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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 --WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1786.
Congress assembled. Present as before.
On the Report of a committee, consisting of Mr. [Charles] Pinckney, Mr. [Nathan] Dane, and Mr. [Edward] Carrington, to whom was referred a letter of the 19, from the post master general:
Whereas the United States in Congress assembled, are, by the Articles of Confederation, invested with the sole and exclusive right of establishing and regulating Post Offices, from one State to another throughout the United States, and exacting such postage on the Papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expences of the said offices: and whereas the present situation and demands of the post office will on no account admit the receipt of any other money than specie; the paper currencies of the several States, from their limited circulation and probable depreciation, being totally inadequate to the purpose;1
[Note 1: 1 The committee report, see ante, September 19, phrases it "render a payment for postage in paper totally improper." Thomson entered the report on the Journal and afterward struck it off.]
Resolved therefore, That the post master general be, and he is hereby directed to issue instructions to the postmasters in the several states, to receive no other money in payment for postage than specie.2
[Note 2: 2 The committee report adds, "that the United States will indemnify the civil officers in adhering to this order." It is in No. 61, folio 539.]
Resolved, That the post-master-general be, and he is hereby empowered, in all cases where he may conceive it necessary, to demand, or authorise the demanding the postage at the time the letters are put into the post Offices.3
[Note 3: 3 The committee report, see ante, September 19, adds: "Your Committee report that the other points of the said letter from the Postmaster General being included in the general regulations contained in the ordinance on the Post Office, it is unnecessary for them to remark thereon."]
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On the question to agree to the last resolution, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [Edward] Carrington,
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So it was resolved in the affirmative.
War Office, September 20th., 1786.
Sir: I have the honor to inform Congress, that in obedience to the duties of my office, I have minutely inspected the ordnance and military stores of the United States deposited in Springfield within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and find them in exact order according as they stand stated in the returns.
During the course of the last and present year the new arms and bayonets about seven thousand in number have been taken to pieces cleaned and put in perfect condition for use. The powder amounting to upwards of thirteen hundred barrels of excellent quality has been shifted, dried, and repacked.
About two hundred tons of shot and shells have been removed from Salisbury in Connecticut to Springfield, they being exposed to loss and injury at Salisbury, where they were cast in the year 1781.
All the other stores in the arsenal at Springfield are now well deposited and with proper attention may be preserved in good order for a considerable period of time.
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Learning from a variety of information that some lawless people in the counties of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the neighborhood of Springfield had intimated their intention under certain circumstances, of seizing the arsenal, and converting the ordnance and stores therein to their own rebellious purposes I conceived it my duty to make a statement thereof to his Excellency Governor Bowdoin and to, request that he would take such measures for the security of the stores as the state of the case might require. A copy of which I have the honor herewith to submit to Congress.
I have the honor etc.
H. Knox.1
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in No. 150, I, folio 555. According to indorsement it was read September 20 and referred to Mr. [William Samuel] Johnson, Mr. [Edward] Carrington, Mr. [Henry] Lee, Mr. [Nathan] Dane, and Mr. [Nathaniel] Ramsay. According to Committee Book No. 190, report was rendered September 21. Copies of two letters from Gov. James Bowdoin, dated September 19, are on folios 559 and 563.
September 20: A "Meml. Jacob Cuyler" was referred to the Commissioner of Commissary Accounts to report; he reported October 3. Cuyler's memorial, praying relief from a suit for payment for cattle purchased for the Army in 1780, is in No. 41, II, folio 354. It is indorsed: "Acted on Sept. 15, 1788."]
New York, September 19, 1786.
Sir: I beg leave to lay before your Excellency and Congress, a Claim exhibited for settlement by Col. Donald Campbell, whose case is of so singular a Nature, I do not conceive myself Authorised to determine on it.
He charges for his pay as Quarter Master General from the 17th of July, 1775, to the 17th of Sept. 1786, including two Months pay allowed to the officers who remain'd in Canada through the Winter of 1775, being Eleven years and four months at 80 Dollars pr Month, $10,880; for Rations, and Forage not drawn, $7,055.76; for Interest at 6 pr Ct. chargd every four Months, $5,994.64; amounting in the whole to Twenty-three thousand, nine hundred and thirty Dollars and fifty-ninetieths of a Dollar. By a Resolution of Congress July 17th, 1775, He was appointed Deputy Quarter Master General for the New York Department, with the Rank of Col. in the Army. A Resolution of the 16th June preceeding fixes the pay of a Deputy Quarter Master General at Forty Dollars pr Month. He served in Canada until the beginning of July, 1776, when he was arrested and tried by a Court Martial. The sentence of the Court was transmitted
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to Congress and by them referred to General Gates, who disapproved of the proceedings of the Court as being severe, irregular, and unprecedented and reported his opinion to Congress on the 18th of January, 1777. In the meantime another Deputy Quarter Master General for the Northern Department had been appointed and on the 13th of February following Congress Resolved that Col. Campbell be continued in his former pay, and rank and directed him to repair immediately to the Commissioners of Accounts for the Northern Army and settle with them the accounts of his late Department. Under this resolution he considers Himself as still in pay and has made up his Accounts to this Date.
His Claim for pay as Quarter Master General, I believe is founded on the nature of His Business while in Canada, unconnected with and independent of the Quarter Master General; and on a Resolution of the 23rd of September, 1775, which mentions the Quarter Master General of the Continental Armies, implying that there was more than one, for I do not find any Act of Congress which acknowledges him as such. I conclude that no derangement of Officers belonging to the Quartermasters Department, nor any alteration of their pay subsequent to the Resolve of the 13th February, 1777, can be applied to Col. Campbell. I must therefore pray Congress to determine whether He is still in pay, or to what period he is intitled to pay and subsistence.
