National gazette. (Philadelphia [Pa.]), 1792-03-15 00:00:00

National Gazette.
By P. FRENEAU: Published MONDAYS and THURSDAYS, at THREE DOLLARS per annum.
VOL. I.
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1792.
NUMB. 40.
Read in the the House of Representatives on the 6th instant.
IN obedience to the Orders of the House of REPRESENTATIVES of the first and second days of November last, the first directing the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the House such information as he may have obtained, respecting any difficulties which may have occurred in the execution of the act "repealing, after the last day of June next, the duties heretofore laid upon distilled spirits imported from abroad, and laying others in their stead; and also upon spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same," together with his opinion thereupon; the second directing him to report to the House whether any and what alterations in favor of the spirits which shall be distilled from articles of the growth or produce of the United States, or from foreign articles, within the same, can, in his opinion, be made in the act for laying duties upon spirits distilled within the United States, consistently with its main design, and with the maintenance of the public faith; the said Secretary respectfully submits the following
REPORT.
FROM the several petitions and memorials which have been referred to the Secretary, as well as from various representations which have been made to him, it appears that objections have arisen in different quarters against the above mentioned act; which have in some instances embarrassed its execution, and inspired a desire of its being repealed, in others have induced a wish that alterations may be made in some of its provisions.
These objections have reference to a supposed tendency of the act: 1st, To contravene the principles of liberty: 2dly, To injure morals: 3dly, to oppress by heavy and excessive penalties: 4thly, To injure industry and interfere with the business of distilling.
As to the supposed tendency of the act to contravene the principles of liberty, the discussions of the subject which have had place in and out of the Legislature, superadded the necessity of more than a few brief general observations.
It is presumed that a revision of the point cannot in this respect weaken the conviction which originally dictated the law.
There can surely be nothing in the nature of an internal duty on a consumable commodity more incompatible with liberty, than in that of an external duty on a like commodity. A doctrine which asserts, that all duties of the former kind (usually denominated excises) are inconsistent with the genius of a free government, is too violent and too little reconcileable with the necessities of society to be true. It would tend to deprive the government of what is in most countries a principal source of revenue, and by narrowing the distribution of taxes, would serve to oppress particular kinds of industry. It would throw in the first instance an undue proportion of the public burthen on the merchant and on the landholder.
This is one of those cases in which names have an improper influence, and in which certain prepossessions exclude a due attention to facts.
Accordingly the law under consideration is complained of though free from the features, which have served in other cases to render laws on the same subject exceptionable. And though the differences have been pointed out, they have not only been overlooked, but the very things, which have been studiously avoided in the formation of the law, are charged upon it, and that too from quarters where its operation would from circumstances have worn the least appearance of them.
It has been heretofore noticed, that the chief circumstances, which in cer-
tain excise-laws have given occasion to the charge of their being unfriendly to liberty, are not to be found in the act, which is the subject of this report; namely: 1st, A summary and discretionary jurisdiction in the excise officers contrary to the course of the common law, and in abridgment of the right of trial by jury: and 2ndly, A general power in the same officers to search and inspect indiscriminately all the houses and buildings of the persons engaged in the business to which the tax relates.
As to the first particular, there is nothing in the act even to give colour to a charge of the kind against it, and accordingly it has not been brought. But as to the second, a very different power has been mistaken for it, and the act is complained of as conferring that very power of indiscriminate search and inspection.
The fact nevertheless is otherwise. An officer, under the act in question, can inspect or search no house or building, or even apartment of any house or building which has not been previously entered and marked by the possessor as a place used for distilling or keeping spirits.
And even the power so qualified is only applicable to distilleries from foreign materials, and in cities, towns and villages from domestic materials; that is, only in cases in which the law contemplates that the business is carried on upon such a scale as effectually to separate the distillery from the dwelling of the distiller. The distilleries scattered over the country, which form much the greatest part of the whole, are in no degree subject to discretionary inspection and search.
The true principle of the objection, which may be raised to a general discretionary power of inspection and search is, that the domicil or dwelling of a citizen ought to be free from vexatious inquisition, and intrusion.
This principle cannot apply to a case in which it is put in his own power to separate the place of his business from the place of his habitation, and by designating the former by visible public marks, to avoid all intermeddling with the latter.
A distillery seldom forms a part of the dwelling of its proprietor, and even where it does, it depends on him to direct and limit the power of visiting and search, by marking out the particular apartments which are so employed.
But the requisition upon the distiller to set marks on the building or apartments which he makes use of in his business, is one of the topics of complaint against the law. Such marks are represented as a dishonorable badge. And thus a regulation, designed as much to conform with the feelings of the citizen, as for the security of the revenue, is converted into matter of objection.
It is not easy to conceive what maxim of liberty is violated, by requiring persons, who carry on particular trades, which are made contributory to the revenue, to designate by public marks the places in which they are carried on. There can certainly be nothing more harmless or less inconvenient, than such a regulation. The thing itself is frequently done by persons of various callings for the information of customers; and why it should become a hardship or grievance, if required for a public purpose, can with difficulty be imagined.
The supposed tendency of the act to injure morals seems to have relation to the oaths, which are in a variety of cases required, and which are liable to the objection, that they give occasion to perjuries.
The necessity of requiring oaths, is whenever it occurs, matter of regret. It is certainly desirable to avoid them as often and as far as possible. But it is more easy to desire than to find a sub-
stitute. The requiring of them is not peculiar to the act in question. They are a common appendage of revenue laws, and are among the usual guards of those laws, as they are of public and private rights in courts of justice. They constantly occur in jury trials, to which the citizens of the United States are so much & so justly attached. The same objection in different degrees lies against them in both cases. Yet it is not perceivable how they can be dispensed with in either.
It is remarkable that both the kinds of security to the revenue, which are to be found in the act, the oaths of parties, and the inspection of officers, are objected to. If they are both to be abandoned, it is not easy to imagine what security there can be for any species of revenue, which is to be collected from articles of consumption.
If precautions of this nature are inconsistent with liberty, and immoral, as there are very few indirect taxes, which can be collected without them, the consequence must be, that the entire or almost entire weight of the public burthens must, in the first instance, fall upon fixed and visible property, houses and lands, a consequence which would be found in experiment productive of great injustice and inequality, and ruinous to agriculture.
It has been suggested by some distillers, that both the topics of complaint, which have been mentioned, might be obviated by a fixed rate of duty, adjusted according to a ratio compounded of the capacity of each still, and the number and capacities of the cisterns employed with it; but this and every similar method are objected to by other distillers, as tending to great inequality, arising from unequal supplies of the material at different times and at different places, from the different methods of distillation practised by different distillers, and from the different degrees of activity in the business which arise from capitals more or less adequate.
The result of an examination of this point appears to be, that every such mode in cases in which the business is carried on upon an extensive scale, would necessarily be attended with considerable inequalities; and upon the whole would be less satisfactory than the plan which has been adopted.
It is proved by the fullest information, that, in regard to distilleries, which are rated in the law, according to the capacity of each still, the alternative of paying according to the quantity actually distilled is viewed in many parts of the United States as essential to the equitable operation of the duty. And it is evident that such an alternative could not be allowed, but upon the condition of the party rendering upon oath an account of the quantity of spirits distilled by him; without entirely defeating the duty.
As to the charge that the penalties of the act are severe and oppressive, it is made in such general terms, and so absolutely without the specification of a single particular, that it is difficult to imagine where it points.
The Secretary however has carefully reviewed the provisions of the act in this respect, and he is not able to discover any foundation for the charge.
