Gazette of the United-States., August 18, 1790, Page 564, Image 4

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CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
FRIDAY, July 23.
Dei ate oh the amendment of the Senate to the Fund
ing Bill, to ajfumt * fart of the State Debts.
MR. Smith (S. C.)after some introJuftory observations, fafd,
thai lw<> points were generally conccdcd; namely that
the debts, which, for diilin&ion.faUe, were called ttate debts, had
been incurred for the common welfare and general defence, and
that tWe debts ought tu be paid : The quelliou was by whom ?
Whether by the fcveral states or by the Union ?
There was one principle, he said, which (hould be attended to
in llie discussion of this great question : that was, that the citixens
of one ftatc ought not to pay a greater price for independence than
thole al anothfr, but (hat a citizen of Jlety-H+niplhirc, in propor
tioa to bis means, rtiould contribute at much towards the cxpen-
ces of the war as a citizen of Georgia.
premtfidg this principle as one which could not be lhaken, it
might fciye as a ilandard by which the arguments on both fides
ought to be tried. Should the States be left to pay their respec
tive debts, it was evident that the citizens of thofc States which
fuffered most from the iocurfioiu and depredations of the enemy
would pay a higher price for their liberties than the citfiens of o
thcr States, because the debt would be larger, and the means of
payment Smaller. The btuden would be therefore unequal, and
c\cry retufal to equalize it would be unjust Whether the citi- ;
aens of those St tes were viewed in the light of creditors of the ;
■public or not, the inequality would be apparent. If creditors,
thev would have a iefs chance of being paid than creditors of o
ther States ; the individual io South-Carolina'who spilt his blood,
iurnilhed supplies or lent his money to carry on the war, would
probably receive compensation at the rate of a shilling in the
pound, while the individual in Maryland, with Similar claims,
would receive his compensation at the rate of fifteen Shillings in
the pound ; and while the citizen who had casually received a
continental instead of a State certificate, would be fettled with at
the rate of twenty Shillings in the pound.
If the citizens of the Suffering States wefe viewed not as cre
ditors, but as individuals liable to such taxation as would be nc
cejfary to do justice to the creditor, the inequality was no less ob
vious. In one part ot the union the people would be crafted
with grievous taxes, in another the taxes would be trifling ; the
inequality indeed would exist in a compound ratio ; for, in pro
portion to the amount of taxes neceffarv for the payment of its
debt, would be the inability of the Suffering State to pay them ;
inaSinuch as a large debt would be an evidence of great exeit'om,
and consequently of great diflrefs ; it would therefore follow,
that in one State, either the creditor would lose his debt, or the
citizens groan under an enormous burden, while in another State
the creditor would have his debt well funded, and the citizens
smile Under an easy fvftem of taxation.
Under the old confederation, this inequality, although incom
patible with the true principles of the social compact, was, how
ever tolerable, because each State retained all its refourc«t ; and
because there was no other conditional mode of equalizing the
burden among the States than by a Settlement of accounts. Under
the present so- mof government if will be intolerable ; because
the impost, which to the States most in debt was the inoft valua
ble Source of revenue, is relinquished to the union; and because
Con»refshavc it io their power, by the Affutnption, to do away
all disproportion. This measure will thevclorc stand the ttftjif
the principle above premised ; for (he creditois of all the States
will be placed precisely on the fame footing, and the of
all the States will be equally taxed.
An obje&ioo, however, is much depended on, derived from a
supposed inequality, which will occur in the event of an AlTump
lion forae States, it is said, have, Since the pcace, discharged a
part of their debts by confideiable exertions, and it is not just
that their citizens ftiould now contribute to the discharge of the
debts of other States which have been remiss,
In order to give weight to this objection, great merit has been
afluracd bv the former, and much cenfuve infli&ed on the latter
who have been exultingly asked, whv tbey had not made similar
efforts. Such a qut (lion, Mr. Smith faid,he was inclined to com
pare to the conduA of a man in the vigor of health, and who had
never feeu the face of a Dottor, asking a Tick friend, still languid
under the deprcflion ps a Ccverc illucfs, why he did uot cat hearti-
Jy and take cxcrcifc as he dul ?
