The Connecticut courant, and the weekly intelligencer — Hartford [Conn.], 1781-01-16 00:00:00, page 2

and valuable vessels, Bur ftofes filled with mer
chandize, and. the produce of the country has a
ready market, and an advantageous price. Gold
and silver, that for a while seemed to have retreat
ed again within the bowels of the earth, is once
more risen into circulation, and every day adds
new strength to trade, commerce, and agricul
ture. In a pamphlet written by Sir John Dal-
Tymple; and dispersed in America in the year
1775, he asserted, that, two twenty gun /hips, nay,
fays he, tenders of thofefdps,fationed between Al
bermarle found and Chefageak bay, wouldfout up
'the trade of America for 600 miles. How little did
Sir John Dalrymple know ofthe abilities of Ame
rica „
While under the government of Britain, the
trade of this country was loaded with reftridfi
ons. It was only a, few foreign ports we was ah
lowed to fail to. Now it is otherwise ; and al
lowed that the quantity of trade is but half what
it was before the war, the case mull ihew the vast
advantage of an open trade, because the prefect
quantity under her reftriQj.Qns could hot support
itfelf; from which I infer, that if half the quanti
ty without the redriaions can bear itfelf up near
ly, if not quite; as well as the whole when fub
je& to thepi, how prosperous must the condition
bf America be when the whole shall return open
with all the world. By trade Ido not mean the
tax equal to sixpence per head must be levied.
The sum to be raised next year will be one
million and sixty thousand pounds : One half of
which I would propose should be raised by duties
on imported goods and prize goods, and the 6-
ther half by a tax on landed property and houses,
dr such other means as each date may dtvife..
But as the duties on imports and prize goods
must be the fame in all the states, therefore the
rate per cent.' or in what other form the duty
shall be laid,'muff be afeerfained and regulated by
Congrefs,and ingrafted in that form into the law
of each Rate f and the monies arifiog therefrom
carried into the.Preafiiry of each stater The du'
ties to be paid in gold or silver/
There are many reasons why a duty on imports
is the most convenient duty or tax that can be
collected, one of which is, because the whole is
payable in a few places ih a country, and it like
wise operates with the grdateft case and equality,
because as every one pays in proportion to what
he consumes, so people in general consume in
employment of a merchant only, but the whole
interest and business ofthe country taken col
ledlively..
It is not so much' my intention, by this publi
cation, to propose particular plans for raising mo
ney, as it is to shew the necessity and the advan
tages to be derived from it. My principal design
is to. form the disposition of the people to such
fneafures which I am fully persuaded is their in
terest and duty to adopt, and which needs no o
ther force to accomplilh tsem than the force of
being felt.' But as every hint may be ufeful, I
fliall throw out a sketch, and leave others to make
such improvements upon dt as to them may ap
pear reasonable.
The annual fum' wanted is two milions, and
the average rate in which it falls is thirteen Shil
lings and fourpence per head.
Suppose then that we raise half the fum' and
sixty thousand pounds.over. ' The average rate
thereof will be seven (hillings per head.
In this case we fiall have half the supply we
want, andan annual fundoffixty thousand pounds
whereon to borrow the oilier million ; because
sixty thousand pounds' is tire intpreft of a million
at fix per cent, and if at the entl of another year
we should be obliged, by the continuance of the
war, to borrow another million, the taxes will be
Fncreafed to seven Shillings and sixpence ; and
thus for every million borrowed,' an additional
proportion to what they can afford, and there
fore the'tax is regulated by the abilities which e
very man fuppoies himfelf to have, or in other
words every man becomes his own afleflor, and
Says by a little at a time when it suits him to buy.
Slides, it is a tax which people may pay or let
alone by not consuming the articles ; and though
the alternative may have no influence ontheir con
du&, the power ofchoofing is an agreeable thing
to the mind. For my own part, it would be a
fatisfadion to me, was there a duty on all forts
of liquors during the war, as in my idea of things,
it would be an addition to the pleasure of society,
*0 know, that when the health of the army goes
round, a few drops from every glass become theirs.
How often have I heard an imphatical with al
most accompanied with a tear, “ Oh, that our
poor fellows in the field had fame of this !" Why
then need we fuffer under a fruitlefs sympathy,
when there is a way to enjoy both the with and
the entertainment at once ?
But the great national policy of putting a duty
upon imports is, that it either keeps the foreign
trade in our own hands or draws Something for
the defence of the country from every foreigner
who participates it with us.
