jjnity " wrulfl be v. r IT. •y to make u i Vippy nat'.on. >r it tlx general government, lately adopted, Jhall be arranged d adminiltered m a manner <>s to acquire the full confidence the. people, 1 fur rrely believe they will have greater 1 vantages from their natural, moral and political circumstances, or public felicity, than any other people ever poiT iT( d. In the contemplation ot those advantages, row soon to be rea \ /. d, I have rec hciled myfelt tothe facrificeof my wiib c•, lo far as to enter again upon the ltage of public bt-,—l know thedrlicate nature of the duties incic ent to the part wmch I am < illcd to perform, and 1 feel my ncompetence, without the Angu lar afiiftance of Providence, to them in a fatisia&ory manner.—But having undertaken the talk, from a sense of duty, no star of encountcring difficulties, and no dread of losing popu larity, shall ever deter me from pursuing what I conceive to be the true intercfts of my country. Mr. Ken no, As the fubjecft of the following Observations is undoubtedly of great importance, you will oblige your readeis by a re-publication of them : Ihe performance is taken from that very valuable Mil' i cllany, the American Mufcuin, publilhed by Mr. Caxey, at Philadelphia. C. Z. An ESSAY, on the APPOINTMENT of PUBLIC OFFICERS. Hurrbl fufrm'ttcd to allperfons concerned in elefling or appointing them. THE perfection of government requires that every public office, iii all the legillative, judicial, and executive departments, ffiould be filled with the most suitable and fit persons. Good government manifeltly depends much more on the goodness of the men who fill the pub lic offices, than on the goodness of the form of government, constitution, or even laws of the ltate; for the errors of ail thefe,under the administration of good men,will be mended or made tolerable,ei ther by the authority of the legislature, or favour ble conflruction ; but weak and wicked men will pervert the belt of laws to the purposes of favour or opprefiion—And one principal thing which makes one form of government better than ano ther, is, that there is a greater and a more natu ral chance of the appointment of suitable men to public offices in the one than in the other, and this makes the power of appointment, or right of election, a right of the highest importance to the community ; it therefore requires the greatest wifdoni in human policy, to veil this great autho rity in fucli persons, as will molt probably exer cise it with the most discretion and Icaft corrup tion. As the appointment of suitable men to public offices is of the utmost importance to the well be ing of the state, and consequently implies a most sacred trust and duty in the eletftors ; it may not be ajnifs to designate such outlines of character, as are most eflentially neceflary in a public officer, and especially when his office is of high rank, and very weighty concern to the community. 1. Integrity ought to hold the firft place. The integer vitas fceierifque_ furus of the poet, is of mighty consequence in every society. A man of ftriefc honesty and uprightness in his private life and dealings, is easily known and distinguished among men. Let this be an eflential part of the character of the man, for whom you give your vote, to serve in any public office of trust and im portance. 2. A good reputation, fee from scandal. A 1 man attainted of scandalous crimes, either by con vicfHon on record, or by general opinion of his neighbours,appears with great difadvantage,inthe sacred feats of public councils of law, justice, or equity. 1 have heard of ajudge, who was gene rally supposed to have corrupted his neighbour's •>vife, and having once a very impudent offender before him,was severe in his censures of the offence, and opening the lawbook, read there the descrip tion of the offence and punishment: the delinquent laid, wiih a most malignant sneer, he could wifh liis honor would turn over a few pages more, and lee what the law said to whoremalters. 3. Religion and sincere piety. I don't think it of much consequence of \v hatpatricularprofeffion of religion he may be, whether Episcopalian, l'refbyterian, Quaker, Lutheran, Calvinilt, Mo ravian, &c. if he is reputed to be devout, fin rere, and faithfid to the religion he does prof els. 13ut a loose liver, or an apoltate in religion, I cannot think fit to be trusted in the state',, because p. man who is not tr\je to his God, will not proba bly be fa to his country; for when the highest possible obligation cannot bind a man, it is not to be expecfted that he will be governed by lefler and more subordinate ones : when the grand firft prin ciple of all true morals is wanting, the practice r.iuft become too uncertain to be trusted in mat ters of weight and high moment. 