Each State, he prcfumcd, undertook at the clofc of the war,
such methods of extricating hi rfelf from her embarrassments as
•were within the Co.mpafs of her abilities. He did not ascribe
the payments some Slates had made to a greater degree of virtue
in tnem than in others ; nor could he suppose that the gentlemen
■who made this oSfcrvatiod, seriously thought that an individual
■was more meritorious because he was a citizen of one Stair, than
if be bad been a citiacn of another : or that an ideal boundary
line of a State could operate so wonderfully on the hitman mind
as to render the citizen on this fide active in the performaoce of
his political duties, and the citizen on the other fide ina&ive ?
That heinc on the north fide of the Potoymac or the Savannah, an
individual would have more or less inclination to contribute his
exertions for the public good, than if he were oit the touth Gde I
Unlef* they insisted on thel'e points, how could thry account for
these inequalities of which they complained ; to what causes could
they attribute the large debts of fojmc states, and the smaller debts
of others. The exertions of some members of the Union since the
peace, to difincumber themfclves of their burdens, and the fupjnc
nefs of others ? Could they be traced to any other caui'e than a
greater degree of fuffering during the war, on the one part, and a
£vea?er abundance of refourcrs ffnee the peace on the other. Those
ttates, which during the war were most invaded by the enemy,
were at the peace most exhauftcd ; and it was unreasonable to
demand gVeat exertions from them. In proportion to their ftrug-
efforts was their debt encrcafed : In t.ie fame proportion
was their ftrcngth exhauftcd, and their resources drained—while
<ither iVates, more fortunate, (and he envied them not their good
fortune*) contracted less debt during the war, and were fully com
petent to.the discharge of that small debt at the peace.
He wifhtd all these circumstances of comparative merit had been
kept out of view, and that the qucftion had been considered on
its proper groundk of justice and policy ; but as they had been
contemplated by some members as r.cceffary materials in the irt
veftigaUon, without which a proper eftima.teof the true merits of
the qucftion could not be formed, heconiidcred it a duty he owed
to the state he represented, to take some notice ]of the arguments
which had been urced on that-head
Two poin/s had been dwelt on—The large debts of some States,
and the feeble exertions they had made to discharge them. He
was happy he had it in his power to clear up in a few moments,
the doubts of every candid mind on both those points, as they
related to South-Carolina. With refpeft tothefirft, the size of
her debt might be accounted for, from the following circum
stances :—that Ihe paid, fed, equipped and cloaihed the whole
Continental liueoi South-Carolina from its firlt raising to the id
January a p p of seven years ; that the defeuce «f the
wholeSsuthtrA trade fell chiefly on South-Carolina, as well as the
prote&ion of a considerable extent of sea coast, which cost an in»-
menl'e sum for vessels of war, gallics, &c.—While Georgia and
Virginia had their gallics on continental establishment, South-Ca-
Tolina had to pay her own—that Charlcfton was three several
times attacked by th& BritiOi in 1776, 1779 1 7^ 0 '
which induced an enormous eXpence sot fortifications ; fiitkiag
: vessels to obflruft their paflage up thi rivers ; arming and calling
forth the militia ; purchasing horses, naval military stores ; that
[ at the time the Bi itilh arms attacked the State on the sea coast,
the savages and tories attacked it in the Weft—that in addition to
all this, the State had assumed out ol the hands of its citizens char
ges against the United States, liquidated by their Commifiioners
amounting to mote than two millions of dollars—that while the
citizens of some States receiyed hard moaey, the citizens ot South-
Carolina were compelled to receive certificates for the fuppltcs
