National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-02-13 00:00:00, page 1

Conclulion of the correfpondencebetwoen
Mr. Clymer and Mr. Addijon.
Mr. Clymer to Mr. Claypoole, printer of
The Mail.
TSEING at least equally reln£ka:it with
Mr. Addifon to appear in public, I
lhall make my fev ottfervations oa his
piece as fhortaspotfible.
He charges me with initVeprefentinj his
motive for declining my rt i .iiiition, a: id
appeals to the publilhed correfyondence
between us. I join iflive with him, and
reft upon his firft letter of the 29th o!
September, wherein nothing can be plain
er than his opinion of the odiouf.iefs ot
the talk I meant to afiign him, th.it of ta
king the examination of .Me witaefies at
Walhington—Thefe are his exprelfioils .
"If therefore itb? t ne, aai yo. i c-ar.ioi
doubt it, that it is the measure, and no: the
man, that the people hate ; k it p.-upet
for you who have accepted the comimflion.
to devolve the execution of it on one, icc.''
What commission ? o e tu take the exa
mination. It would therefore have been,
aci'-rdingto hirafeif, odious to take tlit
examination.
To go further—" But I hive," fays he
" other reafonsfor deciinin rhis eonimif
fia.i " These certain./ r.m.t be reasons if
aiiilion.
But Mr. Addifon f-iys.l led him intc
a.-, opinion, that he w.ll ivijuired to taki
eliminations under a delegated authority
a service he might decline, as bi'i i 1 t;iv
cafe optional, not obligatory. lam to L\
pardoned in considering this appreheniioi
only as affected ; for not being a judicial oi
cer, which he knew,he alio knew that Icouh
not personally adnuniiler an oath. Th>
phrase "to take depolition contained ii
lnyinftruclioi), a copy of w 1 ch he h id,conic
not have been ynderftood by him i t an)
oilier fenfe-thau-tii,:. . .. .. :..«j t)w-Vn fc.
taken. The justices at Pitdbargh so under
ftoodit; they made examinations ; the)
took depositions, not as my delegates, bui
in their own right.
Having drawn forth Mr. Addifon froir
the shelter of fubterfuge, I might difmif
my subject; but I cannot help aim.
why he chufes to forfake this ground ofre
fufal altogether, and trull to anothei
muchlefsdefenfible; toputit upon hisoat
dislike of the judicial fyltem of the Unitec
States, and not upon the odium to be in
curred by compliance. On the latter hi
might poflibly liand acquitted, for it is pain
ful to encounter the hatred of neighbours:
but how (hall we excuse him as a magif
trate or citizen, for disregarding a law
merely because the law is not to his mind
We fee in thisexample,Mr. Addifon run
ning exaitly parallel with his countrymen
when they oppose a revenue art of tin
United States : they both set up their o
pinions against the government; they botl
lefufe to obey because they dislike, arc
1b undertake, as far as it refpecls them
selves, to annul a lawofthe land.
Mr. Addifon has laboured in extenuati
011 of the otfences of the western peoplt
against the notoriety of numerousfacts.am
against the general belief; and according
to him, " I have laid improper things
in reference, as I suppose, to some free
doms taken with the perfonsof the magis
trates and clergy.—They were juftifiable.
And I am authorised to re-affirm, what
has been already said with refpeit to the
people generally, with an added afliirance,
that notwithstanding the general- difcoun
tenanceofthe union, they still perlilt v
the boldest defiances of law and govern
ment. If I have " impeached the jufticc
of the country," it is because I had heard
file had generally but very illy proportion
ed her punifhmcnts to the crimes commit
ted.
Mr. Addifon declares, he shall confine
himfelf in his publication entirely to an
explanation of the charge, as he calls it,
brought against him ; but why in the very
ail of fliewing fucli a sense ot decency
and decorum does he violate their rules,
in glancing at vulgar (landers already sub
stantially exposed and despised.
GEORGE CLYMER.
Philad. Jan. 28, 1793.
Note.—ln my printed letters I observe
great inaccuracies, which I believe are not
in the originals.
Conclusion of the delate in the Hot:fe oj
Representatives en Saturday, January 5,
on the reduction of the prejeut military
ejlablijhment of the army.
(Continued from No. 133.)
