The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-06-29 00:00:00, page 1

The ADDRESS of the COMMITTEE of the
City and Liberties of Philadelphia, to their fellow-C>
tizens throughout the United States.
Friends and Countrymen,
NECESSITY and convenience, have again called
into being a body of men, hitherto known through
out the several parts of America 6y the name of Commit
tees; and we presume that when the several reasons there
for are colleded and considered, that their re infliction
at this time will not only be juftified, but approved and
followed.
However, in the tranquil hours of peace, we may ad
mire, and confine ourselves to the guidance of written
laws, yet in times of traiterous war, and more especially
so in an invaded country, they will in general be found too
flow in their operation, too uncertain, in their ebfls.
The ingenuity of men is the invention of new crimes,
the prostituted ingenuity of others, in fkreening criminali
ty from legal punishment; the additional opportunities
which a state of war affords to tire fubtile, the felfifli, and
difaffeded, together with the impossibility of legally de
ihribing the numerous kinds of difaffeaion, practicable in
an invaded country, render the revival of Committees dur
ing the present war, not only a convenient but a necessary
appendage to civil government.\
There are offences against society which are riot in al!
cases offences against law, ano for the prevention or ppnifh
ment of which no written laws can be timely con strutted, or
fufficiently applied. Circumstances may combine to prove
a man undeserving the rank he may hold or the refiueuce
he may enjoy among the citizens of this or any other
State, and yet by some accidental tiefe& of the laws in be
ing, the perversion of a well intended daufe, the failure
of immediate evidence, or even from the novelty of the
Crime, he may escape the punishment ob Court of Justice:
In all such cases therefore, or .others of a similar "nature,
we hold this maxim,, that where the offence is publicly
dangerous or injurious, and the laws unable to relieve or
punish, the community ip its own defence, and for its
further security, has a right to expel.
Formidable as the punishment of expulsion may appear,
we nevertheless juftify the right of using it, on ths grounds
and principles of citizenship, arid the admitted and imme
morial cuttom of mankind. . It is a right claimed and ex
ercised by every separate society in this and all other coun
tries, and as the community at large is an incorporated
collection of the several parts, therefore the right of the
whole cannot be inferior to the parts of which it iscompofed.
It is incrinfiftent to suppose that the lenity of our laws,
or their silence on crimes we can have no conception of,
are to become a fafe guard to the difaffe&ed in their arts
of studied delinquency, or that no other offences are
punishable in an invaded country, than what are to be
round in the laws of a fettled and well regulated society.
We cannot cooftrud laws that will^ reach all cases, and
. therefore we maintain the right, as well as the necessity of
holding every man accountable to the community, for
such parts of his cendud by which the public welfare ap
pears to be injured or diflionored, and for which no legal
redress can be obtained.
In times of war and invasion, we conceive it neceffafy
that a diferetionary power should exist somewhere ; for as
the authority of civil government cannot, without exceed
ing its bounds, or defeending from its charter, extend to
all the circumstances that may arise; therefore a numer
ous race of fubtile or new invented offences, will, without
the interposition of such a power, have a certain and ex
tenttue latituderio act in, unrestrained and unpunishable
by law.
To blind such a power with the con ftitutional authority
of the State, would, according to our ideas of liberty and
conception of things, be unwise and unfafe ; because being
once incorporated therewith, the separation might after
wards be difficult, and that which was originally admitted
as a temporary convenience, juftified by necessity, might
in time establish itfelf into a perpetual evil, and be claimed
as a matter of right.
The exertions which are sometimes necessary to be made
>by the inhabitants of an invaded country, for their own
preservation and defence, are frequency of such a peculiar
. and extraordinary quality, tiw't as they ought not to be
conqe the rule of legal government in times of peace, should
not be mixed therewith in times of war ; for that which
in the community may 'be the spirit of liberty, introduced
into the laws would become its'de^rpyer. Therefore as
we cannot, on the one hand, permit our laws to be equi
vocally conftru&ed and difcretionarily applied, in order
to fit and bend them to every new case, so Either ought
we on the other hand, to fuffer the general interest to be
sapped by a species of delinquents, who governed by ava
rice, or prompted by deteaion, are fludying to evade what
they dare not transgress.
It is to those evils, too amphibious to be defined, and
too fubtile as well as too transitory to become the object of
established laws, that we with te apply a remedy, ^.pable
es suiting itfelf to the variety of the offence, without op
posing the rules of its institution, and this we conceive can
be no other than the diferetionary power of the citizens
•rganfted, and a^ing through a Committee.
TUESDAY.' .
J OAE 2% W%
^^^^^i^^^r—^T-CT^c^r^ m^w^
ve^^^ (w^
G E N ERA L ^'^."ffiQ ADVERTISEF°
[Price 2S. 6d. tingle, 2s. by the quantity.
