The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume XII Part 40

I am further instructed, Gentlemen, to a.s.sure you that the United States in Congress a.s.sembled, in providing for the national debt, by their Act of the 18th day of April, 1783, were not unmindful of your demands, and that when the system thereby adopted for the relief of public creditors shall have taken effect, the interest accrueing on the balance due to you, will be punctually remitted.

If, Gentlemen, this arrangement shall not prove satisfactory to you, I am further instructed to a.s.sure you, in the name of the United States, that all the means in their power shall be employed to discharge the princ.i.p.al sum due to you, as soon as the condition of the public finances will admit.

I have the honor to enclose a copy of the above mentioned Act of the 18th of April for your better information on this subject, and take the liberty to add, Gentlemen, to the a.s.surances just given on the part of my sovereign, that every effort in my power shall be made to comply with such ulterior orders as may be issued, as well as to render you any acceptable services in my power.

With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

REPORT TO CONGRESS ON AN EXTRACT FROM THE JOURNALS OF THE GENERAL a.s.sEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The Superintendent of Finance, to whom was referred an Extract from the Journals of the General a.s.sembly of Pennsylvania, begs leave to report;

That the said extract consists of two parts; the former whereof contains certain matters reported by a committee of that honorable House, in consequence of a conference held with the commissioner for settling the accounts of the said State, the which matters are reported by the committee, and appear to have been considered by the House as facts. The latter part contains reasonings upon the former, and resolutions in consequence thereof. Pursuing therefore the same line, the Superintendent of Finance must take leave to observe, that the former part of the said extract implies an inattention on his part to the orders of the United States in Congress, and an a.s.sumption of powers not delegated. He humbly prays to submit both of these charges to the wisdom and equity of Congress, who have long since had before them all the instructions given to the commissioners for settling accounts, together with a report on the reference mentioned in the extract; wherefore it is to be presumed, that if undue negligence or the arrogating of power had appeared, it would not have pa.s.sed unnoticed.

It is further to be observed, that the doubts stated by the said commissioner and the difficulties under which he is supposed to labor, must have chiefly originated in circ.u.mstances peculiar to himself, because that such doubts and difficulties have not occurred to the commissioners employed in other States, and because they would easily have been obviated by a careful consideration of the Acts and instructions in his possession; excepting only in one point, viz., "Whether charges for buildings, fences, wood, &c. damaged or destroyed by continental troops, or militia, are to be allowed?" This question (which can only be resolved by special Act of Congress) is not to be found among twelve questions proposed by the commissioner to Congress; but among nine proposed to the Superintendent of Finance.

It is stated in the said extract, "that by the instructions from the Office of Finance to the said commissioner, he is enjoined a strict attention to the resolve of Congress of the 23d of August, 1780, _touching all certificates generally_; that this resolve introduces an entire new method of granting certificates; that to require those new forms in certificates, granted before they were inst.i.tuted, is requiring an impossibility, or (in other words) is _a refusal to liquidate any certificate given before the 23d of August, 1780_." Were this the case, doubtless there would be sufficient cause of complaint and sharp animadversion; but the Acts and instructions, all which are in possession of Congress, will show the state of facts to be as follows. The Act of Congress of the 20th of February, 1782, speaking of the commissioner contains the following words; "That he be also fully empowered and directed, to liquidate and settle, in specie value, all certificates given for supplies by public officers to individuals, and other claims against the United States, by individuals for supplies furnished the army, the transportation thereof, and contingent expenses thereon, within the said State, according to the principles of equity and good conscience, _in all cases which are not or shall not be provided for by Congress_." Under this Act of Congress, the Controller of the Treasury issued certain instructions, which were approved of by the Superintendent of Finance, thereby directing each of the several commissioners "to open an account with the princ.i.p.al of each department, for the time being, and with every person who is properly accountable for articles purchased by or delivered to him. In which _they must be changed respectively with all such articles, and for which they are to account with the commissioners appointed, or to be appointed to adjust the accounts of these departments respectively_."

The Superintendent of Finance, in a letter to the commissioners of the 7th September, 1782, after referring to the Controller's instructions, calls their attention to two particulars, the former whereof is not material to the present point, and the latter is as follows; "In settling the accounts with individuals, you will consider _that artful men have frequently taken advantage of the public_, and that, in many instances, _public officers have taken advantage of the weak and unprotected_. You will therefore always remember that _it is your duty to do justice_." The two commissioners who were first appointed after considering the Acts of Congress and the several instructions given to them, proposed, among others, the following question, "Whether certificates given to individuals are to be taken as they stand, and new ones given for their amount; or whether they are to be re-examined and new prices affixed to the articles _when they have been over or under charged_? The Superintendent and Controller entered into a consultation together, and the following answer was returned.

