From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 19, 1788.
MADISON
To the People of the State of New York:
THE THIRD charge against the House of Representatives is, that it will be taken from that class of citizens which will have least sympathy with the mass of the people, and be most likely to aim at an ambitious sacrifice of the many to the aggrandizement2 of the few.
Of all the objections which have been framed against the federal Constitution, this is perhaps the most extraordinary. Whilst the objection itself is levelled against a pretended oligarchy3, the principle of it strikes at the very root of republican government.
The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue4 to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous5 whilst they continue to hold their public trust. The elective mode of obtaining rulers is the characteristic policy of republican government. The means relied on in this form of government for preventing their degeneracy are numerous and various. The most effectual one, is such a limitation of the term of appointments as will maintain a proper responsibility to the people.
Let me now ask what circumstance there is in the constitution of the House of Representatives that violates the principles of republican government, or favors the elevation6 of the few on the ruins of the many? Let me ask whether every circumstance is not, on the contrary, strictly7 conformable to these principles, and scrupulously8 impartial10 to the rights and pretensions11 of every class and description of citizens?
Who are to be the electors of the federal representatives? Not the rich, more than the poor; not the learned, more than the ignorant; not the haughty12 heirs of distinguished13 names, more than the humble14 sons of obscurity and unpropitious fortune. The electors are to be the great body of the people of the United States. They are to be the same who exercise the right in every State of electing the corresponding branch of the legislature of the State.
Who are to be the objects of popular choice? Every citizen whose merit may recommend him to the esteem15 and confidence of his country. No qualification of wealth, of birth, of religious faith, or of civil profession is permitted to fetter17 the judgement or disappoint the inclination18 of the people.
If we consider the situation of the men on whom the free suffrages20 of their fellow-citizens may confer the representative trust, we shall find it involving every security which can be devised or desired for their fidelity21 to their constituents22.
In the first place, as they will have been distinguished by the preference of their fellow-citizens, we are to presume that in general they will be somewhat distinguished also by those qualities which entitle them to it, and which promise a sincere and scrupulous9 regard to the nature of their engagements.
In the second place, they will enter into the public service under circumstances which cannot fail to produce a temporary affection at least to their constituents. There is in every breast a sensibility to marks of honor, of favor, of esteem, and of confidence, which, apart from all considerations of interest, is some pledge for grateful and benevolent23 returns. Ingratitude24 is a common topic of declamation26 against human nature; and it must be confessed that instances of it are but too frequent and flagrant, both in public and in private life. But the universal and extreme indignation which it inspires is itself a proof of the energy and prevalence of the contrary sentiment.
In the third place, those ties which bind27 the representative to his constituents are strengthened by motives28 of a more selfish nature. His pride and vanity attach him to a form of government which favors his pretensions and gives him a share in its honors and distinctions. Whatever hopes or projects might be entertained by a few aspiring29 characters, it must generally happen that a great proportion of the men deriving30 their advancement31 from their influence with the people, would have more to hope from a preservation32 of the favor, than from innovations in the government subversive33 of the authority of the people.
All these securities, however, would be found very insufficient34 without the restraint of frequent elections. Hence, in the fourth place, the House of Representatives is so constituted as to support in the members an habitual35 recollection of their dependence36 on the people. Before the sentiments impressed on their minds by the mode of their elevation can be effaced37 by the exercise of power, they will be compelled to anticipate the moment when their power is to cease, when their exercise of it is to be reviewed, and when they must descend38 to the level from which they were raised; there forever to remain unless a faithful discharge of their trust shall have established their title to a renewal39 of it.
I will add, as a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates40 into tyranny. If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant41 and manly42 spirit which actuates the people of America—a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it.
If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory43 on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty.
Such will be the relation between the House of Representatives and their constituents. Duty, gratitude25, interest, ambition itself, are the chords by which they will be bound to fidelity and sympathy with the great mass of the people. It is possible that these may all be insufficient to control the caprice and wickedness of man. But are they not all that government will admit, and that human prudence44 can devise? Are they not the genuine and the characteristic means by which republican government provides for the liberty and happiness of the people? Are they not the identical means on which every State government in the union relies for the attainment45 of these important ends? What then are we to understand by the objection which this paper has combated? What are we to say to the men who profess16 the most flaming zeal46 for republican government, yet boldly impeach47 the fundamental principle of it; who pretend to be champions for the right and the capacity of the people to choose their own rulers, yet maintain that they will prefer those only who will immediately and infallibly betray the trust committed to them?
