CONTENTS (continued 4)

We have not yet heard anything of the Alliance, and therefore conclude, that she must have been delayed in Europe. I hope this may have been the case, for if she sailed on the 1st of March, according to my orders, she must have met with some unfortunate accident. I hope soon to hear from your Excellency. Indeed I persuade myself, that in the very critical situation of affairs at present, we cannot be long without receiving very important intelligence.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO MR GRAND.

Office of Finance, May 17th, 1782.

Sir,

In my letters of the 28th of March, and 8th of April, I informed you of my drafts on you to the amount of five hundred thousand livres. I have since that time drawn sundry other bills, all of which you have been duly advised of, or will be so by this conveyance.

I am now to inform you, that his Excellency, the Minister of France, has given me assurances on the part of his Court, that five hundred thousand livres per month, during the year 1782, will be paid on my drafts, making in the whole six millions. He has also suggested to me the expedient of drawing twelve sets of exchange on Dr Franklin, our Minister Plenipotentiary, in favor of my banker, so that the money may be in his hands monthly at my order. In consequence therof, I now enclose to you twelve bills of exchange on Dr Franklin, all at thirty days' sight, and each for half a million. When these bills arrive you will present so many of them for acceptance, as that at the end of the thirty days the amount shall be equal to the monthly payments above mentioned. As for instance, if these bills should arrive in July, you will present seven of them for acceptance, because by the time the thirty days have elapsed there will be due so many of those monthly payments. But in this, as well as in other matters of arrangement with the Court, you will take the advice of Dr Franklin and govern yourself accordingly.

The several bills which I draw on you I will regularly inform you of. After the first month has elapsed you will present another bill for acceptance, and so on monthly, presenting each month a bill. I write also by this conveyance to Dr Franklin to pay on my account all the moneys belonging to the United States in Europe, which may be in his possession.

I wrote to Dr Franklin on the 17th of April to inform you, that I should draw on Messrs Fizeau, Grand & Co. at Amsterdam, and on Messrs Harrison & Co. at Cadiz, desiring that you would direct those houses to honor my bills, and take their reimbursement on you, which I now confirm. I expect that the five hundred thousand livres which are mentioned in my letters of the 28th of March, and 8th of April, will be paid out of moneys, which were already in Europe; and indeed, that still farther sums were there belonging to the United States, besides the monthly payments to be made by the Court as above mentioned. At any rate you will be in cash to pay all the bills which I have drawn or shall draw. You will take care to transmit me a state of your accounts by every opportunity that I may be thereby directed in my operations.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO MR GRAND.

Office of Finance, May 18th, 1782.

Sir,

Our enemies being at length convinced by fatal experience, that it is in vain to effect the conquest of America, have now changed the mode of attack, and strike at our commerce and our resources. I have no doubt, but that eventually they will be foiled in this, as in every other attempt they have made, but in the interim between their first effort and the period which must elapse, in preparations to obviate this plan, we have suffered and must suffer considerably.

The commerce of this country has sustained no severer blow than has been hitherto felt, and the effects of it materially influence my operations. The merchants deprived of their property cannot command money, and of consequence cannot pay bills. I am, therefore, unable to command by drafts the money in your hands. My bills do not yet amount to a million of livres, and will not I believe exceed that sum when this letter goes away. These bills will not come to you before the month of July, and the greater part will not be payable until the end of September, and even later; but you will be possessed of three millions and a half by the first of July, even if you shall have received nothing from Dr Franklin on the old accounts.

I am therefore to request that you will make three shipments of one hundred thousand crowns each, or six hundred thousand livres, making in the whole eighteen hundred thousand livres. I wish it to be sent by three different conveyances, for the sake of greater safety, unless some very important convoy should offer, in which case I desire an immediate shipment of twelve hundred thousand livres. I wish also, that the money be invested if possible in gold, because four crowns are worth here only four hundred pence, but a louis is worth four hundred and fourteen pence, being a difference of three and a half per cent. But that you may know the best mode of investing it, I have to inform you, that English guineas are worth four hundred and twenty pence, half johannas seven hundred and twenty pence, moidores five hundred and forty pence, and Spanish pistoles three hundred and thirtysix pence.

I shall leave this letter open for the inspection of Dr Franklin, to whom I shall enclose it, and I shall request him to obtain for and communicate to you such information from the Court as may be necessary for your direction in this business. I wish that the shipments of money may if possible be on board of the same vessels in which the money shall be sent for the use of the French army or navy here. I wrote to you on the 3d of December last, requesting you to pay to Messrs Couteulx & Co. for account of John Ross two hundred thousand livres, and for account of William Bingham one hundred thousand livres, to John Holker for account of John Holker fils; conceiving that you would be in cash for the purpose, from the loan opened in Holland for our use.

I hope before this reaches you, that those sums will have been paid; and you will observe it is my wish, that as well those as the bills mentioned in my letters of the 9th and 28th of March, should be paid out of that loan, but if that cannot be done, you will then make payment from any other moneys which may be in your hands.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO MESSRS LE COUTEULX & CO.[6]

Office of Finance, May 18th, 1782.

Gentlemen,

I pray that you will receive my sincere thanks for the accurate and punctual manner in which you have performed the business of the United States, which I have placed in your hands, and be assured that it shall always command my attention. I should have lodged in your hands very considerable sums on their account, subject to my disposition, but Dr Franklin having recommended to me in a very particular manner Mr Grand, whom he had formerly employed, not only for his punctuality as a banker, but also for his zeal in the American cause, which he had early and warmly espoused, and evidenced his attachment by liberal advances of money on the credit of their commissioners, before the Court had acknowledged them as a nation, I thought it my duty to employ him. But I think it more than probable, I shall have occasion for another banker, on particular occasions and negotiations, and I shall take the liberty in every such instance to employ you, gentlemen, not in the least doubting a continuance of your punctuality and attention.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO B. FRANKLIN.

Office of Finance, May 23d, 1782.

Sir,

The Minister has been so kind as to delay his express, until I could write this letter. You mention in yours of the 4th of March, that on Friday (then) last, the Minister informed you that we should have six millions, paid quarterly, and that you should now be able to face the loan office and other bills, and your acceptances in favor of M. de Beaumarchais.

You are not unacquainted with the disputes which have subsisted with respect to M. de Beaumarchais' demand. Whether or not the moneys were originally advanced to him by the Court, is not at present to be brought into question by me, because it involves many things, which are better adjusted by the Court themselves, than by any communications to or with others. I am only to observe, that if the very considerable sum, which is now payable to that gentleman forms a deduction from the pecuniary aid afforded us, the remainder will be extremely incompetent to the purposes intended by it. There can be no doubt that your acceptances must be paid, but I have always expected that you would have been enabled to do it by a special grant for that purpose, or by an assumption of the payment on the part of the Court. I shall not enter into the mode of arranging this business, but I must not refrain from observing, that the great object now is to prosecute the war, that the articles which may have been furnished for the sum payable to M. de Beaumarchais must long since have been applied and expended, that our necessities now are as pressing as they possibly can be, and that everything which adds to their weight is extremely distressful.

You will observe, Sir, that I have already made my dispositions as to the six millions granted for the current year. I shall go on to draw as occasion offers, for all the moneys which may be in Mr Grand's possession, making allowance for the shipments of money, directed in my letters to him. If, therefore, any part of this sum should be otherwise disposed of, it might produce the most dangerous consequences.

With respect and esteem, I am, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Office of Finance, May 23d, 1782.

Sir,

I do myself the honor to enclose to your Excellency copies of letters, the former from Dr Franklin to me of the 4th of March, and the latter from the Count de Vergennes to him of the 6th of February. With these, I send the best sketch I have been able to form of the state of the public moneys; from which Congress will perceive that every sou we can command during the year 1782 is already anticipated. They will perceive that the pecuniary supplies of 1781 and 1782 amount, after deducting the expenses on the loan, to twentyfive and a half millions of livres, and that there are, (including the two million two hundred thousand livres, appropriated to the interest of Loan Office certificates) ten millions, besides the sum expended in Holland, which have already passed and are now passing through the hands of Dr Franklin, and of which not a livre has been, or ever will be, applied to the current service.

If to this be added above two millions and a half due on Beaumarchais' bills, we shall have an amount of about twelve and a half millions, being at least one half of all the moneys obtained abroad for the service of the year 1781 and 1782. And we shall find, that this greater half is totally consumed in paying the principal of some, and the interest of other debts, which have been contracted before that period. I shall make no further comments on these things. They are before Congress, and will speak for themselves. I have only to lament, that the situation to which our affairs have been reduced is such, that the greatest exertion which our ally can make in our favor is barely sufficient to satisfy present engagements, and that the knowledge of such aid only confirms the inattention of our own citizens to those distressing circumstances which it does not relieve.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Office of Finance, May 27th, 1782.