"Certificates given by quarter masters or commissioners to individuals, must be re-examined, the articles shown, and their value determined, _that the receiver of them may be charged and made accountable to the commissioners appointed for the respective departments_. See resolutions of Congress of the 23d of August, 1780, relating to them, which must be strictly attended to."

This question and answer is regularly transmitted by the Controller to all the commissioners appointed to adjust the accounts between the individual States and the Union. The commissioner for the State of Pennsylvania, had therefore the matters above recited in his possession when he proposed to Congress the following questions. "Are certificates or receipts given by quarter masters, commissaries, their deputies, a.s.sistants, agents, or other public officers for supplies furnished, before the 15th of September, 1780, to be taken as they stand, and new ones given for their amount, estimated in specie?

Are certificates issued agreeable to the mode prescribed by resolution of Congress, 23d of August, to be taken up and new ones given?" These questions were, among others, referred to the Superintendent of Finance; who thereupon informed the commissioner, that the answer thereto was in the Act of Congress, the letter from the Superintendent, and the question and answer above quoted. Surely there is nothing in either which _requires the forms prescribed by the Act of the 23d of August, 1780, in certificates granted before they were inst.i.tuted_. The commissioner is indeed referred to that Act, and directed to pay attention to it; but the evident construction of this order, limits it to certificates issued under the Act. And even if that were not the case, yet when the whole of the instructions (or rather the answers) which are complained of, is taken together, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt. For among the commissioner's questions to the Superintendent is the following; "How are claims for supplies furnished, or services performed by an individual, who is dest.i.tute of a certificate or any kind of voucher, having only a bare charge against the United States for the same, to be settled? Will the oath or affirmation of the claimant make the charge good?" And he shortly after asked Congress, "How are claims for supplies furnished for public use by an individual, who is dest.i.tute of a proper voucher, to be authenticated?" To both these queries the answer given by the Superintendent, (and which forms part of the instructions complained of) is as follows. "They relate to the same point, viz. _What evidence shall establish claims?_ It appears, that the article pa.s.sed in favor of the claimant must charge some other person, and that public notice is to be given of the times and places of settlement, that both parties may attend. Under these circ.u.mstances, if the demand is grounded on _principles of equity_, and the evidence produced satisfies the _conscience_ of the commissioner, he is bound to pa.s.s it, _by the Act of Congress_." Now it must be remembered, that the commissioner is (by the Act under which he was appointed) empowered and directed to liquidate, &c. _according to the principles of equity and good conscience, in all cases which are not or shall not be provided for by Congress_. The answers therefore given by the Superintendent to his questions, are no more than applications of the Act, to the doubts which he had suggested. It is more than probable that if the honorable a.s.sembly of Pennsylvania, had communicated with the Superintendent on this subject, they would not have a.s.sumed the same ground of reasoning which they appear to have done.

It is alleged in the said extract, "that certificates given for personal services, wages or hire, are rejected;" in answer to which it can only be said, that if the claimants are officers or persons acting in any of the departments, the certificates ought to be rejected by the commissioner for the State, because such accounts are to be liquidated by the commissioners of the departments respectively; but if other claims have been rejected by the commissioner, he must have been under the influence of some misapprehension.

As the honorable a.s.sembly have, through their delegates, proposed certain resolutions, it will be proper to examine the reasoning which led to that proposition. And first, it alleged, that "if an exact account is _really_ wanted of the specific articles for which any certificate was given, it may be found in the receipts given by the party, at the time of getting his certificate, and that these receipts are in the power of the public, being lodged with the heads of the different departments." Surely such an a.s.sertion is somewhat hazarded. Congress have before them full evidence, that many persons, late officers in the civil departments, refuse to account at all. If, therefore, such persons should even possess the supposed receipts, still those receipts are not _in the power of the public_, nor will they be so until all the States have pa.s.sed laws similar to those of the State of Pennsylvania. But further, it will on inquiry appear, that when individuals received certificates from public officers, the receipts they gave did not always contain a list of the articles, or account of the services which had been rendered. Certainly, where any fraud was designed, a specification of articles was of course avoided; and in many cases it has been neglected, even where nothing wrong was intended. The idea therefore that the specific articles are contained in the receipts, is as unfounded as that those receipts are in the power of the public.

