INTRODUCTORY 1 1 



far would bounties on them come within the powers of the general 

 government, or it might comport with the temper of the times to 

 expend money for such purposes, is necessarj' to be considered, and 

 without a bounty, I know of no means by which they can be effec- 

 tually encouraged.* 



If Washington had doubts as to the authority of Congress 

 to appropriate money for the promotion of agriculture, there 

 was no such doubt in the mind of Jefferson. In a letter to 

 Livingston in February, 1801, he wrote: 



I have on several occasions been led to think on some means of 

 uniting the state agricultural societies into a central society: and 

 lately it has been pressed from England with a view to cooperation 

 with their board of agriculture. You know some have proposed to 

 Congress to incorporate such a society. I am against that, because 

 I think Congress cannot find in all the enumerated powers any one 

 which authorizes the act, much less the giving of public money to 

 that use. I believe too if they had the power, it would soon be used 

 for no other purpose than to buy with sinecures useful partisans. 

 I believe it will thrive best if left to itself as the Philosophical 

 societies are.^ 



It is not the intention to enter upon a discussion of the 

 general question of the constitutionality of agricultural legis- 

 lation, except to point out briefly the influence of this factor 

 in determining the progress of such legislation. It is 

 perhaps sufficient to say that from the earliest history of 

 our government up to the present time,^ legislators and 

 students have questioned the constitutional right of Con- 

 gress to authorize investigative and experimental work re- 

 lating to agriculture. Such authority as exists is to be 

 found in article i, section 8, clause i.'^ This particular 

 point does not appear to have been adjudicated by the 

 courts ; but it seems safe to assume that, should the matter 

 be seriously questioned, the practice of Congress in making 

 appropriations for this purpose for the past eighty years 

 would be given great weight by the courts.^ 



* Writings of George Washington (ed. W. C. Ford), vol. xii, p. 84. 



6 Writings of Thomas Jefferson (ed. P. L. Ford), vol. vii, p. 492. 



' For a recent discussion, see Am. Law Rev., vol. xxx, pp. 787-790. 



'' " Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, im- 

 posts and excises, to pay the debts and provide fi)r the common de- 

 fense and general welfare of the United States." 



8 Stuart v. Laird; Cranch 299; Marshall Field Co. v. Clark; 43 

 U. S. 649. 683. 



