The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-01-08 00:00:00, page 2

raftraint or controal of ihefe is ever sensibly felt a; J borne
with impatience, and the natural course of things teems
Co adopted to those two ^reat and favourite rights, that
any violation of them will by their most natural operation
produce edefts very unhiotary if not fatal. Indeed this
milchDf may at any time be increased, till the effects are
tra teal. Trade, it let alone, will ever make its own way
bed, and like an irrcfiftibl'e river will ever run fafeft, do
tcatl mitcuief and most good, when fuffered to run with
out obhrudion in its own natural channel,
IV. I humbly r ropofe further, That no private pro
perty may ever betaken for public use, against the con
fe.it of the owner, without the most manifest ne<effity, and
in tuat case not without paying the full value. If the pub
lic wants any man's property, they are certainly better
able to p y for it, than an individual is to iofe it. Paying
naif or any tiling less than the whole value, is a feurvy
an I evasive way of robbing the owner, and infinitely un
worthy of the juflice and dignity of a State. There has
been so much or this iniquity committed either with or
without pretext of Law,' that it has been really danger
ous tor a man to possess an article of capital demand, he
has been in danger of having the article tarn from him,
not only without due payment, but with insult and abuse,
and this wicked and ftiameful practice has really difeou
r%:ed many persons of great ability and indnflry, from pro
curing articles of great demand, leaf! they Ihould be there
by fubjefted to the mortification of having them torn a
way with violence and disgrace. Many great necessaries
have been rendered scarce by these means, and thereby
the price become enormous, and the procurement difficult.
I:)Rance< in flour, salt, &c. are mod notorious and ob
vious. This greatly destroys the confidence of the hold
ers of the great iieceffaries in the officers of government,
and hff us their aiTiduhy and zeal in procuring or bring
ing their goods t- the public fibres. The consequence of
tin shameful iniquity are most fatal in them nature, and
the' flow and not immediately perceptible, yet most cer
tain in their operation, and most sure of eneds.
V. I propose further that there be the greatest care and
attention in the appointment of the men who are to fill all
p ices of public tiud, and e pecially such as are employ
ed in the revenue and expenditures ,f the public monies
and Supplies. I ihould conceive the following qualificati
ons so neceffap as to admit of no difpenfatiou :
~ That the candidate for any place of public trust have
fuhic^nt knowledge and ability to difei^rge the duties of
the office proposed or aim. A public officer, like St, Paul's
Bishop, on hit to be a workman that needs not to be a
ihme'd. in: lam/ure any person needs to be ashamed,
^ho appears in a public.office without understanding the
duties or it, and therefore utterly incapable of difeharging
them properly, and the pedons who appointed him ought
to be hht'i)e: of ni.n to, and he certainly will prove a
flume to the public, lor the public, i. e. a Kingdom, a
S.ate a country, or a town, always shine thro' the medi
um oftheir public men ; if they mean to have their weight,
di nity, caaraßerand imerefl well fuppprted in a treaty,
a C.)u h ref 3 , a General Assembly, or a Court of Justice,
they must appoint fufficie ^ men to represent them and aft
for them; if they would have their most public and im
portant Councils, their Laws, the aominiftration of Pub
lic justice and Civil Policy, or their Revenue well con
ducted, they must appoint men of knowledge and abili
ties fufficient for these great purposes, to conduct titfrn ;
taefe are all objects of" such magnitude, such general im
portance, and pervade with <uch fubtilty every interest of
rhe community, that they reach and deeply aiFeft every
in nridual, and prefenbe toe degree of security, honour
and peace which he is to enjoy. How mad and execrable
then muit bethat cl ^jr, or person concerned in the ap
pointment ofa public officer ? Who from motives of par
ty, p/rfmai fneadfnip, or any worth inducem-nt, will
give lbs vote for a perlon who he knows is deficient in
me knowledge and' abilities requisite to theproper djf
c ,arge of ti.e office > Beta man's virtue and integrity be
never so <mat,if he w nits knowledge and ability he nev # .<
can thine. he never can terve with honour or advantage in
the office, but mus. lye a flume to himfelfanJ his cohfotH
ents, and most probably a damage, and may be a ruin into
the bargain. But
a. Knowledge and abilities, tho'effential, are notthe
oniy requires in a public mm; integrity and prudence
are also most necedlry. The true character of the heart
cannot be certainly K^own indeed, but isbell judged of by
his ^neral deportmem, therefore the character which a
man' obtain; among ins neighbours, and those who best
know him, is the lurch rule by wnicu he can oe eflimate^,
and will be most lively to pre-engage the public confidence
in nis favour ; and it is neceflary, not only th. 4 a public
mill Should be upright, but alto that he Ihould be general
ly dimmed so. Toe wife @f Cesar ought not be fufped
ed, c. Before it man be the heighth of folly ( to fay no
wcru ) to a, oint a man to public Ration whole private
character for integrity man prudence is not good.
