The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

394 THE FREEMAN Julyit didn't. Perhaps it was because,in spite of Jefferson's mistrust ofgovernment, he was responsible forseveral early American socialistsorties.The first Jeffersonian socialistendeavor was the Louisiana Purchaseof 1803, by which the UnitedStates became a dealer in realestate. This was an atypical socialistactivity in that it provedenormously profitable. The profitsfrom the sale of Louisiana Purchaseland helped to pay the costof running the government for thesecond fifty years of the country'sexistence. Although the internationallegality of the enterprisewas authorized under the treatymakingpowers granted by theConstitution, there is nowhere aclear authorization for the UnitedStates to engage in a real estatedevelopment the size of the Louisianapurchase. Acquisition of territoryon a limited scale for purposesof defense would certainlybe permissible, but it is questionablewhether a big purchase couldbe justified under the general welfareclause. In any event, whowas to question the constitutionalityof such a step? This andlater real estate ventures of theUnited States have proved to bequite generally profitable in spiteof their socialist nature. Perhapsit all proves that even socialistscan make money in real estate.A Federal Surplus!By 1806 the income of the Federalgovernment had grown beyondwhat was needed for thelimited government the nationthen enjoyed. Small amounts ofmoney were needed for service ofthe national debt and for nationaldefense, the major government activity.Unbelievable as it nowseems, there was great concernover what to do with surplusfunds! Handling this problem,Jefferson showed himself to be theeternal politician. Instead of recommendingthat customs duties,the major source of Federal income,be reduced, he sought waysto increase spending. "Congress,"he wrote, "should explore the possibilitiesof Federal appropriationsfor the great purposes of Federaleducation, roads, rivers, canals,and such other objects of publicimprovement as may be thoughtproper."17 It is to Jefferson's everlastingcredit that he was enoughof a constitutionalist to have feltthat an amendment would beneeded to permit such a socialistinvasion of fields heretofore largelyprivate. In this he was unliketwentieth-century politicians whoincreasingly agree with Mr. Dooleythat "th' Constitution iv th'United States is applicable on'y insuch cases as it is applied to onaccount iv its applicability."It is noteworthy that for 82 of