Mr. WILLIAMSON did not entire
ly approve of the motion in its present
Numb. 3iofVoL. ll.] WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1793.
By P. FRENEAU: Publijhed Weus todays and Saturdays, at Three Dollars per anntm.
form ; the blanks m:;~ T :t be so filled, he
thought, as to import a thing opposite to
his willies—they might import a discharge
of the troops already raised- He believ
ed his colleague h:ul no fiich desire ;he
thought the liieafure would be improper,
but he wished not to have a regiment of
officers without soldier—he wished to fix
a time at which the recruitingfervicefhouid
cease and thefupeiliumerary officers fhouid
be discharged. As he intended to move that
the proportion might be so amended, he
(houid therefore c.-Mlidcrit in that light—
and he believed th - neafure would not b.
imprudent nor iuco:t<i(lent with the mo.
vigorous measures of dt fence or offence.
It (houHl be remembered that the House
of Reprefrntutives, when tliey had tin- bill
before tiiero * hioh la«t winter patted into
a Inv for defending the frontiers, font it
to the senate with a clause importing that
officers below the rank of field officers.
Ihoukl not be put into commiiiion any faf
ter than troops could be enliited. The
Senate adhering to their privilege, refufed
to agree to that clause in the bill, anditbe
came nccefiiii y immediately to commi.'ii >n
the oiiic it ; for 5000 men, some of whom,
if fame fpitts truth, not covetous of honor
are com . 'it with their pay, without having
railed three men. By the propoftd ii'ivwl
ment, the officers only would be difinifted
whom moil of us wished never tohavefeen
in tommiuion.
The proposed regulation has been ce i
fured a. implicating some ktfid of censure
on the executive. He viewed it in a dif
ferent light. The executive had done what
waa-proper and necellary at the time. But
if it fhouid appear thac other measure
would fit the change of circunjlla..-
ces, he did not fee why those nl alures
fhouid not be adopted. It fhouid be rtcul
'ected that during the lafl w'ru, r. <*h-f»
tiie ett unite of 5000 men neceUary for the
defence of our frontierwas handed to C. 011-
grefs, there was no militia law. A well
armed effective mditia, that palladium of
liberty, had once and again been recom
mended b',' the President to the attention
of Congress : but Congref, from year to
year, as if they wished for a (landingarmy
had neglected the militia. Towards the
Jose ot the lad feflion indeed they |) 1 ileel a
law. He hoped he might without offence
call it the shadow of a law.—lt was faying
in a few words that tiie fever.it Hates might
lave a good militia il they pleased ; and ir
they pleafed, v they might have none at all.
Was the executive to trust the defence oi
1 country to a militia formed under luch
a law ?—He thought not—but he observed
that since the last winter it had come to be
generally known that a clalsof our fellow
citizens exist on the frontier s,, who are at
all times ready to serve, not as drafted
militia, but as volunteers. These are the
iuen,faid he, by whom the Indians mult b.:
chastised, or we lliall never have peace.
They are the belt woodsmen and marks
men, and they have 110 profeflional intere'.l
in spinning out the war. He said he muii
repeat the observation, that volunteers o!
:he militia are the only troops for vigorous
offenfive operations. Figure to yourfelve
an army of regulars creeping through tire
wilderness with all its cannon and otliei
military apparatus in chafe of anaked lavage
who fees it without being seen. It is ar
elephant in chafe of a wolf. The troops
already raised may be pretty well disciplin
ed before the season for action—they art
fufficient with the co-oper3tions of the
militia, to take a port, and build fort:
where they please—every thing else is be.
yond their power, if they were not five but
fifteen thousand. They will never fee an
Indian uulefs he chooses to be seen. —He
wilhed to be indulged in a single observa
tion respecting a cafe in which it was fait
the other day.theinilitia had been surprised.
