National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-02-23 00:00:00, page 1

Numb. 34 of Vol. ll.]
Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, re
ia'ite to the L?ans negotiated under the
A-ii of the 4//: and iii/frf Augujl, 1790.
k£Pub!'iihed by order of the Houfa of Re
presentatives.]
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
SIR,
T7IF. next most important article of in
quiry involved in the resolutions of the
Home of Rcprefentatives of ths twenty
third of January lalt; a.nd in the observa
tions which have been made refpefting the
cond i t of this department, relates to the
ioa as negotiated under the acts«»££|ie fourth
■and twelfth of one
hundred and ninety. •
The papers which have been tranfinitted
to the Konfefcy order of the President, dif
■clofe the following particulars—
r. That the immediatefiiperintendance
of the bnfinefs of the loans was confided to
the department of the treasury, being na
turally connected with it. This trull, be
lidcs the original inftruttions for regula
ting the execution of it, which have been
communicated, was of course fubjeft to
such directions from time to time, as the
President should think lit to give, or as oc
cafiom (hould require— \ considerable la
titude of discretion, nevertheless, from the
very nature of the cafe, attended it; so as
justly to leave 0:1 the head of this depart
ment, a complete refponlibility in all in-
Itances, where special exceptions do not
appear.
3. That the fir'ft loan which was obtain
ed. was undertaken and completed by the
agency of Wilhetn and Jan Willink, and
Nicolaas and Jacob Van Staphorft and
Hubbard, who both under the former and
present government, have been and are the
banker s of the United St ites at Amsterdam.
That 'vith ill? finale exception of the
firii loan, Wdliain Short, Esq. then charge
des affaires at the court of France, now re
sident mini iter at the Hague, was coniti
tuted the sole agent of this department,
for carrying into effect the powers confided
to it : with this qualification only, that it
any negotiation with a prince or rtate, tc
whom any part of the debt to be discharged
by the loans was due, Ihould be requisite—
the fame was to be carried 011 through the
person, who in capacity of miniller, charge
des affaires.or otherwise,then was or there
after might be charged with transacting the
affairs of the United States, with fuel
prince or state.
4. That all payments, which have beer
nade out of the proceeds of the loans, have
heen made by the immediate and fpeci 1
order of Mr. Short, except those, upon th;
bills of the Treasurer c orthe monies drawl
to this country, and thofc to the inone;
lenders in Holland ; which were made ir
course by our bankers, at the periods the]
refpeftively became due. This consequent
ly embraces all the payments to France
the very 1 ast of which, though agreed foi
by Mr. Morris, in confeqnence of his ha
vin; been employed for a special purpof<
by Mr. Short, was not. and could not b;
complete I, but by the lame immediate ant
special direction of Mr. Short.
It moreover appears, from the fame pa
pers, and more fullyfrom the correfpon
dense at large, now before the Senate, th r
except in the particular'inftance which ha:
been jut Hated, with regard to Mr. Mor
ris, there has been no other agency in the
whole bnfinefs, than that of Mr. Short, anc
of the bankers at Amsterdam and Antwerp
whom he neceffirily employed as inftru
melts in the negotiation with the mone;
len.lers.an 1 in the receipt and difburfemem
of the monies borrowed.—These, as alrea
dy mentioned, were at Amlterdam, the
two honfes of Wilhem and Jan Willink
and of Nicolaas and Jacob Van Staphorfl
a id Hubbard : at Antwerp a Mr. G. De
Volf, was the banker.
