1525. CONGRESS, Corruption and.—[further continued].
Alexander Hamilton
avowed the opinion that man could be governed
by one of two motives only, force or
interest. Force, he observed, in this country
was out of the question; and the interests,
therefore, of the members must be laid hold
of to keep the Legislature in unison with the
Executive. And with grief and shame it
must be acknowledged that his machine was
not without effect; that even in this, the birth
of our government, some members were
found sordid enough to bend their duty to
their interests, and to look after personal
rather than public good.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 91.
Ford ed., i, 160.
(1818)