4. Sufficient abilities, adequate to the office that ii to 1 »efilled. Tlieremuft be acongruity be tween the business to be done, and the abilities of the man appointed to do it. 5. Gravity, wisdom, and found judgment. A grave and wife man gives weight and dignity to uny department in which lie is employed, inspires confidence that the business under his direction will be well managed, and what is more than this, will really do it well. 6. Decision, cfofe attention, and perfeverence. Some men are undecided in their judgment, vari able ill their attention, adt by fits and starts, and often leave their business half done. It is very dangerous :o admit men of this disposition into public offices, where a coincidence of sundry de partments is often ncceflary, and a failure of one will foir etiines put a fullftop to all the reft. 7. A great conunand of his pallions. A man who is known to be a Have to any favourite paflion, or who is too ltrongly devoted to gaming, the bottle, or his mistress, is not thought a I'afe person to trust private buiinefs with, especially buiinefs of consequence, which requires a watchful dili gence, discretion, and caution ; much less can luch a man be fit for a public trust. 8. Public offices ihoyld be filled with men of steady attendance. There is great complaint of tardy or totally deficient attendance, especially in the members of aggregate bodies, such as Con gress, councils, aflemblies, &c. by which means the public buiinefs is much and often very injuri ously retarded. I hope *ve do not live in an age so degenerate, as to render the above characters difficult to be found. The importance of them must be obvi ous to every person concerned in electing or ap pointing public officers, and 1 hope will induce them to make such a choice as shall fatisfy the high trust reposed in them, and such as shall ef fqrtually secure the honor and fafety of the state. Philuddphia. Sift. 1, 1788. Mr. FtNNO, THE observations of TiMOLEON, upon the fubje<st of appointments to office, inferred in your last, coincide in general, with the fentiinents of the wife and independent part of the community ; but his last article is rather too strait-laced : I con ceive that a man of worth and real abilities, may, with propriety, let his pret^nfionsbe known, with out letting down his own character, or wounding the feelings, or delicacy of those, whose patronage he solicits. I go further, and suppose that duty and juflice to the public, may unite to impel a person of the greatell modesty, to come forward with a statement of services, from which a competency of knowledge has been acquired, to difcliarge the particular trust applied for. But if the idea of Tivioleon ffiould be adopted, the 1110 ft meritorious characters might reft in per petual obfeurity, while their country fufFered the loss of their abilities. Merit,Modefty,and Diffidence,are nearly allied, and the two lalt have deprived the community of the firft,two often already—and toadd tothe num ber, by throwing additional obstacles in its way, would be cruel, unjust, and impolitic. While the influence of men in power is solicited with ardour, and a perfecutiug perseverance by thole, to whom ignorance gives a brazen front, let us not deprive the Supreme Executive of a counter balance to impertinent importunity,by difcourage ing the applications of worth and abilities. PROCEEDINGS of CONGRESS. hi the HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES of the UNITED STATES. Tuesday, May 5, 1789. Inourlaft we ftat« d, that Mr. Bland had introduced the pro ceed Tigs of the legislature of Viginia on the fubj*& of Amend ments —it may not be uniutereftingto state thefubftance of the obser vations that occurred upon this business. On one hand it was ob served, that the application of the State of Virginia wasmadewith a view of obtaining amendments, agreeably to the sth article of the Conllitution : That although the address of Virginia had b -en trans mitted to the several Legislatures, but few ofthein had thought pro per to coincide with that State—That it would be giving the address due confederation, to refer it to a committee of the whole, to be taken up at the time afligned for the House to consider amendments, of which notice had been given yesterday—That the address was from a refpc&ableState, and' merited an equal compliment at leall, with othei applications that had already been referred to the coin mitte—That although this address might (land alone, yet it might be of weight in the decifiohsof the committee—That it rested on the basis of its own merits, and could not in the nature of itt opera tion, if committed, contravene thefpiritof the Confbtution—That as it was a (landing rule of the Houf , that they should go into a committee of the whole every day,there appeared to be a propriety in the commitment. In reply, it was observed—That although the application was undoubtedly from the most rcfpettable quarter,yet it appeared to be more proper, that it fliould lie on the table for the intormation of the members—that when a fufficient number of similar applications lhould be made, it might conft'tutionally come before Congress— That it ought to be treated with due refpefl—but that Congress had no deliberative voice,with refpeft to calling a Convention, agreeably to the application—That when two thirds of the States should apply, they weie bound to call one—That it would not be paying proper refpeft to Virginia, to commit the application to a body which was not competent to deliberate or decide upon it—That as the