; S^und judgment and rational diferetion, is a most
effomn part of necNNry coar^rm a public man, efpe
ciaby one wuo is concerned in the public council, or im
p rt me offices of any fort, nothing cats Scarcely be per
c wen mme dangerous to die public, than to have its great
arrangements fubjett to the influence ofa man of wild pro
j. dion. and extravagant commits; such a person, efpeci
ahy if ue hasa good adtirefs, and copious invention, is
cnou hi to make errors fafter than twenty men of the best
v.iflor.lcan mend. 'Tis not Orange, to find men, who
have g:eat talents at difeovering valuable mines, who at
the fine time, have no knowledge in effaymg the ore, or
making the proper use of it. But to come more immedi
ately to the point in view,
4 In the appointment of an officer of ; e revenue, or ex
pen^itores o^e rf^ic monies, ft e. one through whose
hands due public monies or Applies are to pass, it is
^ceffary, mod ctfentially ncceftary, that he fliouldbe a
lan of known mouthy, ^ omy and thnftmefs
Ins own private @ b . If a man's regard to his own
Trader, fortune and family, is not a (efficient induce
mentto m^e nun careful, i^n^ous and thrifty mhn
Ris not robe prefaced, that any regard he
have to tee public can make him so , a ,ams ow n
Bereft always lies nearest his heart, 1. e. Self love is toe
all p'RNns and motives. It was hardly ey^
kno^, that raifihg a ^ fate P^#^^
ffl^h p e official, and greatly corrupt a, ,)^ ^
^dminiftratioQ ofit, therefore to appoint a bankrupt.
man ofdiffipation, idleness and prodigality, toan office,
through which the public monies and Supplies are to pass,
is a fare way to have them waiieJ, or purloined, in which
the riches, tirength and blood olthe State are exhausted
not to answer the great en of government, the fafety, se
curity and peace of the great ^hole, but togratify the ex
travagance, dissipation and debaucherfrof an individual ;
it would be mucn better, if a man has such a triend, that
must be served, to give him a few thousands, to fpeod in
his own way, than to admit him into the important offi
ces of revenue, and thereby corrupt its course and use.
Perhaps feme errors of this fort, may have occasioned a
profuffion of expence, a pegltd and iofs of public fiores,
and a failure of distribution, all which tend to increase our
didrefs, and accelerate the decays of our finances, for as
in private affairs, prudence in expence is as necessary to
a fortune as the acquirement of money, so in our public
adminiOration, I conceive cecenoniy in expenditures, as
necessary a part of financiering, as the acquirement of
a revenue, and I conceive in this, as in all other parts
of public adminifir ition, good government depends
more on the men that administer, than in the system or
form of the constitution, the wisdom of the laws, or pru
dence of the general orders, for let all these be ever 'o
good, if the executive part is not commuted to iduf
trious, wife an I faithful men, there will be a great fai
lure ofjuftice, security and peace.
VI. I propose a review of all our departments, and
reducing all unnecessary expenditures in them as far as
poffi le. 'Tis setter to lessen the expences, where it can be
done with fafety, than to increase the revenue; the one
lessens, theother increafrs the public burden. lam told
there are 9000 rations issued daily in this city, where there
is not the least appearance of any military movements, ex
cept a few invalids, and fik in the hcfpital, and the pri
soners, all which don't amount to one third,of the afore
faid number of rations. lam told there are polls of Com
missioners, Quarter-masters, Purchasers, &c. fixed at a
bout io or 15 miles distance of each other thro' this State,
and forne fay thro' the whole Thirteen States; if they
were all sent out of the way, all the supplies within reach
of our market, would come of course to this city, and
might be all purchAfed here by one man, much cheaper,
and at less expence, than by all those polls; fpreadi^g
them about thro' the country answers the feme end, as
if a private man ihould fend a servant ten miles out of town
to buy his marketing; he r»aft folic't more, pay a high
er price, and have a worse choice than if he flays at home,
and bought in market; But I cannot pretend to go into
the minutiae of these matters, I can only observe, that
people out of doors can't at , all conceive the reason or
use of these multiplied officers, of so many different names,
that one has need ofa dictionary to# nderfland them; Jam
apt to wild they were all Rruck off the lift, by one daft of
the pen, at lead that their rations and cloathing might be
steppe fid sent to camp for the use of our foldters in real
service-i oculdadd to my with aKo,that their horses might
be taken away from t^ern x teat they might not be able to
parade it through the country on horseback, or in carri
ages, as they now do with a gaiety of dress, importance
of air, and grandeur of equipage, very chagrining to the
impoverished inhabitants who maintain them : I conceive
this method would supply our camp very comfortably for
federal months, Rill our finances might be recruited by
the numerous taxes which are coming in, and in this way
the neceihty of Loans might be prevented or at haft Itf
fened. If it ihould not'b? thought expedient to fend their
wines to camp, as I dent know that an abundance of li
quors do foldivrs or any body.elfe any good, I propose to
fend them to vendue, as the tiave much engroffeJ that
article ot late, it is become very scarce and dear, , id would
probably brin^ a great price and me proceeds of them
might be a feaZnabie supply to the Continental Ticafury,
and further lessen toe ^effity, of Loaning.
