rolina, and prior to the ilate of his letters, he
was furnifhed with the moll indubitable aiul per
fect information, reliitiv e to ihe strength of the
enemy, and the support he might depend upon
jn men and relources ; and this infotniauon was
founded on experiment and actual obie;vation,
made on llic fpoc by inylelf and hundreds of o
thers palfing through the whole country, viliting
almolt every pelt, and immediately under my
command, and communicated by letters as well
as personal information from officers of conlide
ration and diftintftion, sent for thatpurpofe,who
are at this day living and well acquainted with
the facfts ; ready to vouch, that the lupport giv
en, far exceeded any thing that was promised to
General Greene, provided that he would return
(o South-Carolina.
In the fame letter it is also afi'erted, that there
were but very few militia in the field, thole not
to be depended upon, having it in view rather
to plunder and accumulate the inileries and dif
trelles of the country,than to giveany lupport to
the independence ot the United States: and a
gain, that we were contending with more than
five times our number, and amonglt a people
much more in the enemy's interest than our's, &
that the Hate mud and will inevitably fall with
out the immediate afiiltance of foreign aid—that
he has it only in his power to keep up appear
ances, without the profpeft or hope of luccefs.
In opposition to this account of the itate of af
fairs, Gen. Sumpter laid, that so far from the
numbers of the enemy being five times greatej',
or that the people of the country were more in
their interelf than ours, or that they were lo
infamoully disposed ; he would take upon him
to declare that the reverse was the faift ; and
that the account above stated was not founded in
truth. It is a notorious faift, that the greatest
collected force of the Britilh at Cambden, was
not more than a thousand effective men,or twelve
hundred going to the extent ; and iuch was the
situation of that poll: that no aid or alliftance
from any direction could be given, all their other
ports, in the interior part of the ftaie, being at
that time invelled. Againlt this force we had
then collected in the vicinity of Cambden more
than 3500 effective men, well appointed and molt
happily disposed for attacking or cutting off Lord
Rawdon's retreat to Charleston, which could
have been, and ought to have been effected. This,
Mi". Chairman, must prove that the number of
militia was very refpecftable, and constituted by
far the greatest and molt efficient force for that
particular service. Shall fnch abuse then be i'uf
fered to remain j on the characters of (o
great a number of rel'peiftable and patriotic citi
zens ? Who put themselves under the command
of Marion and Sumpter, and who, under every
disadvantage, in a country over run by a power
ful foe, unsupported, unprotetfed by their own
government, unknown or unattended to by the
general government, thus fubjecft to every incon
venience or difcouragemem, and only supported
by their own zeal and pan iorifm, and by a sense
of love and duty to their country.
1 fay, Sir, that under all these unfavorable cir
comftauces, the citizens of that country did af
fenible, and equip theinfelves, either at their own
expence, or by the importance of their services,
and continued their unremitting exertions, for
more than ten months preceding the date of the
letreis : they were separated from their families
and connections, doomed and obliged to subsist
on what could be obtained within the enemy's
lines. How then can the accounts given in the
letters, just quoted, be reconciled with these
fads ! Are fncli men to be traduced and calum
niated in a stile that would dishonor ruffians >
The very communications of' Congrtfs, offering thanks
to the Militia, were f'/pp' [fed, when even those ac
knowledgements would have been grateful and ani
mating to them. The extraordinary exertions
made by the North-Carolina militia, of which
Gen. Sumpter said he was a witness, entitled
them to the approbation and thanks oft heir coun
try, and not to such inveiftives and afpei fions as
are lavished in those letters.
Ave these to be the rewards of merit and he
roism, for l ilks and lofles, for services and facri
sices of property and life, for exposing themfclves
to every danger, and withholding nothing that
cotild promote the public interefl ? Is this can
dor, Mr. Chairman, to traduce such characters ?
or is it not calumny, involving every epithet of
the blacked opprobrium ?
Having thus far dated the circumstances, and
compared them with the misftatemenis communi
cated by Gen. Greene in the letters alluded to,
Gen. Sumpter concluded by faying, that if the
committee should be of opinion, that the proofs
he had now brought forward were fatfts to be
relied on, they mull operate as evidence to inva
lidate other communications from the fame source
and authority, and verify his firlt aflertion, that
thofc letters do not contain a true ftaretne'nt of
the situation of public affairs at the time thev
Here Written.
