last, in which he had stated to me the claims of individuals for
damages done by the army. Instances are mentioned peculiarly
distressing, and of a nature to require compassion while justice
demands for them somewhat more. I did not on the receipt of this
letter address Congress on the subject of it, because the making
any particular provision for the cases of individuals, is laboring
to very little purpose, and by stilling the cries of one only
raises the clamors of hundreds. This indeed was the remote cause
of the Quarter Master's letter, for the resolution passed in the
case of Stephen Moore, had given activity to the complaints of all
those who knew of that resolution, and labored under similar
grievances. But a stronger reason for not troubling Congress on
the subject, was that I had already brought it before them in a
letter of the 12th of August last. The following is an extract
from that letter.
"There is, however, among the commissioner's questions to me, one
which Congress alone can answer in the affirmative; viz. _are
charges for buildings, fences, wood, &c. damaged or destroyed by
Continental troops or militia, to be allowed?_ Considering the
extent and magnitude of this object on the one hand, and on the
other, what serious injuries have been sustained by some
individuals, the question is equally intricate and important. No
answer has yet been given, although not unfrequently agitated, as
the journals will testify. Whether Congress will leave it on the
present footing, or order such damages to be allowed, or (making a
distinction between wanton devastations and necessary impressure)
leave the officer to account in one case and the public in
another, or finally whether they will take a course between all
these and order the accounts to be liquidated and reported, but
the balances not to be finally allowed and certificates given,
until their further order, are questions which it is in their
wisdom to determine by that extensive view of things which they
possess."
I shall take the liberty to observe to your Excellency, that
claims of this kind become daily more urgent. The people
recovering by degrees from their despondency as to the settlement
of their old accounts and beginning to feel some hope of eventual
payment, and of consequence a firmer reliance on and belief in the
justice of the United States, naturally look forward from the
measures already taken to those which prudence and equity may
still further dictate. Some provision ought certainly to be made;
but I must repeat that the object is not only great as to the
pecuniary amount; but extensive as to place, persons, claims and
circumstances. The caution hitherto preserved was therefore wise,
but it can no longer be adhered to, because the idea held up to
every applicant, was that after a termination of the war, and not
before, provision should be made.
I take leave also, further to observe to your Excellency, that
there is a material distinction to be made, even among such of
these claims as are otherwise similar, according to the times in
which the respective causes of them may have originated, as
whether they were previous or subsequent to the commencement of
the year 1782; claims for supplies obtained during the latter
period, ought certainly to be considered as within the appropriations
of money demanded for the current service, the quotas of which yet
remain unsatisfied. In order then that this matter may come before the
United States in Congress in such regular form, as that some decision
may be made, I shall submit to their wise consideration the following
Act.
Whereas, the late wasteful and expensive war, is now by the
blessing of divine Providence finally terminated, and whereas,
divers citizens of these States have during the course thereof
sustained various injuries and damages, as well by the armies of
the United States as otherwise, by the operations and effects of
the war. And whereas, no provision can as yet be made for the just
relief of the sufferers, neither can it be determined to whom such
relief may be due. And whereas, it is the indispensable duty of
every Government, in all things to the utmost of their power, to
do what to right and justice may appertain. Be it therefore
ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, and it is
hereby ordained by authority of the same, that each and every of
the commissioners who are or may be appointed in pursuance of the
resolutions of Congress of the 20th day of February last, be and
they hereby are authorised and directed to receive within the
States, to and for which they are or may be appointed respectively,
all claims and demands made by individuals for damages done to or
sustained by them within such State, during the late hostilities and
by reason thereof; whether the same have been committed and done by
officers or soldiers, acting under the authority of Congress, or by
the enemy. And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, that
the said commissioners do require and receive such evidence with
respect to each and every such claim as they shall judge fitting and
proper according to the nature and circumstances of the case
respectively, and where due evidence is produced in support of such
claims, that they do liquidate and adjust the same according to equity
and good conscience. Provided always, that the said commissioners
shall not give to the claimants any certificates or other evidence of
such adjustment. And be it further ordained by the authority
aforesaid, that the said commissioners respectively do from time to
time make return to the Superintendent of our finances, of the amount
of each and every such claim, and the time when the same arose,
whether previous to the 1st day of January, 1782, or subsequent to the
last day of December, 1781; specifying clearly in the said return the
nature of every claim in such full and ample manner, as that when the
same shall be laid before the United States in Congress, for their
investigation, they may be thereby enabled to make such further order
in the premises as to right and justice may appertain.
Before I close this letter, I will trouble your Excellency one
moment longer to assign my reasons for extending this provision
to the case of damage done by the enemy. The investigation does by
no means imply any recompense from the United States. But if there
should be cases where such recompense is proper, the materials on
which to judge will by this means be prepared. The object however
is to ascertain the damages done by the enemy, which will in this
way come forward, so as that an account thereof can be made out
with exactness to answer any purposes, which future negotiations
with Great Britain may render necessary. To this I would add, that
the expense of the business will be so trivial as not to be worthy
of consideration, when compared with the advantages to result from
it.