The penalties it inflicts are in their nature the same with those which are common in revenue laws, and in their degree comparatively moderate.
Pecuniary fines from fifty to five hundred dollars, and forfeiture of the article in respect to which there has been a failure to comply with the law, are the severest penalties inflicted upon delinquent parties, except in a very few cases: In two, a forfeiture of the value of the article is added to that of the article itself, and in some others a forfeiture of the ship or vessel, and of
the waggon or other instrument of conveyance, affistant in a breach of the law, is likewise involved.
Penalties like these for wilful and fraudulent breaches of an important law, cannot truly be deemed either unusual or excessive. They are less than those which secure the laws of impost, and as moderate as can promise security to any object of revenue, which is capable of being evaded.
There appears to be but one provision in the law which admits of a question, whether the penalty prescribed may not partake of severity. It is that which inflicts the pains of perjury on any person who shall be convicted of "wilfully taking a false oath or affirmation in any of the cases in which oaths or affirmations are required by the act."
Precedents in relation to this particular vary. In many of them the penalties are less severe, than for perjury in courts of justice; in others they are the same. The latter are generally of the latest date, and seem to have been the result of experience.
The United States have in other cases pursued the same principle as in the law in question; and the practice is certainly founded on strong reasons.
1st. The additional security which it gives to the revenue cannot be doubted. Many who would risk pecuniary forfeitures and penalties, would not encounter the more disgraceful punishment annexed to perjury.
2. There seems to be no solid distinction between one false oath in violation of law and right, and another false oath in violation of law and right. A distinction in the punishments of different species of false swearing is calculated to beget false opinions concerning the sanctity of an oath; and by countenancing an impression that a violation of it is less heinous in the cases in which it is less punished, it tends to impair in the mind that scrupulous veneration for the obligation of an oath which ought always to prevail, and not only to facilitate a breach of it in cases which the laws have marked with less odium, but to prepare the mind for committing the crime in other cases.
So far is the law under consideration from being chargeable with particular severity, that there are to be found in it marks of more than common attention to prevent its operating severely or oppressively.
The 43d section of the act contains a special provision (and one which it is believed is not to be found in any law enacted in this country prior to the present constitution of the United States) by which forfeitures and penalties incurred without an intention of fraud or wilful negligence may be mitigated or remitted.
This mild and equitable provision is an effectual guard against suffering, or inconvenience in consequence of undesigned transgressions of the law.
The 38th section contains a provision in favor of persons, who though innocent may accidentally suffer by seizures of their property (as in the execution of the revenue laws sometimes unavoidably happens) which is perhaps entirely peculiar to the law under consideration. Where there has even been a probable cause of seizure, sufficient to acquit an officer, the jury are to assess whatever damages may have accrued, from any injury to the article seized, with an allowance for the detention of it at the rate of six per centum per annum of the value, which damages are to be paid out of the public treasury.
There are other provisions of the act which mark the scrupulous attention of the government, to protect the parties concerned from inconvenience and injury, and which conspire to vindicate the law from imputations of severity or oppression.
(See last page.)

PHILADELPHIA.
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SATURDAY, March 10.
An engrossed "bill declaring the consent of Congress to a certain act of the state of Maryland, and to continue for a longer time, an act declaring the assent of Congress to certain acts of the states of Maryland, Georgia, and Rhode-Island and Providence plantations, so far as the same respects the states of Georgia, and Rhode-Island and Providence plantations, was read a third time, passed, and sent to the Senate for their concurrence."
A petition of Isaac Ledyard was presented and read, praying compensation for services in the Military Hospital of the United States, during the late war—Referred to the Secretary at War for examination and report.
The House proceeded to the consideration of the message received from the President of the United States on Monday last, with the translation of the letter from the King of France, announcing to the United States, his acceptance of the new Constitution; whereupon,
The following resolution was moved, viz.
"Resolved, that this House hath received, with sentiments of high satisfaction, the notification of the King of the French, of his acceptance of the constitution presented to him in the name of the nation:—and that the President of the United States be requested in his answer to the said notification, to express the sincere participation of the house, in the interests of the French nation, on this great and important event; and their wish, that the wisdom and magnanimity displayed in the formation and acceptance of the constitution, may be rewarded by the most perfect attainment of its object, the permanent happiness of so great a people."
A motion, made for the commitment of this resolution, passed in the negative;—yeas, 17; nays, 35.
A debate of considerable length, and of a very interesting nature, then took place on the adoption of the resolution; after which a division of the question being called for, the House agreed to the first part, as far as the words "important event" inclusive. yeas, 50; nays, 2.
The question was then taken on the remaining part of the resolution, and also passed in the affirmative;—yeas, 36; nays, 16.
A committee of five members was appointed, to wait on the President of the United States with the said resolution.
The following resolution was proposed and agreed to, viz.
"That in the case of the contested election on the petition of James Jackson, complaining of an undue election and return of Anthony Wayne, one of the members returned to serve in this House for the state of Georgia, the sitting member have leave to be heard by counsel, at the bar of this House on Monday next."
MONDAY, March 12.
This being the day appointed by the order of the 27th of February—for the trial of the contested election of a member to represent the state of Georgia,
General Jackson, the petitioner, on the one hand, and Mr. Lewis, as Counsel for the sitting member Gen. Anthony Wayne, on the other, had places assigned to them within the bar.
General Jackson's petition being read, together with the resolutions, which the House had entered into on the subject,
Mr. Lewis rose, and requested the trial might be further postponed till Wednesday fe'night, that certain additional evidence might come forward from Georgia.
General Jackson opposed the postponement, alleging that sufficient time had been allowed.
After a considerable time spent in debating the question of postponement, it was at length negatived by a large majority; 19 members only rising in the affirmative.
The House then proceeded to the hearing of the evidence.
General Jackson proceeded to exhibit and read his proofs in support of the allegations of his petition, as far as respects the first article of charge therein contained; he also entered into a pretty long detail of facts respecting the election in one of the counties of the district; and having concluded his statement of that part of the business, the House adjourned.
TUESDAY, March 13.
A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Secretary Otis, with the representation bill—passed the Senate with amendments.
The House proceeded in the trial of the contested election for the lower district of Georgia.
Mr. Jackson continued the detail of his evidence—and exhibited a statement of the transactions at the election in Camden county, &c. Considerable debate took place a-
mong the members, respecting the admissibility of several articles of evidence offered by the petitioner—some of which were admitted, others not admitted; Mr. Jackson concluded his allegations and comments, with offering as evidence the impeachment of Judge Osborne, &c. by the Senate of Georgia; this was objected to by Mr. Wayne's counsel, and a debate ensuing among the members, an adjournment took place without a decision.
For the NATIONAL GAZETTE.
BRUTUS, No. I.
On the FUNDING SYSTEM.
