The other day I had the privilege of listening to our distinguished senator Stevenson, possibly president Stevenson should the election go his way, speak here in his native Richmond. His speech was in many ways excellent; he defended our country’s commitment to neutrality in foreign affairs, reminded us of the importance of paying off the national debt, celebrated republicanism and rejected aristocratic privilege. Many of you may rightly wonder why he then caucuses with the Federalists! It wasn’t Republicans who called for war with France, but the likes of Hamilton and Daigneux! Hamilton believes our debt to be a positive good for the nation and sees no reason to pay it off, proposed a monarchical system of government at the Constitutional convention, opposes expanding the franchise, and seeks to install members of his faux-elitist Society of the Cincinnati into leadership positions in our armed forces in place of men of merit! Such practices defame the name of Cincinnatus, who relinquished his dictatorial powers -- under no circumstances would any of these men relinquish anything!
As important as paying off our debts is, the tariffs the Federalists have devised have proven unduly burdensome on the American people and prices on all sorts of items have soared. Everyday products like tea and cloth now cost outrageous sums of our hard-earned money. The tariffs responsible for this, however were not intended simply to raise revenue, but to protect Northern manufacturers from competition. They do not intend to use the revenue from such tariffs to pay off our debts, but instead plan on using the money to shower Mr. Hamilton’s New York friends with patronage projects, such as the rightly infamous canal to nowhere.
Now some readers might reply, “Dear Agricola, surely you seize on the most facile and easily parodied of cases! Would you then deny the usefulness of all canals and turnpikes?” To such an interlocutor I would resoundingly rejoin no! In our own Virginia, the Great Dismal Swamp canal, proposed by Washington himself, is nearing completion, promising to greatly simplify transportation and shipping, and it has been built without a cent of federal funding. Virginia would be able to fund many more such worthy improvements if its citizens were not being unduly burdened with the necessity of paying for canals in New York for Mr. Hamilton’s friends to build. The citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia know how best to manage our wealth without a burdensome, corrupt, and potentially tyrannical federal government siphoning it away from us. Let the wealth of Virginia stay in Virginia!
Mr. Stevenson has given a noble speech articulating his support for noble goals. If he truly believes in the principles he has espoused, he should switch parties and support his fellow southerners Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Sumter in the forthcoming presidential election, and change his alignment in congress. If he does not, Virginia must select someone who will to replace him.
--Agricola, a farmer and a patriot