But supposing the facts were such as they are a.s.sumed to be, will it follow, that the officers have in no instance, been guilty of collusion with individuals, and given more than they were worth both for articles and services? And will it not appear, that an exact account of the specific articles is _really_ wanted, and indeed absolutely necessary, for the detection of such abuses? Or if it be supposed that all the inhabitants of Pennsylvania were so honest and so disinterested, as neither to partake in fraud, nor take advantage of negligence, must it also be presumed that the public officers, acting within that State, have in no cases whatever seized the property of individuals and given certificates for less than the value? Or if it be imagined, that the officers and the individuals have been all alike innocent, and that the clamors raised on these subjects are totally groundless as to Pennsylvania, will it follow that such things have not happened in any other State? Or will it be proper to establish different rules for the settlement of public accounts, under the idea of honesty in one State and the want of it in another?

It is however a.s.sumed, as a position, that "any frauds which have been committed cannot be detected in any other place, so well as by the commissioners who settle the general accounts, at the heads of departments." But surely it is necessary, not only to the detection of frauds, but even to the settlement of accounts at all, that the commissioners acting in the several States, obtain accounts of the articles before they pa.s.s the sums. If, for instance, the public officer should by collusion with the party, make a charge of double the sum actually due for any article, can a deduction be made after the sum has been pa.s.sed to the individual by the state commissioner? If the officer should omit to charge himself with articles purchased, can this be proved, when only the money certificate is produced against him? If the officer paid, by a certificate, the nominal sum for articles purchased, a year before, will this appear in such manner as to prevent him from taking all the benefit of the depreciation? If, for instance, he purchased to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars, when money was at two for one, paid in certificates when it was at four for one, and carried the articles to account at a reasonable specie value, viz. one hundred thousand dollars, and if the certificates be now liquidated at their value, viz. fifty thousand dollars, would he not be gainer of the like sum of fifty thousand dollars merely by the depreciation? It is also a.s.serted, "That the holders of certificates are subjected to many inconveniencies from this delay, and that after _coming from the remote parts of the State_, and having a liquidation of their certificates refused, they depart with murmurs and discontent." If holders of certificates came from _remote parts of the State_, and the Act of Congress of the 20th of February, 1782, intended to afford relief, becomes thereby a source of distress, it must arise either from the ignorance of the people themselves, or from a want of attention in the commissioner; for by the Act it is ordained, "that the commissioners respectively give public and early notice of the _times_ and _places_ of their settling, and the _districts within which_ they settle accounts, that as well the public officers as private individuals, may have an opportunity to attend." From the whole scope and tenor of the Act, as well as from the express words of this particular part, it appears clearly to have been the intention of Congress, that the commissioner should mark out convenient districts in the State, take some proper position in each district, and then give such early _public notice_ of the _place_ and the _district_, as that claims arising from transactions _within that district_ might be brought in and adjusted, and both the public officer and the private individual concerned in the transaction, have an opportunity of attending.

As the honorable a.s.sembly have marked out a different mode of settlement from that which has been adopted, it may be proper to take a general view of the present and of the proposed plan, so as to discover the inconveniencies resulting from each, and thence determine which ought to be preferred. Under the present plan, the first step of the commissioner is to mark out some particular spot, with a convenient surrounding district, within which the parties may attend, without the waste of time and the expense of long journeys. The next is to give _early public_ notice thereof.

Supposing then the time to have arrived, which he had specified in his advertis.e.m.e.nt, and a claimant to appear, the first question to be solved is, whether that claimant be one of those whose demands are to be adjusted by him, or whether it is the business of a commissioner of one of the departments. Supposing the former, the next object of inquiry would be, whether any and what services or supplies were rendered by the claimant to the United States, and if any were rendered, then what was the real value at the _time and place_ of rendering them. Every kind of evidence exhibited in support of each point is then to be examined, the officer who is said to have received the articles is to be heard, if he contest the claim, and, finally, the commissioner being in the vicinity of the place, with opportunity to learn both the acts done and the characters of the agents, must decide _according to equity and good conscience_, where no express provision is made by an Act of Congress. If this decision be in favor of the claimant, the business of the commissioner is to give a certificate for the full value of the articles and services, and then to charge the proper officer and department, not with so much money, but with the specific articles and services, for the due application whereof account is to be rendered to the commissioner of the department.

