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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, MARCH 7, 1786.
Congress assembled. Present, as before; and from the State of Connecticut, Mr. [Stephen Mix] Mitchell.
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On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. [William] Grayson, Mr. [John Bubenheim] Bayard, Mr. [Charles] Pinckney, Mr. [Nathaniel] Gorham and Mr. [Stephen Mix] Mitchell, to whom was referred a Resolve of the Assembly of New Jersey, touching the requisition of September, 1785.
Resolved, That a committee of Congress be directed to proceed without delay to Trenton, in New Jersey, or any other place where the legislature of that State may be sitting, and represent to them, in the strongest terms, the fatal Consequences that must inevitably result to the said State, as well as to the rest of the Union, from their refusal to comply with the requisition of Congress of September, 1785.
The members chosen, Mr. [Charles] Pinckney, Mr. [Nathaniel] Gorham and Mr. [William] Grayson.
The Board of Treasury to whom was Referred a Motion of the Hon'ble. the Delegates of the State of New York, together with a concurrent Resolution of the Legislature of the said State of the 7th. February last, Beg leave to Report:
That the Sum of Twenty one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two Dollars was Appropriated by this Board on the 10th. day of November, 1785, out of that proportion of the New Emission Money of the 18th. March, 1780, which was Subject to the Orders of the United States. That the Commissioner of the Loan Office of the State of New York has appropriated from time to time out of the above mentioned proportion of the said Monies, the Sum of 3,280 41/90 Dollars, for which Sum he is accountable.
That the Legislature of the State of New York by their Act of the 15th. June, 1780, in conformity to the Resolves of Congress of the 18th. March, 1780, Established adequate Funds for the Redemption of the Monies which became Issuable in pursuance of the said Resolves.
That, it appears from the Certificate of the Treasurer of the State of New York dated 12th. July, 1785 (Copy of which is hereunto annexed), that the United States stand Charged by the State of New York, with the Sum of Fifty-six thousand five hundred Dollars, being the whole of the four-tenths of the New Emission Money, Subject to the Orders of the United States, which became Issuable
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in the State of New York, in pursuance of the Resolves of the 18th. March, 1780.
That a Change of the Credit of Monies paid in pursuance of the above Resolves in any one Instance, will operate as a relinquishment of the Balances due from the several States on that head: And that such Relinquishment is not compatible with the present exhausted State of the Finances, or consistent with that steady adherence to the Execution of the Resolves of Congress, which in the Opinion of this Board, ought to Characterize the Government of the United States, especially in matters relative to the Collection of the General Revenue. That the Amount of the New Emission Money, subject to the Orders of the United States in the several States, exceeds the Sum of Two hundred thousand Dollars; that the Funds established in several States of the Union for the Redemption of the said Money, are now operating so as to render the said Money daily more valuable, especially in the States of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
That several States in the Union have paid into the Public Treasury, a greater proportionate Sum in Paper reduced to Specie Value, in pursuance of the Resolves of the 18th. March, 1780, than has been paid by the State of New York. That if a precedent should be Established in one instance of shifting the Credit of such Payments, in the manner proposed by the Hon'ble the Legislature of the said State; other States might with equal propriety make similar Applications, and in consequence, all expectations of payments in Specie on the Requisition of the 27th. September, 1785, would be thereby defeated.
From these considerations the Board beg leave to recommend to the Consideration of Congress the following Resolve:
Resolved, That although the United States in Congress are sensible of the Zeal shewn by the State of New York in carrying into execution the Requisition of Congress of the 27th. April, 1784, they cannot Agree, that the sum of Twenty-five thousand one hundred and seventy-two Dollars 61/90ths. paid by the said State in the New Emission of the 18th. March, 1780, into the Treasury of the United States, should be carried to the Credit of the Requisition in Specie of the 27th. September, 1785, without departing from that steady adherence
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to the Execution of former Requisitions, which is essential to the proper Administration of the Revenues of the United States.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, signed by Samuel Osgood, Walter Livingston and Arthur Lee, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 139, folio 125. It was accompanied by copy of a certificate from the New York Treasurer as to the exchange of old Continental money for the new emission, folio 129. According to Committee Book No. 190, this report was submitted to Congress March 7. See post, March 10.]
March 6th., 1786.
The Board of Treasury to whom was Referred the Memorial of David Phipps, late a Lieutenant in the Continental Navy, Beg leave to Report:
That the Memorialist is possess'd of a Certificate from the Commissioner for Settling Accounts in the Marine Department, for the Sum of 899 Dollars 1/90th. for the Balance found due him on the 5th. June, 1781.
That Congress having by their Requisitions for the Years 1784 and 1785, called upon the several States for sufficient Sums to Discharge the Interest of the National Debt; it would not be adviseable in the Opinion of this Board, to interfere with the General Regulations adopted for this purpose: by making a partial Payment either of Principal or Interest due the said Memorialist.
They therefore Submit to the consideration of Congress the following Resolve:
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That the Memorial of David Phipps praying for the Payment of the Principal due him on a Certificate Issued to him by the Commissioner of the Marine Department, for his Services in the Continental Navy, cannot be complied with.
March 4th., 1786.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, signed by Samuel Osgood, Walter Livingston, and Arthur Lee, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 138, II, folio 265. According to indorsement it was read March 7.
March 7: On this day, according to Committee Book No. 190 and Resolve Book No. 123, the letter of resignation from Joseph Borden, dated October 11, 1785, was referred to the Board of Treasury ,to take order to settle Borden's accounts and receive from him the papers and records of his office. Borden's letter is in No. 78, IV, folio 497. See ante, October 24, 1785, and post, March 8, This action was in accordance with the recommendation in Thomson's report of this day on the business, which is entered in Reports of the Secretary of Congress, No. 180, and there noted as "Passed March 8."
Also, according to indorsement, was read a letter from the Secretary at War, dated March 4, 1786, announcing the resignation of Samuel Shaw as Secretary in the War Office and the appointment of William Knox and John Stagg as under-secretaries, or clerks, the salary of the former Secretary to be divided between them. Knox's letter is in No. 150, I, folio 171. Thomson has indorsed it "To be registered."]
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