provision which was not free from ambiguities and which furnished fresh
material for controversy a few years later.



CHAPTER VII


A SETTLEMENT WITH ENGLAND

According to Jefferson, the President originally took the same view of the
French treaty that he did. Jefferson relates that on April 18, 1793,
Washington spoke of having "never had a doubt of the validity of the
French treaty," and he notes that in the cabinet disputes Washington was
inclined to his views. As the embarrassments of the Administration
thickened, the President, it is true, leaned more and more toward
Hamilton, but this inclination was due more to necessity than to personal
partiality. The explanation stands out in Jefferson's own account of
events. Hamilton was clear, positive, and decided as to what to do and how
to do it. Jefferson was active in finding objections but not in finding
ways and means of action. This contrast became sharper as time went on,
and, as Washington was in a position where he had to do something, he was
forced to rely on Hamilton more and more. Jefferson held that it
would be inexpedient for the general government to assume the duty of
fortifying the harbors, and that there was no constitutional authority for
establishing a military academy. On November 28, 1793, there was a
prolonged wrangle over these issues at a cabinet meeting, which the
President ended by saying that he would recommend the military academy to
Congress, and "let them decide for themselves whether the Constitution
authorized it or not." This was the last of the quarrelsome cabinet