appropriateness of the constitutional provision (Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 12) which limits appropriations for raising and supporting an army to two years—a provision which, he argues, meets the requirements of national defense while preventing the potential evils that can arise from a permanent standing army. In a more philosophical vein, he touches upon a basic theme that recurs throughout the essays: that the concern for private rights and liberty must always be balanced against the imperative need for an energetic government, one capable of defending the nation against foreign and domestic enemies. In addition, he emphasizes that any successful conspiracy or scheme to usurp the liberty and rights of the people through force of arms would require time to develop and mature, a virtual impossibility given the accountability of the members of Congress and the anticipated vigilance of the States.
Publius makes clear (No. 27) that he does not anticipate the national government’s having, as a matter of course, to resort to the use of force to execute its laws. Indeed, he believes, force will rarely be required once the proposed system is put into operation. As soon as the operations of the national government become part of the ordinary life of its citizens, their attachment to it will grow. Even State officers will find themselves integrated into the national system through their obligation to uphold legitimate national laws. Nevertheless, Publius does acknowledge (No. 28) that there will be circumstances which will require the use of national force. He again remarks, however, that the vigilance and potential resistance of State governments “afford complete security against invasions of the public liberty by the national authority.” Nor does he see (No. 29) that national control over the State militia will pose any threat to the liberties of the people or the security of the States. Among the reasons for this, he maintains, is that the vast majority of the militia will consist of ordinary citizens whose attachment to the community will not allow them to participate in any plot to subvert popular rights and liberties.
Starting with Federalist No. 30, Publius devotes seven papers to a discussion of the national taxing power and its relationship to the taxing powers of the States. At the outset, he makes it clear that the national government must possess unfettered authority to raise revenue in order to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. Repeating the line of argument used in No. 23, he argues that “every POWER ought to be proportionate to its OBJECT” and that to restrict the national government to “external” taxation—that is, to “duties on imported articles”—would be disastrous, because it is impossible to foretell with certainty what the future needs of the national government might be. In Federalist No. 31, he again emphasizes that the national government must possess a power to tax commensurate with its responsibilities—a power “free from every other control but a regard to the public good and the sense of the people.”
Publius is also anxious to show that the national government’s power to tax will not lead to the extinction of the States. By way of answering those who contend that vesting the national government with an “indefinite power of taxation” will “deprive . . . [the States] of the means of providing for their own necessities,” he answers (No. 31) by pointing out the impossibility of dealing rationally with the infinite “conjectures about usurpation” which spring from the unwarranted fears of the Anti-Federalists. In Federalist No. 32, he takes pains to point out that the States “clearly retain all the rights of sovereignty” that were not “exclusively delegated” to the national government, prohibited to them, or whose exercise would be “totally contradictory and repugnant” to the exercise of delegated national powers. Thus, he shows that, save for duties on imports, the States possess a concurrent and discretionary power to tax the same sources as the national government. He demonstrates (No. 33) that the “necessary and proper” clause cannot be used to deprive the States of their powers to tax. Any law “abrogating or preventing the collection of a tax laid by the authority of a State (unless on imports and exports) would not be the supreme law of the land, but an usurpation of a power not granted by the Constitution.” Finally, in essay No. 34, he rejects the idea that there is need for a constitutional division of the sources of revenue between the State and national governments to ensure sufficient revenues for the States. Such a division, he warns, might prevent the national government from fulfilling its critical responsibilities. Moreover, he cannot see any division of the sources of revenue that would not leave the States with either “too much or too little” relative to their needs.
In the final two essays (Nos. 35 and 36) of this section, Publius takes up and answers Anti-Federalist objections that the House of Representatives will not be able to produce an equitable system of taxation because it will not be large enough to reflect the diversity of interests in the nation. While he holds (No. 35) that the representation of all classes of people is both “unnecessary” and “altogether visionary,” he firmly believes that the classes that will dominate—“landholders, merchants, and men of the learned professions”—will have a sufficient understanding and sympathy with the various interests of society to produce an equitable system for revenues. In this respect, he envisions those from the “learned professions” adjudicating whatever differences might arise between the “different branches of industry” in a fashion consistent with the general welfare. In addition, he rejects (No. 36) the charge that the Congress will not have sufficient knowledge of local circumstances to formulate effective and equitable taxation policies. He notes that the information needed for this purpose can easily be obtained with respect to the imposition of indirect taxes, such as import duties and excise taxes. As for direct taxes, such as those on real property, he maintains that the system used by the individual States can readily be “adopted and employed by the federal government.”
PART IV
Why the Proposed Constitution Conforms with the Principles of Republicanism and Good Government
A. The General Form of Government
Federalist Nos. 37 through 40 discuss concerns of a general nature. No. 37, for instance, is perhaps the most philosophical of all the essays. Here Publius (Madison) provides an overview of the complexity and enormity of the task confronting the Founding Fathers at the Philadelphia Convention. He comments on the “novelty of the undertaking”; the difficulties of marking out the divisions between the departments of government, as well as those surrounding the division of authority between the State and national governments; and the delicate task of providing for the proper balance between energy and stability necessary for an effective and stable government without infringing upon liberty or violating the principles of republicanism.
After stressing the enormous obstacles that must be faced in establishing a new government by pointing to examples from ancient history (No. 38), Publius proceeds to castigate the Anti-Federalists for compounding these difficulties. He notes the lack of consensus among them about what is wrong with the proposed system and their clamor for amendments before the proposed system has even had a chance to operate. He faults them for quibbling over supposed defects in the proposed Constitution while ignoring the highly dangerous and unbearable political situation under the Articles.
In essay No. 39, Publius takes up two highly important concerns. First, he sets forth the “true principles” of republicanism, which call for direct or indirect control over government by “the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or favoured class of it.” Second, he undertakes to answer Anti-Federalist critics who charge that the proposed Constitution calls for a consolidated, national, or unitary government that does not conform to the principles of federalism. He examines the proposed system from five different vantage points and concludes that it is neither wholly national (unitary or consolidated) nor federal (confederate) but a “composition of both.”
Finally, in Federalist No. 40, Publius takes up and attempts to answer the charge—one that has endured over the decades—that the members of the Constitutional Convention exceeded their authority by drafting an entirely new constitution instead of simply revising the Articles, as they had been instructed to do. He answers by arguing that the delegates appropriately accorded priority to that part of their mandate which instructed them to provide for a government capable of preserving
