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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Congress assembled. Present as yesterday.
Motion: To instruct the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Report particularly and specially how far the several States have complied with the Proclamation of Congress of 14 Januy., 1784, and the Recommendation accompanying the same pursuant to the definitive Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and Great Britain.
March 8, 1786: Ordered, That the above Motion be referred to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to take Order.2
[Note 2: 2 This proceeding is entered by Benjamin Bankson in Resolve Book, No. 123. It was recorded by Thomson in Committee Book No. 190.]
Office for Foreign Affairs,
8th. March, 1786.
The Secretary of the United States for the Department of foreign Affairs, to whom was referred his Letter of 28th. February enclosing one to him from the british Consul General with two Memorials presented to hun one by Wm. Hunt, and the other by Richrd. Lawrence to report on the Propriety of the Application, and the Expediency of a Reply, Reports:
That the Cognizance of Consuls being confined to Matters arising within their Consulates respecting the Trade and Navigation of their
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Nations, with one to whom they are sent, direct or official Applications from them to the Sovereign of the Country, on Subjects foreign to the Objects of their Commissions, would certainly be irregular, and unless under very particular Circumstances improper.
Mr. Temple's Letter does not appear to your Secretary to come within the Description of such a direct and official Application. It contains nothing official in Stile, Matter, or Subscription, it is silent as to the Treaty, and makes no Complaint.
Your Secretary views it in no other Light than that of conveying Information respecting Matters in which public Justice may be concerned, and Humanity Certainly is.
In the Judgement of your Secretary therefore, it is not necessary that any Answer should be given by Congress to Mr. Temple, nor any Notice taken of these Papers particularly.
But your Secretary thinks, that Policy as well as Justice, demands that Infractions of the Treaty of Peace should not pass unnoticed, especially when the Evidence of them exists in the Laws of either of the States, which, being Matters of Record and of public Notoriety, must be supposed to come officially to the Knowledge of Congress.
Your Secretary apprehends from the Silence which Britain has hitherto observed respecting this Subject, that she is well content these Infractions should remain uncorrected, that they may hereafter serve to justify such Measures as she may wish or find it convenient to pursue, under the Pretext of Retaliation; either by continuing to detain from us our frontier Posts and Countries, or by any other Plans which Resentment or Policy may suggest. Your Secretary takes the Liberty further to remark, that in any such Event France will probably not think herself obliged to fulfil her Guarantee of the Countries acknowledged to be ours by the Treaty of Peace, unless we on our Part fulfil the Terms of that Treaty.
And as it is not to be presumed that these Infractions will never be drawn into Question or Discussion, your Secretary thinks it would redown more to the Honor as well as Advantage of the United States, to do Justice while unpressed, than at a Season when every Thing they may do of that Kind, may be imputed to less meritorious Motives.
All which is Submitted to the Wisdom of Congress.
John Jay.1
[Note 1: 1 This report is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 81, II, folio 53. According to indorsement it was read March 8.]
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The Committee consisting of Mr. [Nathan] Dane, Mr. [William] Grayson, Mr. [Stephen Mix] Mitchel, Mr. [James] Monroe and Mr. [John] Kean to whom was referred the motion of Mr. Dane of Feby. 27, 1786, report:
That they have carefully attended to the several matters referred to them, and on examining the doings of Congress and the several States relative thereto, find, that Congress, at an early period in the affairs of the Union, having no federal rule for apportioning taxes and the common charges of the Confederacy on the respective States4 established by them, adopted as the only one in their power, in any degree practicable, the number of Inhabitants in each State, with some small variations, that the necessities and wants of the late war rendered indispensable.
When the articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States came under their examination, and the consideration of Congress; and particularly the 8th article of it, the inequalities and difficulties that would attend the carrying of it into effect, were foreseen by several of the States, and therefore this part of the federal Compact was, then, in a peculiar manner, objected to. These difficulties then but imperfectly foreseen and stated have, by many years experience, been sufficiently realized and fully demonstrated; for Notwithstanding 5 years have elapsed since this compact was finally ratified; and Notwithstanding the earnest Recommendation of Congress to the several States, passed more than three years ago, to make and transmit to the United States in Congress, an accurate, and Just account of the quantity of land in each State, with the buildings and improvements thereon, according to the tenor of that article; yet, not a single State in the Union has, in any degree, complied therewith, and transmitted such account; unless an unauthenticated account transmitted by the State of New Hampshire of the houses, other buildings and lands in that State, a part whereof was imperfectly formed from conjencture can be considered a compliance. But about the same time, that Congress, lest no other federal rule of apprortionment should be adopted by the States, recommended the carrying that article into execution, Congress appears to have been aware of the impracticability in some degree of its execution, and the inequality of its operation; for the U. States in Congress assembled on the 18th of April, 1783, after mature deliberation, and examining the subject in its full extent, almost unanimously agreed to propose to the States an alteration of that article; and instead of the rule of
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apportionment therein prescribed, to adopt the rule, then proposed, of supplying the common Treasury in proportion to the number of white and other free Citizens and inhabitants, and three fifths of all other persons, Indians not paying taxes excepted, as a more convenient and certain rule of assertaining the proportion to be supplied by the respective States; to be triennially taken in such mode as Congress should direct and appoint.
