€>m»< A NATIONAL PAPtR, PUBLISHED WhDNfcSDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNO, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, PHILADEI PHIA [No. 38, of Vol. IV.] Wednesday, October 10. 1792. f „ & GAZETTE of the UNITED STATIS THE H-fcJPUBUCAN.— No. 11. SOME reronlfi were made in a preceding paper to rtiew that tire bai.k and finding fyfUms hive no greater tendency than any other property 10 (life up great men to the prejudice of the equal „2huol the citizens 11 is adinutea that by tac,. „ade and ioduArv in almost all their ope rations, those la ws will haficu the perird when w? fhali become a wealthy nation. Induflry, if h had been left under the disadvantages which it fuff-rrd before the adoption of the prefer.! happy confiitutioo, woslf mike progress towards the (ame po.ni, and at US it >> »«y probable, fupponng the country not to fall into, contusion for w»m of inefficient government, it would rezcb it. No person howtytr «••• cer.fure Ibofc aftj for their known uidz-xperienccd tendency to increase the wraith of the coi ; "y. The acculation, if it has any good teofe in it, znj(l be undfrftood to mean Il'jt the wealth gained will he possessed too uni ci'lly. Tne former publication was iotended to prove ibat the laws could not have been intended to produce that effefl—and that even if it (hauld so happen,the increase of other property, the in crease of know 1 dge, and the equal mode of diltfi but ng eflates, would afforjl a Ipeedy and eficSual jenjedy. On an impartial view of the United States, no man will deny that the landed interefl maintains its ancient preponderance; nor will he pretend that the value to which the public (locks have Tifen, wi'.l diminidi it. The debt is not increaftng, but is dimniifbing daily, and the time of its ex tins;ui(hrftent need not be far removed. The a mount of the bank itock is also fixed, and is to the landed property as a drop in the ocean. The landed interell, on the contrary, has thousands of hands yearly imported to increase us impoitance. Some hundred thousand acres are added every year 10 the cultivation of our country. Look at the late enumeration, and fee how tew live in cities compared wiih those in the country ; and while (he cities increase ten, the country »ains a thou- sand. On this general view ot the fubjeft, a man may be convinced that there is no overruling mo oied icfluence railed up to govern the landed, as those writers have inlinuated, whose purpose it is to set one part of the people against another. It is obvious these are merely hints to lead the mind to the facts and arguments by which one 1 might exped to refute the artful and mifefcievous publications which have been made against the bank and funding atts. Another complaint is, that the fame mm, who are laid to plot against equal liberty, and who rely on these systems as a principal part ot their strength, iontri\cd to benefit the middle and eaAern ftatcb to the prejudice of the southern. This charge is not coß&tent with itfelf, Surely the plotters would be fool* indeed to make the powerful southern states, in the very outset of their scheme, their oppofers. If the public paper is pofleffed in a less degree at the southward than in other parts, every Teal friend of the Union will Tegret that it is not more diffufed among the inhabitants of the whole country. It is a misfortune to the govern ment, that in pursuing the g neral laws ot jufbee, they lhaU leem to have local intercfts in view, as if furiufhes calumnv a oretext for its inventive*. But v»iihout exercising a worse tyranny, and prac ticing more local partiality than pvfcq the acculers complain of, the government could no- have pre vented the fou'thei n tran fers of their Hock. It was ou: of the power of Congress to hinder men from uiing their own according to their pleasure. It ibe Uws in question (land vindicated against the charge of producing a dangerous inequality of property and influence, is there any thing in them to impair the republican equality o? rights. It is the boast and the prote&ion of a f r ec peo ple, that the laws are g.cncr(Li rules ot action pre ferred by the iuprcme authority of the nation, ft u ihe reproach anid the curse of fLves, (hat; what are called laws are arbitrary edi£is or dpcrccs made io fuu the special cafe. Th< y aie no: gene ral rules which will not bcqd to tavor particular men—out each edj£l is an cxccption trom thofe lules, and the a& of applying the remedy seems to deitroy