I have the honor to be, with perfect esteem, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Office of Finance, January 24th, 1784.
Sir,
The re-establishment of peace having at length given room for the
proper investigations, it becomes in me a duty of public justice
to mention to Congress the situation of those persons in Canada,
or out of it, who are creditors to the United States for property
furnished or services rendered in that country. To these may
perhaps be added those who have claims for damages sustained.
Persuaded, as I am, that unless some general arrangements be taken
on this subject, it will occasion a great expense of time and
money, together with the loss of reputation, I think economy as
well as justice calls for a due attention to the subject in the
present moment.
I submit then the following ideas, not as being a perfect plan,
but merely as hints to be perfected by the wise care of the United
States. And first, it might be proper, that a commissioner were
appointed _to go into Canada_ for the purpose of examining into
the several claims above mentioned, with power to liquidate the
same, and to give certificates of the amount. If it be a desirable
thing that justice be done, it is a necessary thing that the
inquiries be made on the spot. There and there alone, can the due
investigations take place, so as to prevent either the public or
individuals from being defrauded. Besides it will not cost more to
maintain a commissioner there than it will here, and many who have
been both distressed and oppressed are confined to that spot by
their circumstances. It may also appear to be of some importance,
that by doing justice to these people unsolicited we secure their
affections; which will prevent Great Britain from using them
hereafter against us. Neither will it escape the attention of
Congress, that such a commissioner may transmit useful intelligence.
But this being rather in the Department of Foreign Affairs, I shall
not enlarge on it.
A natural question will probably arise, as to the means of
payment. This may be answered by applying a like question to the
case of other public debts. But I conceived that another, if not a
better answer may be given. If a new State were set off about
Detroit, and the lands sold to all inclining to purchase, with
permission to pay in certified Canadian debts, not only as
specie, but even at a premium of five per cent, the lands would
pay the debts, and the United States would gain more than the
amount of the payment by the very act of making it. For an equal
if not greater number of persons than the creditors in Canada,
would become settlers from that country, and bring with them
property beyond their purchase money. Nor is that all; such State
would became a barrier of infinite importance. It would secure
eternal peace with the Indians, and it would secure the Indian
trade. For it would soon place the principal traders at that spot
in the character of American citizens.
With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Office of Finance, February 2d, 1784.
Sir,
I have delayed answering your Excellency's favor of the 4th of
last month, in the hope that I might have been able to announce to
you the having sent off the duplicate of the definitive treaty.
Hitherto no opportunity has offered. But as Colonel Harmar has
sailed, and probably Lieutenant Colonel Franks, I am not so
anxious on that subject as I have been.
With sincere esteem, I am, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO MESSRS LE COUTEULX & CO.
Office of Finance, February 12th, 1784.
Gentlemen,
Previously to my letter of the 13th of January, I had received
yours of the 10th of September and 18th of October. In one of my
said letters I requested you to come under acceptance for Mr
Ross's bills, although my public bill in his favor should not be
accepted. But Mr Ross assures me that he has not yet drawn, and
promises that he will not draw on the credit of that bill until my
advices from Europe shall warrant it. So that my precaution in
this respect was unnecessary. Neither is that bill to be protested
if not paid when it falls due, but it is to be held by you for Mr
Ross's future orders. Those advices which I have lately received,
are far from being agreeable, and it is probable that my letters
written to Dr Franklin in consequence of them may induce him to
apply for your friendly aid to prolong the time of payment of some
bills, which I had drawn on the credit of that loan, and which to
my great surprise the negotiators of it were not in cash to
answer. Should he make any such application, Gentlemen, I am to
request that you will come in with your extensive credit, to
support that of the United States; and you may rely that I will
take care, by proper and speedy remittances, finally to absolve
your engagements.
I have this day given to the house of Peter Whitesides & Co. my
bill on you, (number ninetyseven) payable at ninety days' sight,
and for three hundred thousand livres. I am to desire your
acceptance of that bill, which I have drawn, to prevent, if
possible, the protest of bills drawn by that House in consequence
of one of my said bills on Amsterdam; to put you in cash for that
sum, I have purchased already seven hundred hogsheads of tobacco,
now lying ready for shipment at Alexandria in Virginia, and
directed farther purchases, as also the chartering of vessels to
carry it to Europe. I shall make you a shipment of from seven to
eight hundred hogsheads as soon as the weather will permit, for at
present all our navigation is shut up by the ice. This tobacco
shall be shipped to your order at L'Orient, and I think, that with
every allowance for delay, it must leave the Chesapeake by the 1st
of April at farthest, and will arrive within two months after the
bill shall have been presented. The sales of it will therefore put
you in cash to answer the bill. But to render the matter as safe
as possible, you shall have early advices, so as to make the
insurance, which will answer the bill should the tobacco fail.
