PUBLIUS
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FEDERALIST No. 58
Objection That The Number of Members Will Not Be Augmented as the
Progress of Population Demands Considered
For the Independent Journal
Wednesday, February 20, 1788
MADISON
To the People of the State of New York:
THE remaining charge against the House of Representatives, which I am to
examine, is grounded on a supposition that the number of members will
not be augmented from time to time, as the progress of population may
demand.
It has been admitted, that this objection, if well supported, would have
great weight. The following observations will show that, like most other
objections against the Constitution, it can only proceed from a partial
view of the subject, or from a jealousy which discolors and disfigures
every object which is beheld.
1. Those who urge the objection seem not to have recollected that the
federal Constitution will not suffer by a comparison with the State
constitutions, in the security provided for a gradual augmentation of
the number of representatives. The number which is to prevail in the
first instance is declared to be temporary. Its duration is limited to
the short term of three years.
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