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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 --SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1779
A letter, of 20th, from Major General Sullivan, was read:
Ordered, That it be referred to the Board of War.
A letter, of 20, from J. Reed, president of Pensylvania, was read,1 enclosing a petition from sundry merchants relative to the court of appeals:
[Note 1: 1 Sullivan's letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 160, folio 245; that of Reed, in No. 69, II, folio 65, and the petition is on folio 69.]
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Ordered, That the same be referred to the Committee on Appeals.
A letter, of 21, from W. Rogers, chaplain of the brigade late commanded by Brigadier Conway, was read, requesting that the stile of the brigade may be changed to that of "the third Pensylvania brigade," being the stile by which it is known in the army:1
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, XIX, folio 279.]
Resolved, That his request be granted, and that a new certificate be granted to him, referring to his appointment of 11 June, 1778.
A letter, of 20th, from James Calhoun, was read, enclosing a deposition of Joseph White, respecting the ravages and depredations of the enemy in Virginia.2
[Note 2: 2 Calhoun's letter is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, V, folio 349; the deposition is on folio 353.]
The commissioners report, That they have examined the accounts of Samuel Shaw and Richard Marven for expences incurred in defending an action at law brought against them by Esek Hopkins, in the State of Rhode island, and find that there is due to them for sundry expences, including fees to attorney and council for the defendants, the sum of fourteen hundred and eighteen dollars and 7/90, to be paid to Mr. Sam. Adams, agreeable to the request of the claimants:3
[Note 3: 3 This sum included "a fee to be paid to William Channing, Esq. as counsel for the defendants, which fee was left to the discretion of Congress, and is now by direction of the Treasury filled up at five hundred dollars."]
That we have considered the account of Captain Francis Proctor, for Superintending the Hospital at the Yellow Spring, from the 23rd. of December last to the 15th. instant, is one hundred and forty four days at three dollars pr day, amounting to four hundred and thirty two dollars.
This duty he terms extra service. As charges under that head are generally settled by the Auditors at Camp, and we have never been furnished with any instruction or Resolves, by which to define what are, and what are not Extra services; we own we are doubtfull
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whether this comes properly under that denomination. There is reason to beleive that Officers can live as cheap at an hospital in the country, where there are plenty of good stores, as any where else. Indeed wherever there are public stores, the expense of living to them must be the same. We have it from the best authority that his Excellency General Washington is very cautious in granting warrants for extra services, and that many of these accounts are rejected, not without sufficient reasons.
We are therefore inclined to think that officers ordered on services of this nature should be allowed only for the days they axe travelling, to and from the places they are ordered to, at the rate of three dollars every twenty miles; and we humbly conceive this distinction to have been the intention of the Resolution of Congress; If so, Capn Proctor is entitled to nine dollars, but we respectfully submit this to further consideration.
Is it not the duty of an officer to command a guard at an Hospital as well as at Camp or wherever he may be ordered?1
[Note 1: 1 This report, dated May 21; is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 329.]
Ordered, That the same be paid.
Ordered, That so much of the report as relates to the claims of Captain Francis Proctor, for superintending the hospital at the Yellow Spring, be referred to the auditors of accounts at the main army.
The Committee on the Treasury brought in a report, which was read; Whereupon,
Ordered, That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of the delegates of Maryland, on their application, for ten thousand dollars, the said State to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. [William] Whipple, delegate from the State of New Hampshire, on his application, for four thousand dollars, the said State to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. J[ames] Duane, one of the delegates from the State of New
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York, on his application, for three thousand dollars, for which the said State is to be accountable.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, dated May 21, P. M., is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 323.]
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Joseph Carleton, paymaster to the Board of War, for six thousand dollars, to enable him to exchange money out of circulation for officers and soldiers on their way to camp, and for which he is to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Joseph Carleton, paymaster to the Board of War and Ordnance, for six hundred thousand dollars, to be by him transmitted to Benjamin Stelle, Esq. deputy paymaster to the Rhode island department, for the use of the troops there, to be charged to the account of Ebenezer Hancock, Esq. deputy paymaster general at Boston, who is to be furnished with a copy of this order.2
[Note 2: 2 This paragraph is based upon a "letter of the 17th instant from General Washington, with a letter to him of the 7th, and one to Congress of the 4th, from General Gates."]
That a warrant issue on the treasurer in favour of William Young, steward to the President of Congress, on his application, for five thousand dollars, for which he, the said steward, is to be accountable.
