The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1777-12-02 00:00:00, page 1

For the Connecticut Courant.
so the? RIN TER.,
HAVING obtained a few leisure hours I
now lend you some more of my
thoughts on the prelent distresses of my coun
try which vie feel, and its future ruin which
Ifear.
In my former I obferv'd that the depreci
ation of our bills is generally attributed to
the merchant-, and it is as certain, that the
farmer who withholds the produce of his
farm, and will not fell either to rich or poor
for our paper bills, agreeable to the obser
vation Of a wife king of Israel, has the un
feigned curses of the people.
In this! Shall endeavor to vindicate the
conduct both of the merchant and farmer, so
far as I thi k they may be jufyfied, confit
tent with truth arid righteousness, let the de
preciation of our bills center where it will, I
will endeavor hqpeftly to point out the fads
as they appear to me, and let the impartial
judge.
That the merchant as soon as our ports
Were shut, railed upon their rum from 3 to
6, then to 10, and soon after to 12 s. per gal
lon, is a fad too notorious to be dehy'd :
But before 1 proceed to exculpate the mer
chant, or blame the farmer, to remove all
suspicions of sinister designs; I declare upon
thy honor I am not a merchants or any ways
connected with any one in trade, but afar
mer, and one who improves his small interest
by hired labourers; and whether what I may
fay upon the fubjeft, has any weighty J must
leave to the impartial to judge.
Let it be remembered therefore, -as soon as
our ports were shut up by order of Congress,
all vessels (those only improved by^congrefs)
were laid up in our ports to be eaten by
worms, or rot in our rivers, the merchant
was thrown out of ail business except the
dilpofition of the goods he had on hand, and
reduced to the necessity of living upon his
stock, to work on his lands if any he had, or
to farve.
Now let the! farmer calml, confides if the
Congress had keen it necessary for the public
good, to have rehrided the farmer from
plowing or sowing his lands for the Space of
one year, which neceharily rhuft bring on a
scarcity of the rieceffaries of life, would he
hot think himfelfat liberty, not only to lay
tip aa competent Supply for himlelf, but to
ask a higher price for the remainder left on
hand, in proportion as the demand for them
increased; in times of greatest plenty, if
there is a foreign demand for provisions of
any kind, the price is kept up in that very
country that produces them in the greatest
plenty, and sometimes even fifes above the
common and ordinary price-, it is the fear
citv or plenty of any of the neceffartes, or even
conveniencies of life, that determiners the
price, and they rife and fall, in proportion
to the demand, and to a I ffer or urraur- kn
ty. Thus an aft head was fold one day for
four(core pieces of fiver, and the very next day
a measure of fine four was foldfor a feencl and
two m%fees of barley for aJhekel tn the gates of
Samaria. By this piece of Sacred hhlory it
rUESDA Y,smb& i, „„;
CONNECTICUT
AND
WEEKLY
Containing the Frtfheft ADVICES,
appears, the owner of the asses head did not
withhold it, even in a time of famine, bur fold
it, and that even for money, he did not infill
upon bartering it sot some other article he
might want ; the price it is true was great,
but that was occasioned by the scarcity of
food, and the great demand for fom rthing to
Support life, but high in the price then was,
the very next day, a meafare of fine four was
fold for aJhekel and two meafares of barley for a
fbekel in the gate of Samama. This indue!l fall
of the market, was effected by the great plen
ty that Succeeded, Qccafloned by the hidden
flight of the army of the Brians, but his
Sudden fall of the market in Samaria would
have been prevented; had monop rzers, %,f
fers and foarpers been petmioed to have prac
tised Such arts upon the people of damaria;
but fuch' barefaced villainy in a time of Scarcity
and general diffrefs was mfpifed even by the
Samaritan lepers, who firit entered the camp,
and might have inriched themselves greatly;
by en^roffag the plunder, but this their hu
mane and generous fouls drfpikd, under the
then present distress of their country ; and by
this example it appeals the Scarcity of any
of the nercharier of ir?t tender th m dear,
and consequently that a competency and
much more a fuhriefs; ought to fink; and
hot to raise tfe price:
The case of our merchants was truly this;
our ports were shut up, their business by
which they got their bread at an end, their
teffels rotting in our harbours and rivers,
frefh supplies of foreign commodities for the
prefect cut off; and the merchants obliged
