The writings of James Madison, comprising his public papers and his private correspondence, including numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed. |
The writings of James Madison, | ||
WEDNESDAY FEBRY. 5 & THURSDAY, FEBY. 6.
In order to decide the rule of voting in a Come. of the whole,
before Congrs. should go into the said Come., Mr. Bland moved
that the rule sd. be to vote by States, & the majority of States in
Come. to decide. Mr. Wilson moved to postpone Mr. Bs. motion
in order to resolve that the rule be to vote by States and according
to the same rules which govern Congress; as this gen1. question
was connected in the minds of members with the particular
question to which it was to be immediately applied. The motion
for postponing was negatived, Chiefly by the Eastern States. A
division of the question on Mr. Bland's motion was then called
for & the first part was agreed to as on the Journal. The latter
clause, to wit, a majority to decide, was negatived; so nothing
as to the main point was determined. In this uncertainty Mr.
Osgood proposed that Congrs. should resolve itself into a Come. of
the whole. Mr. Carroll as chairman observed that as the same
him how to proceed. Mr. Hamilton proposed that the latter clause
of Mr. Bland's motion shd. be reconsidered and agreed to wrong as
it was, rather than have no rule at all. In opposition to which it
was sd. that there was no more reason why one & that not the
minor side sd. wholly yield to the inflexibility of the other yn. vice
versa; and that if they sd. be willing to yield on the present occasion,
it wd. be better to do it tacitly, than to saddle themselves
with an express & perpetual rule which they judged improper.
This expedient was assented to and Congress accordingly went
into a Committee of the Whole.
The points arising on the several amendmts. proposed were 1st.
the period beyond wch. the rule of the first valuation sd. not be in
force, on this point Mr. Collins proposed 5 years, Mr. Bland
10 years, Mr. Boudinot 7 years, N. Jersey havg. instructed her
Delegates thereon. The Cont. delegates proposed 3 years. On
the question for 3 years, N. H. no, Mas. no, R. I. ay, Cont. ay,
all the other States no. On the question for 5 years, all the
States ay except Cont.
The 2d. point was whether & how far the rule sd. be retrospective.
On this point the same views operated as on the preceding.
Some were agst. any retrospection, others for extending it to the
whole debt, and others for extendg. it so far as was necessary for
liquidating and closing the accounts between the United States
and each individual State.
The several motions expressive of these different ideas were at
length withdrawn, with a view that the point might be better digested,
& more accurately brought before Congress. So the rept.
was agreed to in the Come. & made to Congress. When the question
was about to be put Mr. Madison observed that the report
lay in a great degree of confusion, that several points had been
decided in a way too vague & indirect to ascertain the real sense
of Congs., that other points involved in the subject had not recd.
any decision; and proposed the sense of Congs. shod. be distinctly
& successively taken on all of them & the result referred to a
special Come. to be digested &c. The question was however put
& negatived the votes being as they appear on the Journal. The
reasons on which Mr. Hamilton's motion was grounded appear
from its preamble.
The writings of James Madison, | ||