Sir,

I do myself the honor to enclose certain information, which I have just received in a letter from the Minister of France. I take this occasion to mention, that it is some time since M. de la Luzerne communicated to me the grant of his Court, which was made in the month of December last. I think it my duty to add the persuasion I have, that this grant was made on the Minister's representations, and I cannot omit testifying to Congress my grateful sense of his conduct, and my conviction, that his endeavors have not been wanting still further to promote the interests of the United States.

I should earlier have communicated my intelligence of the loan in question, but I wished to receive the details, which would enable me to judge how much of it was at my disposition. I confess that I did not expect they would have been so unfavorable. I was restrained also by an apprehension, that the exertions of the States would relax, when they should learn that any foreign aid could be obtained; and the situation of our commerce was such, that if I had been enabled to draw for much larger sums, it would have been of no avail, as I could not have got money for the bills.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

Information mentioned in the above Letter.

The King never promised any subsidy to the United States, and all the sums which they have received from him have been lent or freely given. All those, which have been advanced after the 6th of February, 1778, are to be repaid by the United States except the six millions given last year. All the rest, whether furnished in money or in value, is a debt, which they have contracted with his Majesty.

These advances have been made at the following periods, and are payable with interest, conformably to the acknowledgements and obligations of Dr Franklin.

Livres.

In 1778,3,000,000

In 1779,1,000,000

In 1780,4,000,000

In 1781,10,000,000

—————

Total, 18,000,000

From this sum must be taken the gratuitous

subsidy granted last year of6,000,000

—————

Remains 12,000,000

To this must be added, 1st the produce of

the loan in Holland,10,000,000

2dly, The loan made by his Majesty for the

service of the current year,6,000,000

————

Total of the capital of the debt contracted

by the United States with his

Majesty,28,000,000

I am ordered, Sir, to renew to you the demand, which I had the honor to make before, to the purport that Congress should authorise Dr Franklin to consolidate the principal and interest of that debt, by an obligation in proper form. You are so firmly resolved, Sir, to preserve the order you have introduced into your department, that it would be superfluous to reiterate to you the assurance, that his Majesty will under no pretext exceed the sum of six millions, which he has determined to advance to the United States for the current year. This exactness, which is in all cases indispensable, has become still more so now, that the enemy seem determined to adopt a system, which obliges us to turn the greatest part of our resources to a marine. I am persuaded, Sir, that you can have no doubt as to the interest of Loan Office certificates, and that you will not consider it as being at our expense, seeing that no engagement of that sort has ever been taken by us. If bills for this interest should continue to be forwarded, those who draw must provide for the payment of them.

LUZERNE.

TO B. FRANKLIN.

Office of Finance, May 29th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

I do myself the honor to enclose you copies of two Acts of Congress, one of the 5th of June, and the other of the 18th of June, 1779, relating to the affairs of M. de Beaumarchais.

You will observe, Sir, that you were authorised to pledge the faith of the United States to the Court of Versailles for obtaining money or credit to honor the drafts on you. There is a mysteriousness in this transaction arising from the very nature of it, which will not admit of explanation here, neither can you go so fully into an explanation with the Court. M. de Beaumarchais certainly had not funds of his own to make such considerable expenditures; neither is there any reason to believe that he had credit. If the Court advanced money it must be a secret; but there would be no difficulty in giving an order in your favor for the sum necessary to pay those bills, and, therefore, measures might be taken to obtain from him the reimbursement of any sums he might have received. Consequently, there would be no actual advance of money made, as the whole might be managed by the passing of proper receipts from you to the Court, from M. de Beaumarchais to you, and from the Court to him.

I wish that you would apply on this subject and get it adjusted. The diverting from a loan, for the service of the current year, so considerable a part as that due to M. de Beaumarchais, will defeat the object for which it was granted. It ought not, therefore, to be done if possible to be avoided.

With respect and esteem, I am, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO DANIEL CLARKE.

Office of Finance, May 30th, 1782.

Sir.

I received your letters of the 7th, 9th, 14th, 18th, and 21st of May. The resolutions of the House of Delegates, passed on the 20th, have been submitted to Congress, and they have referred the matter to Mr Rutledge, and Mr Clymer, two of their members, who are going on special business to the southward. Your letters contain a great many particulars, which I shall briefly enumerate, and take notice of; many of them are of a private and personal nature, and therefore ought not in any case to have influenced the determinations on a matter of great public importance. I should pay no attention to them, if I were not persuaded, that the design is not so much to injure me, as to involve the national affairs committed to me.

I find there are made against me personally, the following charges.

1st. That I have robbed the Eastern States of their specie.

2dly. That I am partial to Pennsylvania, being commercially connected with half the merchants of Philadelphia.

3dly. That I am partial to the disaffected.

4thly. That I have established a bank for sinister purposes.

5thly. That my plan and that of Pennsylvania, are to keep Virginia poor, and

6thly. That with the Secretary of Congress and Mr Coffin I am engaged in speculation.

As to the first point, I believe the Eastern States have a very different opinion of the matter, although there may be one or two persons in some part of those States, who from their great latitude of conscience, would not scruple to assert what they know to be false. Those who make and respect such assertions, must be content to pass for the authors and inventors of untruths, with design to injure the public service and sow dissensions among the States. I have not received from the Eastern States, any more than from the Southern States, one shilling of specie, since I was appointed to my present office, although I have sent very considerable sums from hence, both eastward and southward, as the exigencies of the service required.

As to the second point, that I am commercially concerned with half the merchants of Philadelphia, if that were as true as it is false, the conclusion, that I am partial to Pennsylvania would by no means follow. A merchant, as such, can be attached particularly to no country. His mere place of residence, is as merchant perfectly accidental, and it would be just as reasonable to conclude, that an American residing at L'Orient, and trading to China, must be partial to the French and Chinese. I know that this story of my partiality to Pennsylvania has been very assiduously circulated, and has obtained an extensive currency. It was supposed that I must be partial to Pennsylvania, because I reside in it. The assertion therefore was made, and the contracts I had entered into were brought as the evidence to support it. I have received from Pennsylvania, for the service of the last year, one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, besides a warrant on their treasury for near ninety thousand, which is not yet paid. The contracts in Pennsylvania have not amounted to that sum. Is there a State in the Union, which can say I received from them one shilling for the last year? There is not one. But I can demonstrate that while I was charged with this partiality, I had exhausted my credit, and supplied every shilling of money, which I could command from my private fortune, to support and succor the Southern States. But this was not from a partiality in their favor, for I will neither endeavor to ingratiate myself with them, on such principles, nor subject myself to the ignominy of just reproach from others. It was for the general good.

That I am partial to the disaffected is among those threadbare topics of defamation, which have been so generally applied, that they have lost their effect. But I have remarked, that this particular aspersion is generally cast on those who least deserve it, and by those who are in a fair way of becoming disaffected themselves. I am not very sorry for this charge, because it shows, that while I have inveterate enemies, they have nothing to allege against me, and must resort to the regions of fiction for the ground of calumny.

That I have established the bank I shall confess. That bank has already saved America from the efforts of her avowed, and the intrigues of her concealed enemies; and it has saved her from those, who, while they clamor loudly against the administration for doing so little, sedulously labor to deprive it of the means of doing anything. The bank will exist in spite of calumny, operate in spite of opposition, and do good in spite of malevolence. If there be sinister purposes in view, it must be easy to show what they are. The operations of a bank are such plain matters of arithmetic, that those who run may read. There is nothing of mystery, disguise, or concealment. If, therefore, these sinister views cannot be shown, (and I know that they cannot) that defect of proof, after the charge made, is itself a proof that the thing does not exist. But the matter does not terminate here. A groundless unfounded opposition against measures of public utility, must proceed from some cause. If it proceed from an opposition to the public interests, their conduct is dangerous; but if it proceed from aversion to me, I pity them.

That I should, or that Pennsylvania should have a plan to keep Virginia poor, is a strange assertion. I believe that Pennsylvania will probably be rich, the soil and climate are good, and the people are quiet and industrious. Their rulers also begin to be sensible of their true interests. They encourage commerce, have laid aside all the idle systems of specific supplies, and content themselves with laying money taxes. There can be no doubt but that such a people must become rich. On the other hand, if Virginia, or any other State, be poor, it must be their own fault. Prudence, diligence, and economy, promote national prosperity; and vice, indolence, and prodigality, involve national ruin. I am so far from wishing to impoverish Virginia, that I have constantly labored, both in my public and private applications to bring about those measures, which are calculated to make her wealthy and powerful. In the moment of cool reflection this will be acknowledged; whenever my measures are adopted, it will be known, and in that moment those who from ignorance, or wickedness, have opposed themselves to their country's good, will be known and despised. The charge of speculating, in conjunction with the Secretary of Congress and Mr Coffin, is one of those foolish things, which are not worth an answer. The whole business was known to the General, and after him, to a committee of Congress, before anything was done.