The reasons that induced the federal Government, at the time, to recommend this constitutional alteration of the Confederacy, the Justice, propriety, and expediency of the change, are fully and largely stated to the several Legislatures in the address of Congress to them of the same month of April; to which Congress again ought, in the opinion of this Committee, in the most pressing manner to call their earliest attention.
In examining the several laws passed by the States in pursuance of the above recommendation, the Committee find, that a majority of the States, and a great proportion of the whole confederacy, have readily and fully approved of the proposed alteration of that article of the federal Government; that nine States, including the largest in the Union have Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, have, by their legislative acts, passed in pursuance of said recommendation, fully complied with it, and authorised the respective Delegates in Congress to ratify the alteration proposed. But they do not find that the other States have passed any laws, or taken any measures on the subject; nor do they find that any well founded exceptions or any particular objection has been made by those States, to the plan proposed; it is to be observed that the power of appointing in what mode the number of Inhabitants in each State, shall be so ascertained and transmitted, is vested in the federal Government, by the act of Congress and those laws passed by several States and it is thereby the duty of that Government to direct the same; But it does not appear that Congress has taken any measures for that purpose; or that any State has so taken and transmitted the number of its inhabitants in consequence of that recommendation. In February and March, 1782, March, 1783, and November, 1784, it appears the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland, returned to Congress the number of their inhabitants, respectively, distinguishing white from black; but as these returns are not founded on the principles of the said Recommendation, nor
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in any degree preserve the principal and material distinctions therein prescribed, the Committee are of opinion they cannot be considered as a substantial compliance with it. Notwithstanding some known and established rule of apportioning the Common Charges of the Union on the individual States, hath been for several years is, and ever must be, so necessary for the preservation of Justice and peace among them yet no such rule has ever been established; necessity hitherto hath constrained and yet obliges the United States in Congress to adopt as the rule of apportionment, the number of inhabitants in each State of which they have had but very imperfect accounts.
In this situation of this subject, after so many exertions in Congress to effect some mode by which the Common burdens of the Confederacy may be equally borne, and the ruinous consequences of injustice and inequality avoided and all, as yet, to no effectual purpose, the Committee are induced again to examine why no efficient measures have been pursued by the respective States to effect an object so desirable; since this subject has been under their consideration, so many years, they do not find that any State in the Union has ever had in contemplation any other mode, by which to assess the States, except the one contained in said article, and the one contained in the proposed amendment of it; but, on the contrary, have uniformly fixed their attention on these, as the only plans Just and practicable, even in theory--nor can the Committee entertain a thought, that the establishment of some Just rule, in this Case, is not the wish of every State in the union; for, in their present situation, no state is secure from the oppression of the rest, and the very being of the Confederacy must be endangered by the injustice, the inequalities, the sure consequences of that situation. It must be, therefore, from a division of sentiments between the two propositions before the several States; from the difficulties and apparent impractibility of executing the former, and some exceptions, not well founded, to the adoption of the latter. But in addition to what hath been heretofore suggested in the comparative examination of those propositions, the mode of apportionment prescribed in the said 8th. article as it now stands and the mode prescribed in the proposed alteration of it, repeated investigations of their principles and effects; and the known sentiments of the States respecting them, furnish new arguments in favor of the proposed alteration. For when it is considered how uncertain and fluctuating the value of real
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property in the several States is; how variant their rules and opinions in ascertaining it; how often, to preserve equality, it may be necessary to form new estimates; how tedious and expensive it will be to ascertain the quantity and value of near all the real property of an extensive Country; to how little effect it has been urged and attempted for years past, and how many States, by adopting the alteration recommended, have relinquished the other plan, the carrying into execution the said article in its present form, it is reasonably to be hoped, that the other States will soon adopt the alteration also. That article, in its present form, is not only, in the opinion of the Committee, in some degree impracticable in its execution, but even the value of the property therein mentioned, will not give a rule of apportionment, against which very substantial and well founded objections will not lay. It is a well established position that the ability of a State to bear public burdens is in proportion to the whole property of it, and the means in the power of her Citizens to acquire property; and this, if practicable, ought to be the rule; but this would combine too many objects, indefinite in their nature, and extent to be capable of being put in practice. The real property of a State constitutes but a part of its wealth, and the property, means, and acquisitions of numbers, concerned in trade, manufactures &c. are not brought into view in fixing the rule for assessing the States on that article of the Confederation; nor is there always a due proportion between the value and profits of real estates; but a rule, in this case, perfectly equal is not to be expected. In States situated like these, where the Citizens acquire, hold, transfer, and divide property by laws nearly similar the probability is, that their abilities will ever be near in proportion to numbers; this is an observation not merely founded in theory, but it is supported by the experience of mankind; and the Committee think they are right in this question, that a federal tax apportioned on the States according to the amendment in the Confederation proposed, will be the most Just and most equal; but further it is to be considered, that the number of Inhabitants in each State is easily ascertained, and with little expence; and in doing it, there is no occasion for States, or for men concerned, to call into exercise an interested discretion or biassed Judgment, and thereby to excite Jealousies and suspicions, fatal in the end, of partial and unfair conduct in each other. But the value of lands and their improvements are rather matters of opinion, and men will not, probably rate them so much according to truth, as to certain rules
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they have been accustomed to in fixing, from time to time, this value. An interested discretion must decide on questions on which the existence of the Union may depend. It can require but little discernment to foresee that the Judgment of men will be biassed continually by interest and local connexions, and such are their dispositions, that States will, on every occasion, suspect each other of partiality; the consequence of which will be, differences, disputes, and animosities among them.
