Steven Brooke Studios Reviewing the Committee of Style Report
"[Colonel Mason] had moved without success for a power to make sumptuary regulations. He had not yet lost sight of his object."
- James Madison in his Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention
Madison noted that Mason commented on "the extravagance of our manners, the excessive consumption of foreign superfluities, and the necessity of restricting it…" Mason (VA) again moved to appoint a committee "to report articles of Association for encouraging by the advice, the influence and the example of the members of the Convention, economy, frugality and American manufacture." The delegates appointed a committee to report on Mason's motion. It never produced a report.
Next, Mason renewed his proposal to permit the states to collect export taxes to cover the costs of inspecting and storing such commodities as tobacco. He proposed a clause for that purpose. There was no debate, and the motion carried.
The Convention moved on to the report of the Committee of Style. The delegates began reviewing the committee report line by line. With light debate they approved several minor changes to Gouverneur Morris' masterful draft.
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Last updated: February 26, 2015