A duty of the State commissioner, in the course of this business, will be to discover and detect as much as possible the frauds which have been committed, and transmit proper evidence, as it may arise, to the commissioner of the department. In cases, however, where the decision is against the claimant, it will be proper still to return to the commissioner of the department a statement of the claim, that if it should be found to be credited to the public, in the accounts of such department, the party may meet with redress at a future period. The inconveniencies attending this mode are, that possibly some just claims may be finally rejected from the want of sufficient proof, and that some honest claimants may be put to trouble and difficulty in supporting their claims.

The proposed plan appears to be shortly this, _that the commissioner shall liquidate every certificate which may be tendered to him in specie value_. If, however, the restriction implied in the Extract, by the words "that no delay be given to any certificate granted by an officer who has settled his public accounts," &c. be made, viz. that the liquidation of such certificates be suspended until the accounts of the officer who gave them be settled, it is humbly conceived that such liquidation can never take place; because, as the public have a.s.sumed the debts of their officers, it is impossible to settle the accounts of those officers, until the amount of their debts be known; those debts forming a charge against the officers in the same manner as the moneys advanced to them from the public treasury. The settlement of the officers' accounts must, therefore, ultimately depend on the settlements made with individuals, and therefore this restriction must be rejected or the whole plan prove abortive.

The proposition of the honorable a.s.sembly may then be examined and considered as of the effect which is just now stated. And if that proposition be adopted, the commissioner sitting in one corner of the State and examining claims and certificates brought from two or three hundred miles distance, without the slightest attention to the value of articles for which money is claimed, will be exposed to every kind of imposition. Certificates will be counterfeited, pretended depositions will be produced, fabricated accounts will be delivered, vast sums will of course be acknowledged as due to whoever may please to demand them. The officers will (and very justly too) refuse to account for such sums, the frauds which they will detect in claims allowed by the State commissioners will cast a cloud even upon the just claims, and the commissioners for the departments will for that reason be unable to insist on any. Thus the officers will be empowered in their turn to render such accounts as they think proper. So that on the whole, the public debts will be greatly and unnecessarily acc.u.mulated, and a precedent will be established to sanctify every improper act which may hereafter be committed in times of confusion.

These are public inconveniencies, and from a comparison of the two plans one important question arises, shall the public property be given away, and the country be taxed for the purpose of paying moneys not justly due; or shall individuals who have claims on the United States be obliged to validate such claims by sufficient evidence? Surely the honorable a.s.sembly of Pennsylvania will not, cannot hesitate, in deciding this question. All which is humbly submitted.

ROBERT MORRIS.

_Office of Finance, November 5th, 1783._

TO JOHN ADAMS.

Office of Finance, November 5th, 1783.

Sir,

I am honored with your Excellency's favor of the 28th of July from Amsterdam, for which I pray you to accept my acknowledgements. I am perfectly in sentiment with you, that it is best to avoid government interference in the affair of our loan. If there were no other reason I should not like the demand of grateful acknowledgement, which would be erected on that foundation. We hear enough already of our national obligations, and I most heartily wish for my own part, that we could at once acquit them all, even to the uttermost farthing, for I seriously believe, that both nations and individuals generally prove better friends when no obligations can be charged nor acknowledgements and retributions claimed on either side.

I am also very strongly in opinion with you, that remittances from this country would greatly uphold our credit in Europe, for in mercantile life nothing vivifies credit like punctuality and plenteousness of remittance. The plan you propose to obtain them, might also be attended with some good consequences, but there are impediments in the way of its success, which it would be tedious to detail, and which indeed you could not be so perfectly master of without being on the spot. I shall not, therefore, go into that matter at present, and the more especially as we have now good hopes, that the plan of Congress will be adopted by the States.

Last evening I received advice, that Ma.s.sachusetts had acceded, and I have a double pleasure in announcing this to you, as they certainly would not have come in but for the sentiments contained in your letters.

Let me then, my Dear Sir, most heartily congratulate you on those virtuous emotions, which must swell your bosom at the reflection, that you have been the able, the useful, and what is above all other things, the honest servant of a Republic, indebted to you in a great degree for her first efforts towards an independent existence. That you may long live to enjoy those pleasing reflections, which flow from the memory of an active and beneficial exercise of time and talents, is the sincere wish of your most obedient and humble servant,

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO MESSRS WILLINK & CO.

Office of Finance, December 31st, 1783.