After all, Gentlemen, it is possible that you may be in advance
for a short time. But I make not the least doubt, that you will
cheerfully go into the proposed operation, at present necessary to
the United States, and which (that necessity out of the question)
is in itself among the best kinds of commercial transactions. In
order, also, to place you more perfectly at your ease, I agree to
make good any expense, which may be incurred, by negotiations to
prolong the payment, should it be inconvenient for you to make the
actual advance, and should such advance become necessary by
accidents of the sea or other unforeseen circumstances. But at
all events my said bills must be honored.
With esteem and respect, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO MR GRAND.
Office of Finance, February 12th, 1784.
Sir,
The last letter which I have received from you is of the 12th of
September, and in that you have left a blank for the amount of
funds received from Amsterdam, and inform me, that you expect
again to apply for more, as Mr Barclay could not tell what sum he
should be able to pay you nor when. My letters from Messrs Wilhelm
and Jan Willink, Nicolas and Jacob Van Staphorst, De la Lande and
Finje, announce to me a sum remitted to you beyond the idea which
I had formed of your wants; and the consequence of it is, that
bills I had drawn on them remained unprovided for. Not having
received letters from you in so long a time, it is impossible for
me to guess at the exact state of your accounts; but if Mr Barclay
has placed in your hands the sums which I expected he would have
done, it appears to me that the United States must have been
considerably in advance to you, at the very moment when my bills
were in the critical situation above mentioned. I shall not,
however, draw any conclusions on this subject before I receive
those advices from you, which I am in the hourly expectation of.
As I do not know whether any effectual measures have yet been
taken to provide for the bills, which I had drawn, and which the
Houses in Amsterdam were not in cash to answer, owing to a sudden
failure of the loan intrusted to their management, I have written
to Dr Franklin on that subject, and am now to request your aid in
the business, so that time may be given for the arrival of those
remittances, which I am making to provide for the consequences,
should the loan continue unproductive. On this occasion I
confidently rely on your efforts, and I persuade myself, that the
credit of the United States, so long preserved in Europe, through
doubtful and dangerous events, will not now be suffered to expire
for the want of a very little timely aid and attention.
I am, Sir, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO MESSRS WILLINK & CO.
Office of Finance, February 12th, 1784.
Gentlemen,
On the evening of the 9th instant I received your letters of the
20th of November and 1st of December. The intelligence contained
in these letters, so far as concerns the loan under your
direction, and the bills which I had drawn upon the credit
thereof, is very far from being agreeable.
The tenor of your last letter, renders it necessary for me to
obviate the constructions put on my conduct in drawing to that
extent. And this is easily done, for it appears by your letters
now before me, that the total of those bills for a million, did
not exceed the funds actually in your possession, by above six
hundred thousand guilders, and if the second expedition of tobacco
be deducted, that excess cannot be considered as going beyond five
hundred thousand. Now, Gentlemen, I have already told you, that
Mr Grand's drafts exceeded my expectation; but we will put this
out of the question for the present, as I shall write on that
subject to him; but you will observe, that your letters announcing
the decline of the loan did not reach me until the close of the
last year; and therefore I could not have calculated on so great
an alteration. The occurrences in this country, which occasioned
it have never appeared of any consequence to us who are on the
spot, although, by exaggeration, they have staggered the minds of
people in Europe. You will observe also, Gentlemen, that when my
letter of the 1st of October was written, I had not received any
letter from you of later date than the 11th of June. The
intelligence mentioned in my letters as having come through an
indirect channel, was contained in a letter from Mr Adams himself,
and your letters written in the months of July and August
confirmed that intelligence. All this will appear if you compare
our correspondences, and place yourselves in the situation, which
the long passage of your letters of the 4th, 11th and 26th of
September placed me. The two first of these did not come to hand
until a very few days ago, as you will observe that they are not
acknowledged until the 9th instant. It has therefore been alike
impossible for me to conjecture the hard fate of my bills, or to
provide against it by seasonable remittances.
But as I have already mentioned, the sum total of the advance,
which those bills could have occasioned would not exceed five
hundred thousand guilders, payable in all the month of March,
supposing that the loan should produce nothing in the whole
winter. By a circuitous negotiation this payment might have been
prolonged without difficulty, and you will see that the measures I
am taking, even at this late period, would have produced the
necessary funds in season. I have not indeed any right to expect,
that you would risk so heavy a sum in reliance on me, but if you
had done it I should have felt the obligation, and I think my
conduct would have been such as to convince you that the
confidence was not misplaced.
