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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1778
A letter, of 10, from the council of Pensylvania, was read:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Board of War.
A letter, of 13, from Major General the Marquis de la Fayette, with one of the 6, from General Washington enclosed, was read;2
[Note 2: 2 The letter from Pennsylvania is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 69, I, folio 555. It is endorsed: "Received in Congress ¼4 past 12 o'clock, when engaged on the order of the day--finance." That of Lafayette is in No. 156, folio 31; and that of Washington, in No. 152, VI, folio 395. It is printed inWritings of Washington (Ford), VII, 210.]
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Ordered, That the same be referred to a committee of four:
The members chosen, Mr. G[ouverneur] Morris, Mr. [Richard Henry] Lee, Mr. [John] Witherspoon, and Mr. S[amuel] Adams.
Resolved, That Mr. [William Henry] Drayton be added to the foregoing committee, and that Mr. [John] Witherspoon be added to the committee for preparing instructions to Dr. Franklin, minister plenipotentiary of the United States at the court of France.
A letter, of 2d, from Governor Livingston, was read:
Ordered, That the letter be referred to the Board of War, and that an extract of so much of it as relates to the trade carrying on with the enemy at Shrewsbury, be sent to General Washington.
A memorial from Major William Bailey, was read:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Marine Committee.
An advertisement of John Leach Knight, was laid before Congress; and read:1
[Note 1: 1 This advertisement is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, XIII, folio 491.]
Ordered, That it be referred to a committee of three:
The members chosen, Mr. [William] Duer, Mr. [Thomas] M'Kean, and Mr. M[eriwether] Smith.
An appeal from the judgment of a court of admiralty for the State of Delaware, on the libel "Daniel Murphy, &c.versus the sloopHawke," was lodged with the secretary.
A letter, of 8, from Colonel ∥T.∥ Hartley, at Sunbury, was read, giving an account of his incursion into the Indian country:2
[Note 2: 2 This letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, XI, folio 337.]
Ordered, That the letter from Colonel Hartley be transmitted to General Washington, and that General
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Washington be directed to take immediate measures for preventing the enemy from occupying a post at Chemung, and for repelling the invasions of the savages on the frontiers of New York, New Jersey, and Pensylvania.
Three o'Clock, p. m.
The committee to whom was referred the letter from the council of war of the State of Rhode Island, of the 11 June last, to the delegates of the said State, report,
"That the said State having, in December last, appointed Mr. John Reynold agent cloathier for that State, agreeably to a resolution of Congress, and no instructions having been forwarded to the said agent, by the cloathier general, and applications having been made and pressed upon the said agent by the military officers in the said State for cloathing, under the restrictions and limitations of the resolutions of Congress of the 22 [26] November, 1777; the council of war for the said State advised the said agent cloathier to supply the officers of the two continental battalions raised by that State with necessary cloathing, receiving from them, till he should receive farther orders, four shillings lawful money for what cost one shilling sterling, which was thought to be in just proportion to the wages of the officers; and the assembly of the said State having, agreeably to the recommendation of the convention at Springfield, and the subsequent approbation of Congress, ordered a brigade to be raised for twelve months from 16 March last, and assigned the officers the same pay as those in the continental service, did, on the 31st of May last, pass an order that the agent cloathier should supply them with cloathing, and at such prices as are specified in the said resolve of Congress of the 22 [26] of November last, upon their producing a certificate from Major General Sullivan, of the proportion to be
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furnished them respectively, agreeably to the same resolve; and, upon the application of General Sullivan to the said, assembly, they passed an order that all the continental officers doing duty in the said State, although not belonging to the continental battalions of the same, should be supplied in like manner: And because the said several transactions of the said council of war and legislature of the said State were done and made from the necessity of the officers in the said department, and for want of the necessary instructions of the cloathier general for these purposes, the said legislature directed their delegates in Congress to lay the same before Congress for their approbation: whereupon the committee are of opinion, that the said transactions, advice, and directions of the said council of war and legislature, and the advance of cloathing made by the said agent cloathier, in consequence thereof, were advisable, and agreeable to the spirit and intention of the said resolution of Congress of the 22 [26] November, 1777:" Whereupon,
Resolved, That Congress do approve of the said transactions, advice and instructions of the council of war and legislature of the State of Rhode Island, and of the advance of clothing made in consequence thereof by the agent cloathier.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Henry Merchant, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 20, I, folio 201.]
Congress resumed and proceeded on the consideration of the report of the committee on finance, to which an amendment being moved,
Ordered, That the report, with the amendment, be referred to a committee of five:
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The members chosen, Mr. M[eriwether] Smith, Mr. [Elbridge] Gerry, Mr. [John] Witherspoon, Mr. [Richard Henry] Lee, and Mr. [Roger] Sherman.1
[Note 1: 1 In the margin, Charles Thomson has written:
The parts of the report agreed to are as follows:]
- Art. 1. That it will be proper to negotiate as soon as possible a loan of five millions sterling in Europe: passed, 29 September, 1778.
- Art. 4. That it will be proper to call on the several states to pay in their quotas of ten millions of dollars: passed, October 6, 1778.
- Art. 8. That all limitations of prices of gold and silver be taken off: passed, October 8, 1778.
- Art. 9. That the states be called on for permanent funds to the amount of three millions dollars annually for ten years as a sinking fund: passed, 10 October.
Ordered, That Thursday next be assigned for fixing the salaries and nominating the officers of the treasury on the new establishment; and that Saturday next be assigned to electing the said officers.
The Committee on the Treasury brought in a report: Whereupon,
∥Ordered,∥ That a warrant issue on the treasurer in favour of Mr. James Smith, one of the delegates of Pensylvania, for 600 dollars, advanced upon his application; for which the said State is to be accountable:
That a warrant issue on the treasurer in favour of the delegates of Georgia, for 1,339 60/90 dollars, to enable them to advance the said sum to Captain Rawleigh Downman, for subsisting his company whilst on the recruiting service; the said state to be accountable:
That a warrant issue on the treasurer in favour of Matthew Irwin, Esq. late deputy commissary general, for seventy-five thousand dollars, to compleat the sum of 200,000 dollars, which Joseph Trumbull, Esq. deceased, late commissary general, in a letter of credit of the 14 day of August, 1777, to the President of Congress, applied for as an advance to Mr. Irwin, and that the same be charged to the account of Mr. Joseph Trumbull.2
[Note 2: 2 This report is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, II, folio 615.]
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Resolved, That Joseph Clay, Esq. deputy pay master general in the State of Georgia, be empowered and directed to pay into the hands of the deputy commissary, the deputy quarter master, and the deputy cloathier general, in the said State, (they obtaining a warrant from the commanding officer in the southern department,) such sum or sums of money as may be wanting in their respective departments; each of them to be accountable; and that the said deputy pay master general do transmit the accounts of the sums he may so advance to the several officers at the head of the above mentioned departments.
Resolved, That the deputy commissary, the deputy quarter master, and the deputy cloathier general, in the State of Georgia, when they deliver their respective accounts of expenditures to the deputy pay master general, do cause to be specified, on the receipts of the said accounts, that the same were paid in continental currency, and that the sum be fully expressed in words.
Resolved, That the said deputy pay master general be also empowered and directed to pay the officers and men belonging to the continental gallies in the State of Georgia, the monthly wages that are or may be due to them, he transmitting at the end of every month an account of the same to the Board of Treasury.
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock to Morrow.
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