It may not be without it 3 uses to add,
that the monies proceeding from the loans,
have constantly remained in the hands ol
the respective bankers, till they have been
paid over to the creditors ; namely, the
French treasury, or their bankers, the mo
ney lenders or their representatives, ths
holders of the bills drawn from this conn
try by the treasurer. Neither Mr. Short
nor Mr. Morris, ha 3 ever had possession of a
single guilder. The latter indeed has never
even had power over one, excepting mere-
Iv a sum of roj,ooo guilders, by letters of
mine dated the 13th September lalt, placed
at his disposal for paying at Paris, according
to stipulation, the incereft 0:1 the debt due
By P. FRENEAU: Publijhtd Wednesdays and Saturdays, at Three Dollars per annum.
tn foreign oncers. The fact is, ami it *.s so
demonitrated by the correspondence al
ready referred to, that I never wrote a line
to Mr. Morris 0:1 the fubjett of the lo.ns
or their proceeds, but in reference to the
cafe, juit mentioned of the interest payable
to foreign officers, in refpeclto which local
foliation governed.
One more circiimftancc only is necessary
to be noticed in this place, vCith a view to
Che elucidation intended : It is this---that
the last payment, though originating prior
to the change in the political polition of
France of the 10th of Augnlt lalt, not ha
ving been consummated till the 6th of Sep
tember following, fell of conrfe under the
tlifpofition of those then in poffellion of the
jower of the nation.
It could not but have been unexpected
:•> me, that exception should be taken to
the report lately made by me on the subject
>f foreign loans, for the omiiEon of details
which I did not at the time, and do not yet
:onceive to have been called for, by the
:ermsofthe resolutions upon which it
ivaJ founded. The request addrefled to
:he President, by those resolutions, was,
that he would cauie to be laid before the
louse a particular account of the sums bor
•owed under his authority by the United
States, the terms on which each loan was
obtained, the applications, which had been
Tilde of the monies, agreeably to appro
priations, th«" balances, if any, which re
named unapplied, fpecifying also at what
imes interaii commenced on the several
"urns obtained, and at what times it was
topped by the several payments made. It
ivas not natural to imagine that these ex
pressions were designed to comprehend a
pecification of the precise authorities, un
ler which the loans were negociated, of
the names of the persons by whom they
ivere negociated, of the particular place or
places where the balance unexpended of
he fuias that had been drawn fen- to the
United States, were depolited. Still lef»
latural was it for me to anticipate furmi
es, which could give to such particulars
lie (hadow of importance. But as ani
nadverlions have attended the emiflion of
those details, I ought to regard it as an ad
nonition to me, to be more full and pre
:ife in my present communication; a mo
tive which co-operates with my desire, to
throw all pollible light upon the fubjeft.
The firft general circumstance, which
-equires to be noticed and explained, after
the particulars that have been communica
ted is this—That all the loans which have
been hitherto obtained, have been made
nnder the authority of both acts, without
particular reference to either.
The idea originally entertained, was. to
conduct them oil a different plan, founding
each loan upon one or the other of the acts;
is will be (Veil by my letter of the 98th of
August, 1790, to our bankers at Amfler-
Jam ; at the fame time, that it will ap
pear, from the fame letter, that the sepa
ration did not appear to ine a matter of
ttonfequence, and that I anticipated the
possibility of a dilficulty in adhering to it in
the particular cafe. That difficulty pro
ved, in the opinion of the bankeri, to be of
Tufficient moment to render the arrange
ment contemplated, under the circumltan
ces of the cafe, unadvifeable ; as they in
form me in their answer to the above
mentioned letter.
But prior to the receipt of that answer,
further enquiry and reflection had deter
mined me to abandon my original idea—
is likely to produce embarrafl'ment and
inconvenience, both in negociation of the
loans, and in the application of their pro
ceeds. It was accordingly concluded to
let the loans proceed indiscriminately, up
t>n both arts.
These loaus were to have reference to
two purpofes—firft, the reimbursement of
the foreign debt ; second, the purchase of
the domestic debt at its market price.
There were weighty reafonsfor carrying
on both these operations concurrently.—
The arrears to France had been a conside
rable time accumulating. It was in every
sense proper that a reimbursement of them
fliould begin witfiaat delay,and dcfirablc for
obvious reasons, that it should go on with
out any very considerable chasms or inter
miflions. This manner of proceeding could
not but have the fairelt chance of being
the molt fatisfactory and convenient to
France ; unless indeed the business were
to have proceeded upon the principle of
an entire postponement of the domestic ob
ject, to that of the reimbursement.
