Paper35

Summary

Federalist Paper number 35 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton. It was published on January 5, 1788 under the name of Publis. This essay is about if the government could place a tax on specific objects there would be a strain on those objects. This essay is also about how the representation of all the classes in Congress would not work. It would not work because if a member of each class was in Congress the people would vote for the people that would help their bussiness. For example merchants will argue on behalf of producers, because of the incentives created by reelection. What really matters is that everyone can vote for their representative. Main Objective The main objective of Federalist Paper 35 was to try to pursuade New York to ratify the Constitution. Another part of the main objective was to create a neutral Congress, not a Congress with a member from each class. This can not happen because the economy is far too interconnected to necessitate such a system. Strongest Arguments The representation of all the classes in Congress is not possible. Congress should not be an exact mirror image of society. Neutral representatives are needed in the clash between the agricultural and mercantile interests. Opposing Arguments The Anti-Federalists said that the house was not sufficiently numerous. For example they said that their should be a representative of each class in congress. The Anti-Federalists argued that Congress should resemble the people very closely because the government is for the people. Validity of Their Argument The Federalist argument is a very valid argument. If there was a person from each class of the people Congress would be chaotic. The people would vote for and support whoever would favor their bussiness. For example merchants would really support producers because producers supply merchants with things to sell. So if the merchant had more producers in the House it would help them make more money. Also it is a very good idea that neutral people should be in Congress because everyone should get the same treatment. Do These Issues Exist Today Yes these issues still exist today. When people are voted into Congress they are not directly votted upon by the people because if the people voted for them directly Congress would be in favor of the class that had the most people. That is why today the people in Congress get votted in by representative to ensure that the vote is not biased to one class.