University of Virginia Library

FRIDAY JANy. 24TH.

Some days prior to this sundry papers had been laid before
Congress by the War office, shewing that a Cargo of supplies
which had arrived at Wilmington for the British & German Prisoners
of War under a passport from the Comander in chief and
which were thence proceeding by land to their destination, had

been seized by sundry persons in Chester County under a law of
Pennsa., which required in such cases a license from the Executive
authority, which exposed to confiscation all Articles not necessary
for the prisoners, & referd. the question of necessity to the judgment
of its own Magistrates. Congress unanimously considered
the violation of the passport issued under yr. Authority as an
encroachment on their constitutional & essential rights; but being
disposed to get over the difficulty as gently as possible appointed
a Come., consisting of Mr. Rutledge, Mr. Wolcot & Mr.
Madison, to confer with the Executive of Pa. on the subject. In
the first conference the Executive represented to the Committee
the concern they felt at the incident, their disposition to respect
& support the dignity & rights of the federal Sovereignty; and
the embarrassments in which they were involved by a recent &
express law of the State to which they were bound to conform.
The Come. observed to them that the power of granting passports
for the purpose in question being inseparable from the general
power of war delegated, to Congress, & being essential for conducting
the war, it could not be expected that Congress wd. acquiesce
in any infractions upon it; that as Pa. had concurred in the
alienation of this power to Congress, any law whatever contravening
it was necessarily void, and cd. impose no obligation on
the Executive. The latter requested further time for a consideration
of the case & laid it before the Legislature then sitting; in
consequence of which a Come. of their body was appd., jointly with
the Executive to confer with the Committe of Congress. In this
2d. conference the first remarks made by the Come. of Congress
were repeated. The Come. of the Legislature expressed an unwillingness
to entrench on the jurisdiction of Congress, but some
of them seemed not to be fully satisfied that the law of the State
did so. Mr. Montgomery lately a member of Congress observed
that altho' the general power of war was given to Congress yet
that the mode of exercising that power might be regulated by the
States in any manner which wd. not frustrate the power, & which
their policy might require. To this it was answered that if Congress
had the power at all, it could not either by the Articles Of
Confederation or the reason of things admit of such a controuling
power in each of the States, & that to admit such a construction
wd. be a virtual surrender to the States of their whole federal
power relative to war, the most essential of all the powers delegated
to Congress. The Come. of the Legisre. represented as the
great difficulty with them, that even a repeal of the law wd. not
remedy the case without a retrospective law which their Constitution
wd. not admit of, & expressed an earnest desire that some
accommodating plan might be hit upon. They proposed in order
to induce the Seizors to waive their appeal to the law of the
State, that Congress wd. allow them to appt. one of two persons
who sd. have authority to examine into the supplies & decide
whether they comprehended any articles that were not warranted
by the passport. The Come. of Congress answered that whatever
obstacles might lie in the way of redress by the Legislature if no
redress proceeded from them, equal difficulties wd. lie on the other
side, since Congress in case of a confiscation of the supplies
under the law which the omission of some formalities reqd. by it
wd. probably produce, would be obliged by honor & good faith to
indemnify the Enemy for their loss out of the common treasury;
that the other States wd. probably demand a reimbursement to the
U. S. from Pa., & that it was impossible to say to what extremity
the affair might be carried. They observed to the Come. of the
Legre. and the Executive, that altho' Congress was disposed to
make all allowances, and particularly in the case of a law passed
for a purpose recom̃ended by themselves, yet they cd. not condescend
to any expedient which in any manner departed from the
respect wch. they owed to themselves & to the Articles of Union.
The Come. of Congress however suggested that as the only expedient
wch. wd. get rid of the clashing of the Power of Congress &
the law of the State, wd. be the dissuading the Seizors from their
appeal to the latter, it was probable that if the Seizors wd. apply
to Congress for Redress such steps wd. be taken as wd. be satisfactory.
The hint was embraced & both the Executive & the
Come. of the Legre. promised to use their influence with the persons
of most influence among the Seizors for that purpose. In
consequence thereof a memorial from[30] [see Journal] was sent in
to Congress, com̃ited to the same Come. of Congress, & their report
of this day agreed to in wch. the Presidt. of Pa. is requested to
appt. one of ye referees. It is proper to observe that this business
was conducted with great temper & harmony, & that Presidt.
Dickinson, in particulr., manifested throughout the course of it as
great a desire to save the rights & dignity of Congress as those of
the State over which he presided. As a few of the Seizors only
were parties to ye Memorial to Congress, it is still uncertain
wher. others may not adhere to their claims under the law in
wch. case all the embarrassments will be revived.

In a late report which had been drawn up by Mr. Hamilton,
and made to Congress, in answr. to a Memorial from the Legislature
of Pa., among other things shewing the impossibility Congress
had been under of payg. their Creditors it was observed that the
aid afforded by the Ct. of France had been appropriated by that
Court at the time to the immediate use of the army. This clause
was objected to as unnecessary, & as dishonorable to Congress.
The fact also was controverted. Mr. Hamilton & Mr. Fitzsimmons
justified the expediency of retaing. it, in order to justify
Congress the more completely in failing in their engagements to
the public Creditors. Mr. Wilson & Mr. Madison proposed to
strike out the words appropriated by France, & substitute the
words applied by Congress to the immediate & necessary support
of the army. This proposition wd. have been readily approved
had it not appeared on examination that in one or two small instances,
& particularly in the paymt. of the balance due to A.
Lee, Esqr., other applications had been made of the aid in question.
The Report was finally recommitted.

