no man in America, more heartily disposed than I am to remove from the
army and from all others who have claims on the public, every just
ground of complaint. But with the means in my power, how is it
possible? I have been obliged to submit to cancelling one contract and
forming another, at one third advance on the former price, for the
want of a mere trifle, compared with what we had a right to expect. I
am in advance on credit to an amount, which you can scarcely form an
idea of, although I have declined every expenditure not indispensable.
That part of the late arrival of clothing, which is unfit for
soldier's use, is now selling to pay debts contracted by the clothing
department during my administration. Among these debts are twelve
thousand dollars for needle work done by people in extreme indigence.
The clothing which arrived fit for the officers' wear, was inadequate
to the purpose of clothing them all. The division must have created
confusion and raised disputes. If this had not been the case, still
it would have been liable to the inconveniencies attending partial
payments, and we should have been justly reproached for having broken
repeated promises, that no such payments should take place. Congress
have done all in their power to procure money for the army. My own
efforts I shall not dwell upon. If money is obtained, that will
produce satisfaction; I am sure that nothing else will.
My credit has already been on the brink of ruin. If that goes, all is
gone; but if it can be preserved, there will, in the last necessity,
be some chance of making advances on credit to the army, as well as to
others. Thus, Sir, you will see that I look forward as far as my
distressed situation will admit; but after all, if the States cannot
be prevailed on to make greater exertions, it is difficult to see
where the thing is to terminate.
I have this day commissioned Major Turner as Marine Commissary of
prisoners, and I trust he will soon be in capacity to prevent your
Excellency from having any further trouble on that subject.
I am, Sir, with sincere respect and esteem, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO THE GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Office of Finance, October 7th, 1782.
Sir,
Since the receipt of your favor of the 20th of August last, I have
received copies of a correspondence between yourself and Colonel
Carrington on the subject of specific supplies. The disposition which
you have expressed, (in your letter to me, and which indeed breathes
through your whole correspondence) to promote those plans of
regularity and economy, which Congress have adopted, command my
sincere acknowledgements.
I perceive that there is a difference of opinion between the officers
of the continent and your State on the receiving specific supplies,
which I attribute principally to some misunderstanding of the matter.
The specific supplies called for by Congress in their several
resolutions on that subject are undoubtedly receivable, and ought
above eighteen months ago to have been received, on the requisitions
which were made at the rates for that purpose mentioned. Such as it
may now suit any State to deliver on those requisitions, ought in like
manner to be carried to account. But it is very clear, that they
cannot be received on account of the subsequent money requisitions.
The several quotas of the eight millions asked for last year, to
supply the current expenditures of the year 1782, must be paid in
cash, or what is equivalent to it, in my notes or bank notes. I cannot
consent to receive anything else. It is by this means alone, that
economy can be established, order restored, and confusion, that parent
of fraud, too apt to introduce itself into public accounts, banished
and destroyed.
I incline to think, that as Congress have determined to have all
accounts settled and liquidated to the end of the year 1781, your
State would rather choose to attend only to the money requisition, and
leave the further delivery of specifics to a liquidation of the old
accounts; but if not, there can be no doubt but the specifics will be
received, and in such case I will give the gentleman whom I shall
appoint as Receiver of taxes in your State, instructions how to
dispose of them; but I must again repeat, Sir, that I will not accept
one particle of them in abatement of the State quota for the year
1782.
Before I close this letter I must take the liberty to mention a
matter, which suggests itself from one of your letters to Colonel
Carrington. You tell him that you will continue the prohibition
against sending certain things out of the State, in order that he may
purchase for the United States on better terms. Now, Sir, while I feel
it my duty to require justice for the United States it is equally my
duty to take care that equal justice be done to the several States,
individually considered, as well as to the individuals which compose
them. I am, therefore, to request that all such restrictions be taken
off. They sour people's minds, destroy the spirit of industry, impair
by a rapid as well as a certain progress, the public wealth of the
State, producing a dearth of the things embargoed, eventually enhance
the prices far more than they could have been increased by any other
mode. Whereas perfect freedom makes the people easy, happy, rich, and
able to pay taxes, and the taxes when paid can be expended amid a
plenty of products, and consequently be expended to advantage. I say a
plenty of products because I know, that liberty to dispose of them to
the greatest advantage will encourage men to raise them and produce a
plenty. Your Excellency will, I hope, excuse reflections which arise
from an ardent desire to promote the general welfare and happiness of
all the inhabitants of the United States.
I have the honor to be, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO MAJOR GENERAL GREENE.
Office of Finance, October 17th, 1782.
