The expenditure can not properly be advocated on the ground that the
general welfare of the United States is thereby provided for or
promoted. This "general welfare of the United States," as used in the
Constitution, can only justify appropriations for national objects and
for purposes which have to do with the prosperity, the growth, the
honor, or the peace and dignity of the nation.
A sheer, bald gratuity bestowed either upon States or individuals,
based upon no better reason than supports the gift proposed in this
bill, has never been claimed to be a provision for the general welfare.
More than fifty years ago a surplus of public money in the Treasury was
distributed among the States; but the unconstitutionality of such
distribution, considered as a gift of money, appears to have been
conceded, for it was put into the State treasuries under the guise of
a deposit or loan, subject to the demand of the Government.
If it was proposed to raise by assessment upon the people the sum
necessary to refund the money collected upon this direct tax, I am
sure many who are now silent would insist upon the limitations of the
Constitution in opposition to such a scheme. A large surplus in the
Treasury is the parent of many ills, and among them is found a tendency
to an extremely liberal, if not loose, construction of the Constitution.
It also attracts the gaze of States and individuals with a kind of
fascination, and gives rise to plans and pretensions that an uncongested
Treasury never could excite.
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