O CONGRESS. PHILADELPHIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, TUESDAY, January io> i 79 2 - Petition oj Catharine Greene, Widow oj the late General Greene. ON motion of Gen. Wayne, the Houle went into committee of the whole, Mr. W. Smith in the chair ; the report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the petition of Catharine Greene, widow of the late major general Greene, being under conlideratioti. The objedt of the petition is to obtain an in demnification from the United States against cer tain engagements which were entered into by her husband, the deceased major-general Natha niel Greene, while commanding officer in the fouiliern department ; and for the circuniftances on which it is founded, refers to a representati on of the 22d August, 1785, which was then made by the laid General Greene to the United States in Congress aUembled. The petition is accompanied by a number of vouchers, arranged in alphabetical order by the Secretary of the Treasury in his report - from all which he draws the following conclusion— " That Itrong and extraordinary motives ot na tional gratitude for the very lignal and impor tant services rendered by Genera! Greene to his country, serve to give a keener sting to the regret, which ought ever to attend the necessity of a ftricft adherence to claims of public policy, in opposition to claims founded on ufeful a<fts of zeal for the public service, if no means of pro tecting from indigence and penury, the family of that molt meritorious officer, shall, upon exa mination. be found adinifHble." Genera] Wajne rose to give his reasons for fuppovting the petition.— Mr. Chairman—lt may not be improper to mention tlie motives that i ill pel me to vvifh a for tunate issue, in favor of the claim now under con iideration of this committee, which I mull alio offer as an apology for the part I have taken, or that I may eventually take in support of theclaiin. Fronvniy firft interview with General Greene, until the moment of his diflolution, we always lived in the ftri<3efl habits of friendfhipand con fidence—He was an officer with whom 1 had par ticipated of almost every vicissitude of fortune (in many a well tried field) from the frozen yva ters of the north, to the bwrning sands of the south—He was a man whose virtues and talents I knew and revered—his noble foul would have revolted at the Idea of iuipofiticui—he never would have offered in a claim to Congress, but upon the purest principles of honor and justice. I was a witness to the pressing necessity that com pelled him to become the surety, for which in demnity is now claimed —he did what I would liave done (as second in command) had he been absent at th,at trying crisis.—The claim I know tobejuft—and I am decidedly of opinion that he was into that security from the situa tion in he was placed by Congress, as commander in chief of the southern department —Under these impressions, I beg leave to submit to the confederation of this committee the fuitof resolutions now in my hand—and doubt not of their concurrent support.— Refohed, as the opinion of this committee, that the ellate of the late inajorr-gsneral Natlia niel Greene ought to be indemnified for and on account of the engagements entered into by that General with certain persons in the state of South Carolina, fpr the purpose of obtaining supplies for the American army, in the year 1783, and that ( be granted to the executors of the ef rate of the late major-general Nathaniel Greene, for that purpose. Resolved, That a committee be appointed to . bring in a bill in conformity to the foregoing resolution. Mr. Boudinot (aid, there was no greater friend to the memory of general Greene than he was, nor any person inos e anxious to have justice done to his widow and family ; but he was apprehen sive that the resolution proposed by the worthy gentleman who had fit It brought forward this bu ftnefs was not drawn up in such a maimer as to insure it a paflage through both Houses of Con grels. He wished therefore that it fliould be so expressed as to prevent any tedious difcuflion, and at the tame time do ample justice. The re port of the Secretary of the Treasury puts the fubje<ft on the belt footing. The motives which led him to make the contract were, firft, the pub lic good ; and perhaps secondly to serve his friend Mr. Burnett, because he was his aid-du canip, and he wished to put him in the way of being established in business after the war ; but Mr.Burnett was never in any other way connect ed with general Greene, rhan as a young man brought up in the family, whom he wished to pa tronize. _ After a few other observations, Mr. Boudinot moved to strikeout the preamble of the resoluti on proposed by general Wayne, and to adopt words nearly in substance as follows : Resolved, That it is becoming the