The readings in this volume provide
only a few samples of the controversy
which raged at the time of the adoption
of the funding system. Much additional
material is available. For the complete
record of the debates in the House of
Representatives (so far as they exist)
the student should of course consult the
Annals of Congress. Hamilton's most
important state papers on finance have
been often reproduced and can easily
be located in unabridged form, among
other places, in both the American State
Papers, Finance, Vol. 1, and in the
Annals of Congress, Gales and Seaton
edition, Vols. 2 and 3. A detailed repro-
duction of his writings on finance, in-
cluding not only state papers but also
important letters and unofficial writings,
may be found in Henry Cabot Lodge,
ed., The Works of Alexander Hamilton
( 9 vols., New York: 1885), II. Of special
interest in this volume of Lodge Works
are Hamilton's defense of the funding
system (reproduced only in part in the
preceding pages) which appears in
"Objections and Answers Respecting
the Administration of the Government",
pp. 237-279, and "Vindication of the
Funding System", pp. 285-305.

Brief but highly enlightening com-
ments on the issues involved may be dis-
covered among the papers of most of
the leading statesmen of the time. For
the Federalist point of view, those of
Fisher Ames, Rufus King, and Oliver
Wolcott may be noted, and for the anti-
Federalist viewpoint, those of William
Maclay and Thomas Jefferson. The lat-
ter's views are briefly summarized in
The Anas (Vol. IX, Book III, Part V of
H. A. Washington, ed., The Writings
of Thomas Jefferson, Washington, D.C.,
1854, 9 vols.), 91-96.

In addition, the partisan strife over
the funding issue gave rise to controver-
sial pamphlets and bred bitter news-
paper controversies. These materials
are not usually available except in large
university libraries, but the student who
has such a resource at his command will
find helpful references to this literature
in Charles A. Beard, Economic Origins
of Jeffersonian Democracy ( New York,
1927), especially pages 196 and 221, and
Joseph Dorfman, The Economic Mind in
American Civilization 1606-1865 ( New
York, 1946, 3 vols.), Chapter XIII. Es-
pecially to be noted are the writings of
John Taylor of Caroline, who most force-
fully presented the philosophy of the
southern opposition to Hamilton system
in his pamphlets, An Examination of the
Late Proceedings in Congress Respect-
ing the Official Conduct of the Secretary
of the Treasury ( 1793), and Inquiry into
the Principles and Tendencies of Certain
Public Measures ( 1794).

Many biographies of Hamilton have
been written but though all pay tribute
to his financial genius, few add much to
an understanding of the merits of his
program for funding the debt. Of the
older books those most useful are John T. Morse Jr.
, The Life of Alexander Ham-
ilton ( 2 vols., Boston, 1876), I, Chapters
VII-XII, and William Graham Sumner,
Alexander Hamilton ( New York, 1890),

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