WHEN a people by laudable exertions, have raised themselves from insignificance and foreign dependence, to national importance and civil liberty; when in a deliberative manner, unexampled in the history of nations, they have framed a government to promote the general welfare, and to transmit the blessings of liberty to the latest posterity, is it not to be regretted by every lover of his country, that this government, instead of attaining the great objects it professes, of becoming the instrument of happiness to the people at large, and of reward to the meritorious, should by a bad administration, be perverted from these noble purposes, to serve the few, to encourage the undeserving speculator, and to undermine those republican principles which have been so lately and arduously obtained, and which have hitherto been considered as the birth-right of every American. That this is a true statement of the political state of our country, is a deplorable truth which the following strictures are meant, to illustrate, and to show with due deference to those who are so fond of bestowing indiscriminate praises on the measures of government, that a system of finance has issued from the Treasury of the United States, and has given rise to scenes of speculation calculated to aggrandize the few and the wealthy, by oppressing the great body of the people, to transfer the best resources of the country for ever into the hands of speculators, and to fix a burthen on the people of the United States and their posterity, which time, instead of diminishing, will serve to strengthen and encrease: that in the very infancy of our government a more complicated funding system than the people of England are oppressed by, with unlimited impost and excise laws pledged for its support, and copied from British statute books, have been palmed on the people of the United States without reserve or limitation: that the most valuable resources of the country have been all mortgaged, and swallowed up in future payments, and that in consequence of all these evils, we now exhibit to the world the sad spectacle, of a youthful body, loaded with the infirmities incident to age, and are actually suffering from the depredations of a few Indians, and have not the means of defence unless we resort to loans, and by continuing the baneful system of anticipation we have began, encrease those burthens which experience proves are already too great.
Such are the sad effects of that baneful funding system, which our rulers have adopted; a system as unjust in its operation on individuals, as it has been ruinous in its effects on the public: for whether we consider the losses sustained by the farmer and the soldier, who advanced their persons and property in defence of their country; and the immense profits made on those losses by greedy speculators; or take a more extensive view, and contemplate the great national evils it has involved us in, we are equally led to deprecate its injustice and impolicy.
Among the numerous evils which are involved in this system, for like Pandora's box it is pregnant with every mischief, are the following:—1. It has given an additional weight to the general government, particularly the treasury department, never contemplated by its framers, by throwing the enormous sum of fifty million dollars, into the hands of the wealthy, and has attached them to all its measures, by motives of private interest.
2. It has combined this great monied interest, and has made it formidable by means of a bank monopoly spread into various branches; which is justly considered as one of the spurious offsprings of this system.
3. By means of unlimited impost and excise laws, two other of its offsprings, it has anticipated the best resources of the country, and swallowed them all up in future payments.
4. Because the certificates are generally got into the hands of wealthy foreign and domestic speculators, it has transferred the public wealth into their possession, and has given them a fee simple in the resources of the country; while the industrious mechanic, the laborious farmer, and generally the poorer class of people, who are without the sphere of speculation, are all made tributary to the latest posterity to these highly favored classes.
5. As these descriptions of men either live in a foreign land or within the purview of the Treasury, almost the whole of the United States, like Roman provinces, will
eventually become tributary to the seat of government, and one or two large maritime towns, and the continual drains they will suffer, instead of circulating like blood in the animal body to the extremities, and serving to invigorate the whole system, will either be dissipated in luxury and licentiousness at the seat of government, or be exported to foreign countries for the use of foreign stock-holders.
6. By holding out temptations and giving opportunities, to make enormous profits without the exertions of industry; it has drawn people from their habits of productive labour, and has diverted those capitals which used to be employed in commerce to the purpose of speculation; while the immense profits it has afforded, has thrown such enormous fortunes into the hands of a few individuals, as are altogether inconsistent with a republican government. To illustrate some of these positions, shall be the object of one or two future numbers.
BRUTUS.
Philadelphia, March 14, 1792.
FOR THE NATIONAL GAZETTE.
No. III.
MR. FRENEAU,
SHOULD the yeomanry of Virginia establish agricultural societies in the several counties of that state, the meetings might be held and the libraries preserved at the different court houses. To ensure success to such institutions, they should begin with a few, after which every farmer in the country qualified to be a member, should be admitted; and to ensure an attention to business, that it might be regularly transacted at every stated meeting of the society, five members should be a quorum to do business. A committee of correspondence might be appointed by each society whose business should be to collect and preserve agricultural observations or experiments communicated by members or others: and at the end of every year publish such of them as the society should think worthy of the attention of the public. Such annual communications from every part of the state, would form a most valuable acquisition to the agricultural interest.
Agriculture, like other sciences, cannot be improved by accident or trifling exertions, few pursuits so much require an uninterrupted application, and a closer attention to experiments. It is far from being arrived at that perfection of which it is capable; and its being thus retarded in its progress, is more owing to the oppression of governments than to any other cause. Monsieur Poivre says, that in his travels through Europe, Africa, and Asia, the nature of the government of every country that he visited was to be distinguished by the situation of its agriculture. Under the despotism of many kingdoms in the east he found the finest soils in the world desolate and the people beyond comparison miserable and wretched.—The agriculture of France has been ruined by the ambition, the brutality and tyranny of its kings.—That of England will certainly meet with a similar fate, not by the avowed power of an absolute monarchy, but by the injudicious chicanery of financial regulations , which are carried to such an enormous extent, that one full half of the produce of the labour of the farmer is absorbed by the government, under the several names of taxes, church rates, poor rates, stamps, duties, excises, &c.
Whilst the Congress of the United States are implicitly pursuing this wretched and oppressive policy of the British cabinet; it is proper that the yeomanry of America should be attentive to their critical situation. We already witness a severe tonnage duty on foreign vessels, by which the interest of the farmers is sacrificed to the merchants, their agents—a duty on salt to nearly its value which oppresses the farmer more than any other citizen, because he is not only obliged to supply his family and servants during the whole year with salted provisions, but also to give a great quantity to his cattle to preserve them in health—an excise law which renders the house of a citizen no longer sacred and which prevents the farmer from enjoying the just fruits of his industry.
Considering these measures as highly inimical to the agricultural interest; every society instituted for the support of that interest should also be regarded as a political society, as far as concerns the immediate and essential rights of the farmer. To preserve a knowledge of such rights, every county library should be furnished with a few of the most approved publications on political and civil society, and the rights of man. Since the glorious revolution in France, the question which has engaged the attention of philosophers and real statesmen , has not been what will promote the grandeur of a monarchy, or the power and influence of an aristocracy; but what will contribute to the happiness of the PEOPLE.
A FARMER.
March 9.
A few Copies of the REPORT of the Secretary of the Treasury, of the 6th inst. on the PUBLIC DEBT, may be had at this Office.
PARIS, Dec. 16.
When the king appeared in the national assembly, to announce the measures he had pursued for the purpose of dispersing the French emigrants assembled in some of the German electorates, he was received in a manner much more agreeable to his feelings, than when he had appeared in the same place. The president was not seated whilst his majesty was present, neither did he address him in the style of an equal, much less of an inferior, as was the case on the former occasion. He stood all the time, and uncovered, as did all the members; so that this visit to the assembly was not attended with any mortifying circumstance to the king.
The speech which his majesty made, was as follows:
"Gentlemen, "I HAVE taken your message of the 29th of last month into mature consideration. In a case that involves the honor of the French people, and the safety of the empire, I thought it my duty to be myself the bearer of my answer. The nation cannot but applaud these communications between its elected and its hereditary representative.
"You have invited me to take decisive measures, in order to effect a cessation of those external assemblages which keep up a hateful disquietude and fermentation in the bosom of France—which render an oppressive augmentation of expence necessary—and expose liberty to greater danger than an open and declared war. You desire me to cause declarations to be made to the neighboring princes, who contrary to the rules of good neighborhood, and the principles of the law of nations, protect these assemblages; that the nation can no longer suffer this want of respect, and these sources of hostility. Finally, you have given me to understand, that one general emotion is felt by the nation, and that the cry of the French is for WAR, in preference to a ruinous and degrading patience.