But very cogent reason* rendered this
course not the most eligible. The early
SATURDAY, February 23, 1793.
commencement of purchases of the debt,
was a matter of real and great importance.
It was important in two relations ; as it
regarded the advantages to the govern
ment, from redeeming a portion ot t.'ie
debt at low prices ; and still more, as it
regarded the savings to the country from
railing the price of Hock on foreign pur
chasers; the beneficial influence upon the
credit of the nation abroad and at home,
to be expected from a quick appreciation
of the public obligations; the benefit to
the public creditors in general, and to the
molt meritorious classes of them in parti
cular, winch would rfftilt from the fame
cause ; all which objects were fuggefled
from the treasury, as motives to the provi
ion respecting purchases, and are evident
ly c ntemplated in the preamble of the
i£t, * li!«U makes that provitioii.
Exclusive of the otlier advantages,
whi !i ,jlve been cited, and which are of a
ri:\ urs. truly precious and important, that
i)f preventing foreigners from acquiring
the property of our citizens at a great un
ler-value is too obvious not to be eftima
:ed, as it ought to be, at fir ft light. It
:annot require argument to shew how
rreat an evil it was, that foreigners should
je able to acquire with nine or ten, that
or which the country would ultimately
lave to pay them twenty, with full inte
:eft in the interval ; nor how much it
nerited the attention of the government
:o prevent or lefl'en so serious ail evil.
Btjt the influence which the purchases
iy the government may have had upon
this event may not be equally obvious- It
s however not difficult to be traced.—
Price niturally keeps pace with competi
tion and demand ; whatever increases the
latter, Oeceffarily tends to an augmenta
tion of the former. Merely then as ano
ther purcli3fer, by adding to the competi
tion and demand, the purchases of go
vernm it, were calculated to influence a
rue o? price. L.it they Iml xv effect
more than proportioned to their real ex
tent. Imagination has much to do in all
fucli quellions, and in scarcely any thing
so much as in what relates to public
funds. Kxperience proves, that it is here
exerted with uncommon effort. The ap
pearance of the government as a purcha
lerhas not failed to excite the expectation
of a greater demand than was real, be
cause the extent of the resources to be
employed, might be very great, and was
unknown : which by Simulating the zeal
of those who wanted to buy, left the price
should rife suddenly and coniiderably upon
them, and by encouraging those who wan
ted to fell, under the hope of a better
price, to ho!»l back the commodity, has in
both ways generally contributed to give a
spring to the market. Prices once raised,
when founded on intrinsic value, tend to
maintain themselves ; becaufc those who
have given them, are for the most part
interelled in keeping them up. And eve
ry nc-.v impulse, which they receive, serves
to cairy them rapidly to their just level.
Those who have been «olt attentive
to th.; operation of the public purchases,
will have the least doubt that they had a
material agency, in accelerating the ap
preciation of the public stock.
\To be Continued,.3
For Mi National Gazette.
vyERE itpoffible (and it is believed that
** it is) that a machine for abridging la
bour could be rendered as effectual for
that purpose as represented in the National
Gazette of February 13, there are few if
any lawful means that would be more
likely to contribute to meliorating the con
dition of the slaves, and to lefl'en the want
of such numbers of them, than the contri
vance there suggested. The friends to
the abolition of slavery and the lovers of
their country, among us, as well as of ag
riculture, will, no doubt, feel a degree of
fatisfaition in the refillt, should the ma
chine proposed meet with encouragement.
One of the pnrpofes of a machine men
tioned in the paper above referred to, is tc
increase the culture of that valuable arti
cle, Hemp. Indeed, it would be equal tc
any bounty given within the union. The
amount of bounty given in some states 011 c
year, on the whole quantity of this arti
cle, wonld be a valuable compensation tc
the artist—and where the bounty is so gi
ven, it might be taken off, as the cultiva
tion would be more benefited by the aniojim
ot labourJaved than by the bounty given.