dignity of Congress to make compenfatiton for the widow and orphans of the late major-gen«ral Greene, who so gloriously served his country ; and that they be indemnified for the loss which his estate is likely to fuitain by his having entered into certain bonds for supplying the southern army with rations and at a time when they were threatening to disperse. Mr.Findley obferved,that 011 the question as it is now dated, the com mittee have a choice of three alternatives ; the claim may be rejected, a pen sion or gratuity may be granted to the amount, or the claim of the petition may be granted as a matter of right, upon the footing of its own me rits by a special law, as all anthorifed claims which Congress grant are given : claims for which the Handing latys are competent, do not come before us. lam in favor of the last alter native. lam against rejecting the petition, be cause as the facts are stated in the report of the Sefcretary of the Treasury, general Greene put ting himfelf in this situation of risk, was from the 1110 ft public spirited motive : it was to sup port the public interest at a most important crilis, when the well being, if not the exiltence of the southern army was at ltake, as well as the secu rity of the inhabitants. If a commander in chief of an army may be ruined in his private affairs, by making an unauthorised exertion to save his army or his country, the precedent may be dan gerous ; it may teach commanders lelfons of pru dence, which may have ruinous effects : it is true, the neceflity of the cafe mult be such as will juftify the unauthorised ineafur e ; from the re port, this appears to have been the cafe in the subject of the present debate. From the whole state of fa<sts before us,genera!Greene appears not to have had his own interest in view in this tranf aiftion, if the proof of this only lay between Banks and him. The eftabliihed character of general Greene, not only as an officer, but as a man of integrity and public spirit, certainly can not fink when lain in the balance with thefecret insinuation of an unprincipled speculator.—Such has been jny s own opinion of general Green's cha racter, that 1 would certainly require other proofs than this before I would even indulge fuf picicions : but it does not reft upon this ; we have Banks's own testimony to the contrary, and his partner, and we know it would have been the interest of Banks and Co. to have made the contrary appear ; nay we have such a cloud of witnelfes, all concurring to the fame point, as appears fufficient to remove doubts from ilie most scrupulous mind. Unauthorised accounts are admitted in settlements between the United States and the individuals States, upon the prin ciples of equity. 1 consider this as a cafe of the fame nature, and will vote for ic agreeably to this precedent. 1 consider granting the prayer of the petition in this manner as an act of jus tice, not only to his estate, but to the memory of his character. But I object to granting the re lief in the indirect way of a pension ; it is not so lafe to the public, nor so honorable to the heirs of general Greene. To the public It is highly dangerous as a precedent ; it will operate as an opening wedge to other claims without li mitation. Few indeed can havean unauthorised though just claim as commanders in chief of an army reduced to such a dilemma as originated the present quellion : but merit and distress are not confined to commanders alone—they are to be found in every rank of citizens. The strug gles during the late revolution produced abun dance of merit : we cannot look around in this house, nor in any large collection of citizens, but what our eye meets with those who have claims of merit : we can scarcely be acquainted in any neighborhood, but we must be acquainted with such as have been reduced to diltrefs by their meritorious exertions, either in the camp, in the cabinet, or by granting supplies. How many who have aided the public with their sub stance, have been obliged to part with the evi dences of their meritorious claims for a tempo rary relief. Many of the aged, many widows and orphans, to my knowledge, labor in penury, and mourn in secret, on the account of such me ritorious aids not being recompenced when it ought ; though this was owing to the public misfortune, yet the merit and fufferings were not Ihe less. lam very sensible of the great merit of general Greene ; ic is so well known and so generally acknowledged on all hands, as (to render it improper for me to enlarge thereon. But superior as his merit was, if we grant a pen sion or relief not founded on a just claim, merit 322 of a lower order must be also aduiitted—there is no distinguishing the shades. I have heard of claims on the footing of merit brought before Congress, supported by fach ar guments as would induce