Dear Sir,
I have received your letter of the 1st of September, for which I pray
you to accept my acknowledgements. Amid the many distresses and cares,
which await every step of my administration, it is a great relief and
consolation to have met with the support of those who command (and
what is more, who worthily command) the armies of the United States. I
have felt, my Dear Sir, your efforts to support my measures, and I
know that they have been useful. I wish it were in my power to give to
you and to your brave army that full relief, which their conduct,
their sufferings, and above all, their patience, have merited.
I had intended to supply their subsistence, and the little contracts
in Virginia, from the quota of that State, as the money there
collected would have been nearest the spot where it was to be applied.
But I need not tell you how deficient that State has been. The
consequence is, that I must endeavor to supply the deficiency from
other sources, which I am now doing; but in the precarious state of
things at present, there is no reliance to be placed on any measure. I
suppose, however, that the evacuation of Carolina will enable you to
move northward, with a considerable part of your army; these will, I
hope, meet the relief intended. I shall direct a statement of the
whole to be made out by the Pay Master General, and do whatever may
lay in my power; but as to pay, my inviolable determination is, that
the whole army shall equally share whatever is disposed of in that
way.
The disposition of the State of North Carolina to pay in specie, is
far from being peculiar to that State. Attempts of the same kind have
been made by others; and they have invariably been opposed and shall
be. There is however a distinction to be taken. You recollect that
Congress called for large quotas of specie. I am perfectly persuaded,
that no State has fully obeyed that call, but many, and indeed almost
all, aver that they have overpaid. The last requisitions have been for
money; and if I had not by the publications prevented such assertions,
it would not be surprising, that they should be repeated, even as to
the money quotas. Now if the State of North Carolina are desirous of
paying in specie, on the requisitions of specie, I shall not have the
least objection; but on the requisitions for the service of the
current year, I will receive money alone. I make this distinction in
such clear and peremptory terms, to avoid all further cavils on the
subject. I see that it has already been drawn into some length, and
must, therefore, be finally terminated. Besides, under the present
appearances there can be little doubt, that specie in North Carolina
will be almost as useless as if they were in Otaheite. A copy of my
letter to Governor Martin on this subject shall be enclosed to you.
You have in several of your letters, made very just observations on
the business of my department, and such as convince me you have turned
your attention to it. I have therefore taken the liberty to enclose to
you a copy of a letter to Congress, on the subject of a mint, of one
on the establishing public credit by funding our debts; and of a
third, on the estimates for the ensuing year.
As there is a report, that the enemy got several letters intended for
you, it is possible that some or other of those, may be among the
number.
I pray you to believe me, with very sincere esteem, your most obedient
servant,
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
GEORGE WASHINGTON TO ROBERT MORRIS.
Head Quarters, October 18th, 1782.
Sir,
I take the liberty to enclose to your care, a letter for the Chevalier
de la Luzerne, on the subject of expense, which at his request I have
incurred, for the purpose of forwarding intelligence of the movements
of the enemy at New York, to the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
If our circumstances would admit, I should be very glad that this
expense should be defrayed by the United States; it is infinitely
short of the debt, which gratitude imposes on us. I submit therefore
to your judgment, whether to deliver the enclosed, or to send forward
the money from your own funds, agreeably to the monthly estimate sent
to the Minister.
The chain of expresses was instituted about the middle of August, and
will probably be continued till the sailing of the French fleet from
Boston.
I am, &c.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
* * * * *
CIRCULAR TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE STATES.
Office of Finance, October 21st, 1782.
Sir,
I have on many occasions warned the States of the consequences which
must follow from delays in supplying the treasury. The expense which
attends such delays, has frequently been mentioned, and instances
daily occur to show, how much the public burdens are increased by the
want of a timely provision. To cite them all would be endless; but
there is one of no inconsiderable magnitude, which I think it proper
to state for your consideration. I had contracted on the part of the
United States for the supply of rations to the main army, at ten pence
Pennsylvania currency, and to the garrison at West Point for nine
pence half penny, and had agreed to pay, at the commencement of each
month for the issues of the preceding month.
These beneficial contracts have been dissolved by my inability to make
punctual payments, which rendered the contractors incapable of
performing their engagements. After many efforts on my part to supply
the want of cash, and on their part to substitute private credit and
promises in the place of ready money, they found it impracticable to
proceed further on the moderate terms stated in the contract. Some of
them told me so, and asked (what any persons in their situation would
have asked) _the promise of indemnification for any damages they might
sustain_. And a promise to pay at the end of each month, one half the
amount of issues for the preceding month in coin, and three times the
remaining half in bills or notes receivable in taxes. They offered if
I would agree to these propositions, to go on and supply the army;
but declared, that if I would not, they could no longer perform their
engagements.