which were furnifhed to the Southern army ; and that the State
had moreover been at a vail expence in raising an 3 equipping fomc
regiments of horse, under the fanflion of General Greene.—Thefc
were fomc of the caufcs of the large debt tfiat State had long
groaned under. He then adverted to the steps Ihehau taken since
the peace to discharge it. Much could not be expelled from peo
ple distressed as her citizens were ; many of whom owed consi
derable private debts to liritifh merchants at the breaking out of
the war, and had been bereft of almost the whole of the property
with which those debts were to be discharged. A Stats* which
for thefpace offix orfeveu years had been constantly struggling with |
the enemy j which had loft its crops for several successive years ; ,
whose towns had bean burut ; al! tl»e furniture of its citizens de
stroyed ; depiived of upwards of 30,000 negroes; nearly one
1 half of its labourers ; the property ol the citizens torn from them
by Britilh plunderers, or by American impressments ; multitudes
of their citizens killed ; in so much that in the d; ft rid of Ninety-
Six alone, there were 1490 widows at the close of the war—could
not becenfured with any propriety for having made (lender exer
tions to discharge her debt?. In 1784, Ihe attempted a funding
system, and had kept down the intercft-cver since, which alone,
considering licr situation, was a confiderablc exertion, as the an
nual interest amounted to upwards of 300,000 dollars : £be had
alfofunk upwards of 9 million and a half of the principal, and
would have done more had the crops been favorable ; but from
1783 to 1787, in consequence of the depopulation of labourers,
the bad state of the fields, and a fuccefiion ol bad seasons the plant
ers had annually made scarce half a 1 rop. He did not mention
these circumftanee* to make a parade of them, but for the purpose
of removing iinprciTions unlavorable to the citizens of that coun
ry which teemed to exist in the minds of some of the members.
TO BE CONTINUED.
FROM Till NEW-YORK DAILY GAZETTE.
Sung in the St. Andrew's Society, en Thursday evening lafi,
when Col. Alexander M'Gillivray was prefcnt.
Tune Nottingham Ale.
AMONG polifh'd nations for centuries past,
The Hero, the Saint, have by cufto»
A day to their honor, which ever ftiallfoil
While gratitude foflcns the hearts ps mankind.
this cause to-day,
The Croft we display,
To honor St. Andrew, the great and the good ;
Who, despising the shame,
Laid to glory the claim,
And fcal'd, like a martyr, the truth with his blood.
perhaps his last moments, those moments of pain,
Might be fwcet'ned with profpefc\s of what would ensue ;
When one ol his children fliould make the way plain,
And people Elysium with converts irom you.
When Ohio's fair plains
Should enlarge the domains
Of the Prince, and the Lover and Giver of Peace ;
And a Son of his own
Have the meiit, alone,
Of making all ludiao lioftilitie* cease.
The time U at hand, nay, already appear®,
Wheu the Empire of Reason ftiall govern the world,
And Error, tho' fan&io&'d by thonfandt of years,
With contempt, as it ought, from our bosoms be hml'd-.
With a great and just view
This Truth we'll putfue,
That feature or colour no difference can be,
In the eye of that Mind
Which call'd forth Mankind,
To make them one family, happy and free. ,
What a wide r ccne of rapture my eye now beholds,
When I turn 10 the Weft the enkindling view,
Thei/frank tawney children my bosom enfolds,
Aud ctofys them with ardor, as brothers, like you.
Perhaps, ere I die,
My children or I,
With fafety and eomfort may traverse this land
And bless this fair day,
When St. Andrew's sway,
Impelled their Leader to give me his hand.*
May plentiful seasons, a fun ever mild,
A fp'uit of kindnefsand friendftiip Hncere,
Transform to an Eden your defarts so wild,
And sympathy only occasion a tear.
When your'e gone far away,
Oh! remember the day,
When here joy and harmony mingled their pow'rs,
To keep np the fame
Of St. Andrew's name,
And cmbelliQi'd his shrine with a chaplet of flowers.
