The views and intentions of the Fathers of the Constitution are exhibited not so much for instruction as for imitation, and by means of glosses and interpretations conclusions may be reached which would have surprised the Fathers to whom they are imputed.

Those who examine the records of the formative period of American institutions, not to obtain material for a case but simply to ascertain the facts, will readily observe that what is known as the principle of strict construction dates only from the organization of national parties under the Constitution.

It was an invention of the opposition to Federalist rule and was not held by the makers of the Constitution themselves.

The main concern of the framers was to get power for the National Government, and they went as far as they could with such success that striking instances may be culled from the writings of the Fathers showing that the scope they contemplated has yet to be attained.

Strict construction affords a short and easy way of avoiding troublesome issues--always involved in unforeseen national developments--by substituting the question of constitutional power for a question of public propriety.