Surely it can't have meant a free-for-all! Seriously, I don't honestly know the meaning as applied to the US Constitution.But what was the meaning when the preamble of the US constitution was written 220 years ago? That definition could grant insight into the Federalists' intent.
I'm a little out of my depth here because I can only comment from a UK perspective (and some in UK would disagree with me also). US 'welfare' is very different from ours in the UK from healthcare (probably the most obvious), but also housing, education, pensions, unemployment entitlements, the list goes on.
Dave