked, and the chief justice remained in a position to exert a powerful influence upon the development of constitutional law. THE WAR WITH TRIPOLI For many years Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli laid tribute on trade in the Mediterranean, and the powers of Europe acquiesced. After the revolution our ships began, also, to be seized, Origin of and we were forced to buy treaties with handsome presents the War. of arms and money. First and last we paid enough money in this way to build several excellent ships, but for all that the freebooters were not satisfied. In 1801 the pacha of Tripoli cut down the flagstaff of our consulate as a declaration of war, because Tunis received richer presents than Tripoli; and about the same time Algiers showed symptoms of ill will. Jefferson desired peace, because, like Washington in 1795, he felt we were not strong enough to make war on a great power. But this policy did not apply to Tripoli, and early in 1801 he sent Captain Dale with four ships, the President, Philadelphia, and Essex, frigates, and the Enterprise, a sloop of war, to teach the Barbary States to respect us. Naval Operations. Dale could not attempt land operations, and when the Tripolitans collected an army and drew their navy up under the guns of their fortifications, he could only establish a blockade and cruise along the coast. Fortune, however, threw in his way an enemy's cruiser, which was quickly taken. Because congress had not declared war, Jefferson had not authorized captures, and the conquered ship, disarmed and dismantled, was allowed to escape to Tripoli, where her crew told such stories of American ferocity that the pacha's soldiers were filled with a respectful terror. In 1802 a second squadron went to the Mediterranean, but did nothing effective. These meager results disappointed the people at home, and the commander, Captain Morris, was dismissed the service. In 1803 a third commander of squadron went out, Captain Preble. With the aid of some small boats borrowed from the king of Sicily, who was also at war with the pacha, he conducted a bombardment of the city of Tripoli, but inflicted little damage. Preble remained in the Mediterranean during the winter, and showed a determination to isolate the enemy completely. In the spring of 1804 he received important coöperation from William Eaton, an eccentric but patriotic American in Egypt, who, without authority from his government, sought Hamet, dispossessed elder brother of the pacha, and set out from Egypt to capture the government of Tripoli by land. The pacha was a usurper and yielded rather than endanger tranquillity at home, although the army of Eaton and Hamet was only 500 men. In 1805, when the eastern half of his kingdom had been won over, he concluded a treaty, retaining his throne, but End of the War. |