American credit seemed to them to be bought at too dear a price. They would obtain it, as necessity might require, by means less burdensome and more simple. They found fault with the theories of Hamilton respecting credit, the public debt and its redemption, and banks, as difficult to be understood and fallacious.
But the ultimate effect of the system especially excited their wrath. The aristocracy of wealth is a perilous ally to power; for it is that which inspires the least esteem and the most envy. When the question was on the payment of the public debt, the federal party had on their side the principles of morality and honor. When the public debt, and the speculations founded upon it, were becoming a means of sudden wealth, and perhaps of unlawful influence, the severity of morals passed over to the democratic party, and integrity lent its support to envy.
Hamilton sustained the contest with his usual energy, as pure in his motives as he was firm in his convictions; the head of a party still more than a financier; and, in the administration of the finances, always chiefly occupied with his political object, the foundation of the state, and the strength of its government.
The perplexity of Washington was great. A stranger to financial studies, he had not, upon the intrinsic merit of the proposed questions, a personal conviction derived from knowledge. He felt their justice and their political utility. He had confidence in Hamilton, in his judgment and his virtue. Still, as the debate was prolonged and objections were multiplied, some of them disturbed his mind and others troubled his conscience; and he asked himself with some embarrassment, whether all the reasons were indeed on the side of the government.
I know not which is the more worthy of admiration, the impartiality which inspired these doubts, or the firmness with which, in the final result and after every thing had been well considered, he always sustained Hamilton and his measures. This was a step of great political sagacity. Though it might have been true, that some fallacies were mingled with the financial measures of the Secretary of the Treasury, and some abuses with their execution, a far higher truth predominated in them; by laying the foundation of the public faith, and by closely connecting the administration of the finances with the policy of the State, he gave to the new government, from the first moment, the consistence of an old and well-established authority.
The success surpassed the proudest expectations. Confidence appeared in men's minds, activity in business, and order in the administration. Agriculture and commerce flourished; credit rose rapidly. Society prospered with a sense of security, feeling itself free and well-governed. The country and the government grew strong together, in that admirable harmony which is the healthy condition of states.
Washington beheld with his own eyes, upon every point of the American territory, this spectacle so glorious and so delightful to him. In three public journeys, he slowly traveled over the whole Union, everywhere received with grateful and affectionate admiration, the only recompense worthy to affect the heart of a public man. On his return, he thus wrote; "I am much pleased, that I have taken this journey. … The country appears to be in a very improving state; and industry and frugality are becoming much more fashionable than they have hitherto been. Tranquillity reigns among the people, with that disposition towards the general government, which is likely to preserve it. … The farmer finds a ready market for his produce, and the merchant calculates with more certainty on his payments. … Every day's experience of the government of the United States seems to confirm its establishment, and to render it more popular. A ready acquiescence in the laws made under it shows, in a strong light, the confidence, which the people have in their representatives and in the upright views of those who administer the government." [Footnote 72]