* fieri lit Chkf anJ the PoetJhwh hands with great corJiility, and
the members prrfytt participated Uartilf in (Ji; exchange ijjfiendiy
Jer.tinents. ,'
And t,o be fold by THOMAS ALLEN, Queen-Street, cornet of
Fly-Market,
A COLLECTION O?
ESSAYS AND FUGITIVE WRITINGS,
On various fuhje£ta.
Bly Noah Wj-BSTer, Jun.
The Mail Diligence,
FOR PHILADELPHIA,
LEAVES the Ferry-Stairs, at New-York, Ten minutes after
Eight o'clock every morning cxccpt Sunday.
Stage Ojfice, City Tai )
Bioad-vl'ay, New-York Junes, 1790. >
James F. Sebor, and Co.
Have removed from No. sq, to No. 187, Water-Street, near the
WHERE they negociate all li,inds ofPUBLICK
SECURITIES-BILLS OP EXCHANGE. &c. as ofutk
Ktw-Yirt, Afri[S, 1790. -tf.
564
s SONC.
This day publijhed,
Fly-Market,
MASSACHUSETTS STATE LOTTERY.
THE Managers as the STATE LOTTERY, the p„V.lrc
jvith the hirst C'afs of the Maffafhujetls femi-anmul State Let
liry,which will commence drawing in iheßeprcjentativfs' Ckairkr,
in Bolton, on the Stvt ntetnth of March next, or ftonct, if the
Tickets (hall be disposed of,
SCHEME.
NOT TWO BLANKS TO A PRIZE;
35,00q Tickets, at Five Dollarj each, are
>35,000 DolUrtf to be paid in the following Prizes, (übjeftioj
deduction of twelve and an ha!J per ctnt. for the use of the Com.
. mopwcalth.
Prizes. Dollars.
1 of iooop
2 30QO
3 2000
6 10Q3
10 .500
3« a co
8Q iqo
99 50
100 4°
120 30
161 20
soo 10
®
BjBB Prizes.
16612 Blauks.
15009.
(pT TICKETS Rity le had of the fe»er*l wtw.iriU
pay the Prizes en 4tm*ni-~pi the TREASUIIEjt ofthe Coinfn*
wealth—of JAMES WHlft. Jt hi»flookJ{a»«, frtnkli»%M^d t
Court-Street, >nd at odier places arufu^l.
BENJAMIN AUSttN, iuo.-J
DAVIU COJJB, I
SAMUEL CQOfER, > Mimors.
GEORGE R, MINQTj I
JOHN KNEEJ,ANJ>, j
&<s<>*, Jut) aB, 8790.
TREASURY QEFJRTMkN'f.
\JFtmFNT. "
J u h '3- '79°-
NOTICE if hereby given, that Proposals will be received at theojfy
of the Secretary pj the Treajury, to thefirjl day cjOflobcr next in.
cluJtve K for the [apply cj all rations, which ma\be requiredJor the ufeof
the United Stites, from tit JirJl dayaj January to the thirty firjl day of
December 1791, both days indujivc, at the places t and within the diflrias
herein after mentioned, viz.
At any place or places»l/etiuitt Yorktown in the Jlate of PennfylvatU t
and Fort Pitt and a( Fqrt Pi(t,
At any place or places, betwixt Fort Pitt and $orl M'Jntofa an tk
River Ohio, and at Fort M'JntofJi.
At avx place or places, betwixt Fort M'JntoJh and the nouth of the Ri
ver Mufkingum, aviat the mouth oj the River Mufkwgum.
At any pace or places, hetwixf the mouth oj the River Mujkingum,and
up the said River to the fufcarowas, and at the Tufcarowas* and thence
over to the Cayogct River, and down the said River to its nouth.
A( any place or places * betwixt the mou{h of the river Mujkingum, and
the mouth of the Scioto River, and at th,e mouth oj thefaid River Scioto.
At cyiy place or places, betwixt the month of Saoto River, and the rroulh
of the greu{ Mtami at the mouth ofthe great Miami, and front tlence t$
the Rapids, on the Fulls oj the OJ io 9 and at thefaid Ropias.