"Gentlemen, I have long thought that our circumstances required great circumspection in our measures; that having scarcely yet weathered the agitations and the storms of a revolution, and the first essays of an infant constitution, no means ought to be neglected that could preserve France from the incalculable evils of war; these means I have always employed. On the one hand, I have done every thing to recal the French emigrants to the bosom of their country, and induce them to submit to the new laws which a great majority of the nation have adopted; on the other, I have employed amicable intimations—I have caused formal and precise requisitions to be made, to divert the neighboring princes from giving them a support calculated to flatter their hopes and encourage them in their rash design.
"The emperor has done all that was to be expected from a faithful ally, by forbidding and dispersing all assemblages within his states.
"My measures at the courts of other princes, have not been equally successful. Unaccommodating answers have been given to my requisitions.
"These unjust refusals call for resolutions of another kind. The nation has manifested its wishes. You have collected them—you have weighed the consequences—you have expressed them to me by your message. Gentlemen, you have not anticipated me. As the representative of the people, I felt the people's injuries; and I am now to inform you of the resolution I have taken to pursue reparation.
"I have caused a declaration to be made to the elector of Treves, that if, before the 15th day of January, he do not put a stop within his states to all collecting of troops, and all hostile dispositions on the part of the French, who have taken refuge in them, I shall no longer consider him but as the enemy of France. I shall cause similar declarations to be made to all who favor assemblages contrary to the tranquility of the kingdom; and by securing to foreigners all the protection which they ought to expect from our laws, I shall have a right to demand a speedy and complete reparation of all the injuries which Frenchmen may have received.
"I have written to the emperor to engage him to continue his good offices, and if necessary to exert his authority as head of the empire to avert the evils which the obstinacy of certain members of the Germanic body, if longer persisted in, cannot fail to occasion—Much may undoubtedly be expected from his interpolation, supported by the powerful influence of his example; but I am, at the same time, making the most proper military arrangements to render these declarations respected.
"And if they shall not be attended to, then, gentlemen, it will only remain for me to propose war; war, which a people who has solemnly renounced conquest never makes without necessity; but which a nation, happy and free, knows how to undertake, when its own safety, or when honor commands.
"But in courageously abandoning ourselves to this resolution, let us hasten to employ the only means that can assure its success. Turn your attention, gentlemen, to the state of the finances—confirm the national credit—watch over the public fortune. Let your deliberations, always governed by constitutional principles, take a grand, high spirited and authoritative course, the only one that befits the legislators of a great empire. Let the constituted powers respect themselves, in order to be respected; let them give mutual aid instead of mutual impediment; and finally, let it appear that they are distinct, but not enemies. It is time to shew to foreign nations that the French people, their representatives, and their king are but one.

"It is to this union, and also, let us never forget it, to the respect we pay to the government of other states, that the safety, the consideration, and the glory of the empire are attached."
"For me, gentlemen, it would be in vain to endeavor to surround with disquits the exercise of the authority which is confided to me. In the face of all France I declare that nothing shall weary my perseverance, or relax my efforts. It shall not be owing to me that the law does not become the protection of the citizen, and the terror of the disturber. I shall faithfully preserve the deposit of the constitution, and no consideration shall determine me to suffer it to be infringed."
"If men, who wish only for disorder and trouble, take occasion from this firmness, to calumniate my intentions, I will not stoop to repel by words the injurious suspicions they may chuse to circulate. Those who watch the progress of government with an attentive, but unprejudiced eye, must see that I never depart from the constitutional line, and that I feel profoundly how glorious it is to be the king of a free people."
This conclusion was followed by long continued shouts of Bravo! Long live the King of the French!
The President immediately made the following reply to the king:
"SIRE, The National Assembly will take into consideration the propositions which you have just made to it, and will by message, communicate to you the result of its deliberations."
The President was laid under the necessity of being thus concise, by an order of the Assembly; for the king having sent a note to apprise the President of his intention to appear in the Assembly, M. Lacroix moved, that it was not known to what subject his Majesty was going to direct their attention, it would be improper that the President should say any thing which might be construed to pledge the Assembly to any measure upon which it should not have previously had time to deliberate. He then read the words in which the President afterwards addressed the King; and moved, that the President should be directed to adopt them, as his answer to the King's speech.
After his Majesty had left the house, the President resigned the chair to a member who had filled it before, and retired for the purpose of drawing up an address to the King, in the name of the Assembly. When he returned, he read it to the house. The first sentence produced a long debate—It was as follows:
"Sire, The National Assembly comes to relieve itself from the weight of that silence, which the desire of rendering the expressions of its sentiments more striking, and more lasting, had condemned it to observe."
M. Couthon said this sentence seemed to imply, that the Assembly was sorry it had not departed from the respect which was at all times due to the King.
After some time spent in debating, it was resolved, that the whole of this sentence should be omitted.
Other parts of the address underwent discussion; and at last it was reduced to the following form:
"Sire, By the language which your Majesty has held, the National Assembly, with transport, recognizes the King of the French. Those cordial and mutual communications which are the wish, and will prove the safety of the empire, have made it feel more than ever the value of a good understanding between the legislative and the executive powers. The Assembly will attend, with its whole strength, to the decisive measures which you have communicated to it: and should the order of events at length make it necessary that they should take effect, the National Assembly promises you a more ample harvest of glory, than ever was reaped by any of your ancestors. It promises to hold out to Europe the novel sight of what a great people, whose every hand is seconded by every heart, and who earnestly wishing for only peace and justice, will, by themselves, and for themselves, meet their enemies in the field, can do, when their exertions are called forth by insult and outrage."
"Powerful interests, and sweet enjoyments await you. From the Rhine to the Pyrenees, from the Alps to the Ocean, all will be under the eye of a good king, and secured by a rampart of men equally free and faithful."
These, Sire, are your family—they are your friends who have never deserted you. All the representatives of the people, all true Frenchmen, have sworn to devote their lives in defence of the national dignity, of the constitution, which they are bound by their oath to maintain, of the King, whose throne stands upon the unshaken basis of that constitution."
That we might not interrupt what related to the King's speech, and to the address in reply to it, we reserved for this place an account of what the minister of war said to the Assembly after his Majesty's departure. He said, that the King's first wish was for peace; that all his negotiations had peace for their objects, but that he had not in the
mean time neglected to put himself in a condition to be prepared for war, if it should be forced upon him. He observed, that the king had sworn to maintain the constitution, and would therefore avail himself of every means for defending it. He informed the Assembly that his Majesty had given him orders to assemble 150,000 men on the frontiers in the course of a month; and he was of opinion, that the collecting of so great and formidable a force in so short a time, would not be impossible; and therefore he flattered himself that he should be successful in the enterprize. He said it would be necessary to destroy that spirit of despondency, which would represent France as borne down and dejected when she had to defend her liberty against a coalition of some few despots; as if she was no longer that same France, which, when fighting for the glory of one man, had nobly withstood the most powerful confederacies.
He said he was well aware there would not be wanting persons who would say that even among the king's ministers there were some who were enemies to the measures which his majesty had just proposed; but he trusted this spirit of distrust would not find its way into the National Assembly. He said he was going to set out for the frontiers, that he might be able to judge in person of the state of the fortifications and of the army; and endeavour to make the officers and soldiers mutually place confidence in each other: to the former he would say, that treachery was a crime for which men of rank were not to be suspected; to the latter he would say, that the officers were bound by their oath, and by their honor, to defend the constitution established by the revolution, and that the safety of the empire must ultimately depend upon the discipline of the army. The national guards, he observed, who had saved France, would not fail to defend her, and wanted nothing but experience to make them the bulwark of the nation. In his absence the minister of the home department, he said, would transact the business of the war office; and he took upon himself the responsibility for every act which this minister should do in the War Department.
