has been made to the court of France to this effect. But if the sending so large a succor in troops should necessarily diminish the pecuniary aid, which our allies may be disposed to grant, it were preferable to diminish the aid in men; for the same sum of money, which would transport from France and maintain here a body of troops with all the necessary apparatus, being put into our hands to be employed by us, would serve to give activity to a larger force within ourselves, and its influence would pervade the whole administration.

11thly. That no nation will have it more in its power to repay what it borrows than this. Our debts are hitherto small. The vast and valuable tracts of unlocated lands, the variety and fertility of climates and soils, the advantages of every kind which we possess for commerce, insure to this country a rapid advancement in population and prosperity, and a certainty, its independence being established, of redeeming in a short term of years the comparatively inconsiderable debts it may have occasion to contract.

That, notwithstanding the difficulties under which we labor, and the inquietudes prevailing among the people, there is still a fund of inclination and resource in the country, equal to great and continued exertions, provided we have it in our power to stop the progress of disgust, by changing the present system, and adopting another more consonant with the spirit of the nation, and more capable of activity and energy in public measures; of which a powerful succor of money must be the basis. The people are discontented; but it is with the feeble and oppressive mode of conducting the war, not with the war itself. They are not unwilling to contribute to its support, but they are unwilling to do it in a way that renders private property precarious; a necessary consequence of the fluctuation of the national currency, and of the inability of government to perform its engagements oftentimes coercively made. A large majority are still firmly attached to the independence of these States, abhor a reunion with. Great Britain, and are affectionate to the alliance with France; but this disposition cannot supply the place of means customary and essential in war, nor can we rely on its duration amidst the perplexities, oppressions, and misfortunes, that attend the want of them.

George Washington, Writings (edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford, New York, etc., 1891), IX, 102-109.

207. The State of the National Debt (1781)

BY DUANE, SHARPE, AND WOLCOTT

This is a report made by a committee to Congress on April 18, 1781. It shows the bonded debt, French advances, certificates to contractors, outstanding claims, and the remnant of the paper money. The debt as here shown was honorably paid after 1789. The piece also illustrates the character of the records of Congress. — Bibliography as in Nos. 155, 185, 206 above.

TH

HE committee, consisting of Mr. Duane, Mr. Sharpe, and Mr. Wolcott, appointed to estimate and state the amount of the debts due from the United States, with the necessary estimates for the current year, as near as can be done, in order that the same may be laid before the respective legislatures, report,

That they have attended to this business; but from the unsettled condition of the publick accounts they can only give a general view of the publick debts.

By returns made to the board of treasury up to the 10th February, 1781, it appears that from the opening of the loan offices to the first day of March, 1778, there has been borrowed, the

From last February, 1778,

to dates of last returns, 53,245,130, valued at Amount of the bills of exchange drawn on commissioners and ministers at the court of France, for payment of three years interest,

Do. drawn on ministers at that and other courts for supplies, and to answer pressing emergencies on account of deficiency in the publick treasury,

1,316,394

2,165,578

Supplies by them purchased and sent over, for which

The present quartermaster

Dollars.

has not made returns;

but as it is well known
that he has not been sup-
plied with money, what-
ever exertions have been
made or supplies fur-
nished in that depart-
ment must have been on
credit. It is to be pre-
sumed that the debts by
him contracted up to 1st
Jan. 1781, amount in
specie to

The commissary of pur-
chases has made returns
of debts due in his de-
partment amounting to
To this is to be added
what yet remains of
the old currency unre-
deemed, suppose
To which may be added for
navy debts, &c., for debts
due in the departments
of the board, of the
commissary general of
military stores and the
clothier general, esti-
mated at

Total in continental at 75

for I

11,388,903

160,000,000

500,000

10,702,377

230,000,000 is 3,066,666

To which added the new money issued in lieu of the old which is called in

and destroyed

Total debts in specie

2,000,000

24,057,157

Secret Journals of the Acts and Proceedings of Congress (Boston, 1821), I,

189-194.

208. Not worth a Continental (1781)

BY WILLIAM PYNCHON

Pynchon was a Salem gentleman, a conspicuous member of the Essex bar, and not disposed to favor the Revolution. His diary gives an interesting picture of social and business life during the war. - Bibliography of Pynchon: Introduction to the Diary. - Bibliography of paper money: Henry Phillips, Paper Currency; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VII, 13-15; Channing and Hart, Guide, §§ 142, 151.

[May, 1781] 18. FRIDAY. Cloudy. The continental currency,

old emission, passeth no more here.

19. Saturday. Some take the old emission on pretence of patriotism..

24. Thursday. Fair and cool. Exchange between old emission and silver is at 150 for one; at Boston at 120 to 140 for one. The jurymen in the Maritime Court here yesterday refused to give in any more verdicts to the Court without an assurance that they shall be paid in new emission. So! so! so! members of Congress, whither is your credit going? Down hill surely; but they will bring it up with a heavy tax. 26. Saturday. Cloudy, but less cold than yesterday. It is said that Morris, the financier, hath reported to Congress in favour of hard-money currency.

27. Sunday. Clear, and wind S. and moderate. Soh! soh! The register, Pickering, says he is not at liberty to record Mr. Robie's mortgage deeds of his house and land, which he made for securing his creditors in England. Johnson comes in and says that Gibraltar is relieved by the English fleet. What ailed ye Powers and ye Fleets of the House of Bourbon that ye have been so often driven back by the English, that all your attempts against Gibraltar have hitherto failed?

28. Monday. Fine, clear, and warm day. Exchange is now at 3 for one between hard money and new emission, and at . . . . for one between hard money and old emission.

29. Tuesday. A fine, warm day; So. W. wind. Trade in Boston in great confusion, almost stagnated; the credit of the new emission sunk 30 per ct. upon failure of the old in its credit; all growl; some rave and stamp; others curse and swear, some at Congress, some at the General Court, some at Whiggs, others at Tories, all at the French. The moderate Whiggs express their joy that Gibraltar is relieved and the siege raised; they who trouble the waters first have seldom the benefit of fishing.