That a warrant issue on the treasurer, in favour of Isaac Melcher, barrack master general, on his application, for two hundred thousand dollars, for the use of his department, and for which he is to be accountable.3
[Note 3: 3 This report, dated May 21, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 325. It also contained the paragraphs for signers of bills of credit, commissioners of accounts and Joseph Clay,post.]
That upon application from the State of Connecticut, a warrant issue on the treasurer in favor of their delegates, for 150,000 dollars, the said State to be accountable, and to repay a like sum to the commissioner of the continental loan office thereof in the month of August next, with interest at six per
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cent. per annum, transmitting duplicate receipts to the Board of Treasury:
That upon application from the State of Massachusetts bay; a warrant issue on the treasurer in favor of Mr. John Lowell, for 800,000 dollars, the said State to be accountable, and to repay 500,000 dollars thereof to the commissioner of the continental loan office of the said State in the month of August next, with interest at six per cent. per annum, transmitting duplicate receipts to the Board of Treasury:
That upon application from the State of Virginia, a warrant issue on the treasurer in favor of John Moss, Esq. for 300,000 dollars, the said State to be accountable, and to pay a like sum to the commissioner of the continental loan office thereof in the month of August next, with interest at six per cent. per annum, transmitting duplicate receipts to the Board of Treasury.
Resolved, That the auditors of the army be authorized to increase the pay of such of their clerks as may merit the same, to a sum not exceeding 120 dollars per month, according to their respective abilities.
Resolved, That all continental officers who are or may be exchanged, and not continued in the service, be, after such exchange, considered as supernumerary officers, and entitled to the pay provided by a resolution of Congress, of the 24 November last.
That John Holker, Esqr be authorized, agreeable to his proposition, to order a sum not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars to be paid in South Carolina to the order of the Executive Council of that State; that upon producing to the Board of Treasury a receipt for the money so paid he be entitled to a warrant on thePostponed. Continental Treasurer for a like sum, and that the said State repay the same to the Commissioner of the Continental Loan Office thereof in the Month of August next, with interest at 6 pr cent pr annum, transmitting duplicate receipts to the Board of Treasury.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, dated May 18, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 136, III, folio 319.]
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Whereas the troops formerly serving in South Carolina and Georgia are united in one body, under the same commanding officer, and disorder may arise from having two military chests and pay masters in the same detachment of the army; and Joseph Clay, Esq. deputy pay master for Georgia, having represented that the money remaining in his hands will be soon expended, and a supply having been lately forwarded to John Lewis Gervais, deputy pay master for South Carolina:
Resolved, That the general commanding in South Carolina be authorized and directed to draw out of the hands of the said John Lewis Gervais, the balance which may be due from him to the public, and transfer it to the care of the said Joseph Clay, who shall be considered as the sole deputy pay master for the troops serving in South Carolina and Georgia, until the further order of Congress; and that Mr. Gervais adjust and transmit his accounts to the Board of Treasury for settlement:
In consequence of a recommendation from the Board of Treasury,
Resolved, That John Reed, William Coats, John Williams, George Bright, and Levy Budd, be appointed signers of the continental bills of credit.
The Committee on the Treasury nominate:
Mr. John Dyer Mercier and Mr. Philip Audibert, to be appointed commissioners of accounts.1
[Note 1: 1 See note on p. 629,ante.]
The delegates of New York, in behalf of their State, moved that Congress come to the following resolutions:
"Whereas divers of the inhabitants of a certain district of country, over a particular part of which the State of New York, and over the residue of which the State of New Hampshire, at the time when these United States were colonies of and subject to the crown of Great Britain, did exercise jurisdiction, have, under various pretences, refused allegiance
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thereto, and attempted to constitute themselves into a separate state, under the assumed name of the State of Vermont:
"Resolved, That the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, are severally entitled to and ought to hold and be maintained in the possession of all the lands and territories, which appertained of right to each of them respectively, while they were colonies of and subject to the king of Great Britain.
"Resolved, That none of the said states ought to be, or shall be, divested of any lands or territories over which they respectively exercised jurisdiction at the time aforesaid, unless by judgment of Congress in favor of certain other of the said states claiming the same or any part thereof, and prosecuting that claim in the way prescribed by the articles of confederation.
"Resolved, That no part or district of one or more of the said states shall be permitted to separate therefrom, and become independent thereon, without the express consent and approbation of such state or states respectively.
"Resolved, That it be recommended to the inhabitants of the said pretended State of Vermont, to return peaceably to their former jurisdictions, that is to say, those who have separated from the State of New York, to the State of New York; and those who have separated from the State of New Hampshire, to the State of New Hampshire.
