These were not the
only causes which led to its establishment. The events of the war with
Great Britain and the embarrassments which had attended its prosecution
had left on the minds of many of our statesmen the impression that our
Government was not strong enough, and that to wield its resources
successfully in great emergencies, and especially in war, more power
should be concentrated in its hands. This increased power they did not
seek to obtain by the legitimate and prescribed mode--an amendment of
the Constitution--but by _construction_. They saw Governments in the Old
World based upon different orders of society, and so constituted as to
throw the whole power of nations into the hands of a few, who taxed and
controlled the many without responsibility or restraint. In that
arrangement they conceived the strength of nations in war consisted.
There was also something fascinating in the ease, luxury, and display of
the higher orders, who drew their wealth from the toil of the laboring
millions. The authors of the system drew their ideas of political
economy from what they had witnessed in Europe, and particularly in
Great Britain.
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