House had been led to consider the fourth Mond iy of the present month as the time to go into the confidei ation of amendments, then would be a proper season to bring forward the application— That it would be paying proper refped to it, to enter it on the journals : This was therefore acceded to with the addition, that it should be put upon the files in the Clerk's Office. The Houle then resumed the report of the committee upon the art'ele of tonnage—when Mr. Jackson moved, that 30 cents on foreign tonnage should be ft ruck out, and ao cents fubftnuted—He enforced his idea, by ob serving, that as the main objefct to be etfetted by tonnage, was to raise a tax to support light-houses and other incidental charges of commerc , 20 cents per ton, he conceived, would be fußicient for the purpose.—'The gentleman calculated, that upon the tonnage of Georgiaonly, this duty would be about/' 400. The tonnage°pro pofed, was too high and would operate unequally and oppicflively upon some parts of the Union, more especially the southern States That at present, when the members of that House were lea reel y warm in their feats, it becamethem with caution and due de liberation—th Constitution was in ;ts infancy—'t was well known that fame Spates were averse from it—amendments were already ap plied for, and it we mean to con the good disposition of Elates uot in the Union, w* f:.'»uld ltoove with . Ution. Thi would materially afft£l the State ot North-Carolina—S Ju'.lj-Carolt. na and Georgia were situated as North-Carolina, and all infinite]v worfc than the northern Stats—Not only rice and lumber could not be exported, but 5000 hogfhads ot tobacco were now lym* in ware-houses for want of shipping—Georgia w.<> .urcady borne down by the oppreflion of foreign impositions, and obliged to '. ip I'cr proauce under every disadvantage-—in thi&humiliating situation, she looks to this Congress for reliet—fhould [he be u>lapp«>ihted, she may he sorry for the prompt and dtcotd pait flic iiui nkm in the second revolution : Ihe southern produce is now at a low ebb— the specie is leaving the country, and diftrc fa Hares us in the lacc ; att-.is time to encrcafe our burdens and diflicultics, by uicreafing the embarrassments on onr produce, our only resource, w;ll be op. picffive and d'feouraging. —Mr. Jjackfon concluded with faying, thai he hopedthc motion would obtain. Mr. Ames replied to Mr. Jackson —he obfevd, that much had been said about prejudices and jealoulies between the different States —but for his parr, he conceived, the situation of matters was upon a more agreeable footing.—Britain had excited and foment ed those idea*—they had their particular views in so doing—But it wasver) apparent, that other sentiment* now predominated through the Union —our interests were mutual, and nature had so arranged the local circumstances ol the fouthein and noithtrn States, that commerce and'agriculture were the natural pursuits o! the two orand divilions of the Union —our intertft* were compatible—we must be united as a nation, and look with an equal eye to the good of the whole—a general pervades the Union —;t was evident, that a greater and more cxtcniive coincidence of opinion oredomi. nated, than had been conceived of—lt was not expected, that the general interest would have been so universally acknowledged— The neceflity and importance of a navy was now allowed on alt hands —to effect this great and essential objtft, meafurtt must hea dopted —and those, the most obviously within our power, ihould claim our earliest attention —the encouragemMit of our commerce is undoubtedly among the most important articles conducive to this point.—The nuriing of our navigation indifpenfible —the duty pro posed has this principally in view, and though a (mail one, it holds up a necessary and advantageous discrimination between American and foreign vefft Is.—The \ oice of the continent concurs in this sen timent, and the prevalence of this and similar ideas ; produced the present revolution, under the auspices of which we are now delibe rating. Our navigation is not on a par with foreigners ; enrourage ment is necessary, and every obfervanon thrown out by the gen tleman from the southward, in opposition to the duty, proves this neceflity. The gentleman has said, that 50C0 hogsheads of tobacco are now laying in the ware-houses at the southward, for want of shipping to carry them off : What stronger reason for encouraging and encreafing our fhipping,that provision may be made to transport our produce to market. And if this is the cafe, are we not at the mercy of our rivals ? Our Agriculture calls upon us, to make this provision; and according to the gentleman's own ae count, the du ty will not prove in any measure so burdensome, as the loss of 5000 hofheadsof tobacco. The ufeful body of (hip-carpenters through the States are complaining for want ot employ ; they are reduced to the neceflity,of wot king for Jths of a dollar pr.day,or quit their native homes, and fcek their bread among the Britilh, in the northern parti of the continent. Mr. Ames added many other obfervatione, anc concluded by giving his negative to the motion. Mr. Burke