He was sorry that his naming Major Adah
had produced the remark; he would
nevertheless venture to repeat the cafe a;
an inflance of vigilance and bravery. Tht
Major believing that there was an enem)
at hand, had vilited all his pods at mid
night in perfc>n ; his Lieutenant, Madison.
before the dawn of day. roused all tilt
men, telling them that the Indians were
coming. 1 lie Major withing to leave the
ground before day-light called in the cen
tinels, —but the Indians rushing in with
them, gave a heavy fire before there war
light by which they could be seen. The
Major, lie said, had not the merit, as he
believed, of having been a continental
officer, but had the merit, not less honor
able, of having served bravely in the mili
tia. He tjueflioned on the whole, whether
any of the green troops to be raised next
spring or fumnier, will make so good a
defence as Major Adair's militia had nude:
They had taken scalp for scalp, though
they fought against the odds of three to
one.—He prayed that it might be remem
bered, that his ideas were not founded on
any hopes of fuddeu peace with the In
dians; on the contrary, every motion of
the Indians, and every measure taken by
those who had the mo<t influence over the
Indians, induced him to regard an Indian
•i ar as the perpetual tax 01" at lealt one
million per annum. It is fortunate, as
lie conceived, that the United States know
i!ie source of their misfortunes—and if
rlisy are compelled to spend one million
:r annum in oppoling a savage enemy
\ho seer.is to be hunted upon them, per
they may be taught to i demnify
th-*iflfelves by refilling to expend several
fiiiliioiu which they can ealily save. If a
perpetual tax on this head must be raised,
fjund policy will readily point to the pro
) .-r object of taxation : but this mull re
niin over for our fucceflbrs. In the
■ -in time believing that the troops al
ready raised are fufficient to maintain every
■ ' >rt that i , erected, and being confident
n;:t volunteers may be found atany time
>.!!!.ient, if it [hall be liecelfary, to ex
:;rpite every hoflile tribe of Indians—he
iiauid vote for the proportion with the
nopofed amendment.
Mr. Wadfworth closed the debate by
,; pl>'' n g particularly to that part of Mr.
tel.'. speech, in which he controverted
'UiieofMr. Wadfworth's flatements.
Mr. Wadfworth raid, in the ast of May
i l , 1792, <173.500 dollars were appro
. iated for various pnrpofea, of which
v,cao dollari were for the quarter
ii(« titer's department, which sum added ft*
!.coo, appropriated by the a£t of De
v.4 79.1, ni-jke ;lu' tlwrnfuul
foil alsashe hid before (fated—not finding
the eltimates in the Clerk'soffice,on which
hefe appropriations were made—l went,
"aid Mr. Wadfworth, to the War-Office,
md took copies of both estimates, which
1 have iii my hand—and there can be no
loubt of the fact, as it has been slated by
110. Mr. Wadfworth added some gene
•al remarks refpefting militia and regular
:roo;>, —the merits of the former he never
iieant to depreciate—he had been witness
o many brilliant actions in which they
lad been engaged. On the present occa
ii):i, his wilti was to impress 011 the house
he superiority of a regular eftabliflied
orce for the service now under confidera
:ion.
For the National Gazette.
Ibfervations on the propriety of extending
the ptriuers of the Juflices of the Peace.
VyHEN the conflitution of Pemifvlvania
' ' was new modelled, a conliderable
:!iaage was made in the courts of common
3lt--is ; though the extenlion of the powers
of juflices of the peace for the recovery
if fmail debts to the amount often pounds
jail given general fatisfaftion to the peo
ple, and had produced very few appeals
from the juflices' judgment, yet the con
tention thought it would afford greater se
curity, if the commiflions of the plea?
r.;dpeace wei"e separated; and consequent
ly the persons who gave judgment in a
fdinniory manner, pre vented from fitting
;n courts upon appeals from such fnmmary
judgments. Tiie conllitution also direits
a simple and fnmmary method of bringing
the judgment of a justice of peace before
the court by certiorari.
The people of Pennsylvania, confirmed
intheir opinion by mature experience, hac
long wifhecl to have the power of the jus
tices of the peace in the recovery of debt:
farther extended ; and when the new con.
Ilittition had chrectedan arrangement whict
afford-d greater security at a confiderabh
expellee lo rhe slate, a law for this purpose
was generally expe&ed ; consequently the
fir ft House of Reprefeutatives elected un
der the new conflitution, originated a bil
for extending the power of the juflices ol
the peace to the recovery of twenty pounds;
but it was rejected in the Senate. The lafl
House of Reprefeutatives originated afimi
lar bill, but it experienced the fame fate
in the Senate.