You tell me further, that there are jealousies and resentments against Congress, for a design to curtail the territory of Virginia; that it is alleged no money can come into the country, while bank notes and bills on Philadelphia will purchase tobacco; and that the enemy having failed to subdue Virginia by force, would now try the arts of seduction, wherefore great care ought to be taken in preventing any intercourse with them. As to any design in Congress to curtail Virginia, if there be such, I know nothing, of it. Congress will undoubtedly pursue the line of justice, and might be justly offended were they charged with that design, which you say has offended Virginia. There was a time when Pennsylvania clamored loudly against Congress. It impeded the public service, and injured the reputation of Pennsylvania, without producing any good, much less a counterbalance for the evils, which it did produce. Happily all those heats have subsided, and Pennsylvania is now, what I hope Virginia will soon be, the zealous supporter of Congress.

The means of bringing money into a country are very simple, being nothing more than the creating a demand for it. If every man be obliged to get some money, every man must part with something to get money. This makes things cheap, and those who have money always choose to expend it where things are cheapest. But what is the predilection in favor of specie? If bank notes answer the purposes of money the man who receives them has every benefit, which he could derive from specie. If they will not answer those purposes, no man will receive them; and then Virginia will not be troubled with them. If money is due from Virginia to Pennsylvania or Maryland, it must go thither, and the only way to get it back again is to sell something cheaper than Pennsylvania or Maryland will sell it. As to any profit made by the bank in issuing their paper, gentlemen in Virginia may easily share it by purchasing stock, which can be had here for the subscription and interest.

That the enemy have been foiled in their attempts to subdue Virginia is true, and when we recollect the means by which they were foiled, it will not only obviate the charges of partiality, but show the advantages of unanimity; and ought to become a motive to cultivate harmony and excite exertion. That the enemy will try the arts of seduction I verily believe, or rather that these arts have been tried, but I do not believe they have the will or the power to buy many. It will sufficiently answer their purposes, if they can promote disunion among us, because our concord is our only safety. To produce disunion nothing more is necessary than to set at work a few turbulent spirits. Neither do I see that they need go at the trouble of sending ships into the harbors of the several States, because such negotiations may be accomplished without that trouble or parade.

You tell me that the Executive of Virginia refused the passports, because they deemed the commerce and intercourse with the enemy to be dangerous. There can be no doubt, that a commerce with the enemy is not only dangerous but highly reprehensible, and if the transaction in question could be considered as a commerce of that sort, I would readily join in the censure. But if there was a commerce, it was by the capitulation, and the present object relates only to the mode of paying a debt already contracted under that solemn agreement.

You tell me, also, that it is the Governor's opinion, that the State should have the benefit resulting from the passports, because the undoubted power of granting such passports is in the State; and in another letter you say it has been urged in argument, that Congress have no right to grant the passports. As the right is thus brought in question, it is to be presumed, that should that right be in Congress, the Governor's argument must operate in their favor. If I am rightly informed, their right on this occasion is not only unquestionable, but it is exclusive; and I am told that numerous instances have occurred in which vessels having passports from one State have been captured by the privateers of another State, and been adjudged lawful prize. Judge Griffin, who is now in Virginia, can doubtless give information on this subject, and if one could be allowed to determine where the right is from where it ought to be, there can be no doubt but that it must be in Congress. If this be so, then the assertions about delivering the rights of Virginia into the hands of Congress, must be considered as nothing more than mere flowers of rhetoric, which are very good to please an audience, but ought not to influence or convince a legislative body.

How it can be said, that these passports contravene the resolutions of Congress for confiscating British manufactures within the United States, I am at a loss to conceive, and shall be, unless it can be proved, that tobacco is a British manufacture. For I cannot suppose, that it is intended to confiscate that property, which, having been secured by the capitulation, is under the protection of the law of nations, which law must always be taken notice of and respected by the municipal law of every civilized country. As to the laws of Virginia, which may be contravened by it, I cannot speak decidedly, but I have a pretty strong reason to doubt the truth of this assertion, and it will presently be assigned. But of all things in the world the most ridiculous is the assertion, that this would give cause of complaint to the King of France. There is something of the same kind in the resolutions of the Delegates, which I will now consider; observing beforehand, that the objection would come rather unfortunately, should it be made by men, whose zeal for the honor and interest of his Most Christian Majesty has never shown itself, except in the present moment, and then by exciting discord among his allies.

The resolutions, being the act of a respectable body, are deserving of respect, and shall meet with it from me. But I must take the liberty to differ from them in some of their positions. It is resolved first, that allowing the capitulants to export tobacco is not warranted by the capitulation. Much of what follows depends on the equivocal sense of the word warranted. If by that word is meant enjoined, or directed, the position is just, but if the idea to be conveyed is, that such exportation is not permitted, then the position is untrue. The exportation is very clearly permitted by the capitulation, because the capitulation does not prohibit it, nor indeed say anything about it. But in a day or two after the capitulation an agreement was made for the purchase of goods payable in tobacco, which is now sanctioned by the Delegates in the last of their resolutions. Clearly, therefore, the exportation of tobacco in payment for British goods, is (in the judgment of the Delegates) permitted by the capitulation.

The second resolution seems to go upon a mistake. The Acts of Congress for confiscating British manufactures, as I have already observed in another place, cannot, I should imagine, be contrary to the laws of the Commonwealth, or else it would not have been permitted in another instance, for the Delegates cannot be supposed to intend a breach of the law, and still less can they be supposed to mean, that it was lawful for the general and the State Agent to do what it is not lawful for the United States in Congress to do.

The third resolution, quoting a part of an article in the treaty of commerce, appears to me to be rather inconclusive. The object of that article was to make provision in a case which might happen, when one of the high contracting parties was at peace, and the other at war, which is not the case at present. The sense which France entertains on this subject may clearly be learnt from the various capitulations granted to the conquered Islands; and if I am not much misinformed the sense of Virginia on this very question of exporting tobacco may be found, by consulting sundry instances of the kind subsequent to the capitulation of York.

The fourth resolution is a conclusion drawn from the three preceding, and says that the capitulation does not warrant the enemy to export tobacco, and that such exportation would be contravening the regulations of the United States, and contrary to the laws of the Commonwealth, wherefore the vessels ought not to be permitted to load. The premises on which this conclusion is founded being unsupported, the conclusion itself must fall, or else the next succeeding resolution ought to be revoked.

The industry which you say has been used on this occasion would not have surprised me, if our affairs had been in such train, that the country was entirely out of danger. But under our present circumstances, it both astonishes and afflicts me, not for myself, but for the public. Men may flatter themselves, that all is safe and well, and endeavor to shrink from the public burdens and embarrass the public operations, but the consequence is clear, and certain. The enemy know they cannot conquer, and therefore seek to divide us. Convinced that the Northern and Eastern States cannot even then be subdued, their ultimate ambition now is to subjugate those to the southward, and the only means under heaven of preventing it is by unanimity. That the other States should be plunged into hasty measures, pregnant with disunion, might have been expected, but that any inhabitants of a State, deeply interested to pursue the contrary conduct, should be so blind both to the duty and interest of that State will scarcely be believed hereafter, and could not have happened now, but from causes which would bear a harder name than I shall give them.

I am, Sir, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Office of Finance, May 31st, 1782.

Sir,

I perceive that on the 29th instant Congress resolved, "that the salaries and allowances to which the public servants of the United States are, or shall be entitled, be in future paid by the Superintendent of Finance, and of the moneys which shall from time to time be in his hands, and that the said public servants be authorised to make quarterly drafts on him for that purpose." The tenor of this resolution would, I believe, give to every officer of the United States, both civil and military, the right of drawing upon me, which would be liable to this objection among many others, that I should frequently be obliged to protest the bills for want of funds to discharge them. If, therefore, the object of the resolution was to provide for the foreign servants only, it might, perhaps, be proper to make some alteration in the terms.

But I would submit to Congress whether a better mode might not be devised for payment of the salaries in question. It will tend greatly to simplify the public accounts if those of each Department be brought under one separate head, whereas if bills are to be drawn by every public officer much confusion would be introduced, and forged bills might be paid without a possibility of detecting the forgery. The present mode which I have adopted is, that the accounts of each Department of the civil list be made up and settled at the treasury quarterly, and that a warrant issue for the amount. If this mode be pursued with respect to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the moneys may be remitted to those who are abroad by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, until they shall have appointed their respective agents to receive it for them here. This will not only simplify the accounts, but be of great use to the parties, because in some cases they may be unable to sell their bills on this country at all, and in others they must suffer a considerable loss. And if obliged to send such drafts on their own account to obtain payment of their salaries, much time may be lost by delay in tedious passages and other accidents, and of course they will be exposed unnecessarily to inconveniences and disappointments.