aftrangerto think that nearly all the merit of accomplishing the revo lution was centered in the claimant. If merit is to be rewarded by pensions, we fhallfoon have claimants in abundance—ln the exercise of f u . preme command difficulties often arise which render exertions neceflary, for which general rules cannot be provided ; these have beeirgene rally treated as objetfts of indemnification. Ma ny claims are now before ; they are va rious in their nature, and no doubt a'number of them will be admitted : but froin every view I have taken of the claim before us, I think it as strongly addrefles our justice and sympathy as any of them. Gen. Wayne thought it necessary to make Pome obfer ' ; upon what had fallen from the gentle i his right (Mr. I'oud ot)—J_ n order to p' ' ufiuefs in a proper point of view, he !• ■«£ r qiention certain cir cumstances j cviou evacuation of'Charlef ton. Some of the fir> chat idlergift Souih-Caro lina obtained a flag from General Greene to meet a deputation i . erchan; an.: otl •s, uler a flag from t' e ■.:h lines— thofemer '~n! s were anxious to re:* tit < a:mj, << . t pur pole of difpofin tli stock in ti.... - ! wifli ed for a r< 10 tranfaift that business; this indulgence was readily granted, for it was thought an object of consequence to retain sup plies for the use of the country as well as for the army ; and they were permitted to continue in the place for the space of twelve Months after the abandonment Ihould take effect. Alfurances were also given them for the inviolable protec tion of their persons and property for that pe riod. Thus fancftioned they were probably in duced to speculate upon such ftoresasthe Britifli army could spare (for that army was redundantf ly lupplied) whillt the Americans were experi encing almost every polfible distress for want of the common necellaries of life. About this time hopes were entertained of the speedy appearance of a superior water force from the French Weft- Indies, to that of the Britilh ; and the operating army under my command was advanced to the quarter-house, in a pofliion to prevent the ene my from embarking with impunity, and to pro tect the town and its inhabitants from depreda tion and insult ; this manoeuvre had the delired efFe<fl—it created a jealousy in the Biitilh gene ral for the fafety of his rear, and general Leslie was in a manner compelled to come into a con vention, more resembling a capitulatitn, than an abandonment, for he was under the neceflity to " agree not to commit any insult upon the in habitants, or depredation on their property, or damage to the city, at or after his embarkation. The word after caused some demur, but it was infilled upon and complied with, in consequence of the orders LUad previoully received from ge neral Greene—a measure which at once afforded security to the inhabitants, and a flattering pros pect of full supplies, as well for the citizens as for the army. The gentleman (Mr. Boudinot) fays—how are we to diltinguith between the articles and neces saries that were acflualiy made use ot by the ar my, and of the other goods purclialed ot the Bri tith merchants ? This may be fully answered and explained, by mentioning this facft—that those merchants took advantage, of their situation, and would not clif pofc of any article suitable for the army, unlets their whols Jlock were purchased together, having but twelve months to dispose of their goods and col lect their debts—nor could the neceflary articles be obtained at the point of the bayonet, as the merchants were protected by a compact ma e utider the faniftion of a flag. Nor would ihey trull the contractor Bank;, with their propeity, unless general Greene became his lecurity ; ) which act, in their opinion, the United States would be bound in honor to fulfil a contia made by their commanding officer ; nor did ge neral Greene come into the nieafure until com pelled by dire neceflity, to prevent a mutiny an diflolution of the army, And fucli was -the ex lianlted situation of the country in the vicinity of Charleston, that the executive and the leg' l lature found it expedient to fend a didance int<j the country to obtain supplies for tliemfel* cs an the refugee families who were returning to 1 "* city after the evacuation —in fact we were un e the neceflity of taking part of this very pi o\ i io"» to prevent an instantaneous revolt. But the gentleman ( Mr. Boudinot) fa Js t> general Greene's private friendtbip t>r !Tia J Burnett, who had been his aid-de-catnp, waS peculiar inducement for his entering in' o 11 , security, and that major Burnett had mortgag an itland to general Greene as a collateia e "i'his indeed was an aeft of private frien i 'P but it was a subsequent tranfadUon, and no * connected with the former,, nor is it among
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