irs nature, ror general and equal laws place rich and poor on the fame ground, and in ihe very moment of their paflage they pass trom the legislators to tfte'judges, and, effectually strip the fbimer of the means ot dut pguithing friend> from foes. They secure a rigiu impartiality to J government, as they take away the capacity of be ing ufeful to theirfavorites, andvindi&ive towards their adversaries. These are principles which every juryman has been charged to ielpe£t, and has taken an oath to maintain. What is ?he funding system but a ftm ple conformity ot the public condudl wiih its so lemn engagements ? It has pot prefutned to make an arbitrary decree founded on the merit of those who once held, and the demerit of the prcfent holdcrsof the certificates. It has considered the notes as giving rights founded on all the law? and Tefolutions of the'old Congress, and Tight has ap peared to the new Congress as facrcd and intingfc ~le. R'ghi has seemed to them above their own power, and indeed abe>ve any power. Accord ingly, without rrgarcing persons, they adhered to principles— ihey piovidcd for the debt, and predit has risen in coofequence. j But those who pretend to be better friends of liberty than others, would have had Congress give or withhold the- payment of its debts-, according to the refuit of an enquiry into the orcumftauces of the persons claiming the money. An arbitrary diforetion, which uo fixed principles could either interpret or rcflrain, seemed to them preferable it ihe mode which adopted. They would have I hid the original holders receive a part, and the prefem holders another part of the debt—but whe ctier muchorili'tle, »«d 10 what defcriptioti of perfoa* meiit.{V»o v be •, -ana depend on the will er»d pleasure of the government. Will it, be bcluved that men who advocated this arbitrary and impraSicable feneme, are the loudeit in their ctnfures ot Ihe funding aft—as being ar bitrary, miiuit, founded on partiality and tavo rit:{m, and dangeTous to equal republican rights. Let them compare it with their own pioj £t, and if shame can ibll raise a blush on the taces of ve teran party-men, they will be iiient and con founded. If the tillo to an horse or a barrel of corn be iu difput*, it is a noble privilege thai the whole power of our government cannot dtilroy a man's right. The law must have its courle, and it con tents thole who made it. But when filiy or (ixtv millions of property are depending before Con gress, these republicans, as they dare to call them selves, would make a fpoit of the acknowledged right of the poflefTor?. The plighted faith of the nation is nothing. They would not leave the queilions (iho' none really exifl) between oiiginal and present holders to the courts of law, but ihey would havoCongfefs outdo the divan of Constan tinople, and wipe out the contract with a fpunge. There is no occasion to make these obfcrvatious to ihe people of America. They have long been w;?II fettled iti the perfOafiOn of ih'eit truth; But when the tnemiej of government attempt to en flame men's minds in the manner they have done, to retori the charge upon their own propositions, is making them their own accusers—it is con founding them with the words of their own mouths. FOR THE GAZETTE VF THE UN JI ED STATES. A Statement of some ObjcElions to the Adninijlration oj tkt Federal Government. Mr . Flnno, I HAVE observed a long time that your pa per abounds in very uncharitable and severe ftri&ures on those of our citizens who happen to be diffatisfied with either our federal consti tution or the adminiftratiou under it. As to the conjiitution, I remember that whilst it was under deliberation, sundry amendments 1 were proposed ; but since its adoption by all the Jiates, I have heard little complaint, except what is found in various pieccs in your paper, and there ascribed to an uneasy, touchy, quarrel some party, said to be scattered over the union, but which I believe exists no wfcere but in thole pieces. As to t!w adr.iittlftration of the. federal & vernmer.t, I have not heard of more than to' fpcc : i ot" material objections to it—or.e ot whici refpeus the WeJlirn l'erritoiv- It" the population of the frontiers had bee/ :rowded out in doje columns, and every exteriol townlhip or tract of land had been firft filed uttU '"habitants, before the next adjacent laud; hat ieeu ib,d or permitted to be fettled, in thai afe the frontier lettlements would have beei upported by an inherent flrcngth, the