Under the present very disagreeable circumstances, and not knowing
whether Dr Franklin has complied with your proposals, I cannot
take such decisive steps as I otherwise might. I enclose, however,
a copy of the letter which I have written to him, and I shall
proceed to make remittances, as soon as the weather, which now
shuts up our navigation, will permit. The advices which I shall
receive from Europe, while ships are lading, and which I daily
expect, must govern me in the consignments; which is the reason
that I can say nothing positive on that subject.
If Dr Franklin has complied with your proposals, you will of
course have accepted my bills to the extent of the million
guilders. If he has not, it is possible that my letters to him may
still arrive in season to prevent the protests for nonpayment. If
however this should not be the case, I wish you to call on those
who held the bills, and tender payment, on return of the bills, or
on giving an indemnity against them; in which case you will also
pay the costs of protest, interest which may have accrued, and the
like. If they will not do this, you will then be pleased to
transmit notarial certificates of your tender of such principal,
interest and costs; and if your payments are accepted, to transmit
immediate accounts thereof.
With respect to the three bills, numbered one hundred and
ninetyone, one hundred and ninetytwo, and one hundred and
ninetythree, dated the 21st of October, for two hundred and fifty
thousand guilders each, I have agreed with the Houses to whom I
sold them, that they shall still lay to be accepted or not, as may
hereafter be determined, and in the meantime the United States are
to pay the interest of their advances to me until they can
reimburse themselves, or are repaid by me, whichever shall
eventually happen. The bill number one hundred and ninetyfour,
dated the 12th of December last, for one hundred thousand current
guilders, I purchased and remitted on my own private account, and
have given orders that it be not returned to this country; so that
on that subject you may also be at ease. I shall receive on my
private account the interest of the forty thousand dollars paid
for this bill, on the same principles with which I have settled
for the other bills just mentioned. And by the way, you will see
how great was my confidence in the success of your operations,
when I have involved my own private fortune in the purchase, not
only of that bill, but also of four hundred thousand guilders out
of the million. All which was done because the demand for exchange
on London being greater than on your city, I bought those bills,
remitted them, and drew on my private account to replace my funds,
merely with a view to facilitate the public service. In addition
to the bills just mentioned, there is one which I request may meet
due honor; it is number one hundred and ninetyfive, dated the 2d
instant, payable at six months' sight, and for fourteen thousand
three hundred and nineteen current guilders. This bill was drawn
to replace bills drawn above two years ago at six months' sight on
the American Minister at Madrid and protested for certain
circumstances attending the negotiation of them; wherefore I was
under the necessity of replacing them with twenty per cent
damages, by a bill of equal dignity.
I am, Gentlemen, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO MESSRS WILLINK & CO.
Office of Finance, February 12th, 1784.
Gentlemen,
I am to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 14th of
October. My letter to you and the other Houses, will convey
sufficiently my sentiments as to the disagreeable consequences
occasioned by the ill success of our loan. I shall not here dilate
upon that subject, which, for the present, I can only lament; for
I agree, Gentlemen, with you, that urgency on your part would
rather damp the spirits of monied men than increase their
exertions.
I see clearly, that if it were possible to convey an adequate idea
of the wealth, extent, and power of this country, it would do a
great deal towards exciting the favorable attention of mankind.
But this is a very difficult thing, for the British Ministers, and
even their Generals _in the country_, with all the pains they
could take, and all the intelligence they could procure, were
extremely ignorant of our resources. This is among the reasons why
they pursued the conquest of America full three years after every
sensible man in it saw that the thing was impossible.
However, as you desire an account of our products, I will refer
you to a very unexceptionable testimony, that of the British
Ministers themselves, in a pamphlet lately published under the eye
of the Court, by Lord Sheffield; in which the writer attempts to
prove that we must trade with them whether they treat us well or
ill. To show this, he gives certain facts, which, at least, prove
that the British are our worst customers, so far as the sale and
consumption of our produce is concerned. He proves, also, that if
they have any advantage over others, it is what your countrymen
may have in an eminent degree over them; I mean the securing a
great part of our trade by giving credit to our solid mercantile
houses.
But to return from that digression to the principal object of this
letter, viz. the actual and probable resources of America. Let it
be remembered, that a century ago the place from which this letter
was written was an unlimited forest; that the whole State of
Pennsylvania did not produce enough to support five hundred men
after the European manner, and that every other part of America
was, a little earlier or a little later, in the same situation.
But now this very city is worth more than all the public and
private debts put together, which we owe to Europe.
M. Van Berckel has convinced me, Gentlemen, of your good will, and
zealous endeavors to promote the interests of America. And I
flatter myself that not only his representations, but my own
conduct, will convince you of the just sense I entertain of those
endeavors.
With esteem and respect, &c.
ROBERT MORRIS.
* * * * *
TO B. FRANKLIN.
Office of Finance, February 12th, 1784.
Dear Sir,