to Spend on thdr flocks; they at firft fell
their goods at double, then at treble, and as
the scarcity encreafed, and the demahd for
the commodities they had on hand doubled;
they raised their price four fold, -until they
had fold all the goods tney had imported,
except some dvoritious wretches of the fame
Spirit and temper of the engfofrr, who with
hold felling at any price, and this the mer
chant lays he had a right to do to make him
good for hislofs ot trade, decay of vessels,
&C. &C;
But the farmer fays the merchant ought
to have fold all the goods he had on hand at
the price he fold for when firft imported;
with the addition of Wastage, and interest ;
let us for once to Satisfy the farmer examine
this matter. A merchant now possessed of 20'
hogfheadsof rum fells them tor 3s per gallon
with a proper allowance for wattage and in
terest; lays out the near proceeds in produce,
ships them in hisown veffe^or upon freight;
and after paying the advanced priceof hands
wages, or the prefect freight, insurance, &c;
ho^ many hogsheads ofrum'can it bethought
he will have in return 1' I answer not more
than ten, what is the effeffs of this voyage,
will he not apparently fuller the lots of 10
hogsheads ? But the termer fays, he would
willingly pav a price, that would afford a
handle ft on his voyage---but Should
it so h- g -v oich is not impofiible (but
truly . % : ~ beferve thus the favours of
H fi a - , amp of the Syrians ffiotild
flee #: } . '. : competent foppiy is
M IISBb^^ M
^^^
imported by either Dutch, French, or ev©ri
from the Englfh islands, b, which the de
mand is jeffened; will any think themselves
bound to purchase my ten hogsheads at a
price that will affbid hie a .profit on my
voyage, -or will not they think themselves at
liberty to buy where they can have it cheap
est ? Will any apply to a farmer who has
loft his crop by blall, or some other accident;
and give him a price beyond the market, so
as that lie may be paid for his tillage ? or;
will a farther who is bleft with a plentiful
Crop in a time of general blast, which is often
the case, fell below the tnaifct price ? cer
tainly no; he wifi not; but tell you that
two years ago his crop was blasted; and that
he was obi ted to fell to his blacksmith, &c.
at the m.^ket Mice fixed by the demand that
there was for wheat at that time, and that he
expels to rife and fall with the market • ve
ry true, and well spoken, and must not the
merchant do the fame ? yea verily-- so that:
it is not a high price fimplyconfidered, that
may justly be term'd extemti % or Ahat de
preciates our biils. I have it morn good au
thority, a yoke of working oxen was fold at
Long IDapd not two months past for pvb
hundred Spanish milled dollars, is Spanish
dollars depreciated ? or was that price oc
tafioncd by the scarcity of oxen ? I answer
it was for the fame reason that the asses head
was fold tor four score pieces of silver in Sa
maria. The man wanted thtrh greatly; he
could hot be Supplied elsewhere, and he
judged the oxen would do him Shore good
on his farm; than two hundred dollars in his
chest, and for that reason bought them : But
the merchant that engrtfes rum; Sugar; mo
lasses, or any of the tieceffaries or even con-
Veniencits of lift; in this time of getiemidif
trefs refuting to fell, even tinder the diftreffcs
Of sickness, to his neighbours perhaps in the
very town where he has chaffed his . 'thoufands
and at the fame time, aligning the low credit
of our bills as the reason, which gives a mor
tal stab to the credit of them, which at all
events must be supported, or our cause is
loft, our army (which undei God is our de-
COURANT,
k^RY^6Rb
INTELLIGENCES
Both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC.
fence) must return home upon us, and out
lives, liberties, and properties, left to fall a
facrifice into the hands of our mod inveterate
enemies ; ---fUch men I think muff be deem’d
ingrates to their God, and ,traitcrs to
their country. They effectually prevent the
fair horieft trader, from pure! aing finch; r
ticles, and retailing,them at a reasonable ad
vance to the farmer, as his profits arising on
the sale, added to the fidt purchase, would
not purchase the Same articles a fecund time,
so that the engreffir, and not the fair trader,
who would be glad 0 purchase and fell at a
moderate advance is the one principal cause
both of the hieh price of foreign ' produce
and merchandize, and the depreciation of
our bills of public credit, and not the impor
ter who fold them readily and freely fc r Con
tinental bills, although at a higher price than'
when firft imported, as the demand for 'them
increased.
I shall in the next place enquire, how far
the farmer ought to be acquitted from the