CONGRESS.
PHILADELPHIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
FRIDAY, February 3, 179 2 *
In committee of the whole, on the bifl)ery Bill.
[CONTI NUED.3
MR. GERRY having moved to strike out the
words " bounty allowed" in order to in
ferc " allowance made" by' way of accommoda-
tion,
Mr. Murray observed, that the queflion was,
whether a bounty (hould be given lor the encou
ragement of the filhery : the amendment pro
posed by the gentleman from Maflachufetts ( Mr.
Gerry) did not alter the principle—it was (till
" the old cockek hat" on the one hand, and on the
other, " the cocked old hat the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Kitzfimons) had alferted, that
Congress have a right to alter "the drawbacks,
and allow them in any other mode, by which the
citizens may receive back their own money : but
this is not a cafe of that nature ; for the bill fays,
" in cafe the monies appropriated (for th: payment
of the duties) (hall be inadequate, the deficiency
fliall be supplied from the treasury here the
treasury is pledged for the payment of the boun
ties ; and the question is, not on the principle of
changing the drawback, but the giving encou
ragement to a particular branch, at the expense
of the community at large.
Mr. Barnwell observed (among other things)
that those who are bell acquainted with the filh
eries, look on the proposed mode of encourage
ment as the belt ; and that they ought to be al
lowed to use the gifts of the public in the molt
advantageous mauner :—that, if he were him
lelf concerned in the cultivation of any particu
lar commodity, fcr the encouragement of which
a sum were granted, he would be much surprised
to meet a refufal, in cafe he should come for
ward, and propose some more effectual mode of
applying that grant :—that even if the bounties
should happen to exceed the drawbacks, by 8 or
10 thoufond dollars, the number of seamen to be
maintained would be well worth that sum ; —that
whenever the two lioufes of Congress and the
President of the United States are of opinion,
that the general welfare will be promoted by
railing any sum of money, they have an undoubt
ed right to raise it, provided that the taxes be
uniform :—that although it may not at present
be an objecft of great consequence to America to
become a maritime power, yet it is of some im
portance to have constantly at hand a nurferyof
seamen, to furnifh our merchants with the means
of transporting their commodities across the sea ;
that whatever allowance or bounty is granted
upon any particular commodity, must ever be
paid by the whole, for the advantage of a part,
whether it be upon cotton to the southward, up
on filh to the eastward, or upon other commodi
ties in the middle States ; —that, if the people
cannot have so much confidence in their repre
sentatives, as to trust them with the power of
granting bounties, the government must be a
very paltry one indeed. The objecft of the bill,
he said, was only to allow to the fifhermen, in
the manner that would be molt beneficial to them,
the fame sum, that would otherwile be allowed :
—if however, from time and experience, it
should appear that this bounty proved a.i iinpo
fition on government, he would not hesitate to
revoke it.
Mr. Gerry. The State of Maflachufetts asks
nothing more, than equal justice. We do not
come forward, to request favors from the United
States : we only wish, that the fame fyltem, which
is applied to other parts of the union, may be
applied to us. But in examining this queltion,
we wish that gentlemen would not make diltinc
tions, which will not admit of a difference.
The propoled allowance has been called a
bounty 011 occupation, and is said to be very dif
ferent from that encouragement, which is the
incidental result of a general commercial fyltem :
—but in reality it is no bounty :—a bounty is a
grant, made without any confidcration whatever,
as an equivalent ; and 1 have no idea of a boun
ty, which admits of receiving from the person,
on whom it is conferred, the amount of what is
granted. We have inipofed a duty on fait, and
thereby draw a certain sum of money from the
fifhermen :—the draw back is, in all inltances,
the amount of the money received :—this is all
we ask ; and we ask it for a set of men, who are
as well entitled to the regard of government, as
any other class of citizens.
It has been supposed, that the allowance, made
to the fifhermen, will amount to a greater sum,
346
than the drawback on the exportation •
fifh : but I think it has been clearly fl )eWn
this will not be the cafe the contrary' ,
presumable, that the drawback on the fifh w u " ld
on the whole exceed the sum, which i, propo
to be allowed to the fifhenuen ; fo..,«i,n M t
UMght be more, fonietimes less.
