the course of descents, or the forms of conveyances

[tongodeon]

So I was reading Federalist 41 and there's a sentence that I do not fully understand:

A power to destroy the freedom of the press, the trial by jury, or even to regulate the course of descents, or the forms of conveyances, must be very singularly expressed by the terms "to raise money for the general welfare."I think I understand the general jist

Comments

[loic]

Just a guess, but freedom of movement could have been an issue they were concerned about at the time, and so access to modes of transport was a fundamental issue like freedom of the press.

[tongodeon]

I thought about that, but "regulating freedom of travel" seems different than "regulating forms of conveyances". The King never said "You can go to France, but you can't sail there. You have to paddle." If he didn't want you to go to France he'd tell just you not to go to France, right?

[ctd]

He is already saying that "general welfare" can't be spun into meaning destruction of press freedom or jury trials. And it is indeed hard to conceive of someone doing so (although doubtless he was defending against existing charges that it would do just that). "Regulating conveyances" is a completely silly example to emphasize the point.

I called it sarcasm before, but "very singularly expressed" is perhaps better described as arch.

[tongodeon]

In my post *I* was saying that he's being very explicit about destruction of press freedom or jury trials. That stuff is crystal clear. It's the language about "the course of descents, or the forms of conveyances" (the title of this post) that confused me.

[matrygg]

I suspect the conveyances thing is talking about interstate commerce. As for the terminology, I suspect he does mean lines of descent. The OED gives following quote for the ninth definition of descent (A stage in the line of descent; a generation

[ipslore]

I think what he's saying is, the power to raise money doesn't justify doing whatever you want, even if it's something as trivial as regulating transportation or lines of descent.

[hugh_mannity]

"Conveyance" is the legal term for the transfer of property (real estate or other items) from one person to another.

It's all about property. They were very big on property back then.

[ikkyu2]

I am fairly sure that "descents" here is synonymous with "bequeathing," i.e., the transfer of property that occurs via wills and such after death. Estate taxes are what he's talking about.

[cdk]

Strictly speaking, descent is transfer upon death in the absence of a will, and devise is transfer upon death directed by a will. The "course of descents" is the set of rules which govern intestate succession. The abolition of primogeniture was a hot topic at the time, portrayed as a move from aristocracy to democracy.