xntoads o! enemy would have been difficult and dangerous. md of" course our a-jcnce would have been e.r.y, , eap and effectual; whereas permitting thv ceakfcttlemcnis to be scattered along a vajl/ron ier, rendered them incapable oj defence, wnilft at ;he fame time it made the inroads of the enemy a:y, and in a manner tree of danger. l'erha. s too in our firft treaties n ith the Li lians, we afluined Sovereign and diciatoria lirs, « hich irritated their feciing-:, and held uy •ights and demands totally inadmifiible on theii tart, and which we could not fuppoit on an) eafonable grounds of claim. This lou.ee of discontent and refenttr.cnt uon fermented into allion and injury, and deadly .ninufitias begun to appear both in the Indians .nd our frontier 'isople, and which were every lav more and more inflamed by innumerable nlults, depredation;, murders, and all kinds of irovocation, mutually committed and retaii ited, tiil the whole of our frontier was in a state if general hostility, and tfiade the atten.':or. oi he general government indispensably necessary. Whether the war could have been prevents iv any prudent pacific meal'ures, I dur.'t pretend 0 determine ; but admitting t.ie war to be neiiiable, the mrajum adipted for carrying It on, .ave been thought by fo:ne people to be not very 1 roper. The experience of all North-America inva iably proves, that fighting Indians h regular reefs is no likely way to insure l'uccefs ; 'tis ike uxJertdking to kill flics with a cannon tall, the very wind of which will blow them lwiv v. itl.out hii'ti' g or even touching them. I ihould fuppo e that men long inured to tra -erii ig the wood , who have by habit and usage equired icrength and hardiness fuflicient for ong marches, and are acquainted with every afy method of performing them, and fupport ng t'nemfelves with provisions and ail modes oi .cco.-r.ir.od.v.ion, would be the proper men to ie employed. If men of this character could be encouraged iv proper pay, honours and rewaids, to form hemfelves into voluntary fecieties or compa res, and could be furmfhed with every necet arv accommodation of arms, cloathing and troviiions, from the public flnres, and be per nitted in their own way to ravage the wcads, »r penetrate into the enemies country, -.-- ith lefign and egal to annoy them in every pofTible nanner—l conceive that five hundied men of his caff, and thus accoutred and employed, 149 would take our enemies in their own way, and would ves a»4 dispirit tbe Indians, either in their towns, hunting parties, or military expe- trillions, more than ten times the number formed; into a regular aimy, at twenty tiroes the ex- pence which would be fufficient in this way. It may be objected that this mode of carrying on war would be a difgractful imitation oj Indian Jdvattncfs; but I answer, that however iucon tinent with the generous feelings of our own people, Ikulking parties, bush fighting, premi ums on scalps, gee. &c. may appear, yet I think as the Indians adopt these Javagc modes to our great annoyance— honor and j>*jlice will permit and tht publicJf/ety does require a retaliation on them, and that too in full tale. I coaie now to the second fort or species oi complaint that I have heard against the cotidufl of the federal government under the present constitution, which respects. the funding system, the complainants of this fort have been very scandalously traduced by sundry writers in your paper ; have been held up as inimical to the payment of juff debt?, to the ftipport cf public credit, to national jultice, and honor, as friends to anarchy baseness and confuiion, &:c. and have been called upon with iufolent challenge to step forward and shew their faces, and avow their objections. I here accept iluir challenge, (hew my t'.vce, and avow my objections, and I Conceive that if I was followed by all the citizens of the Union, whose fentiinents are similar to mine, I should lead the grcatcjl army that ever was on any occasion collected in North-America. To lave the writers in your paper the trou ble of misunderstanding me, I will in the most exolicit manner explain what I do, and what I do'not object to, in the funding fyfcem; I will j begin with the negative part of my declaration because that will require the feweft word 1 ;. I ft. I do not object to the payment of the just public debts, and in a manner fully adequate to the contrast, merit or matter out of which the debts originally grew, 2d. I do not objeif to the mode of railing t' e public revenue by an import on imported goods, I only wish that the import might be confined to imported luxuries, or l'uch articles as are ir.oft ly used by the rich, and that the consumptions of the poor may be free of burden as far as may well be, confident with thp ends and uses of tbe tax. Indeed I don't know but I claim that mode of revenue as my original thought or in vention, which I publilhed and explained in my flVwv on free trade and finance in long before any particular mode of general re venue was discussed, or even propofcd in Con gress, which ever came to my knowledge. 