bring thebufmefs before the committee in a proper polnfofview: He conceived the fuhje£l of his firft resolution, viz. to fund the debt the present feflion, was the firft question to betaken into con federation. In order to bring before the committcea just and ade quate idea of the debt, he recurred to the journals of the late Congress : He commenced his researches with the year 1779 ; and read the resolves, declarations, addreffesand engagements of Con gress from period to period relative to the loans, ferviccs, sup plies, &c. He then said, that he conceived that there was not a person within the found of his voice, poffefling the feelings of ho nor and humanity, who would harbor an idea against funding the debt of the United States : He touched on the public sentiment the present situation of the country ; and after repeating some of the observations contained in the report of the Secictary, said, he doubted not that the question for funding would meet the ideas of a decided majority of this house : The manner how this should be done will be an after consideration : He concluded by observ ing that he felt full confidence that before the present feflion should be closed, the arduous and important business would be corn pleated. Mr. Fitzfimons read in his place several resolutions affirmative of the great objects contained in the report of the Secretary, which he laid on the table : They are as follow : Resolved, That adequate provision ought to be made for ful filing the engagements of the United States in refpe&to their fo reign debt. Resolved, That permanent funds ought to be appropriated for the payment of interest on, and the gradual discharge of the do mestic debt of the United States. Resolved, That the arrears of interest, including indents, issu ed in payment thereof, ought to be provided for on the fame terms with the principal of the said debt. Resolved, That the debts of the refpettive States ought, with the content of the creditors, to be assumed and provided for by the United States. Resolved, That it is advifeable toendeavor to efTcfl a new mo dification of the domestic debt, including that of the particular States, with the voluntary consent of the creditors, by a loan, up on terms mutually beneficial to them and to the United States. Resolved, That for the purpose exprefled in the last preceding resolution, fubferiptions toward a loan ought to be opened, to the amount of the said domestic debt ; including that of the ref pe&ive States, upon the terms following, to wit : That for every hundred dollars fubferibed, payable in the said debt (as well interest as principal) the fubferiber be entitled, at his option, either To have two thirds funded at an annuity, or yearly interest of fix per cent, redeemable at the pleasure of the government, by payment of the principal ; and to receive the other third in lands in the Western Territory, at the rate of twenty cents per acre* Or, To have the whole sum funded at an annuity or yearly interest of four per cent, irredeemable by any paymenr exceeding five dollars per annum on account both of principal and jntercft ; and to receive as a compentation for the reduction of interest, fifteen dollars and eighty cents, payable inlands, as in the preceding cafe. Or To have fifty-fix dollars and two thirds of a dollar funded im mediately at an annuity or yearly interest of fix per cent, irre deemable by any payment exceeding tour dollars and two thirds of a dollar per annum, on account both of principal and interest; and to have, at the end ot ten years, twenty-fix dollars and eighty eight cents, funded at the like interest and rate of redemption Or To have an annuity for the remainder of life, upon the con tingency of living to a given age, not less distant than ten years, computing interest at four per cent. Or To have an annuity for the remainder of life, upon the con tingencvofthe survivorship of the youngest of two persons, com puting interest, in this cafe also, at four per cent. Resolved, That immediate provision ought to be made for the present debt ot the United States; and that the faith of govern ment ought to be pledged to make provision, at the next session, for so much of the debts of the refpeftive States, as (hall have been fubferibed upon any of the terms expressed in the last resolution. Resolved, That the funds which shall be appropriated accord ing to the second of the foregoing resolutions, be applird, in the firft place, to the payment of interest on the sums tubferibed to wards the proposed loan ; and that if any part of the said do mestic debt shall remain unfubferibed, the surplus of the said funds be applied, by a temporary appropriation, to the payment of interest on the unfubferibed part, so as not to exceed, for the present, four per cent per annum ; but this limitation shall not be understood