I am, Sir, &c

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO GEORGE OLNEY, OF RHODE-ISLAND.

Office of Finance, June 1st, 1782.

Sir,

I have received your favor of the 13th of May last, enclosing an account of moneys you had received. The particular details you have entered into are a pleasing circumstance to me, as they show your accuracy and attention; but as such returns will consume much time and be of no correspondent utility, it will not be necessary to continue them; but in general state to me the amount of cash received, the amount of cash exchanged, the amount of cash in hand, the amount of bank notes in hand, and the amount of my notes in hand.

It would be of great use to the State that the special account of the money received from each collector should be published; and when they place you in the situation required by Congress, it will form a part of your duty. In the interim you had better avoid any discussion on the subject, which may lead to disagreeable altercation. If the sum total received from each collector were published, in order to render the system complete it would be proper, that every such collector should be obliged to deposit, in some place within the circle of his collection, such account of his receipts for the public inspection, that every man might see whether the moneys he had paid were fairly delivered over.

You will do well to explain this whole system to men of discernment in your legislature. My object in this branch of administration is to enable each individual man to trace the money he pays, from his own pocket into the public treasury. To this I shall add accounts of equal notoriety, by which every man who can read (being previously informed as above of the sum total of receipts) may perceive the manner in which the public treasure is expended and appropriated. A similar line of conduct will be pursued with respect to all funds which may be granted for liquidation of the national debt.

Finally, when all the world can perceive that our revenue is equal to our expenditure, and that new revenues are devising, and the old daily placing in a better state of collection, our credit will be firmly established; that will enable the public to command money in any emergency, both at home and abroad; that again will put us in a situation to make active, vigorous exertions, and thus we shall come to be beloved by our friends, feared by our enemies, and respected by all mankind. In this natural progress and order of things, I must expect of the several States, as the servant of the United States, a revenue ample in its extent, punctual in the payment, and absolutely at my disposition. In return for such grants the States are to expect from a Superintendent of Finance, vigilance, integrity, order and economy. Should he be deficient in these duties he will deserve to be removed and punished. Should the States be deficient they must allow him to complain, they must expect him to remonstrate, and finally they must not be surprised if their negligence, boding ruin to their country, be pointed out, and exposed, and reprehended.

Your most obedient, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS TO ROBERT MORRIS.

Translation.

Paris, June 3d, 1782.

Sir,

The health of poor Francy not yet permitting him to hazard another voyage to America, I find myself obliged (to my very great loss and regret) to postpone the hope of closing and settling all my accounts with the General Congress, until he shall have recovered sufficient strength for his voyage; he alone being able to resume the thread and instructions of an affair, which he has already pursued with so much assiduity during three years.

From one merchant to another, the extract of the account adjusted in France by the person authorised, who has ordered and vouched all my advances, and which I have the honor herewith to address to you, would be sufficient for the entire settlement of my account; but my business lies with an association of United States, who have intrusted the administration of their most valuable interests, to an assembly of citizens, to a General Congress, the members of which are continually changed, and as continually liable to view transactions of the oldest date, and those which have been most thoroughly investigated at other times, with the same uncertainty and ignorance of circumstances, as if they were new events. From whence arises the necessity of causing my accounts to be adjusted and settled by the same agent, who has already presented and discussed them, agreeably to the vouchers in his possession; which M. de Francy will do as soon as his health will permit him to undertake a voyage at sea.

In the meantime, Sir, I have the honor to address to you a faithful abstract of my accounts, as they have been settled by Mr Deane, with whom alone, on behalf of the General Congress, I treated. His misfortunes, the malice with which his character, naturally mild and uniform, has been aspersed, and the complaints which I have heard in this country against certain of his writings, (of which I have not yet seen any) since the English papers made them public, have not changed the opinion I had formed of him; and I will always do him the justice to say, that he is one of those men, who have contributed most to the alliance of France with the United States. I will even add, that his laudable endeavors in the most difficult times merited, perhaps, another recompense. I see there are intrigues among Republicans, as well as in the Courts of Kings. This digression, (which a compassionate feeling for a man, worthy of a better lot, forces from me in writing to you, to you, Sir, who have loved him as I do,) this digression excused, I resume my affair; and I request of you, Sir, to engage Congress to assist me by the very first opportunity, with bills of exchange, such as the first which I received in 1779. Though they are not yet payable, and though I have been obliged to undergo the heaviest losses in order to make them serviceable, I cannot support the weighty burden of my credit to America, (with which alone I should be able to settle my debts in Europe,) without having, at least, an object representative of this said credit in my hands. And neither the Congress nor I should look too minutely to the losses that I sustain in the negotiation of this paper. It is one of the events, one of the indispensable consequences of the nature and situation of things. Have then the justice, Sir, to remit to me as speedily as possible, if not the whole of my account, at least a large part of what is due to me by Congress in bills of exchange, reserving what may be objected to in the account and its full proof, until Francy may be able to repair to Philadelphia. My very embarrassed situation will cause me to receive this strict justice from Congress as a favor, and I shall be under the greatest obligation to you for it.

Receive, Sir, all my congratulations on the merited confidence which your fellow citizens have placed in you. No man can entertain a greater esteem for your person and superior talents than I do. Messrs De Francy and Deane have taught me to become acquainted with you; and it is after the most deliberate affection that I subscribe myself, with the most respectful regard and acknowledgement, Sir, your obedient servant.

CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ABSTRACTS MENTIONED IN THE PRECEDING LETTER.

Dr the Honorable Congress of the United States in Account Current with Caron de Beaumarchais.

1776, Livres.s.d.

Sept.21,To so much paid Messrs Du Coudray & Le Brun,3,600

Oct.25,To ditto paid ditto,4,400

Nov.6,To ditto paid ditto,7,200

"12,To ditto paid Mr Silas Deane,20,000

"18,To ditto paid Messrs Du Coudray & Le Brun,12,000

"21,To ditto paid ditto,12,000

"25,To ditto paid the Chevalier Prudhomme de Bore,2,400

"27,To ditto paid ditto,2,100

"25,To ditto paid the Chevalier Prudhomme de Bore,2,400

"27,To ditto paid ditto,2,100

Dec.4,To ditto paid Messrs Du Coudray & Le Brun,53,541134

"5,To ditto paid ditto,4,800

""To ditto paid Mr Silas Deane,2,400

"6,To " " M. de Vrigny,600

"12,To " " Mr Rogers,240

"13,To amount of the cargo and expenses to

departure of the ship Amphitrite, insurance,

freight, and commission on

the outfit,979,49383

"14,To so much paid M. de Goy,240

"26,To ditto reimbursed to M. de Montieu

per Silas Deane,41116

""To commission at 1 per cent on the above

payments made to Mr Deane,2281

1777,

Jan.15,To amount of the ship Seine, her cargo,

charges to departure, insurance, freight,

and commission on the outfit,784,631210

Feb.5,To amount of the cargo and charges to

the departure of the ship Mercury, insurance,

freight, and commission of

the outfit,878,75813

"15,To ditto of the ship Amelia241,068153

"27,To so much paid M. de Goy,800

""To commission at 1 per cent on the several

payments as above made to Messrs

Du Coudray, Le Brun, and others,1,0394

May10,To amount of the cargo and expenses to

departure of the ship Teresia, insurance,

freight, and commission on the

outfit,1,062,853176

"15,To ditto of the ship Mère Babi,89,4601

June10,To " " Maria Catherina,166,21763

Sept.25,To " " Flamand,630,19514

Nov.26,To ditto of an account of expenses incurred

at St Doiningue, by M. Carabasse,

relative to the cargoes of the ships

Teresia and Amelia,122,88273

1778,

May27,To amount of a second account, ditto23,0371110

1781,

April6To commission at

½ per cent on 25,000)

30,000) = 199,000 in

144,000) bills on Paris,995

""To amount of the account of interest

at 6 per cent per annum, as

particularized hereafter,1,167,250

———————

Livres,6,274,8446

———————

Contra Cr.

1777, Livress.d.

Aug.23,By net proceeds of the returned

cargo of the Mercury,18,7287

1778,

Feb.27,By ditto, ditto of the Amphitrite,135,3389

April17,By remittance to Mr Francy of

20,000 dollars at 4 for 1 is, at

5 livres tournois for a dollar25,000

May26,By ditto of 24,000 dollars at

ditto ditto30,000

Oct22,By net proceeds of the returned

cargo of the Teresia,124,13996

1779,

May5,By ditto of the Amelia, passed

on memorandum, waiting the

final of accounts of M. Carabasse, the

shipper in this affair.