observed, That the peonle of the Southern States en tertained friendly difpoiitions towards their brethren at the tafi ward : He could speak for the inhabitants of South Carolina at Ifalt. that they took pleasure in their profpenty—that they looked to their, for future protection, and wished to fee their navigation flourish This shews, that they are not jealous —but at the fame time he con ceived, that their profeflions and feelings would not juftify their sub mitting in silence to the present proposed imposition on tonnage, which must, in its operation, prove extremely unequal and oppre five to them : The property of Southern gentlemen, it was \vrl> known, confilted principally in their produce—this they depended upon, and if they could not get it to market, the consequences were obvious, they could neither subsist, nor pay their debts : The oper ation of this duty will dim nifh the (hipping, already inefficient The deficiency of the Eastern (hipping, is conceded on all hands— so that we shall beentirely prevented from exporting our produce: We wi(h to employ American (hips, in prcfcrcnce to all others; but as there cannot be a seasonable supply, time must be given, that the Southern States may not be opprefled, and borne down by the regulations of Congress in the article of Tonnage. Mr. Gooduue, Mr. Maddison, and fomeother gentleman, ad ded fcveral observations in favor of the discrimination proposed, and to the following effect, That a spirit of union and tranquility was happily diffufied through the Union in the prefint instance—the fen- 1 ti mnt was uniform, and although a kind of incompatibility had t»een pointed out, yet the idea was daily subsiding, and in time j would be done away—that as the country abounded in materials for (hip building, it was evident that just and proper encouragement would soon produce an adequate supply—and if in consequence of new regulat ions, temporary inconveniencies should arif'*, they would soon crafe, for the high profits of any particular business soon redu ced it to it* proper level—that however, it was ne>t owing entirely to the scarcity of American shipping, that foreigners had in a man ner monopolized the carrying trade from the Southern States, but the preference they enjoyed might be traced to another cause, a very ruinous one in the ifTuc, and that was, the credit thefc foreigners gffli by which means they obtained an exorbitant price for their fupph«> and they freighte d apparently low—yet the fatt was otherwise : B Jt to prevent the sudden rife of freight, and the consequences app rr " j bended* Mr. Maddison proposed, That a given time should el a pie- j previous to the commencement of a high duty, though a decided 1 discrimination should immediately take place—the gentleman men tioned |anuary 1, 1791. Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, observed, That the interest of the Southern and Eastern States were different, he conceived, in the present cafe : That so far from laying refti i6lions upon the expor tation of the Southern produce, by a heavy tonnage, it was more necessary to give a bounty to encourage that expoitation. Soutn Carolina was now in a deplorable condition —her domestic debt's One Million—and (he owes toforeigners iooooo Sterl.—all whic must be paid in specie : This duty falls on the produce of the coufl- ■ try, on the exportation of which their hopes were founded to pa) J these debts : The duty, he contended, was out of proportion, & u J would affect the Southern States, by obliging them to pay aboiiut) J to the Eastern and Northern, for which they could not receive anv | compensation : More than half the produce of South-Carolina, now carried off by the (hips of Great-Britain—this duty must con fequently enhance the freight unduly, for notwithstanding the Hup. > ping of all nations had access to toeir ports, immense quantities 0 rice were now laying in the (lores for want of shipping; this > would further operate to the discouragement of foreigners and It disadvantage of the Southern States, by preventing their (hipst' coming out on speculation with cargoes, by which means u PP ~ Ci } were obtained, and a rivalfhip among the freighters produced, w in I >me measure influenced the price in favor of the (hippers. Smith was willing a diftin&ion should &e made, but not a * r S one, and as the article of tonnage had been urged against the a tion of the Constitution, it would recur to the wisdom of the rio whether it would be just and politic, to confirm any of those p conceived impreflions against the Constitution. Wednesday, May 6. , The bill for laying certain duties on Goods, Wares, and Merc 1 dize, imported into the United States, was read, and referre Committee of the whole. 0 f Mr. HeCster a petition from Arthur R ! E j a s. Pennsylvania, purporting, that by certain calculations, he a ! certained the mode of obtaining the longitude at sea, to a nearer ; gree of perfection than had before been difeovered —praying , countenance of Congress, and that they would secure to hi in t c clufive right of using and vending his refpe£tive improvements.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers