A History of the American People

this, insists that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.' The ratification proceeded smoothly and on December 15, 1791, when Virginia ratified, the Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution. Two more matters remained to be determined. Should representatives be paid? They never had been in England, except sometimes by localities. The states varied. Franklin, who was rich, argued before the convention of 1787 that no salaries be paid-in his self-made-man way he thought the right to represent should be earned and paid for by the ambitious individual. But he was turned down. Even the Pennsylvania Assembly paidcompensation' for loss of earnings.
There was no issue on which the Founding Fathers were more divided. Many gentlemen,' such as lawyers, found they could not hold office and make a living, so they demanded salaries, and then complained they were too low. Hamilton, though rich, spoke for them. John Adams had a high view of the dignity of public officials. When he was first sent to England as minister he refused to take a hand with the ship's pumps, like everyone else,arguing it was not befitting a
person who had public status.' This claim, so un-American (one might think), makes one suppose
that Adams would be against salaries. But he was not. He thought it was perks and privileges
which produced evil in public men. Without salaries, he said, public office would become the
monopoly of the rich. He thought it disgraceful that Washington had been allowed to serve as
commander-in-chief without being paid. Jefferson shared Washington's view, adhering to what
he called the Roman principle.'In a virtuous government,' he said, public offices are what they should be, burthens to those appointed to them, which it would be wrong to decline, though foreseen to bring with them intense labor, and great private loss.''" In general, the Southerners were against salaries, the Northerners in favor. The North won, and it was decided even senators should be paid. The amount was left to Congress, which fixed on $6 a day. It seemed high to critics, but then the first Congress met in New York City, where the cost of living was outrageous.' In any event congressmen were soon grumbling it was too little, as were senators,
who thought they should be paid more than mere members of the House.
What nobody seems to have bothered much about was the cost of electioneering. This could
be enormous in 18th-century England, up to £100,000 for a single contest, sometimes even more.
Nor was it just an English problem. When George Washington was first elected a Virginia
burgess in 1758, it cost him £40 for 47 gallons of beer, 35 gallons of wine, 2 gallons of cider,
half a pint of brandy, and 3 barrels of rum-punch. These electioneering costs were going up in
both countries all the time and in England parliament was slowly coming to grips with the
problem and disqualifying MPs for bribing electors with drink and money. It is curious, and
disappointing, that the gentleman-politicians who created the United States did not tackle the
problem of election-costs right at the start, and thus save their successors a great deal of trouble-
and cash.
By agreeing to let each state send two senators to Congress, the Founding Fathers built states'
rights into the representational process. The House, on the other hand, was to represent the
people, and it was agreed that each state was to have at least one Congressman and not to exceed
one for every 30,000 persons (excluding Indians not paying taxes and allowing for the three-
fifths rule for slaves). A census was to take place every ten years to determine the numbers and
thus the total and distribution of congressmen. In 1787, for the first Congress, there were sixty-
five congressmen, Rhode Island and Delaware getting one each, Georgia and New Hampshire
three each, New Jersey four, Connecticut and North and South Carolina five each, New York and
Maryland six, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania eight each, and Virginia ten. But America was