The Committee have carefully attended to some objections to the proposed alteration, said to prevail in some of the States--that it must operate unequally, and to the disadvantage of some particular States; and that the taking of three-fifths of all other persons therein mentioned is not bringing a sufficient number of that Class of people into the estimate; but they do not find that those objections are founded on any particular calculations or documents. As to the last objection, it may be observed, that there is no possible rule by which the acquisitions and abilities of freemen can be accurately compared with that of persons who are in a State of servitude; but few can doubt, that the acquisitions and abilities of freemen, capable of directing their own conduct, and moved to exersions by motives founded on their own immediate interest, are much superior to those of Slaves, whose actions have no other Spring than the interest and directions of a master; but on a question so uncertain, and not very extensive in its effects, it is to be ardently wished that a disposition to make mutual concessions will be continued and promoted through all the States so intimately concerned in one great and one Common Interest; and as to the objections, that the proposed substitute will have a more unequal effect than the present federal rule, is, in the opinion of the Committee, a matter very questionable; or that it will operate to the disadvantage of some States, is a point by no means established. As there is no rule in this Case by which federal taxes can be assessed, and but little probability the States will put in operation the one in the Confederation, in its present form, but may soon be induced to adopt the proposed alteration, the Committee are of opinion, that the States, which have not acceded to that alteration be again earnestly called upon to do it; and that it be recommended to all the States immediately to take effectual measures for ascertaining and transmitting to the United States in Congress assembled the number of Inhabitants in each State, making the proper distinctions and lest that alteration shall not finally be adopted,
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and Congress shall be constrained to carry intoo peration the federal, rule of apportionment heretofore acceded to by the several States[that it be also again recommended to the States to pursue effectual measures for obtaining the object of the resolve of February 17, 1783, relative to this subject; for, however exceptionable the federal rule in this Case may be in its present form as to its execution and effects, yet, it is the only one acceded to by the States, and if no other rule can be agreed to by them, the Common charges of the union must, and ought to be, apportioned on it and if the several States do not very speedily transmit to Congress the proper materials whereon to form a federal rule of apportionment it will become the indispensable duty of Congress to execute the rule of the Confederation in the best manner in their power, and when they have so done they must stand excused from any injustice or inequality that may take place. Therefore the Committee submit the following resolves:
Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the Legislature of the States of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Providence plantations, Delaware South Carolina, and Georgia, to take into their immediate consideration the said recommendation of Congress of April 18, 1783, so far as it respects the alteration of the eighth of the articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States, and to authorise their Delegates, respectively in Congress, to subscribe and ratify the proposed alteration of it.
Resolved, That it be recommended to the Legislatures of the several States immediately to pass laws, and to take the most effectual measures for ascertaining and transmitting to the United States in Congress assembled on or before the first day of July next, the number of white and other free inhabitants of every age, sex, and condition, in their respective States, including those bound to servitude for terms of years, and the number of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description except Indians not paying taxes in each State, and for ascertaining and transmitting the like number in like manner triennually forever hereafter.
Resolved, That it be again recommended to the Legislatures of the several States to take into their consideration the said Resolve of
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Congress of February the 17th., 1783, and to adopt effectual measures for obtaining the objects thereof as soon as maybe.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Nathan Dane, is in the Papers of the Continenta Congress, No. 24, folio 145. According to indorsement it was read March 8 and "friday next assigned." A printed copy of this report, preceded by Dane's motion, is on folio 153. It is indorsed "this day assigned."
March 8: On this day, according to indorsement, was read a letter from the Board of Treasury, of March 4, forwarding the Quarterly Accounts of receipts and expenditures from October 1 to December 31, 1786, and Abstracts of the state of the Treasury for January and February, 1787. The Board's letter is in No. 140, II, folio 395, and a copy of the Quarterly Accounts is in the Book of Estimates, No. 12, folio 113.
Also was passed the report of Thomson on the resignation of Joseph Borden. See ante, March 7.]
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