June26,By net proceeds of 231 hhds tobacco per

the Fier Rodrigue, reduced to

to 115½ on account of the freight

being one half,74,90539

1780,

June25,By remittances on Dr Franklin to the

15th of June, 1780, viz.

74,000)

72,000) = 144,000[7]

1781,

April6,By balance due to me from the honorable

Congress,5,722,72326

————————

Livres,6,274,844116

————————

Errors and omissions excepted.

Paris, April 6th, 1781.

Dr the Honorable Congress in their new Account Current with Caron de Beaumarchais.

1781, Livres.s.d.

April6,To balance due to me on the preceding

account,5,722,72326

1782,

May18,To commission at ½ per cent on 144,000

and 2,544,000 making 2,688,000, in

bills on Paris,13,440

""To amount of interest account at 6 per

cent per annum, as particularized

hereafter,382,69818

""To commission at 2½ per cent to M. de

Francy on the returns from America,

viz.

On 552,121 9 amount of the returns to the

credit of their account settled the 6th

of April, 1781,

2,882,332 10 9 amount of the returns to

the credit of the account settled this

day,

3,434,453 19 9 at 2½ per cent,86,8616

——————

Livres,6,204,7236

——————

Contra Cr.

1781, Livres.s.d.

June25,By remittances on Dr Franklin to the

25th of June, 1781,144,000

July20,By net proceeds of 150 hhds tobacco per

the ship Peru, reduced to 75, on account

of the freight being one half,34,99119

""By ditto of 176 hhds tobacco per the Two>

Helenas, reduced to 88 by the freight;49,82619

""By ditto of 32 hhds ditto per Good Man

Richard, reduced to 16 by the freight,6,1415

""By ditto of 188 hhds ditto per the Polly,

reduced to 125¹⁄₃, the freight being

one third,55,872149

Oct.1,By ditto of 159 hhds ditto per Fier Rodrigue,

reduced to 79½ by the freight at

one half,47,49913

""By 15 hhds ditto per the Jean, and which

were lost, this vessel having foundered

at sea, (for memorandum.)

1782

May18,By remittances on Dr Franklin to the

25th of June, 1782, passed here in

anticipation, amounting to2,544,000

""By balance due to me from the Honorable

Congress,3,322,390159

————————

Livres,6,204,72366

————————

Dr the Honorable Congress

1782,

May18,To balance due to me on the above account,3,322,390159

Closed the above account, as well debit as credit, of the sum of six millions two hundred and four thousand seven hundred and twentythree livres, six sols, and six deniers tournois; on which the Honorable Congress of the United States of America owe me as balance the sum of three millions three hundred and twentytwo thousand three hundred and ninety livres, fifteen sols, and nine deniers tournois.

Dr, moreover, the Honorable Congress.

To amount of the drafts of General Lincoln, drawn at Charleston, in the month of March, 1780, on Samuel Huntington, President of Congress, to the order of M. de Francy, for the purchase of the cargo of the corvette the Zephyr, sold by Captain Mainville to the said General Lincoln, Commander of the Southern army of the United States, for the sum of two hundred and twentyfour thousand three hundred dollars, (this for memorandum,) for which two hundred and twentyfour thousand three hundred dollars I am yet to be credited, no return having been made to me.

Errors and omissions excepted.

CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS.

Paris, May 18th, 1782.

TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Office of Finance, June 4th, 1782.

Sir,

I have received your Excellency's letters of the 17th and 25th of May, with the enclosure. I am much obliged by the attention paid in your circular letter to the situation of my department. I am very sorry to inform you that it is really deplorable. I with difficulty am enabled to perform my engagements, and am absolutely precluded from forming any new ones. I have therefore been under the very disagreeable necessity of suffering the public service to stand still in more lines than one. I have been driven to the greatest shifts, and am at this moment unable to provide for the civil list.

I can easily suppose that military men should murmur to find the salaries of the civil list more punctually paid than their own. To enter into arguments on this occasion will be unnecessary, for I am persuaded that your Excellency must be of opinion with me, that unless the civil list is paid neither civil or military can exist at all.

I am well persuaded of your Excellency's desire to promote the success of those measures I have taken, because I am sure you are convinced that their tendency and my intentions are all directed to the public good. Indeed, my Dear Sir, you will hardly be able to form an adequate idea of the earnestness with which I desire to relieve you from the anxieties you must undergo. But when the several gazettes shall have announced the sums received for this year's service, and I am well convinced that the whole did not on the 1st of June amount to twenty thousand dollars; when it is recollected that our expenses at the rate of eight millions annually, are near twenty thousand dollars a day; and when it is known that the estimates on which the demand was founded do not include many essential branches, among which the Marine and Foreign Affairs are to be numbered; surely it cannot be a matter of surprise that the army are not paid; surely the blame is to fall on those from whose negligence the evil originates. But I will not give you the pain of hearing me repeat complaints, which you know to be but too well founded.

I pray you to believe, that I am, Sir, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO EDWARD CARRINGTON, IN VIRGINIA.

Office of Finance, June 6th, 1782.

Sir,

I have received your letter of the 26th of May, from Richmond. It does by no means surprise me, after some other things which have happened, that an opposition is made to receiving my notes in taxes. I am indifferent about the event of those deliberations, which may be had on that subject. If they choose rather to tax in coin, I shall be content, for the coin will answer my purposes as well as the notes, which were only intended to anticipate the revenue, and supply that want of money, which is not a little complained of, and particularly in Virginia. The views of those who oppose their circulation, I will not guess at, but I hope they may be virtuous and honorable motives, in which case, I shall only pity a want of understanding to discover the true interests of their country.

I am, your most obedient, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

Office of Finance, June 7th, 1782.

Sir,

I received this morning the letter you did me the honor to write on the 6th. Congress have asked from the several States a five per cent duty on goods imported, and on prizes and prize goods, as a fund for paying the principal and interest of their debts. This fund, when granted, will not be sufficient, and it is not yet granted by all. I expect, however, that the requisition will speedily be complied with. I shall not cease urging it, and also such further revenues as may be sufficient for the purpose. When they shall have been obtained, they will be duly applied in liquidation of the public debts; but until that period arrives, neither the principal nor the interest of such debts can be paid.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO DANIEL JENIFER, OF MARYLAND.

Office of Finance, June 11th, 1782.

Sir,

I have received the letter which you did me the honor to write on the 31st of last month. I am so habituated to receive apologies instead of money, that I am not surprised at the contents of it. If complaints of difficulties were equivalent to cash, I should not complain that the quotas are unpaid. But unluckily this is not the case, and if the States really mean to prosecute the war, something more must be done than merely to pass declaratory resolutions; for no man can be found who will for such resolutions supply food to our army. I am well persuaded, that the difficulties which any State labors under, proceed more from impolitic laws than any other source; for as to the taxes required, they are very moderate, when compared either with the real wealth of the people, or the former expenses which they have borne.

How far the quota asked from your State, is or is not proportionate, it is not my business to determine. I presume it is right; but let it be as high as it may, I am persuaded that when your specifics are turned into specie, and the various expenses attending such mode of taxation are paid, if the net amount be compared with the property taken from the people according to this simple proportion, (as the whole tax laid is to the net amount brought into the treasury, so is the price of wheat, tobacco, or any other article fixed in the law, to a fourth number to be found,) if, I say, this comparison be made, it will appear that the people have sustained a greater loss, than any disproportion in their quota could amount to.

You must not, however, suppose that Maryland is singular in considering her quota too high, so far from it, that I believe every State thinks so of its own quota, and would be very happy to apologise to the world for doing nothing, with the thin and flimsy pretext, that it has been asked to do too much.

You tell me your assembly would pledge any species of security in their power to borrow money. I am persuaded that you think so, but you must pardon me for holding a different opinion, besides that their willingness in this respect can be of but little avail; for while such extreme reluctance is shown to granting a sufficient revenue to pay past debts, you must not expect that any persons will rely on promises of future integrity. I believe your assembly, like all others on the continent, means well, and therefore I am in hopes that they will act well. But before they call on Hercules they must put their shoulders to the wheel. It is a vain thing to suppose that wars can be carried on by quibbles and puns, and yet laying taxes payable in specific articles amounts to no more, for with a great sound they put little or nothing in the treasury.

I know of no persons who want your specific supplies, and, if they did, rely on it that they would rather contract with an individual of any State than with any State in the Union. I have yet met with no instance in which the articles taken in for taxes are of the first quality, neither do I expect to meet with any; and so little reliance can be placed on them, as to punctuality, that you may depend they can never be sold but at a loss. This I have experienced. Somebody or other will make a good bargain out of you, and the best you can make is to sell before the expenses eat up the whole. This will be buying experience, and perhaps it may prove a cheap purchase.

I am sorry that you are about to quit your office, and particularly sorry for the want of health which leads you to that determination. I had hopes that your endeavors would have brought things into order. I shall expect to hear from you soon better tidings.