Gentlemen,

Upon the 21st of October I valued on you to the amount of seven hundred and fifty thousand guilders as expressed in my letter of the 23d of that month, and in the beginning of this month having received your letter of the 4th of August, and concluding as well from the contents of that letter as from the actual state of things here, that you would be successful in the succeeding months, I gave notice to the gentlemen to whom I had sold the bills mentioned in my said letter of the 23d of October, that I should discount their notes, which has been done accordingly.

Thus the United States are become liable to pay any damages, which those gentlemen may sustain, if, in consequence of delay their bills may meet with, those drawn by them in consequence of a reliance on your funds should return protested. The United States will also be liable to the damages, which might arise on my further bill drawn in favor of Mr Haym Solomons for one hundred thousand guilders on the 12th instant, and mentioned in my letter of that date.

Under these circ.u.mstances, Gentlemen, and unable to judge what delays the loan may have met with from the causes you have mentioned, or from any other, being also uncertain how far it may have been or may be accelerated from other causes, I must request that in any case whatever all my aforesaid bills may be accepted.

You will see from the enclosed copies of letters to the receivers of Virginia and South Carolina, that I am taking measures to put you in cash for any advance which such acceptances may render necessary. These measures are intended with the double view of providing for the interest of your loan or of reimbursing your advance. In the former case you will be in cash before the interest falls due, but at any rate you shall be secured. The disbandment of our army having brought our expenses within the revenue, there remains an excess, which cannot fail to reimburse you even if the loan should totally fail. For I cannot suppose, that you will be much more than half a million in advance, and I am certain that the excess of taxes for current services would easily pay this sum in four or five months, and I am equally certain that I could by antic.i.p.ation bring that excess forward to your relief at an earlier period if necessary.

My request to you, therefore, Gentlemen, is this, that you accept my bills at any rate, whether you have funds or not, and whether you have or have not the probability of receiving them. If the payments fall due before you find relief, take such measures to obtain money as shall under a view of all circ.u.mstances produce that effect with the least loss to the United States. Of these measures I leave to you the entire disposition, and I promise you on the part of the United States to reimburse all losses, interests, costs, and charges, which may accrue thereupon. You will be pleased, Gentlemen, to give me very early notice of your situation, and to point out very particularly the sums which may be needful, and also the articles of this country, which will probably form the best remittance, and on my part I promise to take the earliest measures for making you such remittances. I shall confidently rely on your efforts, and remain with perfect respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO MESSRS WILLINK & CO.

Office of Finance, December 31st, 1783.

Gentlemen,

Your advices of the 26th of September, that the success of our loan with you had been greatly impeded by reports, propagated on the part of Great Britain, did not a little surprise me. In my letter of the 12th of this month, I have given you some slight sketch of the mutiny of a few troops near this city, and this perhaps may be among the circ.u.mstances, which have militated and been magnified to our disadvantage. But as I did not then, so I do not now think it worth while to mispend time by the history of a trifling thing, which has no importance in itself, and which might derive some by treating of it seriously. It has always been the common trick of the British and their adherents to a.s.sert, that America had neither government, armies, nor resources. To all which, I answer, that America has established her independence.

Far be it from me to attempt an injury to the credit of any other nation; on the contrary, let those who would rather trust England than America, make the experiment, and if it prove beneficial, let them rejoice; if it prove otherwise, I shall pity the sufferers.

I should not, indeed, be greatly surprised, that our credit were impaired in any of the absolute monarchies of Europe, because that such governments have no proper ideas of the sacred regard, which is due to pecuniary engagements taken by the public, and because the people have no conception that the government should be unable to command all the wealth of its subjects. But in your country, it is an every day's experience, that determinations of the States-General should meet with obstacles in the different Provinces, and this has been precisely our case in the business of finance. No State has insinuated, that our public debts ought not to be paid; nor indeed does any individual dare to hold up that idea. But differences have arisen about the mode of making provision for them, and such differences of opinion necessarily cause delay. It is, however, with much satisfaction, I inform you, that the different States are coming in one after the other, and I have strong expectations that all of them will soon accede to the plan of Congress, which I formerly transmitted. The government of this country has been vigorous enough to carry us through the war, and it would be strange indeed, if it should all at once become weak in that moment of peace, when other governments usually acquire strength.

For my own part, I cannot believe that such ideas will take place among sensible men; but on this occasion, I will show to his Excellency, M. Van Berckel, the letter I am now writing, and desire him to write candidly to you and to others his sentiments as to the state of this country, whether the people are in peace, obedient to the laws and the government in due force, or whether we are a prey to discord, and our country the theatre of tumult and confusion.