In fine, my great otje& » io get our revenue fixed on
a fore and fufficient foundation, and our expenditures re
duced within the bounds of use, necessary to the fafety and
benefit of the community, la ihiscafe our people will all
Le veiling to contribute the aids neceffiry, for the intenti
ons of the people at large are ever upright, and r is rare
that there is any difficulty with them in this refped, when
they are convinced that me public monies are all prudent
ly expended tor necessary uses. I further conceive that
taxes arc abfulutely necessary, net only to supply the pub
lic treasury, but to reduce cur money to a fixed ftanuard,
and reftcre it to its natural and necrffary use, which no o
ther method of supplying tie treasury can do, and which
yet mud be done, in order to deliver us from the most
dreadful calamity of a fluctuating currency. This Icon
fiber as of the most weighty importance, and at the fame
time of so critical, difricuit and intricate a nature, that
it will require toe utinofi attentio.. to the means of it, and
the highest prudence and care to watch their operati
ons and add to or diminish their force as ccafion may
require, for if the money Ihould appreciate, it w ; ll over
and above all private wrong increase the nation 1 debt. An
appreciation of only 10 per cent, which may be done al
mofl imperceptibly, will add twenty millions to that debt,
which must be paid not in Ihadows, but by the hard la
bour of our people. Such is the fubtrle nature and im
perceptible operation of this mighty error, that no degree
of attention to it can be deemo unnecessary. To men^
this I coote ve he great work before us, bic labor, hoc &feus
efl. lam little concerned or alarmed at the prefect pinch
of the treasury. Our resources are too great to permit
such a temporary, such a momentary difirefs to be fatal :
A proper reduaion of our expenditures, or a fmali anti
cipation of our revenue ill any way will remedy it. If the
creat forint of our revenue can be put in motion, we
may be eahiy saved, otherwise we mult pertfh. I beg
leave here to add, that the attention of Congress, how
ever sufficient, if it were not unavoidably drawn oil by an
infinity ot otiier objeas, that constantly croud over them,
is not and cannot be praaicable in a degree adequate to
this great objed. Nor indeed do I think that any Board
of Numbers or aggregate Body would be likely to form a
fyflem so exa&, and bestow an attention so accurate and
uniform as would be necessary in this case. I conceive it
must be the work cf one mind which ever could invefli
gate and superintend matters cf an abfbule nature and
critical movements better alone than with company; and
therefore,
VIL L propefe, that a financier of comptroler of fi
nances be appointed, whole sole objed a,J bufiatfs should
be to fupetintend the finances, i. e. the revenues and ex
penditures of the states, the state cf the currcncy, and
all the'funds in which w & are concerned, and in ffiort
cur whole resources ^nd expenditures; and keep the one
well in balance wiih the ofher, all under the authority of
Congress, and in every thinz fubjed to their controul The
Congress would then have t e iuejed examined and form
ed to teir hand, and would have nothing more to do than
corred and approveit. If a man adequate to this business
could be found, I conceive his appointment would be of
the highest utility te die States, as we may easily conceive
only by imagining the benefits which might have refused
from such an appointment, had such an one been made
five years ago; however, I do but propose this with rhe
fame fiiyobcity of mind as I express my other thoughts;
if it is not approved, it may b?tafily reje&ed with any other
01 my proportions, and I have omy to desire this one favour
of my indulgent reader, that if he does not like tris, or
any other part of my Essays, that he would lay them by
and read them again a year or two hence, after which he
has my leave to do whathe pleases with them. Time is
thufureft expositor and Left judge of all plans and (pecu
lations of this fort, the vain and vicious will either vanish
or stand condemned before him : the ufeful and good only
can be approved and preserved by him; and while I make
this appeal every body will allow that I refer myfelf to a
most equitable and reasonable arbiter, and I hope all my
readers will candidly wait this decision with me, without
ceofuring too oitteriy Sentiments on which time has not yet
decided.
—Qpod optan'ti Divum premittere nemo,
Auneret, Volvenda Dies tn attufit uhro.
