With his system of Funding the Public Debt, Hamilton meant to mortgage the Nation, in perpetuity, to the wealthy few, in order that they might always hold their power over the masses, and their advantage over the government. William Pitt is said to have remarked cynically, when he saw our government copying the British system: “Their independence will not do them much good if they adopt our system of finance.” We all remember how bitterly Jefferson combated the Hamilton measures. We can turn to his writings now, and read the scathing terms in which he denounced them. We can also read his predictions of the evils which would come upon us if we allowed Hamilton’s class-law system to develop. _Haven’t the evils come?_ The great historic renown won by the Democratic Party and its leaders was gained in combating this class-law system of Alexander Hamilton. Democrats, and the Democratic Party, _always_ stood in battle array against the Protective System, contending that it was immoral, unjust, oppressive, despoiling the many to enrich the few. Democrats, and the Democratic Party, _always_ went up against the National Banks to fight them, declaring that such an institution was of deadly hostility to the spirit of republican government. Democrats, and the Democratic Party, _always_ clamored against the Funding System, and demanded that the Public Debt be paid off. Those were the memorable, historic principles of Democrats in the years preceding the Civil War—in the years when the Democrats had a mission, a creed; leaders who had convictions, champions, who loved ideas well enough to cherish them more dearly than office. What was President Jefferson’s proud boast? That he had so cut down Government expenses that the Public Debt would soon be a thing of the past. What was Jackson’s proud boast? _That he paid the Public Debt._ That was the golden era of American history. The National Bank had been abolished. The National Debt had been paid off. The Protective principle had been stricken out of the Tariff, and that infamous system had been reduced to a moderate revenue basis. There was hardly a millionaire in the whole country. There was hardly a pauper in the republic. The individual citizen amounted to more, _as a man_, than he does now. Wages were low, but the money commanded a larger amount of the necessaries of life than the higher wages of today. Strikes and lockouts were unknown. “WE HAVE NO POOR,” was the matter-of-fact statement made in Congress by Hugh S. Legaré of South Carolina. “THERE ARE NO BEGGARS,” said the English visitor, Charles Dickens. In the whole world there probably was not a people more contented, progressive, and generally well-off than we were in the Forties. _Which were the naturally wealthy sections?_ The South and West. _Which was the naturally sterile section?_ The East. Where is the bulk of all the immense wealth that has been produced since the Civil War? _In the East._