At an \ place or places, betwixt the moifth of tin great Miami, ui the
fi4id Miami, to and at Pique town, and thence over to the Miami tillage,
on the river of the fime name which empties into Lake Erie.
At any place or places from the rapiJs of the Oho, totki mouth oftke
Wabafk, thence up the faiJ Wabafh to Pofl St. Vincennes, at Pnft St. Vin
j cennfi y and thence up tje said river Wabrfh, toihe Miami Village, be
fore defer ibed,
M any place or places, from the mouth of the Wabafh river to the month
of the liver Ohio.
At any place or plates, on the eafl fide of the river from the
mouth vftrte 6hio river, to the mouth of the Illinois river.
At anyplace or places, from the mouth of the Miani river to the Miami
Village.
At any place or places, from the Miami Village to Sandfly, tnd at
Sandufky, and front Sandufky to the mouth of Caxoga river.
At any place or places, betwixt Fort Pitt aud & enango, and at Vcnangc.
At any place or placcs, betwixt Venango and Le Beuf and at he Beuf
betwixt Le Beuf and and PreJq'lfle, at Prefq % Jfle, and, betwixt Pnfy
Jfle and the mouth ofCayoga river.
At the mouth of Lsyoga river, and at ajiy place or places, »n the rout
from Fort Pitt, to the mouth of Caytga river, by the of Big HtaxO
creek.
At any place or places, on the eafl fide of the Mijifppi, cetwa. m
mouth of the Ohio andthe river Margot inclufivejy.
At an y place or placu,from the said river Margoi, to the rivtrlami
inclufiv&ty.
At any place or placesfrom the mouth of the rivtrTennefee, toOcomf
po or Bear creek, on the said river inclujtiiely. .
Should any rations be required at any places, or within olntr dijiri is
not fbeeified in these propojals, the price of the fume to be hcreajter tgrttt
on, betwixj the public and. the contraflor. .
The rations to be supplied are to confifl of the fallowing OfticlUi V,J -
One pound oj bread orflour,
One pound vf beef, or J of a pound of pork^
Half a jill of rum, brandy or whisk y.
One quart of fait, }
TwoMrtpjy war, ( too rations,
/ wo founds ofJoap y
One pound oj Candles, j'rij , „
Theprofiifiils mujl fptcify Ike IctetJ 1 firtse per nation.
q mred. J Alexander Hamilton,
Secretary of the Trralurv. __
Hj Vr'dcr oj the Jrivnoruoie Jiuhard Morris, .1 u J lnt % "
State of New-York. ..
NOTICE is hereby given to Lewis M'Donjld,of Cono®
an abGent debtor, that upon application and due P V
td the laid chief by a creditor of the said Lewis Jo
pursuant to an act. of the Legislature of tl>e said State, err
14 An ast for relief against, abfeonding and ablent debtors, p
fed the 4th April, 1786; he, the said chief justice, has if .
all the said Lewis M'Donald* tftatp, withia this State, to J
ed, and that unless lie fliall discharge his debts wlt
months alter the publication ot this notice, the fame wi
| for the payment of his creditors. Djted the 3d M»y» 1 *
Neui-York, May 7, 1790.
§ CONTINENTAL
§ STATE SECURITIES'
BOUCHT AND SOLD,
& T NO. 196. WATSR-STREET.
r A generous price will be given for Military Rightsof
§ and Jerfly Paper Money. *9 +
'- <9 7 yCtvini b £l
9CT A large imprtffion of this paper kcK
ft ruck off from the commencement ot tr:c J ~
April 14. —Thofc -who incline to become J" J ,
from that period, may be jurnijhed with t c
complecrt.
'itig Prizi-s, (übjtftioj
>r the use of the Com.
fiolltrr.
'» 1000»
arc gooo
6oq»
6009
5000
600*
8000
400#
3600
3«>»
9009
Mitt
■W(«*
IijOOO