"Resolved, That Congress will readily hear, examine, and interpose, to obtain a redress of any grievances of which the said inhabitants may have cause to complain against their said respective states.
"Resolved, That nothing in the preceding resolutions contained shall be construed to confirm or prejudice the title of
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the states of New Hampshire, or New York, to the jurisdictions aforesaid, or to exclude or bar any claims which other states may have thereto, or to any part thereof."
A motion was thereupon made by Mr. [Thomas] Burke, seconded by Mr. [Gouverneur] Morris,
That, on Saturday next, Congress be resolved into a committee of the whole to consider the foregoing resolutions.
On which the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [John] Jay,
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So it was resolved in the affirmative.
The Committee on the Post Office brought in a report; Whereupon,
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Resolved, That the sum of ten thousand dollars be issued to the postmaster general, he to be accountable, and to pay it out for the public service, under the direction of the committee on the general post office.
On this question, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [Thomas] Burke,
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So it was resolved in the affirmative.
The committee to whom was referred the letter from the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, with the note from Don Juan de Mirailles, dated May 18, 1779, brought in a report; Whereupon,
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Resolved, That the resolutions of Congress, passed on the sixth day of March last, relative to the controul of Congress by appeal in the last resort over all jurisdictions for deciding the legality of captures on the high seas, be immediately transmitted to the several states; and that they be respectively requested to take effectual measures for conforming therewith.
That the State of Massachusetts Bay, in particular, be requested to take effectual measures to expedite and facilitate an appeal from the decision of their courts on the cases of vessels or cargoes, claimed asSpanish neutral property, if it shall be demanded by either party.
Resolved, That the following letter be written to the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, and signed by the President:
Sir, Congress having taken into consideration your letter of the 19 of this month, I am directed to assure you, that as soon as the matter shall in due course come before them, they will attend very particularly to the cases of the vessels stated in the note from Don Juan de Mirailles to have been sailing under the flag of his Catholic Majesty, and captured by armed vessels under the flag of the United States; and that they will cause the law of nations to be most strictly observed: that if it shall be found, after due trial, that the owners of the captured vessels have suffered damage from the misapprehension or violation of the rights of war and neutrality, Congress will cause reparation to be made in such manner as to do ample justice and vindicate the honorand dignity of the Spanish flag.
That Congress have every possible disposition to cultivate the mostliberal perfect harmony with his Catholic majesty, and to encourage the mostfree liberal and friendly intercourse between his subjects and the citizens of these United States; but they cannot, consistently with the powers entrusted to them and the rights of the states and of individuals, in any case, suspend or interrupt the ordinary course of justice.1
[Note 1: 1 The letter was entered in the journal only to this point, the three last paragraphs not being adopted.]
The Control by appeal, in the last resort, over decisions on captures made on the high seas, which is reserved to Congress, enables them to preserve the Law of Nations inviolate, without the necessity ofarbitrary Interpositions in Judicial proceedings, which are by no means tolerable under the free Government of the United States.
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This control, so necessary for the preservation of the general peace of the United States, Congress will exercise in all cases where good Government requires it, and they doubt not that they shall meet with ready and cheerful Obedience.
They wish Don Juan to rest assured, that in the particular cases to which he refers, Congress will take every measure which is within their Constitutional powers.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Thomas Burke, is in thePapers of the Continental Congress, No. 25, I, folio 111.]
On motion of Mr. [James] Duane, seconded by Mr. [Gouverneur] Morris, Congress came to the following resolution:
Whereas, a proposition has been made for exchanging a number of the good citizens of these states, who are in captivity at Niagara and its vicinity, for disaffected citizens who are desirous to join the enemy:
Resolved, That the commissioners of Indian affairs for the northern department, or any two of them, be authorized and directed, with the concurrence of the Commander in Chief and the governor or executive authority of the several states, whose citizens, respectively, shall be the subject of the proposed exchanges, to negotiate and settle such exchange in the manner and on the terms they shall judge reasonable and expedient.
The House proceeded to consider the report of the Committee of thirteen on Foreign Affairs. Upon motion,
Ordered, That the absent members be summoned to attend.
A memorial, of this date, from the honble Sr. Gérard, Minister plenipotentiary of France, was read; Whereupon,
Resolved, That the further consideration of the report of the said committee, and of the said memorial be postponed, and that the same, together with the report of the committee on the communications from the said Minister, be taken into consideration immediately after reading the journal on Tuesday next.
Adjourned to 10 oClock on Monday.
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