Alexander Hamilton Quotes
The people can never err more than in supporting that by multiplying their representatives beyond a certain limit, they strengthen the barrier against the government of a few.
Alexander Hamilton, 1755-1804, Aide-de-camp to General Washington, Member of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, U. S. Secretary of the Treasury (Federalist, NY), The Federalist, No. 58
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Two years later with bipartisan support Speaker Joseph Cannon was stripped of his party and the Rules Committee was created.
His faction won on the House and lost with respect to the Senate.
the power a ruler or a ruling class
Faction was the word Madison used for Political Party.
At the time, the House of Lords which was made up of aristocrats who inherited their titles and the Lords could undo any legislation that was passed by the House of Commons. This gave the aristocrats of England a veto on all legislation.
He was referring to the House which could check the elite few of the Senate and the Senate which could check the temporary will of the majority.
Speaking then as a congressman:. those of the voters of a particular district
Morris had it wrong. He perceived that the Senate could not be a check on the House or the President because to him, the Senate was the house of aristocrats and America really did not have aristocrats since there was no nobility so that there would be no difference between Representatives and Senators-–they both were drawn from the same egalitarian population. He missed however that the Senate, being elected by states, would represent a broader constituency than a member of the House, and because of this broader perspective, would come to see issues in nationalist and state terms while Representatives would perceive the same issues in local terms. Hence the two houses of Congress became effective checks on each other, and the Senate on the President because not of different social or economic class, but of broader and narrower perspectives. It was not what Senators were but what they would become once they were elected and had to be reelected.
At the time the power and prestige of Congress relative to the Presidency , was much greater than it is today. It was McKinley’s successor, Theodore Roosevelt, who began a 20th century trend which led to a reversal of the relationship between the Executive Branch and the Legislative.
This is an interesting historical quotation. In 1917, Joseph Stalin, was for democracy and elections with rule by the majority. Once he and his party gained control, the democratic idea of free elections with competition evaporated.
Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper. As the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration. He took the lead in the federal government's funding of the states' debts, as well as establishing the nation's first two de facto central banks, the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the United States, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. His vision included a strong central government led by a vigorous executive branch, a strong commercial economy, government-controlled banks, support for manufacturing, and a strong military.