to impair the right ot the non-fubferibing credi tors totherefidue of the interest on their refpeftive debts : And in cafe the aforefaid surplus should prove inefficient to pay the non fubferibing creditors, at the aforefaid rate of four per cent, that the faith of government be pledged to make good such deficiency. Mr. Page moved that the report of the Secretary should be read. The Clerk then commenced reading, and having proceed ed as saras the 1 ith page—lt was moved that the committee should rife : They accordingly rose, and the House adjourned. TUESDAY? FEBRUARY 9. The memorial of fundrv inhabitants of the town of Salem, presented yesterday, was on motion ot Mr. Goodhue taken up for a second reading, and referred to the Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Benfon presented the memorial of Brigadier General Do nald Campbell, praying that an investigation ot his claims against the United States may be made. Mr. Boudinot presented a petition from the contra&ors for car rying the mail through New-Jersey, which was read, and refer red to the committee appointed to take into consideration the re gulation of the poft-office. In committee of the whole on the report of the Secretaryof the Treasury. Mr. Page proposed that those gentlemen who had brought for ward certain resolutions, lhould direst the attention of the House to those parts of the report to which they mean particularly to refer, that such part may be read. Mr. Smith, (S. C.) withdrew the propositions which he laid on the table yesterday. The resolutions proposed by Mr. Fitzfimons were then read by the Clerk. The firft resolution being read by the chairman ; and the ques tion being-taken on the fame, it passed in the affirmative unani mously. The second resolution was then read, on which Mr. Jackson rose and observed, that tho he had as great a fenfc of the merit of our public creditors, those who had fought our battles, and hadeffeft ed the independence of America as any man ; yet there is a ques tion on the fubjeft before the House, which he conceived of as great consequence as any that had been fuggtfted, and that is whe ther the present is the season for funding the domestic debt of the United States. He then reprobated funding systems altogether : Adverted to the effe&s which had been experienced from them in Florence, Genoa, and Great-Britain ; and asserted that some of those States had loft their independence through the debts which had thereby been entailed on them. Great Britain by adopting a funding system, has accumulated a debt which they never can get rid of. From these remarks he inferred the pernicious confcquences of a system for funding the debt of the United States ; and refer ring to the present unrepresented State of North-Carolina, and the uncertainty with refpett to the quantum of the debt ; the state of the western territory, &c. concluded by moving that the report lhould lie on the table fur further consideration. Mr. Sherman observed that the present question before the com mittee is simply, whether the debt shall be funded : The various particulars to which the gentleman last speaking alluded, are not now before the committee : Whether the debt (hall be placed up on irredeemable funds, is a fubje&of future confuleration. Mr. Smith made some obfeivations in reply to Mr. Jackson. Mr. Jackson moved that the committee should rife, which mo tion being put, was negatived by a great majority. Mr. Bland enquired why there was a difference in the phraseo logy of the two firft resolutions ? He could not fee the propriety orjuftice of making a discrimination between our domestic and fo reign creditors. We have pledged ourselves by adopting the firft resolution to fulfil our engagements to our foreign creditors, before we have ascertained whether we are able to do it; but the resolu tion refpefting our domestic creditors, leaves them in a very differ ent situation. He wished to be informed for what reason the dif ference was made, as he meant to propose a substitute for the reso lution now under consideration. Mr. Fitzfimons in reply informed the committee that the cir cumrtances of the foreign debt were such, as left no alternative, but that of coming to a prccife and definite resolution upon the fubjett. With refpett to the domestic debt, agreeable to the re port of the Secretary of the Treasury, a different plan of procedure is offered ; still the modification proposed is to be submitted to the option of the creditors. Mi . Bland then read a resolution refpc&ing the domestic debt, which was similar to that adopted refpe&ing the foreign debt; this he proposed as a substitute for the second resolution. Mr. Livermore entered into a consideration of the circumstan ces under which the domestic and foreign debts were incurred, and gave it as his opinion that the United States