From this moment I was obliged to consider the contract as dissolved;
because the dissolution of it appeared inevitable. I had already by
entering into the contract, promised on the part of the public, a
payment of the whole money due for the monthly issues. A new promise
of the half would have given no additional security, and therefore I
considered that stipulation as a request, that I should on my private
and personal honor, assure them the public funds would enable me to
make such payments. But of this I had no good prospect. The greater
part of what little came in from taxes, was the same kind of paper
with that which they asked for, being what I had long before issued
for other services. If indeed I could have trusted the assurances made
to me, I might have given the assurances required by them. But
experience had taught me caution, and the event has shown, that if I
had made the promise, I should now have been chargeable with
falsehood.
I think the contractors were prudent in requiring a promise of
indemnification; their situation made it necessary; but it was a
promise which I could not make, for although I had reason to confide
in their integrity and would have done it in my private capacity, yet
as a public officer, I could not. For there would have been no longer
certainty of the extent to which their expenditures might have been
carried, after it should have become a matter of indifference to their
private interest what prices should be given for supplies.
Thus, Sir, I found myself reduced to the alternative of making a new
agreement for subsistence of the army and garrison, or of leaving them
to subsist themselves by military collection. The latter was to be
avoided, if possible, for it would have been the most expensive mode
of obtaining supplies, not to mention other circumstances. The former,
therefore, was to be adopted, and I accordingly gave instructions to
Mr Cornell, the inspector of the contracts, to consult with the
Commander in Chief, and take the necessary arrangements. It could not
be expected, that a contract dictated by necessity, could be made on
economical terms, and the inability to perform old engagements would
necessarily influence the rate of new ones. Besides this, it was
indispensably necessary to obtain a longer credit, because otherwise
the burden would have been shifted, not removed; and the evil must
have returned with equal speed and greater magnitude. Under such
unfavorable circumstances, it was necessary to pay for a credit in
order to obtain it. A new contract is made, and the rations issued
now, are to be paid for three months hence, at the rate of thirteen
pence, Pennsylvania currency, for a ration; which is an advance of
about one third upon the former price. The public therefore will pay
for this advance of moneys, equal to feeding the army at the rate of
thirtythree and one third per cent for three months; or, to make the
matter more simple, they must pay for feeding them three months, as
much as would have fed them four months. Besides this, the public
credit sustains material injury, and damages will be expected by the
former contractors.
If, Sir, it should be supposed that this is the only instance of loss
sustained from the low state of the treasury, it is a great mistake.
The attempt to establish economical systems is vain, unless we can
support them by punctuality. Congress have placed me in a situation
where I am exposed in the first instance to claims and demands, but
these must come home to the several Legislatures, and eventually to
their constituents. My situation, therefore, makes it a duty to
expostulate freely on the circumstances of my department. I am not to
learn that free representations will sometimes give offence, and I
know that those will be always most offended, who are most in fault;
but I make no apologies for what I have to say. It is necessary that
the truth should be known to the people; to our enemies it is known
already, and has been for a long time. They hold up to contempt and
derision the contrast between resolutions to carry on the war at every
expense, and receipts of nothing in some States, and very little in
all of them put together. Those who court public favor at the expense
of public good, are very apt to inveigh against taxes, and to flatter
the indolent and avaricious with the idea that war can be carried on
without labor or money. But it is time for the people to distinguish
between their flatterers and their friends. Sooner or later the
current expense must be paid, and that payment must come from the
purses of individuals. If it were made in season, it would be lighter
by one half than it is. Congress have called for a certain sum, and
that sum paid punctually would have answered the purpose, but they
cannot be responsible for the consequences of delay. The expense will
necessarily in such case exceed their calculations, and of course
further sums must be required.
There are certain arguments, Sir, which ought not to be used if it is
possible to avoid them; but which every one invested with public
authority should suggest to his own mind, for the government of his
own conduct. How long is a nation, who will do nothing for itself, to
rely on the aid of others? In a war waged by one country to obtain
revenue from another, what is to be expected in case of conquest? How
long will one part of a community bear the burdens of the whole? How
long will an army undergo want, in the midst of plenty? How long will
they endure misery without complaint, injustice without reproach, and
wrongs without redress? These are questions which cannot be solved by
arithmetical calculation. The moral causes that may procrastinate or
precipitate events, are hidden from mortal view. But it is within the
bounds of human knowledge to determine that all earthly things have
some limits, which it is imprudent to exceed; others, which it is
dangerous to exceed, and some, which can never be exceeded. It is
possible, that we are near the close of this war, and perhaps we are
only in the middle of it. But if the war should continue, we have to
blame ourselves; for were those resources called into action, which we
really possess, the foreign enemies would soon lose all hope, and
abandon their enterprize. The greater injury, therefore, which we
sustain, is not from foreign, but from domestic enemies; from those
who impede the necessary exertions. I have mentioned one among many
instances, to show the consequences of withholding the public revenue,
and I take the liberty to observe, that it would be more manly to
declare at once, for unlimited submission to British tyranny, than to
make specious declarations against it, and yet take the direct road to
bring it about, by opposing the measures for our defence. That open
declaration will doubtless be restrained by the fear of general
resentment; but the other conduct is so much the more dangerous, as
it is calculated to close people's eyes, while they approach the
precipice, that they may be thrown down with greater ease and more
absolute certainty.