Thus much for the firft half of the taxes, and
as each state will heft devise means to raise the
other half, I shall confine my remarks to the re
sources of this state.
The quota then of this state of one million and
sixty thousand pounds will be one hundred and
thirty-three thousand two hundred and fifty
pounds, the half of which is sixty-six thousand fix
hundred and twenty-five pounds; and fuppofmg
one fourth part of Pennsylvania inhabited; thena
fax of Qne bulhe'l of wheat on every twenty acres
6f lane, one .with another wo,ld produce the
sum, and all the present tAds to ceafe.' Whereas
the tythes of the bishops and clergy in England,
exclulive of the taxes, are upwards of half a bufhet
of wheat oh every fugle acre of land, good and
bad; throughout the nation. ~,
^ln the fornier part of this paper I mentioned
the militia fines; but referred speaking to the
matter; which I Ihill now dp : The ground I Ihal!
put it upon is, .that, two millions Sterling a year
will support a fuffi&ent army, and all the expences
of war, and government, without having recourse
to the inconvenient method of continually calling
then from their employments; which of all others
is the most expensive sid the lead fublbintial. I
confider the revenues created by taxes as the firff
and principal thing, and fines only as secondary
and accidental things. 'lt was not the intention
of the militia lari- to' apply the.militia fines to a
ny thing ejfe but the. support of the militia, nei
ther do they produce any revenue to the state,
operation of the fhys/ I would ft ill . keep the;
militia as an' organized body of men, and should;
there be a real necessity to call then) forth, pay.
them out of the proper revenues of the state, and
encreafe the taxes a third or fourth per cent.' on;
those whs did not ,attend'My limits will not
allow me to go farther into this matter, whigh 1
ffiall therefore close with' this remark f that fines,
are, of all modes of revenue, the most unsuited to
the mind ofa free country/ When a .man pays'
a tax, he knows' the public necessity requires it,
and therefore feels a pride in discharging his du
ty.; but a fines' feerhs an atonement for neglect
of duty, and df consequence is paid with different,
and frequently levied with severity.
I have now only one fubje& more to (peak to,
with which I shall conclude, which is, the resolve
of Congress of the 18th of March left, for taking
up and funding the present currency at forty for
ohe, and issuing new money in ite stead.
Every one knows I am not the flatterer of Con
gress, but in this infiance they are right ; and if
that measure is supported, the currency will, ac
quire a value, which without it, it will not. But
this is not all : It will give relief to the finances
until such time as they can be properly arranged,
and save the country from being immediately
double taxed under the present mode. In short,
support that measure, and it will support you.
I have now waded though a tedious course of
difficult buunefs, and over an untrodden path.
The fubje& on every point it could be viewed was
entangled with perplexities, and invetoped in ob
scurity, yet such arc the resources of America,
that die wants nothing but system to insure suc
cess.
,P HILA DEL FhTa," Jan. 4.
Extract of a letter from an officer in the southern
army, dated Charlotte, December 6.
" I returned here this morning from an ex
cursion to the southward. The command con
fided of General Morgan's light troops, and
about one hundred horfa under Lieutenant Cel.
yet these fines amoupf forbore than all the taxes ;
for taking the mvifterrcdl so befaty thousand men;
the fine on forty thousand who may not. attend;
will be sixty thousand poofod§farling, gqd those
who muster, will give up a portion of time equal
to half that sum, and if the eight claffcs should be
called within the year, and one third ttyrn out;
the fine on the remaining forty thoufaqd would
amount to feyenty two millions of, dollars, befidei
the fifteen shillings on every, bundled pounds
property;and the charge of seven and a half per;
cent for collecting in certain instances, which ori
die whole would be upwards of two hundred and
fifty thousand pounds fterling.'