are not under obliga tions to make a fpecific provision for the domestic debt agreeable to the face of the iecurities which are considered as the evidences of the debt. With refpeft to the foreign debt, it is for loans re ceived from persons no ways interofted in the revolution of the country, and it must be paid. He was opposed to the resolution in its present form, as it went to make an unqualified provision for the domestic debt. Mr. Bland faid,there was no man who will go further than himfelf in fulfilmg to the utmost of his power, every public contrast, and to pay the bona fide debts, both foreign and domestic, of the Uni ted States, to the utmost farthing. On this principle it was, that he proposed the resolution he had offered, as it appeared to be the only way of bringing the fubjeft fairly before the committee. He could not fee the propriety of the discrimination made by the gentleman last speaking, between the foreign and domestic debt, as the fa£t is, that by transfers the foreign debt is now become in part the property of the citizens of the United States, and on the other hand great part of the domestic debt is alienated to foreign ers. He therefore offered the resolution which he had read---if he was fcconded he should be glad, if not, he should set down contented. Mr. Scott in a speech of some length on the fubjeft, observed, that the legislature of the United States is to be considered on this occasion as fitting as referees in a cafe of equity and justice—the only enquiry therefore is, what is the sum which the United States absolutely and bona fide owe—if on enquiry it is found that the os tensible demand is double what ought in justice to be paid, they will determine accordingly, andftrikeoff that half, nor can we answer it to our constituents to make provision for paying one far thing more than the sum which on a lull mveftigation of the fub jc£t lhall appear to be due—He concluded by moving an amend ment to the resolution by adding the following words, viz. as soon as the fame shall be afcertiined, and duly liquidated. Mr. Boudinot replied to Mr. Scott—and controverted the prin ciple he had advancccd that Congress was to be considered as a ju dicial body on this occasion—He ftatcd the terms on which the debt had been corn rafted, the dependence which the creditors had of obtaining final justice from their country ; the perni cious consequences that would result from adopting such a principle, as it would destroy every vestige of confidence in the honor of the United States, and put it entirely out of our power to effect any future loans, let the emergency be ever so great. Mr. Lawrance said, that the obictt of the gentleman from Penn sylvania, appears to be a le-liquiaation of the debt of the United States, on a supposition that the evidences which the creditors have obtained are for a larger sum than they ought to have received for iheir supplies and services ; but what is the tendency of such an mveftigation of the business—does it not involve the grossest im peachment of that government under which the deVt was con tracted—does it not tend to throw an equal proportion of the bur thens incurred in the acquisition of our independence upon one particular class of citizens, whose merits and services certainly en title them to different treatment—the whole body of the people have received an equivalent for the whole debt— and this scheme of re-licjuidation will produce a discrimination which will prove cruelly injurious to a class of citizens who have contributed per haps the mod to the success of the country in their late arduous struggles, by reposing the fulleft trust and confidence in the justice and honor of the States. Mr. Jackson observed that however the idea of a discrimination may be reprobated by the gentleman last speaking, the question ■will certainly come before the House. There is a discrimination between the foreign and domestic debt, which every man must acknowledge. The foreign debt is due from those who are cre ditors to the United States: Surely these creditors will be wiling to pay, or make provision to pay their debts, before they will cla mor against the government for their demands. This fhew.s that the consideration of the domestic should be deferred, while the foreign debt ought to be immediately provided for. Mr. Ames went into a particular examination of the do&rine advanced by Mr. Scot, and shewed the pernicious consequences that would result from its operation, as being fubvcTfive of every principle on which public contra&s are founded. That the evi dences of the debt poffefTed by the creditors of the United States, cannot in reason, justice, and policy, be considered in any other light than as public bonds, for the redemption and payment of which the lands, the property, and labor of the whole people are pledged. The