The Founders' Constitution
Volume 2, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 4, Document 3
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_2_4s3.html
The University of Chicago Press
Article 1, Section 2, Clause 4
Document 3
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution 2:§ 683
1833
§ 683. The propriety of adopting this clause does not seem to have furnished any matter of discussion, either in, or out of the convention. It was obvious, that the power ought to reside somewhere; and must be exercised either by the state or national government, or by some department thereof. The friends of state powers would naturally rest satisfied with leaving it with the state executive; and the friends of the national government would acquiesce in that arrangement, if other constitutional provisions existed sufficient to preserve its due execution. The provision, as it stands has the strong recommendation of public convenience, and facile adaptation to the particular local circumstances of each state. Any general regulation would have worked with some inequality.
The Founders' Constitution
Volume 2, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 4, Document 3
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_2_4s3.html
The University of Chicago Press
Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. 3 vols. Boston, 1833.