Three armies were thought necessary, and they were to be put under the command of Generals Rochambeau, Luckner, and La Fayette, three officers, in whose patriotism and abilities the nation has the most unbounded confidence: the king wishes that the laws for the organizing the army had left it in his power to raise each of the two former to the rank of Marshal of France ; and as the safety of the empire ought to be considered as the supreme law, so he trusted that the National Assembly would be glad to see that eminent military dignity bestowed upon two such men as Generals Rochambeau and Luckner.
An encrease in the public expenditure would be a necessary consequence of the measures already taken, but France would not stand higgling when its liberty was at stake: and the public creditors have less reason to be alarmed at an increase of expense for such an object, than at the continuance of alarms and disturbances, which would perpetuate the reign of anarchy, destroy credit, and thus cause what remained of specie in circulation to disappear. The signal for war, he said, would be the signal for the return of public order.
He observed that, in the immense and perhaps bold undertaking in which he was about to embark, he might have omitted to communicate to the Assembly minute details but he certainly had stated all the great measures which he meant to carry into execution. He concluded by expressing his hopes, that the sacrifice which the king had made to the public of the dearest affections of his heart, would more strongly attach to his majesty's person all those who, like himself, had indissolubly connected their destiny with the liberty of France.
Manifesto of the Emperor against France. Prince Kaunitz Reitberg, to the French ambassador at Vienna.
Office of the Chancellor of the Court and State. Prince Kaunitz Reitberg, the chancellor of the court and state, having presented to the emperor the official communication made by the French ambassador, of an ostensible dispatch from Mr. de Lessart, dated the 14th of Nov. last, he has been authorised to express, in return to the said ambassador, an answer to the said dispatch, with that entire freedom which his imperial majesty thinks it his duty to observe on all objects relative to the important crisis in which the kingdom of France is.
The chancellor has, in consequence, the honor to communicate on his side, that the elector of Treves, has also sent to the emperor a note, which the minister of France was charged to present him at Coblentz; as likewise the answer which the elector gave to said note; that this prince at the same time, had made known to his imperial majesty, that he had adopted, respecting the assembly and arming of the French refugees and emigrants, with regard to the furnishing them with arms and warlike ammunition, the same principles and regulations as had been put in force in the Austrian Low Countries.
But that discontent began to spread between his subjects and those in the environs; that the tranquility of his frontiers and states were likely to be troubled by incursions and violence, notwithstanding those wise measures, and that the
elector claimed the assistance of the emperor, in case the event realized his fears.
That the emperor is perfectly tranquil on the justice and moderate intentions of the Most Christian King, and not less convinced of the great interest which the French government has in preventing foreign sovereign princes from being provoked to act against them by force of arms—but daily experience shews, that there does not appear principles of stability and moderation enough in France, in the subordination of her powers, and especially in the provinces and municipalities, to prevent the apprehension, that the force of arms must be exercised in spite of the king's intentions, and in spite of the dangers of the consequences.
His Imperial Majesty, necessitated as well by his friendship for the Elector of Treves as by the consideration he owes to the interests in Germany as a co-elector, and to his own interest as a neighbour, has enjoined Marshal de Bender, Commandant-General of the troops in the Pays Bas, to march to the States of his Electoral Highness speedy and efficacious succours, should he be attacked with hostile incursions, or even imminently menaced with such.
The Emperor is too sincerely attached to his Christian Majesty; and takes too great a part in the well being of France, and the general repose not to desire ardently the prevention of this extremity, and the infallible consequences which it will produce, as well on the part of the Chief and the States of the German empire, as of other sovereigns, who have united in concert to maintain the public tranquility, and for the safety and honour of crowns: and it is in consequence of this latter that the Chancellor Prince Kaunitz is ordered to be open and unreserved to the Ambassador of France, to whom he has the honour of repeating his assurances of having the most distinguished consideration.
Vienna, December 21, 1791. (A true Copy) DE LESSART. Paris, January 2, 1792.
PHILADELPHIA.
MARCH 15, 1792.
Yesterday arrived in this city about fifty Indians, from the six nations, intended to act in concert with the American army against the Hostile Indians.
The latter end of January a fleet of fifteen vessels, sailed from Halifax [N. S.] bound to Sierra Leona in Africa, having on board 1200 free blacks, that have chosen to emigrate to Africa.
The bill for reducing the postage on newspapers still lies over, but it may yet be passed this session, it being a very short one, involving no constitutional principle; and as every gentleman in the House may be supposed to have long since made up his mind on the subject, the yeas and nays may, without any debate, decide its fate in less time, than is usually spent in reading and referring a private petition. [A.D. Ad.]
The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate has appointed the following gentlemen, officers of the twelve companies of RIFLE-MEN, to be raised agreeable to an act passed the 5th instant, for the more effectual defence of the frontiers.
PENNSYLVANIA. Captains. —Edward Butler, of Allegany; John Guthrie, Westmoreland; Richard Sparks, Allegany; Wm. Faulkner, Washington; Uriah Springer, Fayette; John Cook, Northumberland.
Lieutenants. —William Smith, Washington; John Cummings, Westmoreland; Samuel Vance, Fayette; Nathaniel Huston, Washington; William Steedman, Northumberland; Daniel T. Jennifer, Allegany.
Ensigns. —Robert Purdy, Mifflin; John Kelso, Dauphin; Robert Lee, Northumberland; John Steele, Cumberland; David Hall, Westmoreland; Reafoor Beall, Washington.
VIRGINIA. Captains. —Benjamin Biggs, of Ohio; John Crawford, Ohio; Thomas Lewis, Botetourt; William Lewis, Wythe; Hugh Caperton, Greenbriar; James Stevenson, Berkeley.
Lieutenants. —James Glenn, Berkeley; Robert Craig, Russell; Wm. Clark, Louisville, Kentucky; John Boyer, Botetourt; Benjamin Lockwood, Ohio; Benjamin Strother, Culpepper.
Ensigns. —Patrick Shirkey, Botetourt; Archibald Gray, Greenbriar; Stephen Trigg, Kentucky; James Hawkins, Botetourt; Baker Davidson, Bath; Hugh Brady, Ohio.
European News to Jan. 10.
Paris, Jan. 5.—M. de Choiseul Gouffier is named ambassador to the court of London, and M. de Moustier to Constantinople. M. St. Croix, ambassador from the king of France to the elector of Triers (Circle of the Lower Rhine) arrived at Coblentz, the place of his destination, on the 1st instant.
M. la Fayette is arrived at Metz (a city of Germany about 180 miles east of Paris, subject to France) where he was received with every mark of patriotic distinction. Indeed, his whole journey was a kind of ovation, for, wherever he passed, whether by day or by night, he found the national guards drawn out to do him honor.—They
who wish to find something to blame in every thing, represent the national assembly's not having included him in the decree for conferring the rank of marshall on M. Luckner and M. Rochambeau, as an act of ingratitude. They forget that the decree was passed on the express recommendation of the king; that M. la Fayette is too young an officer to be included in such a recommendation, and that for the assembly to have gone beyond the recommendation, would have been an infringement of the royal prerogative.
If the German states comply with the king's requisition (declaring as enemies all German powers that should countenance or assist the French princes after the 15th of January) France will then have no pretext for hostilities. If they do not, she cannot retract either with honor or with safety. The petty states will not expose themselves to the resentment of France, without positive assurances of support from the emperor, and if he be resolved to support the emigrants, concessions will serve only to confirm his resolution.