public in this cafe, is as it were perfonified ; nor is there any conceivable difference, except it is in favor of the cre ditor, betweenthe public and an individual in this cafe. On this idea the public is trufled ; and for them to assume the office of judge on the occasion, is a meer arbitrary a£t of power, which never can be exercised, but to the dcftru&ion of theeffential inter ests of the people, and must terminate in a dissolution of the social compatt. Mr. Sherman said that he agreed in sentiment with the gentle man from Pennsylvania in part, but could not extend the opera tion of the principle to such alength as he did. The Legislature must necessarily ast in a judicial capacity in some cases : It judges of accounts exhibited against the government, and determines up on them : He instanced in a variety of particulars, the interference of this power, and which, said he, cannot rcafonably be objected to; but this power cannot be extended to judge upon debts that are acknowledged by the government; in this light he consider ed the liquidated dcDtof the United States : On which the Le gislature can have no more right to judge than an individual who is a party to a private contract : For if they can thus interfere, the credit of the United States is placed in a rery deplorable situation indeed. He moved to confine the provision to that part of the debt which is already liquidated. Mr. Goodhue reprobated the idea of discrimination, and reliqui dation. He observed, that if the objett is to take advantage of the depreciated rate of public securities, it will be wisest to defer all further consideration on the fubjeft at present, for the purpose of availing ourselves of a still lower rate of depreciation. Mr. Scott enforced the general ideas of his former speech, and to juftify the sentiment adduced sundry instances of the conduct of the parliament of Great-Britain, in erasing houses and making high ways over the places where they stood, and other invasions of private propeity —he contended the debt stood on a similar foot- J 347 ing with other contracts on which qtteflions of equity and justice may arifc and be determined with the greatest propriety. The debate was continued, by fevei al of the gentlemen's speak ing repeatly on the amendment—Mr. Stone, Mr. White, and Mr. Sedgwick added a few remarks. Thetime being expended, and several gentlemen exprefTing a wish to revolve the fubjeft flill fur ther in their own minds—a motion was made that the committee should rife—-which being put was carried in the affirmative— The House then adjourned. EXTRACT Of a Letter from London, dated November 2, 1789, continued from No. 85, of this Gazette. HTHE objects that rife into view, in reading the debates of A Congress impress a most favorable idea of the situation of America. \ our citizens seem to be contemplating ufeful points in the science of morality and government. Every fubjett is dis cussed on rational grounds, and decided upon the real merits of the question. she important truth seems to be acquiesced in ,that public honcfty is the only basis of public happiness. What im provements may not be be expe&ed from a people who are so fact progrefling into habits of order, economy and justice! This is the more pleasing to the philosophic mind, as this reformation ia your affairs is effe&ed by the free consent of the people at large. There is no force or deception in the matter. The citizens of the United States, having experienced most bitterly the effe&s of a want of public credit, and of deranged finances, come forward voluntarily and enter into arrangements to bind themselves to be honest and virtuous. It is a noble triumph of reason over error. It refle&s the highest honor on your country, and if this spirit of reformation can be kept alive till your public credit is effectu ally established, your nation will be held up as a model to all the world. The name of America will found gratefully in the ears of every philosopher on earth. " The approaching session of your Legislature will be an inter cfting one. From the measures then to be adopted, your govern ment must takeits chara&er. The executive officers will no doubt faithfully collect information relative to their different depart ments ; and I prcfume the Legislature will weigh with candor, the plans that may be suggested. The greatest danger to be ap prehended in your public affairs, is ajealoufy between the differ ent branches of government. I could preceive by the debates that the representatives were not free from a suspicion, that the execu tive officers would establish too powerful an influence. It is very certain that men of abilities and re&itude will have influence in whatever department they are placed. This circumstance should not create so much jealousy as to prevent men of talents from ac quiring