3d. I do not object to the institution of banks, but think the bank of the United States an in fringement of the public faith plighted to the bank ofNorth America, and an ungrateful re tribution for the great merit and exertions of that bank for the salvation of our country in the time of its greatest danger and distress. 2d. I now come to the positive part of nij objections to the funding system. I obje& t( the mode of raifmg a revenue by an excise 01 either the produce or manufactures of t ie coun try' —the excifeon home difbilleres i. eludes both the labor is that of our own people, and the lav materials are all, except foreign n;o!afles, tlu produce of the country ; I object to this duty I ft, because the nature of its collection require an authority in the excise officer to enter th< domains of every individual, infpeft his private bufmefs and concerns, and even search his mof: retired apartment', bed rooms and cloiet.— r.nd 2d, because the collection is not only thu irritating, but is alio very expensive ; I am tolc that the collection of the present exciie colt about 12 per cent, be fides all the wrangles aboul it, which are in themfeives ever expensive a: well as pernicious; 3d, because the duty is al p;:id by the poor, especially by the fro . :ier ; e.'p'e v ho are a ufeful Jet of men help to people, cultivate and defend the coun try, but from their situation neccifarily have £ harder lot than tie more inteiior inhabitant 0 and I think it crue- to begrudge them a little whisky of their oh n diHilling to comfort then hearts under all their trials and hard (hips, or tc diminilh their enjoyment by adding expence arc other odious circumstances thereto. But m) greatest objection is more to the difpojal of the money, when it is collected, than to the exill ing mode of aflefling or collecting it—the mo ney when collected from the labors of the peo pie, is given by the funding system, not to the fljfn who originally earned it, not to the men tc whom the public faith was plighted ever ar.d ovei again, net to men who contributing their JubJlana ar.dfeivicrjy saved our country saved us all in th< (Ene of deepest distress—but by this fatal fyfteii a title is given $nd payments actually made o: an immense treaf tire —the cUcr earnings of tbe forementioned Patriots, rot to them, I fay, bul to a parcel of Jpeculators who never earned a (hil ling of it, or paia any adequate compenlation foi it, or even set up any kind of t tie to it, ground-j ed either on their merit, earnings, Jervices, or any purcbafe for valuable considerations paid, but they claim and receive it under a most ex travagant fouftruction of an oid rule of h.w, jlra>r,cd) a>id stretched far beyond every reafonon which the lav." ever was and is now grounded. The following isa plain ftafccr.ientof thefa<s\s which I offer in the face of all the v or!d, and challenge aU your writers, and every body eife, o deny or controvert thcCi if tr»ey [Whole No. 360.] I ft, The pn')lic faith was plighted in most fbtemn x a'/ner to the erijrrntt! public creditor* for the payment of such iupplies acd fervicesas rendered to tt» 2d, In the settlement of" ttt»f the ballance-; due to the© weie adjuftec!, ascertain- Ed and recorded Sfi the public books, where they (land open to infpe&ion f t this Hay. 3d, When their refpernve baflarces became due, they were no oti.erwife paid than by depre- ciated certificates, -vorth at their current ex- change about 2/6 in the pound, which ought to be debited to their accounts, and the reraainixsg ballance, paid in good xnone}: tdr public bills oV paper credit are ever to be valued at their ex- change, and no mare, and all nations »egociate them in that way alone. But, 4th, The funding fyftejn phghts tic public faith for the payment of the whole origi nal debt, to the holdsrs of the certificates, molt I of which have been fold for a trifle by