Translated from a French Paper. Genoa, Dec. 20. Mr. de Semonville, minister of France at this court, conducts himself in such a manner here as to have gained universal love and esteem for the French nation. Before his arrival we had the most horrid account of the man and his principles; and for a considerable time the principal members of our government were pestered with anonymous letters, mentioning him to be employed in fomenting the most odious and silly designs to our disadvantage. These libels have been discovered to be the work of certain French emigrants in Italy—but they have made no impression, and Mr. de Semonville is universally esteemed for his talents and wisdom.—If those people had any knowledge of our government and of the temper of the Genoese, they would be convinced that nothing is so absurd as to attempt a revolution in our republic. We are, it is true, governed by an aristocracy, but it is restricted to the exercise of political rights only. It is invested with no other privileges whatever. The members of the aristocracy receive no wages for their labour in administering government, and all lucrative places are occupied by citizens of the second rank. Amongst us every person enjoys his civil rights in their plenitude. When the Genoese expelled the Austrians from this republic, without the consent of their noblesse, they might have stipulated for the right of governing themselves; but, being wholly occupied in commerce and the arts of industry, they thought it not worth their while to assume the exercise of their political rights, the duties of which would have been over-burdensome to them. They therefore left them in the hands of the aristocratic body, who have always exercised their authority with justice and moderation. We do not assert that our government is perfect; but its imperfections are of little consequence, and are submitted to without murmuring, because we have no middle class, or body of tiers etat , between the noblesse and the great body of the people.—It would seem that a sufficient distinction has not been made between a legal or constitutional aristocracy , and an aristocracy of influence . The former, as that of Genoa, governs by fixed laws, and is responsible to the people for any arbitrary or unjust use it makes of its authority; the latter, like that which lately oppressed France, governs (if we may so speak) by right of conquest. Such a power invades the rights of all, devours all, oppresses and tyrannizes over the people, but always under the name of the prince, who alone is made responsible for the abuse of power. We have heard several of the emigrated French noblemen compare themselves to persons of the same rank among the Genoese.—But what have they ever done for the people?—They were wholly occupied in sharing the public plunder. Here, on the contrary, every step we take we see a monument of the patriotism of the Genoese nobility—No city in the world possesses so great a number of public buildings, and these are all of their erecting. An immense number of public works are now in hand, all of which have originated with the nobility, and confer real honor upon those generous citizens, who with rather to enrich their country, than share her spoils."
†† In our last (page 1) the Act of N. Jersey to ratify certain amendments to the constitution of the United States, should have been dated Nov. 20, 1789, instead of Aug. 3, 1790.
** Mr. PALMER desires the Public to take notice, that at half past ten o'clock, A. M. on Sunday next he will deliver a Discourse at the Long-room in Church-Alley, against the divinity of Jesus Christ.
** A few Copies of the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the Act for laying Duties on Spirits, &c. for sale at this Office.
PRICE OF STOCKS.
  Six per cents, per £. 22½, 1-2.   Three per cents, 12½ 1-4.   Deferred six per cents, 15¼.   Final Settlements 19½.   Indents 17½.   Bank stock 1-2 shares, 73—per cent. advance 

The supposed tendency of the act to injure industry, and interfere with the business of distilling, is endeavored to be supported by some general and some special reasons; both having relation to the effect of the duty upon the manufacturer.
Those of the first kind affirm generally, that duties on home manufactures are impolitic, because they tend to discourage them; that they are particularly so, when they are laid on articles manufactured from the produce of the country, because they have then the additional effect of injuring agriculture; that it is the general policy of nations to protect and promote their own manufactures; especially those which are wrought out of domestic materials; that the law in question interferes with this policy.
Observations of this kind admit of an easy answer. Duties on manufactures tend to discourage them or not, according to the circumstances under which they are laid, and are impolitic or not, according to the same circumstances. When a manufacture is in its infancy, it is impolitic to tax it; because the tax would be both unproductive, and would add to the difficulties, which naturally impede the first attempts to establish a new manufacture; so as to endanger its success.
But when a manufacture (as in the case of distilled spirits of the United States) is arrived at maturity, it is as fit an article of taxation as any other. No good reason can be assigned, why the consumer of a domestic commodity should not contribute something to the public revenue, when the consumer of a foreign commodity contributes to it largely. And as a general rule it is not to be disputed, that duties on articles of consumption are paid by the consumers.
To the manufacture itself the duty is no injury, if an equal duty be laid on the rival foreign article. And when a greater duty is laid upon the latter than upon the former, as in the present instance, the difference is a bounty on the domestic article, and operates as an encouragement of the manufacture. The manufacturer can afford to sell his fabric the cheaper, in proportion to that difference, and is so far enabled to undersell and supplant the dealer in the foreign article.
The principle of the objection would tend to confine all taxes to imported articles, and would deprive the government of resources which are indispensable to a due provision for the public safety and welfare; contrary to the plain intention of the constitution, which gives express power to employ those resources when necessary; a power which is found in all governments, and is essential to their efficiency, and even to their existence.
Duties on articles of internal production and manufacture form in every country the principal sources of revenue. Those on imported articles can only be carried to a certain extent, without defeating their object; by operating either as prohibitions, or as bounties upon smuggling. They are moreover in some degree temporary; for as the growth of manufactures diminishes the quantum of duty on imports, the public revenue, ceasing to arise from that source, must be derived from articles which the national industry has substituted for those previously imported. If the government cannot then resort to internal means for the additional supplies, which the exigencies of every nation call for, it will be unable to perform its duty or even to preserve its existence. The community must be unprotected, and the social compact be dissolved.
For the same reasons, that a duty ought not to be laid on an article manufactured out of the produce of the country (which is the point most insisted upon) it ought not to be laid upon the produce itself, nor consequently upon the land, which is the instrument of that produce; because taxes are laid upon land as the fund out of which the income of the proprietor is drawn, or, in other words, on account of its produce. There ought therefore, on the principle of the objection, to be neither taxes on land nor on the produce of land, nor on articles manufactured from that produce. And if a nation should be in a condition to supply itself, with its own manufactures, there could then be very little or no revenue, of course there must be a want of the essential means of national justice and national security.
Positions like these, however well meant by those who urge them, refute themselves, because they tend to the dissolution of government, by rendering it incapable of providing for the objects for which it was instituted.
However true the allegation that it is and ought to be the prevailing policy of nations to cherish their own manufactures, it is equally true that nations in general lay duties for the purpose of revenue on their own manufactures; and it is obvious to a demonstration that it may be done without injury to them. The most successful nations in manufactures have drawn the largest revenues from the most useful of them. It merits particular attention, that ardent spirits are an article, which has been generally deemed and made use of, as one of the fittest objects of revenue, and to an extent in other countries, which bears no comparison with what has been done in the United States.
The special reasons alluded to are of different kinds:—
I. It is said, that the act in question by laying a smaller additional duty on foreign spirits, than the duty on home-made spirits, has a tendency to discourage the manufacture of the latter.
This objection merits consideration, and as far as it may appear to have foundation, ought to be obviated.
The point however seems not to have been viewed in all respects in a correct light.
Before the present constitution of the United States began to operate, the regulations of the different states, respecting distilled spirits were very dissimilar. In some of them duties were laid on foreign spirits only, in others, on domestic as well as foreign. The absolute duty in the former instances, and the difference of duty in the latter, was upon an average, considerably less than the present difference in the duties on foreign and home-made spirits. If to this be added the effect of the uniform operation of the existing duties throughout the United States, it is easy to infer that the situation of our own distilleries is in the main much better, as far as they are affected by
the laws, than it was previous to the passing of any act of the United States upon the subject. They have therefore upon the whole gained materially under the system which has been pursued by the national government.