Yours, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT.

Office of Finance, June 14th, 1782.

Sir,

Mr Merrill in a letter of the seventh instant informs me, that your Excellency requested him to delay the publication of receipts for your State. I am convinced, Sir, that you had good reasons for this request, and wish it were in my power still further to gratify your wishes. But I am under the necessity of insisting on the publication for the following reasons—1st, To obviate the charge of partiality, if made in one State and not in others. 2dly, To show the deficiency of means granted for carrying on the war. 3dly, Thereby to exonerate those who are immediately responsible. And, 4thly, to direct the public to the real cause of our calamities.

Your Excellency well knows that it is common for representatives to aim at popularity, by lessening or procrastinating the taxes of their constituents. It is proper, therefore, that the people should know the situation to which such conduct reduces them.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO JAMES LOVELL OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Office of Finance, June 16th 1782.

Sir,

I have received this day your letter of the sixth instant. I find the publications of "no receipts" are by no means very pleasing. Men are less ashamed to do wrong, than vexed to be told of it. Mr Merrill of Connecticut delayed his publication in consequence of a request from the Governor. This he informed me of by letter, and I enclose you a copy of my answer. It contains some of the reasons why I insist on such publications, and I send them to you because I think I can at this distance perceive, that some men will desire to know those reasons from you.

I know it will be alleged that from such publications the enemy will derive information, but I am convinced they will gain all the knowledge of that sort, which they want, without our newspapers; for the collection of taxes is a matter of too great notoriety to be concealed, and therefore I have long considered such arguments as mere excuses to keep the people in ignorance, and deceive them under pretext of deceiving their enemies.

I am, Sir, your most obedient, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Office of Finance, June 21st, 1782.

Sir,

I am informed that several of our officers have left behind them in New York considerable sums of money unpaid, which had been advanced to them while they were prisoners. The humanity of those, who have made such advances, as well as the principles of justice, requires that they should be repaid. But there is another reason which has considerable weight on my mind. The establishment of a credit among our enemies by the punctual payment of such debts will induce them again to make advances, should the chance of war place any of our unfortunate officers in a situation to render it necessary. I am therefore to request of your Excellency (should you agree with me in opinion) that you would take measures to cause the amount of those debts to be particularly ascertained, in order that I may devise some means of discharging them as soon as the state of the treasury will permit.

I am, Sir, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE GOVERNOR OF RHODE-ISLAND.

Office of Finance, June 26th, 1782.

Sir,

Finding that your State has made advances of pay to their troops, it becomes my duty to inform your Excellency, that Congress included in their estimates, amounting to eight millions, the sums necessary for paying the army; of consequence there can be no use in making such payments by the several States. I must also observe, Sir, that partial payments or supplies of any kind have been found by experience to give general dissatisfaction, and therefore the determination to discontinue them has been long since adopted.

The variety of accounts also is dangerous and expensive, and therefore to be avoided. I might add other reasons why such payments by the States cannot be admitted in abatement of their respective quotas. The same reasons also operate against the admission of charges for supplies of any kind, or certificates thereof as deductions from those quotas. I have written to Mr Olney on the subject, the 23d instant; and am now to pray your Excellency's attention and assistance to prevent such irregularities in future. The more our operations are simplified, the better will they be understood, and the more satisfactorily will they be conducted. Congress have asked for men and money. Those granted, they will ask for nothing more, and I persuade myself, that if consistently with the confederation, they could confine their requisitions to money alone, the people at large would derive relief from it, the Legislature would act with greater ease, and our resources be applied with greater vigor.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Office of Finance, June 29th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

I have received your favors of the 8th and 16th instant, the former enclosing alterations proposed in the present mode of issues, and the latter a copy of your circular letter to the States of the 4th of May. I pray you to accept my thanks for these communications. I consent to the alterations mentioned, and shall be very happy that harmony be restored; for I do assure you that let the cause of disputes be what it may, I am extremely sorry to find that any exist.

I find that you have misunderstood that part of my letter which relates to the complaints of the officers. My design was not to oppose any arrangement which might contribute to their convenience. I only meant to show that their convenience having been consulted in the first instance, the mode had excited uneasiness, and that the endeavor to remove that uneasiness having excited complaint and remonstrance, the direct compliance with the reasoning adopted by them would produce greater hardship, than that which was complained of. Hence follows the inference which was on my mind, that a spirit of accommodation alone could place all parties at their ease, and I supposed that the interest of the contractors on one hand, and the convenience of the army on the other, would produce that accommodating disposition in both. I am happy to find that matters are now in a train towards that desirable end, and much lament that it has not sooner arrived.

I shall close what I have to say on this subject, by assuring you most confidentially, that I will to the utmost of my power do justice, and bring relief to both officers and soldiers, but as these things can only be effected by exact method and economy, so I must pursue that method and economy, as the only means by which the desired end can be obtained.

With respect to the civil list, I shall say but one or two words. I know well the connexion, which ties together all the public servants, and I lament every comparison, which implies a distinction between them. The civil list consists chiefly of persons whose salaries will not do more than find them food and clothing. Many of them complain, that with great parsimony they cannot obtain even those necessaries. The difference then between them and the army, supposing the latter to get but four months' pay out of twelve, is that both would be alike subsisted, and the army would have an arrearage of eight months' pay to receive at a future period, but the civil list would have to receive nothing.

I am, my Dear Sir, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO B. FRANKLIN.

Office of Finance, July 1st, 1782.

Sir,

I have deferred until this moment my answer to your letters of the 4th, 9th, and 30th, of March, in expectation that I should have heard from you by the Marquis de Lafayette. A vessel now about to depart induces me to address you. I enclose an Act of Congress, by which you are empowered to adjust the public accounts with the Court of France. I wish this may be done, and the amount transmitted hither, that arrangements may be taken for ascertaining the times and the modes of payment. You will at the same time observe, that it is determined to appoint a commissioner for liquidating and finally adjusting the accounts of the public servants of Congress in Europe.

The Minister here, in a letter to me of the 25th of May last, gives the following state of moneys granted by France, viz.

"These advances have been made at the following periods, and are payable with interest, according to the obligations and acknowledgements of Dr Franklin.

"In 1778,3,000,000

1779,1,000,000

1780,4,000,000

1781,10,000,000

————

Total18,000,000

"From this sum must be deducted the

gratuitous subsidy of last year,6,000,000

————

Remains12,000,000"

"To this must be added,

1st. The produce of the loan in Holland,10,000,000

2dly. The loan made by his Majesty for

the current year,6,000,000

————

"Capital of the debt due to His Majesty

by the United States,28,000,000"

I think it right to send you this statement, on which I will make a few observations. I could have wished that the whole of the moneys, which the Court have furnished us had been what the greater part is, a loan. I know that the United States will find no difficulty in making payment, and I take this opportunity to give you an assurance, which is not meant for the Court, that I will endeavor to provide even now the means of repayment, by getting laws passed, to take effect at a future period, or otherwise, as shall be most convenient and agreeable to all parties, after the amount is ascertained and the times of payment fixed. I wish it had all been a loan, because I do not think the weight of the debt would be so great as the weight of an obligation is generally found to be, and the latter is of all others what I would least wish to labor under, either in a public or private capacity. A still further reason with me is, that there is less pain in soliciting the aid of a loan, when there is no expectation that it is to be a gift.

Prompted by such reasons, I could be well content, that the advances made previously to the year 1778, were by some means or other brought into this account. By Mr Grand's accounts is appears, that Messrs Franklin, Deane and Lee, on the 1st of January, 1777, paid him five hundred thousand livres; on the 28th of April, other five hundred thousand livres; on the 4th of June, one million of livres; on the 3d of July, five hundred thousand livres; and on the 10th of October, other five hundred thousand livres; amounting in the whole to three millions of livres. I suppose, that these sums were received of private persons in like manner with those supplies, which were obtained through M. de Beaumarchais, and if so they will be payable in like manner with those supplies.

I have in a former letter estimated the yearly interest on Loan Office certificates, payable in France at two million livres, consequently taking in the months intervening between September and March, the total amount from September the 10th, 1777, to March the 1st, 1782, may be stated at nine million livres; which is just one half of the supplies granted for the years 1778, 1779, 1780, and 1781.

A resolution now before Congress will, I believe, direct that no more bills be drawn for this instant; but Mr Grand in his letter of the 4th of March, tells me he has paid six million two hundred and thirtynine thousand one hundred end eightysix livres, thirteen sous, four deniers, in sixteen thousand eight hundred and nineteen bills, from the 11th of February, 1779, to the 28th of January, 1782. His accounts are now translating, and when that is completed, I shall transmit them to the treasury, and I hope soon to have the accounts of the several loan officers in such a train of settlement, that all these matters may finally be wound up.