I trust that your Excellency, and every other friend to our country,
will urge forward that speedy and effectual collection of taxes, which
can alone give vigor and stability to all our measures; and I risk
nothing when I assert, that the public service shall be performed, (if
the proper revenues be obtained,) at less than half of what would
otherwise be expended.
I am, Sir, with perfect respect, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO THE GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND.
Office of Finance, October 24th, 1782.
Sir,
My circular letter of the 23d instant, contains the estimates and
requisitions for the service of the year 1783. I must take the liberty
to make a few observations on them, which apply particularly to the
State of Rhode Island. In the letters to Congress of the 29th and 30th
of July last, copies of which were transmitted in my circular letter
of the 12th of September, I have so fully expressed my sentiments on
the subject of credit and loans, that I shall not repeat them. Your
Excellency will perceive, that in the Act of the 16th instant,
although the estimates amount to six millions, yet only two are
required and that further requisitions are suspended until the result
of measures for obtaining loans shall be known. It is unnecessary to
mention, that Congress have directed an attempt to borrow four
millions.
The propriety of this step will be self evident, when the date of
their requisitions for the present year is considered. The sums
brought in from the several States being regularly published in the
gazettes, will spare me the pain of repeating them. I say the pain,
because every such repetition will have, in some degree, the air of
reproach. It must be remembered, that the duration of the war does not
depend upon Congress. This is an invaded country; invaded for the
purpose of conquest. And between opposition and submission there is no
middle line. The idea of submission is, and ever ought to be, rejected
with disdain. Opposition, therefore, becomes a matter of necessity;
and that opposition involves expense.
There is then a certain degree of expense that cannot be avoided. And
this must be provided for. The estimates being formed under the idea
of money in hand to pay for services required, they are stated as low
as possible. It appears, therefore, that the six millions mentioned in
the estimates must be had. It appears from the experiments already
made, that the people are either unwilling or unable to pay the whole
in taxes; and whether want of power or inclination be the true cause,
is immaterial to the present inquiry, for the fact is clear. Now there
are but four modes of obtaining the supplies. Either they must be
given to us, or lent to us, or raised by taxes, or taken by force. As
to the first, we can place no dependence on it; and as to the last, it
is neither the most constitutional, the most economical, nor the most
pleasing way. Necessity may justify it, but it will be very difficult
to justify the necessity. The supplies, therefore, must be obtained by
loans or taxes; so that if they cannot be obtained by loans, taxation
is the only resource; and in that case, there is no medium between
legal taxation and military collection. For if we will not submit to
Great Britain, we must carry on the war; and if we carry on the war,
we must obtain the means; and if we cannot get the means abroad, we
must provide them at home; and if we do not provide them by law, they
must be taken by force.
The inattention of the States to the requisitions of the United
States, leaves Congress no choice between loans and military
collections. Whether they can obtain loans must depend upon other
people. They cannot obtain loans without credit, and they cannot have
credit without funds; and they cannot get funds without the
concurrence of the States. They must ask that concurrence before they
can obtain it, and they must determine on the funds before they can
ask. The making yearly requisitions of quotas to pay the interest of
public debts will not do. It is in itself a futile measure; but if it
were the best thing in the world, yet if those who are to lend do not
think so, there is an end of the matter. Now the fact is, that nobody
will lend upon the promise of such requisitions. And truly the
compliances made with those for carrying on the war, give very little
encouragement. It follows then, that Congress _must_ ask for
particular funds. They have asked for one, and it is not complied with
by two States out of thirteen. Shall Congress then adhere to the
demand; or shall they change their application? If they should change
it, could they expect that there would not then be one or two opposing
States? To answer the question let it be inquired, what objects of
taxation can be devised, to which exceptions cannot be made? Surely
there are none.
Let it be inquired next, whether there is any object so
unexceptionable as that which they have fixed upon? The answer is, no.
It follows then, that in changing the application, there would be less
prospect of success than at present. Congress then must adhere to
their requisitions; and if that fund be not granted, we cannot expect
loans. But it is demonstrated by experience, that we cannot get
sufficient taxes. We certainly cannot get rid of the war, and
therefore the people must have their property taken by force. The
necessity will justify this. But as I said before, who will justify
the necessity? Surely the authors of it should think of that in
season.