The first law of the United States on this head laid a duty of no more than eight cents per gallon on those of Jamaica proof. The second increased the duty on foreign spirits to twelve cents per gallon of the lowest proof, and by certain gradations to fifteen cents per gallon of Jamaica proof. The last act places the duty at twenty cents per gallon of the lowest proof, and extends it by the like gradations, to twenty-five cents per gallon of Jamaica proof, laying also a duty of eleven cents per gallon on home made spirits distilled from foreign materials of the lowest proof, with a like gradual extension to fifteen cents per gallon of Jamaica proof; and a duty of nine cents per gallon on home made spirits distilled from domestic materials of the lowest proof, with the like gradual extension to thirteen cents per gallon of Jamaica proof.
If the transition had been immediate from the first to the last law, it could not have failed to have been considered as a change in favor of our own distilleries, as far as the rate of duty is concerned. The mean duty on foreign spirits by the first law was nine cents, by the last the mean extra duty on foreign spirits is in fact about eleven cents, as it regards spirits distilled from foreign materials, and about thirteen, as it regards spirits distilled from domestic materials. In making this computation it is to be adverted to, that the four first degrees of proof mentioned in the law correspond with the different kinds of spirits usually imported, while the generality of those made in the United States are of the lowest class of proof.
Spirits from domestic materials derived a double advantage from the last law, that is, from the increased rate of duty on foreign imported spirits, and from a higher rate of duty on home-made spirits of foreign materials.
But the intervention of the second law has served to produce in some places a different impression of the business, than would have happened without it. By a considerable addition to the duties on foreign spirits, without laying any thing on those of home manufacture, it has served to give to the last law the appearance of taking away a part of the advantages previously secured to the domestic distilleries. It seems to have been overlooked, that the second act ought in reality to be reviewed only as an intermediate step to the arrangement finally contemplated by the legislature; and that as part of a system, it has upon the whole operated in favor of the national distilleries. The thing to be considered is the substantial existing difference in favor of the home manufacture, as the law now stands.
The advantage, indeed, to the distillation of spirits from the produce of the country arising from the difference between the duties on spirits distilled from foreign and those distilled from domestic materials, is exclusively the work of the last act, and is an advantage which has not been properly appreciated by those distillers of spirits from home produce, who have complained of the law, as hurtful to their manufacture.
Causes entirely foreign to the law itself have also assisted in producing misapprehension. The approximation of the price of home-made spirits to that of foreign spirits, which has of late taken place, and which is attributed to the operation of the act in question is in a great degree owing to the circumstances, which have tended to raise the price of molasses in the West-India market, and to an extra importation of foreign spirits prior to the first of July last, to avoid the payment of the additional duty which then took place.
It is stated in the petition from Salem, that previous to the last act, the price of domestic to foreign spirits was as 1/9 to 3/4, of the money of Massachusetts, per gallon, and that since that act it has become as 3/3 to 4/2.
It is evident that a rate from 1/9 to 3/3 per gallon, which would be equal to 20 cents, is not to be attributed wholly to a duty of eleven cents. Indeed if there were a concurrence of no other cause, the inference would be very different from that intended to be drawn from the fact, for it would evince a profit gained to the distiller of more than eighty per cent on the duty.
It is however meant to be understood, that this approximation of prices occasions a greater importation and consumption of foreign, and a less consumption of domestic spirits than formerly. How far this may or may not be the case, the Secretary is not now able to say with precision; but no facts have come under his notice officially, which serve to authenticate the suggestion. And it must be considered, as possible, that representations of this kind, are rather the effect of apprehension than of experience. It would even be not unnatural, that a considerable enhancement of the prices of the foreign article should have led to a greater consumption of the domestic article, as the cheapest of the two, though dearer itself than formerly.
But while there is ground to believe that the suggestions which have been made on this point are in many respects inaccurate and misconceived, there are known circumstances, which seem to render advisable, some greater difference between the duties on foreign and on home-made spirits. These circumstances have been noticed in the report of the Secretary on the subject of manufactures, and an alteration has been proposed by laying two cents in addition upon imported spirits of the lowest proof, with a proportional increase on the higher proofs, and by deducting one cent from the duty on the lowest proof of home made spirits, with a proportional diminution in respect to the higher proofs.
This alteration would bring the proportion of the duties nearly to the standard, which the petitioner Hendrick Doyer, who appears likely to be well informed on the subject, represents as the proper one to enable the distillation of geneva to be carried on with the same advantage as before the passing of the act. He observes that the duty on home-made geneva being 9 cents, the additional duty on foreign ought to have been 12 cents. By the alteration proposed, the proportion will be as 10 to 8 which is little different to that of 12 to 9. It is worthy of remark, that the same petitioner
states, that previous to the passing of the act, of which he complains, he "could sell his geneva 16 1-4 per cent. under the price of Holland geneva, but that he cannot do it at present, and in future, lower than 14 per cent." If, as he also states, the quality of his geneva be equal to that of Holland, and if his meaning be as it appears to be, that he can now afford to sell his geneva lower by 14 per cent. than the geneva of Holland, it will follow that the manufacture of that article is in a very thriving train, even under the present rate of duties. For a difference of 14 per cent. in the price is capable of giving a decided preference to the sale of the domestic article.
11. It is objected that the duty, by being laid in the first instance upon the distiller, instead of the consumer, makes a larger capital necessary to carry on the business, and in this country, where capitals are not large, puts the national distillers under disadvantages.
But this inconvenience, as far as it has foundation, in the state of things, is essentially obviated by the credits given. Where the duty is payable upon the quantity distilled, a credit is allowed, which cannot be less than six, and may extend to nine months. Where the duty is charged on the capacity of the still, it is payable half yearly. Sufficient time is therefore allowed to raise the duty from the sale of the article, which supercedes the necessity of a greater capital. It is well known, that the article is one usually sold for cash, or at short credit. If these observations are not applicable to distilleries in the interior country, the same may be said in a great degree of the objection itself. The course of the business in that quarter, renders a considerable capital less necessary than elsewhere. The produce of the distiller's own farm, or of the neighbouring farms, brought to be distilled upon shares or compensations in the article itself, constitute the chief business of the distilleries in the remote parts of the country. In the comparatively few instances, in which they may be prosecuted as a regular business, upon a large scale, by force of capital, the observations which have been made will substantially apply.
The collection of the duty from the distiller has, on the other hand, several advantages. It contributes to equality, by charging the article in the first stage of its progress, which diffuses the duty among all classes alike. It the better secures the collection of the revenue, by confining the responsibility to a smaller number of persons, and simplifying the process. And it avoids the necessity of so great a number of officers as would be required in a more diffuse system of collection, operating immediately upon purchasers and consumers. Besides, that the latter plan would transfer, whatever inconveniences may be incident to the collection, from a smaller to a greater number of persons.
111. It is alleged that the inspection of the officers is injurious to the business of distilling, by laying open its secrets or mysteries.
Different distillers there is no doubt, practise, in certain respects, different methods in the course of their business, and have different degrees of skill. But it may well be doubted whether in a business so old and so much diffused as that of the distillation of spirits, there are at this day secrets of consequence to the possessors.
