Page:The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 Volume 3.djvu/417

 No provision for the executive.

The legislature to legislate only on limited objects.

The executive to have the power to compel obedience.

“Mr. Hamilton’s ideas were materially dissimilar to those two plans, and in an eloquent speech stigmatized them both. He did not approve the total abolition of the state-governments, but he wanted to reduce them to simple corporations, with very limited powers. He did not think that a federal government could suit this country; but still he pretended that he was at a loss to know what could be substituted for it; a republican form of government could not be perfect. But he would hold it, however, unwise to change it, though he considered the British form of government as the best model that the world ever produced. He wished that the convention could go the utmost length of republican principles, and thought that they would not deviate from it if they made the chief magistrate of the republick elective for life, and gave him the power of negativing all laws, of making war and peace with the advice of the Senate, and the sole direction of all military operations, &c. &c. He proposed also to appoint in each state an officer, to have a negative on all state-laws. He confessed that his plan and that from Virginia were very remote from the ideas of the people, and he admitted explicitly, that the Jersey plan was nearest to their expectations. He described the Virginia plan as being nothing but democracy, checked by democracy, or pork still, with a little change of the sauce!

“Mr. Madison did not relish at all the criticism of Mr. Hamilton, and in a long speech vindicated the Virginia system, and attempted to demonstrate its superiority over the Jersey plan.

“On a motion of Mr. King, the Jersey plan was rejected as inadmissible, seven states against it and four for it, including New York.

“The Committee then rose and reported again the Virginia plan.

“Mr. Wilson, on the first clause, represented, that it was not a desirable object to annihilate the state-governments.

“Mr. Hamilton corrected what he had said against those governments; but intimated that they ought to be reduced to a smaller scale.

“Mr. King observed, that none of the states could properly be called sovereign, being deprived of several sovereign rights, such as making peace and war; and that in reality the consolidation had already taken place by the articles of confederation.

“To compromise matters between the Virginia and the Jersey plan, Dr. Johnson, proposed, that the state-governments should be