Editor, Gazette-Journal:
In response to Rob Quartel’s letter (“Promoting the general welfare,” June 8 Reader’s Write), he seemed to be changing how the Constitution is written. He wrote “The sign reads: ‘We the People … Provide for the Common Defence … Not Common Good!’” The ellipses hid the rest of the Preamble, which prominently features “To Promote the general Welfare.”’ This is not the Constitution. The Preamble actually reads “We the People … Provide for the Common Defence, Promote the General Welfare.” Nowhere does it say “to.”
Nope, just a comma. So unless this a typo, his words drastically change the meaning. It appears as if Mr. Quartel is trying to make it sound like the founders support welfare. The Webster dictionary of 1828 definition of welfare is much different than what we think of today:
Welfare, noun [fare and well, a good faring; G.] 1. Exemption from misfortune, sickness, calamity or evil; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; prosperity; happine...