Category: Warren Throckmorton

July 16, 1787 (click the link to read Madison’s notes)

Summary

Today, Elbridge Gerry’s committee reported with a very close vote in the affirmative. The delegates agreed to the following motion:

In Convention, — On the question for agreeing to the whole Report, as amended, and including the equality of votes in the second branch, it passed in the affirmative, — Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, (Mr. SPAIGHT no) aye — 5; Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, no — 4; Massachusetts, divided (Mr. GERRY, Mr. STRONG, aye; Mr. KING, Mr. GORHAM, no).

The whole thus passed is in the words following, viz.

“Resolved, that in the original formation of the Legislature of the United States, the first branch thereof shall consist of sixty-five members, of which number New Hampshire shall send, 3; Massachusetts, 8; Rhode Island, 1; Connecticut 5; New York, 6; New Jersey, 4; Pennsylvania, 8; Delaware, 1; Maryland, 6; Virginia, 10; North Carolina, 5; South Carolina, 5; Georgia, 3. But as the present situation of the States may probably alter in the number of their inhabitants, the Legislature of the United States shall be authorized, from time to time, to apportion the number of Representatives, and in case any of the States shall hereafter be divided, or enlarged by addition of territory, or any two or more States united, or any new States created within the limits of the United States, the Legislature of the United States shall possess authority to regulate the number of Representatives in any of the foregoing cases, upon the principle of their number of inhabitants, according to the provisions hereafter mentioned: provided always, that representation ought to be proportioned according to direct taxation. And in order to ascertain the alteration in the direct taxation, which may be required from time to time by the changes in the relative circumstances of the States —

“Resolved, that a census be taken within six years from the first meeting of the Legislature of the United States, and once within the term of every ten years afterwards, of all the inhabitants of the United States, in the manner and according to the ratio recommended by Congress in their Resolution of the eighteenth day of April, 1783; and that the Legislature of the United States shall proportion the direct taxation accordingly.

“Resolved, that all bills for raising or appropriating money, and for fixing the salaries of officers of the Government of the United States, shall originate in the first branch of the Legislature of the United States; and shall not be altered or amended in the second branch; and that no money shall be drawn from the public Treasury, but in pursuance of appropriations to be originated in the first branch.

“Resolved, that in the second branch of the Legislature of the United States, each State shall have an equal vote.”

Influences on the Delegates

Today, the delegates passed the Gerry report and then argued a bit about the close vote. Tensions were so high that when Edmund Randolph suggested adjournment for the large states to discuss their options, William Patterson of New Jersey hoped he meant the delegates should adjourn and go home.

Mr. PATTERSON thought with Mr. RANDOLPH, that it was high time for the Convention to adjourn; that the rule of secrecy ought to be rescinded; and that our constituents should be consulted. No conciliation could be admissible on the part of the smaller States, on any other ground than that of an equality of votes in the second branch. If Mr. RANDOLPH would reduce to form his motion for an adjournment sine die, he would second it with all his heart.

Although the rest of the delegates disagreed with Patterson, it seems obvious from Madison’s notes that the frustration was great at this point. The 5-4 vote was a passing margin but without a feeling of consensus. Randolph did not seem to accept that vote as final.

Ben Franklin’s Call to Prayer Didn’t Resolve Disputes

Some Christian nationalist writers have proposed that the delegates came together with compromise after Ben Franklin’s call to prayer prior to the July 4 recess. A recent expression of that narrative is in Eric Metaxas’ book, If You Can Keep It (see this piece for a critical review of that book). Here is how Metaxas described the convention before the Franklin call to prayer.

But toward the end of the convention, after endless battles and little progress, things looked hopeless. The disagreements and arguments had mounted to an impossible height, so the eldest delegate, Benjamin Franklin, gave a speech to the assembly, imploring them to turn to God to break the impasse. Franklin and Jefferson were the least overtly religious of the founders, so the idea that Franklin should be the one to beseech the assembly to turn to God in prayer for an answer to their problems is evidence of their desperation, and it is startling. Here is his remarkable speech: (Metaxas, Eric (2016-06-14). If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty (pp. 203-204). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

Metaxas then reproduced Franklin’s speech. You can read the entire speech and my analysis of it here. In summary, Franklin made a motion for the delegates to open each session with prayer. Although the motion was seconded, it was never voted on and prayers were not offered at the Convention. Franklin later said only three or four delegates thought it necessary to offer prayers.
Metaxas doesn’t let that fact stop him from suggesting to his readers that the call to prayer led to a spirit of compromise and conciliation. Just after reprinting Franklin’s speech, Metaxas wrote:

As we know, in the end all impasses were broken, compromises on all issues struck, and solutions found. There was what all felt to be a truly remarkable— almost odd— willingness for each side to set aside its concerns for the good of the whole. The spirit of selflessness and compromise that came over this body of opinionated, brilliant, and principled men was in the end sufficient for them to ratify the great document called the Constitution. Metaxas, Eric (2016-06-14). If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty (p. 206). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Eventually, the Constitution was ratified but to attribute it to Franklin’s call isn’t warranted by Madison’s account. If anything, the delegates became more polarized after Franklin’s speech as today’s session illustrates.