I he condition of an invaded country fufliciently proven
the exercise of such a power necefiary, and we have alrea
dy slated our reasons why it ought to be detached from
the legal government. It is furthermore our opinion that
the, exercise of drfectionary powers for the redress of tern
porary evils, is toeft iotrufted with temporary booies, be
cause when the necessity which called' forth such powers
ihall cease, the occasion of such bodies ceases therewith, .and
the authority ci civil government, undisturbed and un
tempted, continue its original channel.
We arq hkewiie of opinion th d the la w^ already inbeing,
would derive great support from the reinstitution of Com
mittees, arid that such a reinforcement of power to the pow
ers of government is necessary in an invaded country. It
is the best ihnot the only made by which the community
can conveniently throw in their portion of affiflance, and
contribute to the authority of@e State. The fear of offend
ing against the general interest, where a mode o' purih^
ment is provided, which can be e lily and powerfully exe
cuted, is a forceable inducement to legal obedience; and
operates with peculiar efficacy on those whom no public
principle can reftrahi.
Such being our thoughts on the fubjeß, wefubmit them
to the consideration of out fellow citizens, in every part of
the United States. Aad ihall now proceed to give bur sen
timents on a matter to which the nkfulnefs ®f Committees
may With particular advantage be easily and extensively
applied. We mean the reinflafang and mooortjng the cre
dit of our currency, I '°
It is a well known maxim, that that which is every bo
dies business, is no . bodies business Each.one looks with
difcont^nt at the other; the expectation is returned and
continued, and every one t, furprized that no die beeins.
Such has been the state of our currency* for some confideb
able time pafl, arid such it will continue to be, until it be
put under the care of particular bodies, prefect in all pla
ces, who ffiafl be impowered to watch against the means
by which it has been depreciated, prevent their en(re^fe,
asd punish them on deteaion.
The hope of the enemy appears to be principally fixed
on what they would stile the bankruptcy of t^ Continent,
occasioned by a failure of the currency. Every one among
us seemed th apprehend its probability,and tho' all appear
ed to lay it to hearth, no one lent tris hand to prevent it.
Every day made the matter worse, apd the talk heavier,
welooked at one another, complained, murmured and went
away.
Yet so miffaken and extraordinary have, been ourTon
duET, that labile we dreaded Tie evil we invited it on, and
battened to meet the event we winded to avoid. At the rate
we were going from January to May, a state of bankrupt
cy muftjiave taken plate in the space @f a few weeks.'
A bankruptcy of a paradoxical kind. A bankruptcy
produced, not by the want of mor„, but by the abun
dance of it. Such has been the condition we were un
'wifely exposed to, and such is now become the obje& that
claims our attention.|
By the efforts of the inhabitants of this city on the %§th
of May, a flop has been put to the depreciation, and af
forded us an opportunity of stating the tyfe for the confi
deratiom of all.
Por once we shall leave public spirit and public virtue
out of the question, and addreis our arguments to the in
terest, rather than the honor, to the avarice, rather than
the patriotism of individuals.
To what end is it that we get money with one hand, and
depreciate in the other? Let the planter, the merchant,
the miser; arid any or every other order of men reckon
their wealth at this time, and they wil find themselves
poorer in value though richer in quantity than they were
last fhriftmas or a year ago. Our avarice in this instance
operates without its isfual cunning, 'and we mutually im
poverifli ourselves to be a match for each other.
Were it poffble that the property of America cothd fail,
her lands become barrel, her rivers dried up, agriculture
extinguished and population extinct, the currency would
then want a foundation for its credit, an ability for its re
demption ; because in those cases it would be a represent,
ation of mottling. Or did the credit of it depend on foreign
'° a "'q " would then, like all other matters of favor, be
fubjed to interruption and difappointmerit. Besides which
we should by so doing only exchange one debt for ano
ther, less, suited to our interest and more expensive to re
deem. But the case now is otherwise. .Weare both debtor
and creditor; We hot only hold the money, but w&foffefs
the property by which it is to be made good, and nothing
but our own consent is' wanting to make it of what value
we pleaA. . &
Yet notwithfianding these advantages, the rage for
ruling prices will, unless it be put a flop to, become
the ruin both of these who contrived if, arid those who
follow it. We shall defeend from pounds to Killings,
from (hillings to pence, and from pence to nothing. It
has long been said that trade will regulate itfelf, yet fuf~
ficient experience has shewn thatthe maxim, though ad
mittedly true in some cases, is hot so in all. While mo
nopolizers are fuffer^d to exist, who by flepping in be
tween the importer and the retail purchaser can produce a
fcaroty when they chrife, or by their transporting their
goods backward and forward from State to State can @c &
Pub^hed every Tuesday, Thursday add Saturday.)
A—TfttoQorfofl or whites„
garbled of ,&t prices he g^s^r how mtth th,ev outbid
each other hl all these cases trade is deprived of ^
^ c °"^ cl ^ ed w ith a disease, 'which left to
"Fv deflr °y ,„ ret %t an d produce it{ daftruaion.