As some perfotis at u tliflance, who rea.'
the National Gazette, may not have an op
portunity to enquire, and yet would be de
lirous to know the particular uses of the
machine alluded to, upon that considera
tion it (hall be described more particular
ly, especially in its application to the inter
ests of agriculture.
It requires to be explained, how is the
saving to be made ? Should the inventor
meet with encouragement, he promises the
execution, in the several uses, ihall be such
as is hereafter stated.
It ought to be observed, in the firft place,
that there is scarcely any man, who has a
regard for his reputation as an artist, that
would in this free manner, hazard it ill
:he face of the public, had he not cogent
ind well founded reasons for so doing;
md it is chiefly upon the known opinion of
many, who are well versed in mechanics,
hat so bold a declaration is now made.
Che properties of the Machine are as fol
low :
One of them (hall threfti at leafi sixty
mfhels of wheat or rice per day, and other
;rain in proportion, with two men and one
-.orfe [or it may be fitted to go by water
ilfo, in either cafe.] The machine (hall
ilfo turn a common fan, to clean the grain
it the fame time.
The expence for threlhing wheat by
land, in the usual manner, at four pence
jer bulhel, amounts, on a thousand bulh
.ls, to £. 16 13 4 —Provifun for the la
bourers for the above quantity £. 5 o o—
otal £.21 134.
The fame machine, the form being chan
ged in part, fliall break 400 Vt. of hemp
ier day, with one man and t\\ o horses :
flax, if of a long growth, in proportion.
The expence of breaking hemp, by hand,
s 11/3 per hundred wt. per 1150
—a labourer's provilions £. 3 o o —total
S O.
The machine, being in the fame form
ivith that last mentioned, one man and two
Siorfes fliall pound (or beat; from 400 to
;co wt. of hemp per day ; iit /or spinning
fither for duck or twine—whereas, the
?xpence of pounding hemp by hand for
wine (as now given) at 1 penny per lb. a
nountstojf. S 6 8 per ton.
As the above statement is on one ton of
lenip and 1000 bulhels of grain, the farm
?rs and manufacturers may calculate there-
Tom the expence and saving, according to
;heir lituation. If only one out of tf>e
liree purposes proved fnccefsful, the ma
rine would be worth the cost for either.
[N. B. The coil of the machine has been
before stated.]
Feb. 20.
To the Editor of the National Gazette.
S I R,
vyHEN we contemplate the wretched*
ness of the people in monarchical go
vernments, we have great reason to con
gratulate ourselves, in being placed in a
:ountry, where the rights and privileges of
:he poorest citizen, as well as the moil op
ulent, are recognized, and man acknow
ledges no matter except his creator. As
ife without liberty is rather an evil than a
jleffing, but when connected become the
:hoicell gifts of heaven ; we ought to be
equally solicitous for the preservation of
;ach. As the former is prolonged by a
Irift regard to temperance and avoiding
uxury and dillipation, so the latter depends
lpon keepingour political confliti 'onfree
if all diseases. Unfortunately for man
cind, they inanifeft too little attention to
his fubjeft. Having by the most noble ef
forts, once obtained their freedom, they
"oon become insensible of its value, and fuf
er it to be loft by fheir intolerable fupine
lefs. The history of most countries, war
ants this aflertion. Liberty, like the chaf
:ity of the fair sex, ought to be well guard
ed—lf the unwary female surrenders the
smallest out-poft, the capture of the cita
:lel will of course follow. So it is with
efpect to governments. When the people
[uft'er the least innovation, it becomes 3
licp for other encroachments, until the
£reat barriers of their liberties are en
tirely levelled.
Much of the security of a republic, de
fends upon the prudent choice of public
f rvants. For my own part, I apprehend
more danger of a change being made in
our excellent constitution by the vices ot"
men ill power, than from foreign invalion.
While their views, extend only to the in
ter eft and benefit of their country —while
they manifeft, by purity of morals, (impli
city of manners, plainncfs in their drefsand
[Total No. 138.]