Note 35 — FIRST CONGRESS.—SECOND SESSION. (continued 4)

The motion of Mr. Madison was lost, and with it the largest door was opened to the pillage of original creditors, the plunder of the public Treasury and the corruption of Congress which the history of any Government has ever seen. The immediate mischief was some thirty millions: it was only the beginning. Assignees of claims have since been the great suitors to Congress—purchasing for a trifle, and upon speculation—pursuing the recovery by indirect means—taking no denial—and gaining in the end what was scouted at the start. It has given rise to a new profession—a new industrial pursuit, still more industrious by night than by day—hunting up claims, pressing them upon Congress; and by organization, skill, perseverance, appliances, and seductions carrying through the most unfounded demands. By the common law a chose in action (an executory contract) was not assignable; and the whole experience of our Government from the assumption of the State debts, and funding of the revolutionary certificates in 1790 down to the present day, shows that the interest of the original creditor, the safety of the Treasury, and the purity of Congress require this wise common law principle to be applied to all claims upon the Government.