V' "/'M " % u0 ° na l pride on what we^have to fell
^ ra , "* ^y alofs upon the money we ba^
I h.nd, more than tgiu>lto the advance we got : and whi^
f^M ^ promts of a fa le\ the depreciation
on tue epp^j roake^a balance against us : The inflant
fa °2" m Y". ^adethe fr&advance is de
°y MA"'™ e °'^around him. In Ihott, ire
e m not to oe.cafye that we cannot raise dur prices with
'^ e of °", °^ fi eurre ^y against us, which
L lung, fa^tr and more forcibly down than we are able
°" ry " s deceitfully a §, and all our labour
turns to no account. .•
fake of leaving a ITT? trade to regulate iifeff
/th"?? e A°"T™?" y is " be impoverished,' the public
faith mfpea^ and matched, and the abilities of the
States reduced ^ weakened, i t i s time to take the
?°" .''"^ a " d determined grounds; for
exposed to the con
^qjences has'bitnerro produced. '''
"T^ti^s, and carried on with princi
° might render to u, every advantage
thefe > we °^" to look sor 1 ; but left
its ow& bal nee :>y no other pratlice than
extortrori, rod to regulate itfelf upon the rums of public
" ^i^al hucris is an evil
too dan^ erous to be admitted, too fertpus to be trifled with.
" f° m ^'" oi th€currency, untefs we
fmply with measures for restoring it ; and which, if we
1° "^l™?^", atfaredl, 'fink nvour own hands, the
joarus „ou ymds, met, if Apposed would ruake u« rich
good, f. 7 ;e, whose property it is, ma <e itotherwife. Be
"' ?^" '° - ftea> th " the /p ublk faith, or the
^Q lb M[ an ^ tp# er name for ourselves, arid that
^diviaually undervalue the currency wedimindh
v d abthries of the States, on whole credit it a
''i" '" 'J" '™" a ° y "^ ! ° demand in one
c %A '~ v '"" e> " e dmß y to it Mother. 1
V "•" ," has " e ^ depreciated are loonie
roerou to be aicetained, and too intricate to be explains
f ^:> a ^ ai " icular manner caution you agMrft
hose ^oaffeO to treat it lightly, in order to give I co.
lourabie pretence to tlrar own extortion, and then clamor
ously cry out < Wb)ty s j t „ et b^ter ?" ne^eßing
trilX'^7 '° ft / member f b^heir own practices con.
tribute to its unnecessary red^aiom
aving said thus much on the fubjed, we shall conclude,
wnh recommending it to our Sifter States, to coneur with
^_, tyffily Qty „ fc,^
deeming and mpporting the credit of our currency and of
^i't^f""' J'^v^^^fperity. Wewilh to fee Com
"ate a ° d ""^^ whose i^^edi
r' ' ? a ?'° watch ^ ainft tbe depreciation,
tfev'fh^&l" ™"° ° f the m °°' y and that ' whenever
a f'' c ° v ° r an y perlon or performs traducing the
fa , y demanding or giving more than a just and re
gu^ed price, that they summons a meeting of the inhabi-"
X, ff° me ^ enient tj ^e and plape, to determine
what portion of disgrace and disapprobation such perfor
cr persons shall undergo..
rn^hl't ''° r I" '?'"' proposed to reduce our prices.
°" d e f e , ual execution, by a rule that will agree
to allplaces and things, we are of Opinion, that a Li
verfal regulation, capable of applying itfelf in all cases,
so, be i 9 rme d oo the following plan; Each State, for it
fe i, to ascertain what the prices of the several articles of*
^ffatirn were in the year one thvufand se
ven ^und. edand seventy-sour, and to multiply that price by
f °^'f ertam number to be agreed upon for all the States,
^nd the price so multiplied to become the regulated price
in this regulation it is to be remembered that the prices
of imported grinds are higher in war timekhan articles of'
produce, and the exaft difference is the expence of convoy
arid rate of insurance. Therefore ''whatever these are, t f j
,1 to price such goods would otherwise be at,
at the ,lace of importation.«
_ And in order to confine the fellers of dry roods tri some
rice, and to prevent the hitherto ffoalous evasions
and extortion pra &fed by some of them, every teller of
dry goods to write on rhe several articles he or the dealt
'^ °" ?^ r a . ffixed thereto, the price foch goods was
worth or fold ;or in the year one thousand seven hundred
and fevenffy-fc^r.
We Jifrife recommend to every State to open an office
for the infarance of such vessels and cargoes only as ft
^ng to persons resident in su c h State; and that no perf^
a ' % a %° th ^ r ° ffice > o rany person for him
than shall be eftabiifhed in the State he lives in. By Tri
means tpe rate of insurance will be known, and one !>?-
tence for extortion cut ' off. -'
(Far the remai^r fee the Fourth Page.)