Federal Farmer X - State Powers
Federal Farmer X is an Anti-Federalist Paper that questions the role of the State Governments under the US Constitution.
Federal Famer X
January 7, 1788
In Federal Farmer X, an anonymous Anti-Federalist author continues to discuss the need for increased number of members in the House of Representatives, a subject he admits he has, “dwelt much longer on than...expected.”
In this Paper, he elaborates on why a truly federal system (as opposed to a consolidated one) would give more power to the States.
State Power
The Farmer spends a substantial portion of this Paper responding to comments made in some of the Federalist Papers which began arriving just beforehand.
Chief among these is the idea that the Congress would not need to have a large number of Representatives because the States have a lot of Representatives.
The Federalists argue that since the States are part of the federal system, and there are a lot of members of the separate State Governments, the people are fully represented.
The Farmer responds to this by asking where in the Constitution the States, as the true representatives of the people, are granted a check on the Federal Government.
His conclusion...there is none.
The Farmer goes one step farther by pointing out that a truly federal system WOULD give the States a check. However, since this ability does not exist, he reasons the Constitution is not a federal system but a consolidated, or national, one.
Federal Duties
The Farmer then responds to the Federalist argument that the Federal Government does not need a large number of Congresspersons because it only has a small handful of duties it is permitted to do.
The Farmer acknowledges this but reminds the reader that these are the most important duties a government can have, including, “unlimited power to establish systems of taxation, armies, navies...and to do everything that may essentially tend soon to change, totally, the affairs of the community.”
Meanwhile, the States may have a larger number of duties to oversee but the authority, “to make fence laws,” and the like pale in comparison to the Federal Government.
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