Should the Court grant six million livres more for the service of the current year, making twelve million livres in the whole, which to tell you the truth, I do expect, then the sum total in five years will be forty million livres, or eight million annually. And when the occasion of this grant is considered, the magnitude of the object, and the derangement of our finances, naturally to be expected in so great a revolution, I cannot think this sum is by any means very extraordinary. I believe with you most perfectly in the good dispositions of the Court, but I must request you to urge those dispositions into effect. I consider the six millions mentioned to me by the Minister here, and afterwards in your letters, as being at my disposal. The taxes come in so slowly, that I have been compelled and must continue to draw bills, but I shall avoid it as much as possible. In my letters of the 23d and 29th of May, of which I enclose copies, are contained my sentiments as to M. de Beaumarchais' demand. Indeed, if the sums paid to him and others for expenditures previous to the year 1778, and the amount of the interest money, of which the principal was also expended at that time, be deducted, the remaining sum will be considerably less than thirty millions.

I must entreat of you, Sir, that all the stores may be forwarded from Brest as soon as possible, and I shall hope that the Court will take measures to afford you the necessary transports, so that they may come under proper convoy. As to the cargo of the ship Marquis de Lafayette, it is true, that some of it has arrived here from neutral ports, but it is equally true that money was necessary to purchase it, and that money is quite as scarce as any other article. If, however, all the cargo of that ship was like some which I procured, the taking of her has been no great loss, for the clothing was too small to go on men's backs. The goods from Holland we still most anxiously expect. Would to God that they never had been purchased. Mr Gillon, however, is at length arrived, and I hope we shall have those matters, in which he was concerned, brought to some kind of settlement.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

Office of Finance, July 2d, 1782.

Sir,

I yesterday received your letter of the 17th of June, and am very happy to find that you have determined to accept the office I had the pleasure of offering to you.[8] I enclose the commission, instructions, &c. together with a bond for performance of the duties, which I must request you to fill up and execute, with some sufficient surety, and transmit.

The complaint you make of the system of taxation in New York, might, I believe, very justly be extended; for though it may be more defective in some than in others, it is, I fear, very far from perfect in any. I had already heard, that no part of the taxes were appropriated to Continental purposes, but I expect that the Legislature will, when they meet, make such appropriation, as well as lay new, and I hope productive taxes, for the purposes of paying what may remain of their quota.

It gives me a singular pleasure to find, that you have yourself pointed out one of the principal objects of your appointment. You will find that it is specified in the enclosure of the 15th of April. I do not conceive that any interview will be necessary, though I shall always be happy to see you, when your leisure and convenience will admit. In the meantime, I must request you to exert your talents in forwarding with your Legislature the views of Congress. Your former situation in the army, the present situation of that very army, your connexions in the State, your perfect knowledge of men and measures, and the abilities which Heaven has blest you with, will give you a fine opportunity to forward the public service, by convincing all who have claims on the justice of Congress, that those claims exist only by that hard necessity, which arises from the negligence of the States. When to this you shall superadd the conviction, that what remains of the war, being only a war of finance, solid arrangements of finance must necessarily terminate favorably, not only to our hopes but even to our wishes, then, Sir, the government will be disposed to lay, and the people to bear these burdens, which are necessary, and then the utility of your office and of the officer will be as manifest to others as at present to me.

I am, with respect, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO M. JOLIE DE FLEURY.

Office of Finance, July 6th, 1782.

Sir,

I have received the letter which you did me the honor to write in February last. It gives me very particular pleasure to find that my operations are approved by a gentleman whose talents and situation conspire together in giving the means and the power of forming a proper judgment. I receive, Sir, with so much greater satisfaction your promise to concur in promoting the success of my measures, as I persuade myself that a true Frenchman must deeply interest himself in the present American Revolution.

The indissoluble bands which unite our sovereigns, have connected the success of that revolution with the glory of the King, and the interests of his subjects. Being therefore alike prompted by that animated zeal and attachment to your prince which forms a beautiful trait in the French character, and by your own benevolence, you cannot but pursue the road which leads to the establishment of our independence. It is by these motives, Sir, that you are assured of my confidence. I shall take the liberty to lay before you my arrangements, as soon as they can be completed, in order that you may possess the views of my administration.

I have the honor to be, with perfect esteem and respect,

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO MR GRAND.

Office of Finance, July 5th, 1782.

Sir,

I have received your several favors of the 2d of February and 4th of March last, together with the accounts accompanying the latter. I am sorry to find the funds we have in Europe are so deeply anticipated. This circumstance introduces a degree of hesitancy and doubtfulness into my measures, which is alike disagreeable and pernicious. I hope, therefore, that all the old accounts will soon be wound up and finally closed; and then in future I shall possess a full view of what is in my power. With respect to any arrangements with the Court of Spain, I incline to think that they will be necessary, for I persuade myself that money negotiations through Havana might be performed to equal, if not greater advantage, by private channels.

I am, Sir, with respect and esteem, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND.

Office of Finance, July 9th, 1782.

Sir,

I have not been until this moment favored with your letter in Council of the 5th. I pray that you will accept and present to the Council my sincere thanks for your attention to the public service. Your offer to pay for the transportation of clothing to the southern army, gives me an additional reason to believe that a sense of the public distresses will always operate a desire to relieve them. To go into detail of those distresses, is at all times dangerous, and indeed it would be impracticable, for they are so numerous that all my time would be insufficient for the purpose. The publications made by the receivers in the several States, will however carry a conviction of them, to every man of sense end reflection.

It is my constant endeavor to administer the little aid which is afforded to the best advantage; and I am in hourly apprehensions from the dilatoriness which has been shown by almost all the States, in granting the supplies required by Congress. No proposition can be clearer than this, that the salvation of our country must depend upon such grants; and it will be a matter of wonder for future generations, how a people who once showed such enthusiastic ardor, should at the moment when it is within their grasp, put everything to the hazard, by omitting to make the little exertion that remains. Yet such is the fact.

I shall rely on receiving considerable supplies of money from Maryland in the course of the present month; and shall, in consequence, make engagements for transporting the clothing and stores to the southern army, and for other services equally pressing and essential. That you will be obliged to sell the property of the State, at less than you suppose it to be worth, I had long foreseen, and am thoroughly convinced of. That is one among the very many objections against raising specific taxes; but you may depend that the longer they are kept on hand, the greater will be the loss. The people must be undeceived, and the sales of such property will have a tendency to produce that effect. They will at length, I hope, open their eyes, and be convinced of a truth which all history and experience bear witness to, namely, that the true art of governing is to simplify the operations of government.

Permit me, Sir, before I close this letter, to press upon your consideration the state of public affairs. Every operation is, at present, supported by credit, and that credit has long hung but by a thread. Unless the States give speedy and effectual aid, that thread must break. It would long since have broken, and scenes of military pillage, waste, murmuring, extravagance and confusion would again have been opened, if I had not for some time declined all expenditure, except what was necessary merely to feed the army. If, under such circumstances, the enemy has made offensive operations, you may easily guess the consequences. Your State will, I hope, contribute amply to provide against them. Should anything happen, the fault will not lie at the door of Congress or of their servants.

With perfect esteem and respect, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO JAMES LOVELL OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Office of Finance, July 10th, 1782.

Sir,

I have received your favors of the 24th and 27th of June. The conduct of the States is very alarming, and has given me much serious apprehension. A want of knowledge or of zeal among those who compose the several Legislatures, produces misfortunes which their constituents must feel, although they do not themselves appear to be aware of them. Had permanent funds been established on which to borrow money, in all human probability our credit would have been such, as that a considerable part of every year's expenditure might have been obtained in that way. The advantages of such a measure are self evident. If we suppose the states at war possessed of equal force and resources, the one of them enjoying credit, which the other wants, the efforts would be so unequal, that the nation in credit might compel her antagonist to ask peace in a very short period.

In America we have disdained to profit by experience, and therefore are reduced to the sad necessity of bearing the whole burden of the war at the present moment, when least able to bear it. Still, however, I had hoped, by making anticipations on the taxes, to lay a foundation for more extensive credit; and at length to recover that useful confidence, which has been too carelessly squandered away. But in fixing the first stone of this useful edifice, I am disappointed by finding that after taxes are laid, and in the moment when I expect to feel the benefits, the collection is postponed unto a future day. I shall not dwell longer on this disagreeable topic. I deeply feel and sincerely lament the consequences, which you may rely on it are far more pernicious even in the article of expense than any person is aware of; besides other things which are of equal, and may perhaps, be of greater importance.