There will at least be no hazard in taking it for granted, that none such exist in regard to the distillation of rum from molasses or sugar, or of the spirits from grain usually called whisky, or of brandies from the fruits of this country. The cases in which the allegations are made with most colour, apply to geneva, and perhaps to certain cordials.
It is probable, that the course of the business might and would always be such, as in fact to involve no inconvenience on this score. But as the contrary is affirmed, and as it is desirable to obviate complaint as far as it can be done, consistently with essential principles and objects, it may not be unadvisable to attempt a remedy.
It is to be presumed, that if any secrets exist, they relate to a primary process, particularly the mixture of the ingredients; this, it is supposeable, cannot take a greater time each day, than two hours. If therefore, the officers of inspection were enjoined to forbear their visits to the part of the distillery commonly made use of for such process, during a space not exceeding two hours each day to be notified by the distiller, there is ground to conclude that it would obviate the objection.
(The remainder in our next.)
RAN away on Wednesday night last, a Negro Man, about twenty-three years old; had on a light coloured short cut: took with him a pair of leather breeches and a pair of green stuff do. a beaver hat half worn, narrow brim and deep crown; a pair of boots; striped cotton and silk stockings; he is slim made—reads and writes a legible hand—Has, I am informed, procured a pass and a certificate of his being a free man. It is probable he will endeavour to get on board some vessel, either at this place or New-York. He has a small fore under his chin, occasioned by cutting out a wen. I will give Ten Dollars reward for securing him, if in this city; Twenty Dollars if taken in New-York, or any other place of the same distance, and pay all reasonable expenses.
ANDREW MOORE, Spruce-street, No. 112. Philadelphia, March 9, 1792.
TEN POUNDS REWARD.
RAN away, a Negro lad about seventeen years old, who left the subscriber sometime in August last. He goes by the name of LEVEN; is of a yellowish colour, and about five feet high. He is supposed to have gone to the Delaware state. Any person bringing the said negro to the subscriber, shall be entitled to the above reward; and any person giving such information as will enable the owner to recover him again, shall be entitled to one half the above sum, which will be paid by
THOMAS MILES. Feb, 14, 1792. 5 t. 1 a.w
Authentic Prices Current at Philadelphia.
   [Dollar equal to 100 Cents.]     ASHES Pot per ton 90 Dols. to 100   Ashes pearl 137 — 143   Bacon flitches, per lb. 6 1-2 cents   Bacon shoulders 6 do.   Bees wax, per lb. 25 cents to 27   Brandy, Coniac per gl. 1 dol. 50 c.   Brandy, common, 1 dol. 26 c.   Butter, in kegs, per lb. 10 c. to 12   Coals, per bushel, 20 c. to 22   Coffee, per lb. 17 c.   Cotton, per lb. 26 c. to 37   Flax seed, per bushel, 85 c. to 90   Flour, super fine, per barrel, 5 dols. 13 c.   Common, 4 dols. 74 c.   Burr middlings, best, per bbl. 4 dols 13 c.   Meal Indian 2 dols. 67 c.   Rye 3 dols.   Ship stuff, per cwt, 1 dol. to 1 dol. 33 c.   Gin, Holland, per case, 4 dols.   Ginseng, per lb. 20 c. to 24   Grain, barley, per bushel, 60 c. to 63   best shelled, per lb. 3 c.   Buck-wheat, per bushel, 40 c.   Indian corn, 40 c. 44, Oats 26 c. pr. bush.   Rye 50 c. to 54, Wheat 90 to 93, pr. do.   Hams, per lb. 8 c. to 9   Hemp, imported, per ton, 120 dols. to 146 67 c.   American, per lb. 4 c. to 5   Hides, raw, per lb. 9 c. to 11   Indigo, Carolina, per lb. 40 c. to 1 dol.   Iron, bar, per ton, 82 dols. 67 c.   Castings, per cwt. 3 dols. 47 c.   Nail-rods per ton 96 dols.   Pig, per ton, 24 dols. to 26 dols. 67 c.   Sheet, per ton, 173 dols 33 c.   Lard, hogs, per lb. 9 c. to 10   Lead, in bars, per cwt. 7 dols.   In pigs, — — 5 dols. 33 c. to 5 dols. 67 c.   Red, — — 6 dols. 40 c. to 6 dols. 67 c.   White, — — 10 dols. to 10 dols. 67 c.   Myrtle wax per lb. 18 c.   Molasses, per gal. 46 c. to 50   Pitch, per barrel, 1 dol. 73 c. to 2 dols.   Pork, Burlington, per barrel, 11 dols   Lower County, do. 10 dols.   Carolina, do. 9 dols.   Rice, per 100 lb. 2 dols. 67 c.   Rosin, per barrel, 2 dols. 33 c. to 2 dols. 67 c.   Rum, Antigua, per gallon, 90 c.   Barbadoes, do. 77 c.   New-England, &c. 59 c.   Jamaica, 1 dol. 12 c.   Windward Island, 80 to 83 c.   Snake-Root, per lb. 20 c. to 42   Sugar, Havanna, white, per lb. 16 to 17 c.   Brown, per lb. 15 c.   Muscovado, per cwt. 13 dols. to 15 dols.   Lump, per lb. 20 c.   Loaf, single refined, 23 c.   Loaf, double ditto, 33 c.   Tallow, refined, per lb. 9 c.   Tar, New-Jersey, 24 gal. to the bbl. 1 dol. Carolina, 32 gal. 1 dol. 33 c. to 1 dol. 67 c.   Tea, Hyson, per lb. 93 c. to 1 dol. 28 c.   Hyson skin, 53 c. to 67   Souchong, 50 c. to 93   Congo, 43 c. to 50   Bohea, 34 c. to 36   Tobacco, James River, best, per cwt. 3 dols. 60 c. to 3 dols. 73 c.   Inferior, 2 dols. 67 c. to 3 dols.   Old, 4 dols. 67 c.   Rappahannock, 2 dols. 50 c. to 3 dols.   Coloured Maryland, 5 dl. 33 c. to 8 dl.   Dark, 2 dols. 40 c.   Long leaf, 2 dols. 40 c.   Eastern Shore, 2 dols. to 2 dols. 23 c.   Carolina, new, 2 dols. 7 c. to 3 dols.   Carolina, old, 2 dols. 7 c. to 3 dols.   Turpentine, per barrel, 1 dol. 67 c. to 2 dols.   Wine, Madeira, per pipe, 106 dl. 67 c. to 200 dl.   Lisbon, — — 96 dols. to 100   Teneriffe, per gal. 51 c. to 60   Fayal, — — 44 c. 49   Port, per pipe, 106 dols. 67 c. to 120 dols   Ditto, in bottles, per doz. 4 dols.   Claret, ditto, ditto. 4 dols. 6 c.   Champaign, ditto, do. 8 dols.   Sherry, per gal. 90 c. to 1 dol. 20.  
District of Pennsylvania, to wit: BE it remembered, That on the fourteenth day of February, in the sixteenth year of the independence of the United States of America, H. H. BRACKENRIDGE, of the said district, hath deposited in this office, the title of a Book, the right whereof the claims as author, in the words following, to wit: MODERN CHIVALRY, containing the adventures of Captain JOHN FARRAGO, and TEAGUE O'REGAN, his servant; volume first—By H. H. BRACKENRIDGE. Quicquid agunt homines, nostrifarrago Libelli.—Juvenal. In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."
SAMUEL CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania.
This Day are published, S E R M O N S, Historical and Characteristical: By WILLIAM LINN, D. D. Sold by T. DOBSON, R. CAMPBELL, & M. CAREY. [Price Three Quarters of a Dollar.]
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