Now if those. very .fines qifable the country
from raising a fufficient .revenue without product
mg an equivalent advantage, would it not be to
the case and interest of all parties to encreafe the
revenue, in the mariner I have proposed, or any
better, if a better can be devised, and cease the.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, October 4, 1780.,
Waffiington ; the intention of this party was t#
cover the Waxaws from the incursions of a gang
of plundering tories, whohad ftropgly fortified a
barn at Rugeley's farm, and had at length be
come extremely troublesome to the well affe&ed
inhabitants, frequently burning houses, and car
rying offperfons who h; doffended them to the
provolt, which induced General Morgan to ad
vance against them. Col. Washington with the
horse was sent forward to reconnoitre them. He
found them in the barn, and sent a corporal with
a flag to demand afurrender. The corporal in
formed them that we had four field pieces, and
to induce them to believe so, Col. Washington or
dered some men to drag along the top of a pine
tree, which frightened them so, that they
(amounting to one hundred an& fourteen) imme
diately surrendered ; among them is Col. Rugqly
'and Major Cook : Upwards of ninety mufquets,
fourteen horses and four waggons, were taken,
only onepf the waggons could be brought off.l
wrote to Col. Hall about a fortnight ago, inform
ing hin} of Sumpter's having defeated a party of
the legion ; singe which Tarlton attacked him
with allhis cavalry Arid all the infantry he could
mount; and I have the pleasure to inform you,
thaT Sumpter gave trim a complete drubbing ; not
fels than 80 were killed ynd as many wounded.
By their papers they allow;that ffr, had a Major
Money, three fubarferns, and fifty men killed and
wounded. The enemy still Occupy 1 ppit at
Camden. It appears by their landing in Virginia,
to have been ,their intention to form ^ jun&ion of
the two armies somewhere in this State, but
Cornwallis is too weak to advance ; how strong
they may be in Virginia Ido netknoyv We
shall hyve a good many men in a few days."
Extract of a letter from undoubted authority, da
ted Charlotte, Dec. 7.
£ " On the morning of the 29th ult. I went to
Col. Wat!on's, in South-Carolina, about twenty
miles from henge. It was really melancholly to
fee the defclate condition of the country therea
bouts, particularly Mr. Hills plantation : All his
fine iron-works, mills, dwelling house and build
frgs # °l every kind, even bis negro houses reduc
edto adies and his yrife and children in a small
log Kuti This boteever, is but a faint description
of the fafferirgsof our unfortunate country ; for,
it is l,eyo!ril a coubt, that the enemy have hanged
many who—sos fear, and the impracticability
of removing,' had given paroles, and from at-
tachment to our caufcafterwards joined it. Nay,
Tarlton lias, -since the action at Black Storks,
hanged one -Captain Johnston, a magistrate of re
fpqctable, charaaer : r l hey have also burned a
prodigious ^rubber of houses, and turned a vast
many women ;of Affluent ' or easy fortunes, with
their childfen,' ahhcff baked, into the woods.
Tarlton/atGepcrgl tychardfon's widow's exceed
ed his ulual bds,ir;tY ; 'for, having dined at her
house, not,,lily burnt it,(after plundering every
thing it contained,'buthaving drove into the barn
a number of catt;e, # hogs ana poultry, he confum
^d them,' together with the barn and the corn in
ft, in one general blaze ; and this because he pre
fenced that the poor old General was with the
rebel army, though, had be opened his grave be
fore the door, he might have seen the contrary.
Many more of the launch inhabitants ofCharlef
town, it is Aid about go, have been sent about a
fortnight ago to St. Arguftine, and others are to
follow., Mr. Arthur Middleton is of the num
ber. General Gadsden is confined in the castle;
the rest of the suit are on parole in the town.
Col. Charles Correfworth Pinckney's family are
turned out of his house. In short, the enemy
seem determined, if they can, to break every
man's spirit, and if they cannot, to ruin him. En
gagements of capitulation and proclamations, are
no securities against their oppressive cruelties."
Extract of a letter from North-Carolina, Nov. 27.
" On the 15th of November, Col. Marian
dispersed a party of Tories within a mile of
George-Town, killed two and took twenty-three
orifoners, the rest having fled, he loft three men
killed, amongst the prisoners is Lieut. Cooper
of a Brififh galley, at George-Town."
N E W - Y O R K, December 23.
Yesterday arrived a brigantine with 200 hogs
heads and a schooner with hoglheads; pri
zes to his Majesty's ship Iris, who has been some
time past amusing herfelf in tobacco speculations
on the southern coast of our continent.
Extraft of a letter from Kingston, in Jamaica.
" The greatest part of the Western end of
this Island has been destroyed by an hurricane.
Admiral Rowley's squadron were totally dif
maftedinlat. 25, and the Thunderer, of 74 guns,
Commodore Walfmgham, and the Stirling Cas
tle, Capt. Carket, two of that squadron arc mif
fing, and ^ur fate unknown.