I find by examining the sums I have drawn on you for, that you can find no great difficulty in making the payments by sales of the bills. I would advise you, immediately on the receipt of this, to employ a good broker to sell all the bills you have, at a price to be fixed between you, leaving it optional in the party, to pay either specie, bank notes, or my notes, and give from a week to a fortnight credit to good hands. The price will, I suppose, be high if sold in this manner, and you will doubtless obtain a preference in the sales over others. When you open this business it must be transacted speedily by letting your broker make the sales, and take the promisory notes from the parties. The effects of this plan will be as follows; people knowing that the notes are at a discount, will readily, I suppose, make purchases on such conditions; and if they do, you will thereby raise them to par, and command a considerable sum in specie, for I know there are very few now in your country, and therefore when they come to be bought up and looked for, their value will rise; and I presume that taxation will then come in to aid their farther circulation.

I am, Sir, with great respect, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND.

Office of Finance, July 29th, 1782.

Sir

I have now before me your two favors of the 12th instant. You will find my answers as well in a former letter, as in the enclosed circular. For what remains I must only declare to you my regret at finding your prospects so gloomy. The idea that taxes cannot be raised because of the want of specie, is very general, indeed it is almost universal, and yet nothing can be more ill-founded. If the people be put in the necessity of procuring specie, they will procure it. They can if they will. Tobacco may not sell at one moment, grain at another, or cattle at a third; but there are some articles such as horses, which will sell at all times. The mischief is, that when a purchaser offers, the party not being under a necessity of selling, insists on a higher price than the other can afford to give. Thus the commerce is turned away to another quarter. Nothing but the necessity of getting money will bring men in general to lower their prices. When this is done purchasers will offer in abundance, and thus it will be found, that the tax instead of lessening will increase the quantity of specie. But so long as the want of it can be pleaded successfully against taxes, so long that want will continue. And then all that remains to consider is, whether the army can be maintained by such a plea. The States, Sir, must give money, or the army must disband.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT MORRIS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Office of Finance, July 29th, 1782.

Sir,

The reference which Congress were pleased to make of a remonstrance and petition from Blair Mc Clenaghan and others, has induced me to pray their indulgence while I go somewhat at large into the subject of that remonstrance.

The propriety and utility of public loans have been subjects of much controversy. Those who find themselves saddled with the debts of a preceding generation, naturally exclaim against loans; and it must be confessed, that when such debts are accumulated by negligence, folly or profusion, the complaint is well founded. But it would be equally so against taxes, when wasted in the same way. The difference is, that the weight of taxes being more sensible, the waste occasions greater clamor, and is therefore more speedily remedied. But it will appear, that the eventual evils, which posterity must sustain from heavy taxes are greater than from loans. Hence may be deduced this conclusion, that in governments liable to a vicious administration, it would be better to raise the current expense by taxes; but where an honest and wise appropriation of money prevails, it is highly advantageous to take the benefit of loans. Taxation to a certain point, is not only proper but useful, because by stimulating the industry of individuals, it increases the wealth of the community. But when taxes go so far as to entrench on the subsistence of the people, they have become burdensome and oppressive. The expenditure of money ought in such case to be, if possible, avoided; if unavoidable, it will be most wise to have recourse to loans.

Loans may be of two kinds, either domestic or foreign. The relative advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as those which are common to both, will deserve attention. Reasonings of this kind, as they depend on rules of arithmetic, are best understood by numerical positions. For the purposes of elucidation, therefore, it may be supposed that the annual tax of any particular husbandman were fifteen pounds, so that (the whole being regularly consumed in payment of taxes) he would be no richer at the end of the war, than he was at the beginning. It is at the same time notorious, that the profits made by husbandmen, on funds which they borrowed were very considerable. In many instances their plantations, as well as the cattle and family utensils, have been purchased on credit, and the bonds given for both have shortly been paid by sales of produce. It is, therefore, no exaggeration to state the profits at twelve per cent. The enormous usury, which people in trade have been induced to pay, and which will presently be noticed, demonstrates that the profits made by the other professions, are equal to those of the husbandman.

The instance, therefore, taken from that which is the most numerous class of citizens, will form no improper standard for the whole. Let it then be farther supposed in the case already stated, that the party should annually borrow the sum of ten pounds at six per cent, to pay part of the tax of fifteen pounds. On this sum then he would make a profit of twentyfour shillings, and have to pay an interest of twelve shillings. The enclosed calculation will show, that in ten years he would be indebted one hundred pounds, but his additional improvements would be worth near one hundred and fifty, and his net revenue be increased near twelve, after deducting the interest of his debt. Whereas if he had not borrowed, his revenue, as has been already observed, would have continued the same. This mode of reasoning might be pursued farther, but what has been said is sufficient to show, that he would have made a considerable advantage from the yearly loan. If it be supposed, that every person in the community made such a loan, a similar advantage would arise to the community. And lastly, if it be supposed, that the government were to make a loan and ask so much less in taxes, the same advantage would be derived. Hence, also, may be deduced this position, that in a society where the average profits of stock are double the interest at which money can be obtained, every public loan for necessary expenditures, provides a fund in the aggregate of national wealth equal to the discharge of its own interest.

Were it possible that a society should exist, in which every member would of his own accord industriously pursue the increase of national property, without waste or extravagance, the public wealth would be impaired by every species of taxation. But there never was, and unless human nature should change, there never will be such a society. In any given number of men, there always will be some who are idle, and some who are extravagant. In every society also there must be some taxes, because the necessity of supporting government and defending the State always exists. To do these on the cheapest terms is wise, and when it is considered how much men are disposed to indolence and profusion it will appear, that even if those demands did not require the whole of what could be raised, still it would be wise to carry taxation to a certain amount, and expend what should remain after providing for the support of government and the national defence, in works of public utility, such as the opening of roads and navigation. For taxes operate two ways towards the increase of national wealth. First, they stimulate industry to provide the means of payment. Secondly, they encourage economy, so far as to avoid the purchase of unnecessary things, and keep money in readiness for the tax gatherers. Experience shows, that those exertions of industry and economy grow by degrees into habit. But in order that taxation may have these good effects, the sum which every man is to pay and the period of payment, should be certain and unavoidable.

This digression opens the way to a comparison between foreign and domestic loans. If the loan be domestic, money must be diverted from those channels in which it would otherwise have flowed; and, therefore, either the public must give better terms than individuals, or there must be money enough to supply the wants of both. In the latter case, if the public did not borrow, the quantity of money would exceed the demand, and the interest would be lowered; borrowing by the public, therefore, would keep up the rate of interest; which brings the latter case within the reason of the former. If the public out bid individuals, those individuals are deprived of the means of extending their industry; so that no case of a domestic loan can well be supposed where some public loss will not arise to counterbalance the public gain, except where the creditor spares from his consumption to lend to the government, which operates a national economy. It is, however, an advantage peculiar to domestic loans, that they give stability to government, by combining together the interests of the monied men for its support; and, consequently, in this country a domestic debt would greatly contribute to that union, which seems not to have been sufficiently attended to or provided for in forming the national compact. Domestic loans are also useful, from the farther consideration, that as taxes fall heavy on the lower orders of the community, the relief obtained for them by such loans more than counterbalances the loss sustained by those who would have borrowed money to extend their commerce or tillage. Neither is it a refinement to observe, that since a plenty of money and consequent ease of obtaining it, induce men to engage in speculations, which are often unprofitable, the check which these receive is not injurious, while the relief obtained by the poor is highly beneficial.

By making foreign loans, the community, as such, receive the same extensive benefits, which one individual does in borrowing of another. This country was always in the practice of making such loans. The merchants in Europe trusted those in America. The American merchants trusted the country store-keepers, and they the people at large. This advance of credit may be stated at not less than twenty millions of dollars. And the want of that credit now is one principal reason of those usurious contracts mentioned above. These have been checked by the institution of the bank, but the funds of that corporation not permitting those extensive advances, which the views of different people require, the price given for particular accommodations of money continues to be enormous; and that again shows, that to make domestic loans would be difficult, if not impracticable. The merchants not having now that extensive credit in Europe, which they formerly had, the obtaining such credit by government becomes in some sort necessary.

But there remains an objection with many against foreign loans, which (though it arises from a superficial view of the subject) has no little influence. This is, that the interest will form a balance of trade against us, and drain the country of specie; which is only saying in other words, that it would be more convenient to receive money as a present, than as a loan; for the advantages derived by the loan exist, notwithstanding the payment of interest. To show this more clearly, a case may be stated, which in this city is very familiar. An Island in the Delaware overflowed at high water has for a given sum, suppose a thousand pounds, been banked in, drained, and made to produce, by the hay sold from it at Philadelphia, a considerable sum annually; for instance, two hundred pounds. If the owner of such an Island had borrowed in Philadelphia the thousand pounds to improve it, and given six per cent interest, he would have gained a net revenue of one hundred and forty pounds. This certainly would not be a balance of trade against his Island, nor the draining it of specie. He would gain considerably, and the city of Philadelphia also would gain, by bringing to market an increased quantity of a necessary article.