Iff The firftand second of these Essays may be had
of Mr. Bradford.
L O N D O N, September 21.
^, A R I. Yon Wednesday morning expresses arrived
to the Commander in Chief, the Cullom house, and
the Lord Proved, at Edinburgh, acquainting them that
three ships had appeard off Eyemouth and Dunbar, which
firmed to be ene nies, and had taken two or three vessels
in the mouth of the Frith. 1 heJargefl was frigate built,
and was fbpof-d to carry 40 or 50 guns.
On Whaeii fday two gentlemen (killed in maritime affairs
were sent 10,reconnoitre the above ships. They returned
to Edinburgh on Thursday, and report, that they found
the ihips lying off Dunbar; they failed within three miles
of them, find saw them to be four French flips, ode cf fif
ty, two or twenty, and one of fourteen guns. They had
two prizes with them.
Au anthemic account ®f the operations of the above squa
dron, oi tThurfday and Friday.
Thursday afternoon an express arrived from North-
Berwick, at Edinburgh, with an account that the above
fquadion had passed that place, and at five o'clock they
were leeri from Edinburgh bydhe naked eye Handing up
the Fr th. This morning earlyfhey were observed, near
ly opposite to Leith, about the island cf Inchkeith. A.
Swift failing carter was sent os Friday morning to recon
noitre. The cutter fell 111 with them, and found herfelf
within pistol (hot ofa Frenchfifty gun ship. The cutter
immediately racked and fell in with a prize they had ta
ken in the mouth of the Frith, which. Rie retock, but
was obliged to abandon her, by a French 24 gun frigate,
which immediately made up to her. A boy, however,
very Spiritedly jumped from the prize on board the cutter,
which immediate!, brought him to Leith. The boy war
examined by me Lord Provost, Captain Napier. &c # He
fays, they put four soldiers, four men, and two officers
aboard the prize, all of whom (poke English; that the
Squadron confits of a fifty gun ship ( a 24 gun frigate, and
a brig of io;uns. The crew said they determined to come
up to Leiihro d, but they fail ill, and on Friday mor-
Sing the wind blew violemy from the South Weft, which
drove them down the Frith a good way below tee island
of Inchheith. the Commander of the 50 gun fIJ? is laid
to be a Scotsman and to know the coast. S-vm fail ori
ginally left Dunkirk; thefethre parted Lit) from the
rest in the North seas in a galeot wind.
It war reported that the above was Paul Jones's (qua
dron, but letters received on Friday at Edinbugb from the
Weft country fay, that Paul Jones wason the Weft coast
upon the I ;tb iuftant.
Another account fays, that the French have taken ten
prizes within these few days. Seven of the (refers bands
were on board one of the prizes belonging to Wemyfs, in
Fife, for about ten minutes, till the French frigate bore
down upon them, which obliged them to leave her.
Every possible means is taken to prevent any attempt to
land or burn the (hipping. Three batteries are erected
towards the Citadel and New Haven, which mountthirty
guns, besides carronades, howitzers, &c. The four in
corporations of Leith have petitioned the Commander in
Chief for, ico stand of arms for each incorporation, which
have keen feut down from the Callie: and parties of mili
tary and Teamen are Rationed upon the coast at proper pla
ces ; so that the French will meet with a spirited reception,
if they attempt to land.
No Insurance could be got done at Edinburgh these three
days.
Extract of a letter from Portsmouth, Seph 20.
" Ou Saturday theSandwicb, of 90 gnus, came out of
dock. This is the firft feuoafa ^ate ever sheathed with
copper, whicn was begunand compleated in 15 hours.
September 23. What infufferable impudence it is in
the Mriler of the Horse to attempt to impute a person
on the freeholders of Middlesex, to represent them in Par
liament. But there is little doubt, but they will tellhis
Grace that they are able to chufe tor themselves, and cleft
an ho^efi man and true friend to the people, infiead of a
Commiffiooer of Excite, or a Mid^lefex Justice of his
Grace's nomination.
What a (pirit forne men have! Would any one have be
lieved, that a nobleman advanced in years, possessing an
estate of fifty-fix thousand pounds a year, and having only
two tons, and one of them provided for, could be so bate
and contemptible, as to give up his real opinion, desert
his friends, be content to wear another man's liveries,
ride in another man's carriage, be drawn by another
man's horses, dangle to St. James's, levee after levee,
and become the Rrvant of one of the men in the
kingdom, for t^e paltry wages of 2000!. pounds a year.
The Greyhound man of war is arrived at Portimcuth
front Halifax in 24 days, with the particular advice of
the expedition that went from New-York on theist of Ju
ly, under the command of Sir George Pallifer and Go
vernor Trycn to Penobfeett Bay, the extremity of New-
England.