A letter from the Supert. of Finance was received & read, acquainting
Congress that as the danger from the Enemy which led
him into the Dept., was disappearing & that he saw little prospect
of provision being made without which injustice wd. take place of
which he wod. never be the Minister, he proposed not to serve
longer than may next, unless proper provision sd. be made. This
letter made a deep & solemn impression on Congress. It was considered
as the effect of despondence in Mr. Morris of seeing justice
done to the public Credrs., or the public finances placed on an
honorable establisht.; as a source of fresh hopes to the enemy

when known; as ruinous both to Domestic & foreign Credit; &
as producing a vacancy which none knew how to fill, & which no
fit man wd. venture to accept. Mr. Ghoram, after observing that
the Administration of Mr. Morris had inspired great confidence
and expectation in his State, & expressing his extreme regret at the
event, moved that the letter sd. be com̃it̃ed. This was opposed as
unnecessary & nugatory by Mr. Wilson, since the known firmness
of Mr. Morris, after deliberately taking a step wd. render all attempts
to dissuade him fruitless; and that as the Memorial from
the Army had brought the subject of funds before Congress, there
was no other object for a Come. The motion to commit was disagd.
to. Mr. Wilson then moved that a day might be assigned for
the consideration of the letter. Agst. the propriety of this was observed,
by Mr. Madison, that the same reasons which opposed a
comitmt opposed ye. assignment of any day. Since Congress cd.
not however anxious their wishes or alarming their apprehensions
might be, condescend to solicit Mr. Morris, even if there were a
chance of its being successful; & since it wd. be equally improper
for Congress however cogent a motive it might add in ye. mind of
every member to struggle for substantial funds, to let such a consideration
appear in their public acts on that subject. The motion
of Mr. Wilson was not passed. Congress supposing that a knowledge
of Mr. Morris's intentions wd. anticipate the ills likely
to attend his actual resignation, ordered his letter to be kept
secret.

Nothing being said to day as to the mode of insertion of the
Treaty & Convention with the States General the Secy. proceeded
in retaining both Columns.[31]

In consequence of the report to the Grand Come. on the memorial
from the army, by the sub-come., the following report was
made by the former to Congs., and came under consideration
to-day.

[32] The Grand Come. having considered the contents of the Meml.
presented by the army, find that they comprehend five different
articles.

1.

• present pay.

2.

• A settlement of accts. of the arrearages of pay and security
  for what is due.

3.

• A commutation of the half pay allowed by differt. resolutions
  of Congress for an equivalent in gross.

4.

• A settlemt. of the accts. of deficiencies of rations and compensation.

5.

• A settlement of accounts of deficiencies of cloathing & compensation.

The Come. are of opinion with respt. to the 1st., that the Superintendt.
of finance be directed, conformably to measures already
taken for that purpose, as soon as the State of the public finances
will permit, to make such payt. & in such manner as he shall think
proper till the further order of Congress.

With respect to the 2d. Art., so far as relates to the settlement
of accts., that the several States be called upon to compleate the settlemt.,
without delay, with their respective lines of the army up to
the—day of Aug; 1780; that the Supt. be also directed to
take such measures as shall appear to him most proper & effectual
for accomplishing the object in the most equitable & satisfactory
manner, havg. regard to former resolutions of Congs., & to the settlets.
made in consequence thereof.—And so far as relates to the
providing of security for what shall be found due on such settlemt.:
Resolved that the troops of the United States in common with all
the Creditrs. of the same, have an undoubted right to expect such
security—and that Congress will make every effort in their power
to obtain from the respective States general & substantial funds
adequate to the object of funding the whole debt of the U. S.;
and that Congs. ought to enter upon an immediate & full consideration
of the nature of such funds & the most likely mode of
obtaining them.

With respect to the 3d. Article, the Comme. are of opinion that it
will be expedient for Congs. to leave it to the option of all officers
entitled to half pay, either to preserve their claim to that provision
as it now stands by the several resolutions of Congs. upon that subject
or to acccept—years full pay to be paid to them in one year
after the conclusion of the war in money or placed upon good
funded security bearing an annual interest of 6 Pr. Ct., provided

that the allowance to widows & orphans of such officers as have
died or been killed or may die or be killed in the service during
the war shall remain as established by the resolution of the—
day of—.

With respect to the 4 & 5 Arts, the Come. beg leave to delay
their report untill they have obtained more precise information than
they now possess on the subject.

The 1st. Clause of this report relative to immediate pay passed
without opposition. The Supt. had agreed to make out 1 Month's
pay. Indeed, long before the arrival of the deputies from the
army he had made contingent & secret provision for that purpose;
and to ensure it now he meant if necessary to draw bills on the
late application for loans. The words "conformably to measures
already taken," referred to the above secret provision and were
meant to shew that the payment to the army did not originate in
the Memol., but in an antecedent attention to the wants of the
army.

In the discussion of the 2d. clause, the epoch of Aug. 1780 was
objected to by the Eastern delegates. Their States havg. settled
with their lines down to later periods, they wished now to obtain
the sanction of Congress to them. After some debate, a compromise
was proposed by Mr. Hamilton by substituting the last day
of Decr. 1780. This was agreed to without opposition altho' several
members disliked it. The latter part of the clause beginning
with the word Resolved, &c. was considered as a very solemn
point, and the basis of the plans by which the public engagements
were to be fulfilled & the Union cemented. A motion was made
by Mr. Bland to insert after the words "in their power," the
words "consistent with the Articles of Confederation." This
amendment as he explained it was not intended to contravene the
idea of funds extraneous to ye. federal articles, but to leave those
funds for a consideration subsequent to providing constitutional
ones. Mr. Arnold however eagerly 2ded. it. No question however
was taken on it, Congress deeming it proper to postpone the matter
till the next day, as of the most solemn nature; and to have as
full a representation as possible. With this view & to get rid of
Mr. Bland's motion they adjourned, & ordering all the members
not present & in town to be summoned.