1 he calculation is made on general principle
and it is lnipoinbie to calculate to a (ingle cent '
the quantity of fait, to be expended on the fi'h"
cannot be minutely ascertained : but this w aj
heretofore conhdered as a fufficient reason whv
Congress flionld refufe to allow the drawback
they allowed it, though in a different fhape-1
It is now proposed to make a further cotmnuta
tion : gentlemen call this a bounty on occupa".
noil but is there any propofitiqn made for
paying to the fifhermen, or other persons con
cerned in the fifhery, any funis, which we have
not previously received from them if this were
the cafe, it would indeed be a bour.ty .-—but if
we beforehand receive from them, as muchas the
allowance amounts to, there is 110 bounty want
ed at all. 0
If however it really was a bounty on occupation
it would after all be only an indulgence similar
to what has been granted to the landed and agri
cultural interest : —we have laid on hempa duty
of 54 cents per hundred weight ; afld on beer,
ale, and porter, five cents per gallon now I
ask gentlemen, wheiher the profefl'ed defi-rn of
those duties was to raise a revenue, ortoprevent
the importation ofthofe articles ? they were laid
for no other purpose, than to prevent foreigners
from importing them, and thereby to encourage
our own manufactures ; and was not that encou
rugement a bounty to the persons concerned in
producing such articles in this country ? If the
duties had not been laid, the importer could fell
much cheaper, than he now can ; and the land
ed interest would be under a necessity of felling
cheaper in proportion. If those prohibitory du
ties operate as a bounty in favor of railing hemp,
and of brewing beer, ale and porter, I alt, whe
ther, if a bounty weie proposed on every quin
tal of fifh, it might not, with the fame propriety,
be granted ? If we have not a right to grant a
bouiiLy in the one cafe, we have as little right
to grant it in the other.
A calculation has been offered, to (hew that
the proposed allowance will exceed the amount
of the present drawbacks, by io,ooo dollars a
year : but that calculation has been proved to be
erroneous : (uppofe however that this was the
facft, what companion is there -between fucb a
tax on the citizens of the United States, wrfthe
tax borne by the citizens of Maflachufetts, for
the defence of the wellern frontier ? A commer
cial war is waged against the American filheriei,
by foreign nations, who lay heavy duties on tbt
American filh, and apply the produce of tbofe
duties in bounties to their own fiOiermen : and
their fifheries being less extensive than ours, the
duty, thus imposed on our fifh, and beftowedin
bounties to their vessels, operate in a two-foM
proportion to the discouragement of our fiflier
men, and the encouragement of theirs.
I wi(h to know on what principle gentlemen
can expect, that the citizens of MalTachufe't*
lhould contribute 200, 0e0 Dollars, or perhaps 1
greater fuin, for the protection ot the welttrn
frontier against the Indians, when no conn in
tion is made to support the commerce of M* 1
chnfetts, which, without this support, will ens
effectually ruined, as if their velfels were captur
ed by an enemy. The principle is catrie- Jl
ther with refpeCi to the protection of the ro "
tier : we have voted large funis as P re ® nis .
the savages, to keep them friends to the ron
settlers : there is however 110 clatife >nt e co
ftitution, that will authorise a nieafure 0
kind : ic is true, indeed, we have a
crulate trade and commerce with .
tribes ; but does that give us a power to re
the United States tributary to the ■
if we make them inch grants eveiy jeai,
not ill fact become tributary to them .
The gentleman from Virginia
that although this plan ot encoui a g ul £ . oH
lies, may be wife policy in Britain, a* .
all fides surrounded by the sea, yet t
States will not equally find their at . c ° l ! is,
filing the fame plan. The Hate o j;fferent
in point of exposure from the f MaHachofetts:
ly circumstanced from the (late of* s o[ -
we have a vast extent of count' y, 4) » _ to wns
sea const, exposed : the citizens 0 a oC .
along the coalV are obliged to pu> s not
cupations ; and I hope the gf nt '^ olltf d,.i*
wifli that the country (hould be dep p D
the inhabitants driven off to fettle the
teri i r ory. , . Qr .nilv circo" 1 "
The itate of Virginia is ver; h PI •
ftanced with refpetf to a mar ' n< \ jj pretty I ''
such an event take place, j >at coa 6^ c!
cure from depredations : but >' |iicbn stir» » r f
how much the inhabitants of oUg htt° lo °
exposed in a cafe of that kin .' for [he jr tie
forward, and make iome pi'^ eS pc&, ib
fence they have as good a r. c .