the origi nal holders, and are notv.found in the bands of purchasers, who never earned the money or paid any adequate conf-dsratioa for it, bat are entitled by this system to receive it all. This, besides injufiice, ingratitude, and vio lation of public faith plighted to the real credi- tors, involves nrfchiets and brings on confe j quinces very hurtful to the prosperity of the nation. I. Payment t# t!te reft! ori(u»»t creditors wooid have been an of jufixe, aod fonie «4«- ritict to ntany worthy citirtns, who have long fußered by the poMic deficiency—wofciid haw animated their ir.dvjiry, and in very many in- fiances delivered thein from aiflual dependence for a support either on abjed fcrvitude, or the charity of their neighbors;—whereas payment of the fame monies to the speculators, raises a few men to sudden wealth, which they never earned, and which, as they are not qualified by habit or education to erjoy properly, does them more harm than good. This, as far as it goes, acevnu/ates the money of the country in" a few ulelefs hands, and at the lame time Jeiiens that diffufive circulation which would animate the ir.duftrv and increase the wealth and happiness. of the people jji gene* nfl through the nation. 2. As Congress fat at New-York when the funding fydem was under difcufTion, the specu lators the c and in the catched the secret of that magical logic—which v. as to turn 2/6 into 20/. and diligently improved the preci ous moment, and sent off large orders to the southern dates for buying iimnenfe quantities :>f certificates, for the trifle which was then :heir current value; and when trey brought :hem to the northward, the funding fydem made them all payable to the holders there—so that he northern people will receive all the cash for hem, whild the burden of railing the money vill press equally hard on the southern as on the lorthern dates. This, in effect, will make the southern dates n a manner tributary to the people cf the r.or hern dates in a large sum of annual intered ; Ind as this mud continue as long as the fydem ad?, it becomes a serious matter, big with con equences hurtful enough both to the union ard o the southern people, and obvious enough to ender a prophetical detail unnecelTary here. 3. As our 6 per cents and other funds are let it an higher intered than can be obtained tor aoney loaned in Europe. Very great purchafcs iave been made by Europeans in our fund?, ind they have remitted vad sums of money for hat purpole, which has made money, and con cqr.ently luxury, extremely plenty with us a-t ►resent—and this biejjed pUnty of money is by ome people with great pout aligned as one of he bluffed effe&s of the funding fydem ; that it s a natural cjfcfl of that fydem, I readily admit; nit as to the blejfedneji of it, we (hall be better ible to judge a little while hence, when our rountry comes to be drained of its cash in vast ums, which mud be sent out of it (never to leturt) o pay the yearly intered of the iinmenfe re mittances which we row receive, together v, ith hat of our public foreign loans. This country has never yet experienced a Irain of its cash by exportation of it abroad, vithout receiving remittances cf value either irevions or subsequent to the fending it away, mpertations of goods from abroad, have foine imes exceeded the resources cf the country,and nacie calh somewhat But the final loss lid not all red on the country—much of it fell »n the foreign merchants, by the bankruptcy of heir correspondents here. We caDnot yet well udge how great the blcjjedntji ct these effects nay be, but I have had one taste of them, which las quite cloyed my appetite, flnce which I have iot had a wish for a repetition cf the blefling. }ne thinn. we kno>v by experience,, that when terling b\l! r . ri'e above 75 per cent. it will be he intered, a> d of course the practice of people vho have remittances to make to Europe, to end away cash rather than bills, in which cafe he real money will go out of the country per laps fafter than it now comes in. In fine, if hefe fatts and observations are tru# and weil ounded, they deserve the prions attention of very man.—lf other wife, any man who will lilprove them, will give me fir.cere pleasure, ind relieve me from many painful anxious feel ngs. If any one desires my true name, he fyatl iave it ; I am not afnamed of it—but I believe am fufficiantly known by my old denature. A Citizen of Philadelphia-
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