1787 Constitutional Convention Series

To read my series examining the proceedings of the Constitution Convention, click here.  In this series, I am writing about any obvious influences on the development of the Constitution which were mentioned by the delegates to the Convention. Specifically, I am testing David Barton’s claim that “every clause” of the Constitution is based on biblical principles. Thus far, I have found nothing supporting the claim. However, stay tuned, the series will run until mid-September.
Constitutional Convention Series (click the link)
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However, checks and balances in the NGO space, like in any other system are an integral part of this support mechanism.  Without effective and robust assessment machinery, it will become very difficult to sustain the credibility and utility of NGOs.
In fact, it would be fair to say that scrutiny and regulation of organizations in NGO space is far more critical than that of the private sector. This is because humanitarian organizations compliment and supplement the efforts of the state in a country of the size and diversity like ours. So whereas the government is at the forefront of inclusive growth for all sections of the society, civil society participation becomes imperative to achieve the expected pace of reform. And therefore it is sacrosanct that the credibility of these civil society participants is maintained with full caution in public eye.

This from the leader of an organization who was kicked out of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability in October 2015 and sanctioned by the Office of Personnel Management in January of 2016. GFA has not been reinstated to either organization. On the point of credibility in the public eye, GFA has not released an audited financial statement for the past two fiscal years.
Another quote:

There are a host of reasons why the narrative in India has changed to NGO versus state. Whereas some of the NGOs have been accused of funding anti-national activities, others have been accused of financial impropriety. These are grave charges and it is but natural that the relevant authorities have taken timely action to intervene.

This statement comes from the leader of the organization being sued for fraud in the U.S.
As GFA’s lawyer said, I am a blogger that regularly blogs and will continue to remind donors about the “grave charges” until the “relevant authorities” intervene.

July 14, 1787 (Click the link to read Madison’s notes)

Summary

The delegates decided not to limit representation of new western states and defeated an effort to make Senate membership based on on population.

Influences on the Delegates

Madison appealed to the Dutch government as an example of one means of representation:

In the Dutch Confederacy the votes of the provinces were equal; but Holland, which supplies about half the money, governed the whole Republic. He enumerated the objections against an equality of votes in the second branch, notwithstanding the proportional representation in the first. 1. The minority could negative the will of the majority of the people. 2. They could extort measures, by making them a condition of their assent to other necessary measures. 3. They could obtrude measures on the majority, by virtue of the peculiar powers which would be vested in the Senate. 4. The evil, instead of being cured by time, would increase with every new State that should be admitted, as they must all be admitted on the principle of equality. 5. The perpetuity it would give to the preponderance of the Northern against the Southern scale was a serious consideration. It seemed now to be pretty well understood, that the real difference of interest lay, not between the large and small, but between the Northern and Southern, States. The institution of slavery, and its consequences, formed the line of discrimination. There were five States on the Southern, eight on the Northern side of this line. Should a proportional representation take place, it was true, the Northern would still outnumber the other; but not in the same degree, at this time; and every day would tend towards an equilibrium.

By the end of his speech, Madison came back to the elephant in the room – the debate between the Northern and Southern states, principally over slavery.
Although no one took up his theme in this session, the delegates voted down a proportional system in the Senate.
For a nice summary of the Convention debate over slavery see this article.
 

1787 Constitutional Convention Series

Staff at Gateway Church are being asked to tighten their budgets even more as the church is working to reduce $55-million in debt.
According to sources in the Gateway Church Ministry Staff meeting earlier this week, pastor Todd Lane said that budgets would be cut by 10%.
The church had earlier disclosed significant staff cuts. Of late, sources within the church have said that additional cuts have gone as high as 50% of staff in some departments.
On the up side, pastor Tom Lane showed pictures of his visit to the White House. The picture below comes from Rodney Howard-Browne’s Facebook page (Lane is the last person on the right).

Rodney and Adonica Howard-Browne are a husband and wife ministry team with a little more fame today. On Monday, Howard-Browne posted an Instagram  picture of him with President Donald Trump and the group of pastors and other court evangelicals who laid hands on Trump in the Oval Office.

I recognized the Howard-Brownes as recipients, along with Joyce Meyer and David Barton, of unearned PhDs from Life Christian University.

Life Christian University says these degrees are earned but the “students” don’t even attend the school. Due to Missouri law, evangelist Joyce Meyer had to stop claiming on her public website that the LCU PhD was earned. On the Howard-Brownes’ website, they claim to be “Drs.”

I can’t tell who all of these people are but I am pretty sure the Howard-Brownes aren’t the only ones claiming unearned doctorates.