confidence, and promoting the public good bv their ex ertions. All men in office should be controuled by certain checks that are interwoven in the institutions, under which they a6l; but it will always be found that a temper of suspicion indulged by individuals against public charaders ; or by one branch of the government against the other, will impede public business and be attended with no ufeful consequence." NEW-YORK, FEBRUARY 10. Yesterday the President of the United States was pleased to no minate, and by, and with the advice and consent of the Senate to appoint the following persons to office in the State of N. Carolina. Wilmington, James Ready Collector. John Walker, Naval Officer. Thomas Callender, Surveyor. Newbern, Jfobn Daves, Collector. Beaufort, John Eaflon, Surveyor. Washington, Nathan Keais, Collector. En en ton District. Edenton, Thomas Benbury, Collector. Hertford, Joshua Skinner, jun. 'Surveyor. Murfreefboro, Hardy Murfree, Surveyor. Plymouth. Levi Blount, Surveyor. Skewarkoy, Henry Hunter, Surveyor. Wynton, William Wynns, Surveyor, Bennets Creek, John Baker, Surveyor. Camden District. Plank Bridge, on Sawyers Creek, Isaac Gregory, Colle&or. Nixonton, Hugh Knox, Surveyor. Indian-Town, Thomas Williams, Surveyor. Pafquotank River Bridge, Edmund Sauyer, Surveyor. Ncwbiggin Creek, Elias Albertfon, Surveyor. FROM CORRESPONDENTS. It was made an obje&ion to the new Constitution, that the elec tions of Representatives should be biennial; but happy will it be for our country, if we do not find that that period is too short. To ensure their future ele&ion is often found the influencing mo tive of condutl to too many in the last session of an existing Legi slature : Hence that independency of spirit, that sacred regard to truth, that inflexible adherence to the best measures, popular or unpopular, which distinguish the real patriot, are seldom found to govern thedecifions of those, who feel conscious that fortuitous concurrence of circumstances, and not merit, has made them the obje£ta of the people's fuffrage in times past. The principle of responsibility has a very powerful operation with such characters, when they are about to revert to the mass of the people ; but what kind of responsibility is it ? Not to account for the free and independent exercise of their own judgment, 011 the important fubjefts of deliberation in the Legislature ; but to fatisfy their particular constituents, that they have made it theic study to fulfil the particular wishes of their creators. Hence the people ! the people! is often the burden of the fongto those who never gave any other evidence of their patriotism but a prostitution o£ every piinciple of honor at the fhrineof popularity. I remember to have heard an old veteran in the cause of free dom fay, he always fufpe&cd the honeftv of that man's principles, who is so devilifk peopleifh : For certain it is, that those Legislators who are only solicitous to please the present humors of the people, must often advocate measures subversive of their essential rights. If Legislators are to be considered as the guardians of the pub lic liberty, it necessarily follows, that as communities, as well as individuals are liable to infatuation, the upright patriot muftftem the popular impulse on fuchoccafions, tho he will thereby render himfelf odious for a time. On Monday the Grand Jury for the United States of this dijlri£l,gave a very elegant entertainment to the Chief, Ajjociate, and DiflriEl Judges* The Attorney General and the officers of the Supreme and Di/lriaCourts, at Fraunce's Tavern in Courtlandt-Street. The liberality dif played on this occasion and the good order and harmony whichprejidcd gave particu lar fatisfattion to the refpettable guejls. After dinner the following toafls uare drank. 1. The President of the United-States of America. 2. The Vice President of the United-States of America. 3. The National Judiciary. 4. The Senate of the United-States,. 5. The Speaker and House of Representatives of the United States. 6. The late National Convention. 7. The Constitution of our Country : may it prove the solid Fabric k vf American liberty, Prosperity and Glory. 8. The Memory of those Heroes who fell in the defence of the Liberties of America. 9. His mojl Chriflian Majefly and the People of France. 10. Their High MightmeJJes the States General of the United Nether lands. 11. The friendly powers of Europe and thefriends of liberty through out the Globe. 12. May the blessings of peace be long the happy lot of our Country, and every Citizenof America, feel himfelf deeply interested, in the due execution of the laws of the Union. 13. The Convention of Rhode-Iflard. May their wisdom and inte grity soon introduce our firay filler to her flation in the happy national family of America.
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