When we reflect that both Houses are
elected by the fame conflituents, and ob
serve how great a majority of the House
of Reprefeutatives 011 both occasions voted
for the bill, hot withffanding that an elec
tion intervened, we arc at a loss to account
for the conduct of the Senate, in thus re
peatedly rejecting the bill. That the law
yers and their friends made the most ar
dent exertions to influence the Senate, and
that a majority of eighteen members are
moreeafily influenced than the majority or
(ixty-nine, appears the most rational
ground upon which this unexpected con
iluft of the majority of the Senate, can be
accounted for.
Not doubting but the present House
of Representatives will exert itfelf in
endeavouring to accomplilh this salutary
purpose, and hoping that the Senate, a few
members of which havd been changed last
election, will ltudyihe interest, and attend
to the voice of their constituents, which I
understand is now unequivocally exprefled
ay their petitions, I, though relidiug at a
distance, wi(h to contribute my mite, by
offering a few thoughts on the subject
through the channel of your liberal gazette.
That the summary powers of the jutti
:es of the peace in the recovery of debts is
nconfiftent with tryal by jury, is tl\e most
"orniidable objection to the bill, 1 prefuine
.vill be admitted.
I answer, that this objection will appfy
is powerfully to the repealing of
sting laws which enable the juitices of the
>eace to recover forty (hillings, five pounds
ind ten pounds under different regulations,
is to prevent the extension of their power
:o twenty pounds ; for if the principle is
wrong, a few pounds less or more do
lot alter the cafe; the poor man's forty
hillings,or five pounds,are according to the
:onflitution and moral equity, entitled to
the fame protection as the rich man'sfifty
sounds; therefore the members of Aflem
)ly who for conlcience fake vote against
;he extension of this power Co earnellly
lelired by the citizens, inuft alio for con
cience fake, endeavour to procure a repeal
>f the exilling laws on this subject.
But I may be told that this manner of
•eal'oiimg would eqnaliy juftiry extending
:he power in queltion much further ; that
t would apply 111 favour of one hundred
pounds as well as twenty: I grant it would,
and when the citizens are convinced by
experience of the propriety of extending
it farther, it ought to be done under pro
per regulations.
What ! fays an oppofer of the bill, in
"urprize ; would you destroy tryal by jury
altogether ?
No, I would be among the last that would
impair that bulwark of liberty, and belt
"ecurity of property ; but tryal by jury
mud in every cafe be enjoyed according to
the forms prescribed bylaw; the jury mult
be summoned and pannellcd, and the acti
on brought as the law directs ; the courts
must decide that there is cause of action
&c. The interpolation of the justices'
judgment in certain cases is only the mail
tier prescribed by law to come at tryal by
jury/n these cases ; for either party may
aring his cafe before a court and jury with
as little cost, and have as speedy a decision,
as if it came before the court in the Jtrft
inflance, with this additional advantage to
the plaintiff, that the property of the de
fendant is sooner secured from being eru
oezzled. Surely this form of coming at
tryal by jury when ic is neceflary, is much
more rational, than the figment of anejeCt
nent, without which nonsensical form, a
nan cannot recover hisplantation ; and if
t is not neceflary, parties in suit ought not
:o be put to cofts,expence and delay.mere
y for the fupportof county court lawyers.
This brings into view an argument
which I am informed was uttered on the
floor of the House of Representatives by a
jrofeflional member, ill opposition to the
Q. 20 bill when it was firlt agitated. He
Paid that aCtions for debts not exceeding
£. 20 afforded the only provision for young
attorneys, and in conducting these they
gained experience and credit, fufficient to
recommend them to more important busi
ness and offices in future.
In the name of justice, is this particu
lar slafsof men to serve an apprenticelhip
at theexpenceof the poor debtors in the
commonwealth ? are they to be the (elect
ed favourites of government, to vhofe
emolument and aggrandizement,the courts
of justice, the powers of the magistrates
and the interests of the citizens, n.vut all
be peculiarly accommodated ?
I efteein and would encreafe this clafi of
citizens as far as I consider their profeflion
ncceflary to the other orders of citizens ;
but it must be acknowledged that the farm
er, the mechanic, and dealer, add some
thing to the public stock ; and that the
lawyers do not; 'therefore the lawyers
ought only to be encouraged in society as
far,or in such numbers,as is neceflary for the
benefit of the other orders, and no farther.
[Total No. 135.]