Were the objection to be read by one who had not seen the mode prescribed by the Constitution for the choice of representatives, he could suppose nothing less than that some unreasonable49 qualification of property was annexed50 to the right of suffrage19; or that the right of eligibility51 was limited to persons of particular families or fortunes; or at least that the mode prescribed by the State constitutions was in some respect or other, very grossly departed from. We have seen how far such a supposition would err52, as to the two first points. Nor would it, in fact, be less erroneous as to the last. The only difference discoverable between the two cases is, that each representative of the United States will be elected by five or six thousand citizens; whilst in the individual States, the election of a representative is left to about as many hundreds. Will it be pretended that this difference is sufficient to justify53 an attachment54 to the State governments, and an abhorrence55 to the federal government? If this be the point on which the objection turns, it deserves to be examined.
Is it supported by REASON? This cannot be said, without maintaining that five or six thousand citizens are less capable of choosing a fit representative, or more liable to be corrupted56 by an unfit one, than five or six hundred. Reason, on the contrary, assures us, that as in so great a number a fit representative would be most likely to be found, so the choice would be less likely to be diverted from him by the intrigues57 of the ambitious or the ambitious or the bribes58 of the rich.
Is the CONSEQUENCE from this doctrine59 admissible? If we say that five or six hundred citizens are as many as can jointly60 exercise their right of suffrage, must we not deprive the people of the immediate48 choice of their public servants, in every instance where the administration of the government does not require as many of them as will amount to one for that number of citizens?
Is the doctrine warranted by FACTS? It was shown in the last paper, that the real representation in the British House of Commons very little exceeds the proportion of one for every thirty thousand inhabitants. Besides a variety of powerful causes not existing here, and which favor in that country the pretensions of rank and wealth, no person is eligible61 as a representative of a county, unless he possess real estate of the clear value of six hundred pounds sterling62 per year; nor of a city or borough63, unless he possess a like estate of half that annual value. To this qualification on the part of the county representatives is added another on the part of the county electors, which restrains the right of suffrage to persons having a freehold estate of the annual value of more than twenty pounds sterling, according to the present rate of money. Notwithstanding these unfavorable circumstances, and notwithstanding some very unequal laws in the British code, it cannot be said that the representatives of the nation have elevated the few on the ruins of the many.
But we need not resort to foreign experience on this subject. Our own is explicit64 and decisive. The districts in New Hampshire in which the senators are chosen immediately by the people, are nearly as large as will be necessary for her representatives in the Congress. Those of Massachusetts are larger than will be necessary for that purpose; and those of New York still more so. In the last State the members of Assembly for the cities and counties of New York and Albany are elected by very nearly as many voters as will be entitled to a representative in the Congress, calculating on the number of sixty-five representatives only. It makes no difference that in these senatorial districts and counties a number of representatives are voted for by each elector at the same time. If the same electors at the same time are capable of choosing four or five representatives, they cannot be incapable65 of choosing one. Pennsylvania is an additional example. Some of her counties, which elect her State representatives, are almost as large as her districts will be by which her federal representatives will be elected. The city of Philadelphia is supposed to contain between fifty and sixty thousand souls. It will therefore form nearly two districts for the choice of federal representatives. It forms, however, but one county, in which every elector votes for each of its representatives in the State legislature. And what may appear to be still more directly to our purpose, the whole city actually elects a SINGLE MEMBER for the executive council. This is the case in all the other counties of the State.
Are not these facts the most satisfactory proofs of the fallacy which has been employed against the branch of the federal government under consideration? Has it appeared on trial that the senators of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York, or the executive council of Pennsylvania, or the members of the Assembly in the two last States, have betrayed any peculiar66 disposition67 to sacrifice the many to the few, or are in any respect less worthy68 of their places than the representatives and magistrates69 appointed in other States by very small divisions of the people?
But there are cases of a stronger complexion70 than any which I have yet quoted. One branch of the legislature of Connecticut is so constituted that each member of it is elected by the whole State. So is the governor of that State, of Massachusetts, and of this State, and the president of New Hampshire. I leave every man to decide whether the result of any one of these experiments can be said to countenance71 a suspicion, that a diffusive72 mode of choosing representatives of the people tends to elevate traitors73 and to undermine the public liberty.
PUBLIUS
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1
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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aggrandizement
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| n.增大，强化，扩大 | |
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3
oligarchy
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| n.寡头政治 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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14
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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fetter
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| n./vt.脚镣，束缚 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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suffrages
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| （政治性选举的）选举权，投票权( suffrage的名词复数 ) | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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declamation
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| n. 雄辩，高调 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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30
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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subversive
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| adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子 | |
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34
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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degenerates
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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41
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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obligatory
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| adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的 | |
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44
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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45
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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46
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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47
impeach
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| v.弹劾；检举 | |
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48
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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49
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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50
annexed
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| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
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51
eligibility
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| n.合格，资格 | |
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52
err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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53
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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54
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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55
abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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56
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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57
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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58
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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59
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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60
jointly
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| ad.联合地，共同地 | |
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eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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63
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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64
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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65
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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66
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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69
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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70
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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71
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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72
diffusive
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| adj.散布性的，扩及的，普及的 | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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