The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSTITUTION 745four years, and the members ofthe courts serve during good behavior.This provided both forstability in the government and asafeguard against the people'sworking their will over the governmentwhile they were underthe sway of some temporarypassion.5. The Transformation of Empire.One of the least appreciatedprinciples of the Constitution isthat contained in the provisionwhich makes it possible to dissolvean empire periodically byadding new states to the union.The United States had an empirefrom the beginning; indeed, writersand speakers frequently referredto the United States as anempire. At the least, however, theUnited States had a vast territorywest of the Appalachians and tothe north and west of existingstates. It was of considerable interestat the convention what provisionshould be made for thefuture of this territory. Should itbe carved into provinces which,when anyone of them becamepopulous enough,_ would be ad.,.mitted on equal terms with theolder states. Gouverneur Morris,among others, argued vigorouslythat this should not be the case.He feared that in time the westernstates would outnumber theeastern states; "he wished thereforeto put it in the power of thelatter to keep a majority of votesin their own hands." He summedup his case in this way: "Thebusy haunts of men not the remotewilderness are the proper schoolof political talents. If the Westernpeople get the power into theirhands, they will ruin the Atlanticinterests. The back members arealways averse to the best measures."17On this occasion, however, Morriswas outpointed by the leadersof the Virginia delegation. GeorgeMason said: "If the WesternStates are to be admitted into theUnion, they must be treated asequals and subjected to no degradingdiscriminations. They willhave the same pride and otherpassions which we have, and willeither' not unite with or willspeedily revolt from the Union, ifthey are not in all respects placedon an equal footing with theirbrethern." Edmund Randolph declaredthat it was entirely "inadmissiblethat a larger and morepopulous district of Americashould hereafter have less representationthan a smaller and lesspopulous district." Madison joinedin the colloquy by saying that"with regard to the WesternStates he was clear that no unfavorabledistinctions were admissible,either in point of justice orpolicy."IS