I have the honor etc.
Jonth. Burral,
Comr. for Q Mr. and Comy. Depts.1
[Note 1: 1 This letter is in No. 31, folio 351. According to indorsement it was read September 20 and referred to Mr. [Edward] Carrington, Mr. [Lambert] Cadwallader, and Mr. [Henry] Lee. Committee Book No. 190 states that they reported October 10.]
To His Excellency,
the President of Congress.
Annapolis, September 14th., 1786.
Sir: Agreeably to the request of the Commissioners assembled at this place, I do myself the Honor to transmit to your Excellency, a Copy of their Report to the Legislatures of those States by whom they were appointed.
I remain etc.
John Dickinson,
Chairman.
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His Excellency,
The President of Congress.
To the Honorable the Legislatures of Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York:
The Commissioners from the said states respectively assembled at the City of Annapolis, humbly beg leave to report:
That, pursuant to their several appointments, they met at Annapolis, in the State of Maryland, on the eleventh day of September Instant, and, having proceeded to a communication of their powers, they found that the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, had in substance, and nearly in the same terms, authorised their respective Commissioners "to meet such Commissioners as were or might be appointed by the other States in the Union, at such time and place as should be agreed upon by the said Commissioners, to take into consideration the trade and commerce of the United States, to consider how far an uniform system in their commercial intercourse and regulations might be necessary to their Common interest and permanent harmony, and to report, to the several States, such an Act relative to this great object, as when unanimously ratified by them would enable the United States in Congress Assembled effectually to provide for the same."
That the State of Delaware has given similar powers to their Commissioners, with this difference only, that the Act to be framed in virtue of these powers is required to be reported "to the United States in Congress assembled to be agreed to by them and Confirmed by the Legislatures of every State."
That the State of New Jersey had enlarged the object of their appointment, empowering their Commissioners "to consider how far an uniform system in their Commercial regulations and other important matters might be necessary to the common interest and permanent harmony of the several States and to report such an Act on the subject, as when ratified by them would enable the United States in Congress assembled effectually to provide for the exigencies of the Union."
That appointments of Commissioners have also been made by the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, none of whom have however attended, but that no information has been received by your Commissioners of any appointment having been made by the States of Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, or Georgia.
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That the express terms of the powers to your Commissioners supposing a deputation from all the States, and having for object the trade and Commerce of the United States, Your Commissioners did not conceive it advisable to proceed on the business of their mission under the Circumstance of so partial and defective a representation.
Deeply impressed, however, with the magnitude and importance of the object confided to them on this occasion, Your Commissioners cannot forbear to indulge an expression of their earnest and unanimous wish that speedy measures may be taken to effect a general meeting of the States in a future Convention, for the same, and such other purposes, as the situation of public affairs may be found to require.
If in expressing this wish, or in intimating any other Sentiment your Commissioners should seem to exceed the strict bounds of their Appointment, they entertain a full confidence, that a conduct dictated by an anxiety for the welfare of the United States, will not fail to receive an indulgent Construction.
In this persuasion, your Commissioners submit an opinion, that the Idea of extending the powers of their deputies to other objects than those of Commerce, which has been adopted by the State of New Jersey, was an improvement on the original plan, and will deserve to be incorporated into that of a future Convention. They are the more naturally led to this conclusion, as in the course of their reflections on the subject, they have been induced to think, that the power of regulating Trade, is of such comprehensive extent, and will enter so far into the general system of the Federal Government, that to give it efficacy, and to obviate questions and doubts concerning its precise nature and limits, may require a correspondent adjustment of other parts of the Federal system.
That there are important defects in the system of the Federal Government, is acknowledged by the Acts of all those states which have concurred in the present Meeting. That the defects upon a closer examination may be found greater and more numerous than even these acts imply, is at least so far probable from the embarrassments which characterize the present State of our national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion, in some mode, which will unite the sentiments and Councils of all the States.
In the choice of the mode your Commissioners are of opinion that a Convention of deputies from the different States, for the special
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and sole purpose of entering into this investigation and digesting a plan for supplying such defects as may be discovered to exist will be entitled to a preference, from considerations which will occur without being particularized.
Your Commissioners decline an enumeration of those national circumstances on which their opinion respecting the propriety of a future Convention with more enlarged powers is founded; as it would be an useless intrusion of facts and observations, most of which have been frequently the subject of public discussion, and none of which can have escaped the penetration of those to whom they would in this instance be addressed. They are however of a nature so serious as, in the view of your Commissioners, to render the situation of the United States delicate and critical, calling for an exertion of the United virtue and wisdom of all the Members of the Confederacy.
Under this Impression your Commissioners with the most respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their unanimous conviction that it may essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union, if the States by whom they have been respectively delegated would themselves concur, and use their endeavours to procure the concurrence of the other States, in the appointment of Commissioners to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such an Act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as when "agreed to by them and" afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State will effectually provide for the same.
Though your Commissioners could not with propriety address these observations and sentiments to any but the States they have the honor to represent, they have nevertheless concluded from motives of respect, to transmit Copies of this report to the United States in Congress assembled, and to the Executives of the other States.
By order of the Commissioners:
John Dickinson,
Chairman.1
[Note 1: 1 This letter and report are in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 78, VIII, folios 187--194. According to indorsement they were read September 20. See post, October 11.]
Dated at Annapolis,
September 14th, 1786.
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