Page images
PDF
EPUB

The insertion of the following proceedings may prove a warning against the treasonable suggestions of the evil spirit, whose insidious and alluring temptations are, not unfrequently, directed towards the most ardent and honest citizens, whose zeal in the defence of the supposed interests of a part of the Union might induce them even to go so far as to calculate the value of the Union itself, and of the Constitution. By exhibiting the impotency of the measures adopted by the Old Confederation, to provide for the wants, and to secure the independence and safety of the people, the perusal of these proceedings will induce a due appreciation of the value of our inestimable Union, so firmly bound together by the conservative and protective principles of our noble Constitution, and will banish from the mind the least idea of a disorganizing tendency, or of relapsing into the enfeebled condition of the General Government before the adoption of the Constitution. The danger of extracting from the edifice one particle of the material which serves to support its magnificent superstructure, is here practically made manifest, and every true hearted American citizen will firmly resolve, with heart and hand, to guard the Union, fortified by the Constitution—this citadel of our liberties with sleepless vigilance.

CHAPTER 3.

Brief statement of the official proceedings and proximate causes which led to the adoption and ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

IN CONGRESS OF THE CONFEDERATION.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1786.

Congress assembled: Present, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina.

The committee, consisting of Mr. King, Mr. Pinckney, Mr. Kean, Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Pettit, to whom were referred several reports and documents concerning the system of general revenue, recommended by Congress on the 18th of April, 1783, report:

"That, in pursuance of the above reference, they have carefully examined the acts of the several States, relative to the general system of revenue recommended by Congress on the 18th of April, 1783, and find that the States of Delaware and North Carolina have passed acts in full conformity with the several parts thereof; the former of which States has inserted a proviso in their act, restraining the operation thereof until each of the other States shall have made a like

and equally extensive grant; that the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, and South Carolina, have each passed acts complying with that part of the system which recommends a general impost, but have come to no decision on the other part, which proposes the establishment of funds, supplementary to, and in aid of the general impost; that the State of Pennsylvania has passed an act complying with the recommendation of the general impost, and in the same act has declared, that their proportion, or quota of the supplementary funds, shall be raised and levied on the persons and estates of the inhabitants of that State, in such manner as the legislature thereof shall, from time to time, direct; with this proviso, that if any of the annual proportion of the supplementary funds shall be otherwise raised and paid to the United States, then such annual levy or tax shall be discontinued: The committee conceive that this clause is rather an engagement that Pennsylvania will provide adequate supplementary funds, than an actual establishment thereof; nevertheless, the act contains a proviso restraining its operation until each of the other States shall have passed laws in full conformity with the whole of the revenue system aforesaid: The committee further find, that the State of Rhode Island has passed an act on this subject, but so different from the plan recommended, and so wholly insufficient, that it cannot be considered as a compliance with any part of the system submitted for their adoption; that the State of Maryland passed an act in 1782, and a supplement thereto in 1784, complying with the recommendation of Congress of the 3d of February, 1781, which recommendation is not compatible with, and was relinquished by the resolves of Congress of the 18th of April, 1783; but that neither the State of Maryland, New York, nor Georgia, has passed any act in pursuance of the system of the 18th of April, 1783.

From this statement it appears that seven States, viz: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, have granted the impost in such manner, that if the other six States had made similar grants, the plan of the general impost might immediately begin to operate: that two other States, viz., Pennsylvania and Delaware, have also

granted the impost, but have connected their grants with provisoes, which will suspend their operation until all the other States shall have passed laws in full conformity with the whole of the revenue system aforesaid; that two only of these nine States, viz., Delaware and North Carolina, have fully acceded to that system in all its parts; and that the four other States, viz., Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, and Georgia, have not decided in favor of any part of the system of revenue aforesaid, so long since, and so repeatedly presented by Congress for their adoption.

The committee have thought it their duty candidly to examine the principles of this system, and to discover, if possible, the reasons which have prevented its adoption; they cannot learn that any member of the confederacy has stated or brought forward any objections against it, and the result of their impartial inquiries into the nature and operation of the plan, has been a clear and decided opinion, that the system itself is more free from well-founded exceptions, and is better calculated to receive the approbation of the several States than any other that the wisdom of Congress can devise.

In the course of this inquiry, it most clearly appeared that the requisitions of Congress, for eight years past, have been so irregular in their operation, so uncertain in their collection, and so evidently unproductive, that a reliance on them in future as a source from whence moneys are to be drawn to discharge the engagements of the confederacy, definite as they are in time and amount, would be not less dishonorable to the understandings of those who entertain such confidence, than it would be dangerous to the welfare and peace of the Union. The committee are therefore seriously impressed with the indispensable obligation that Congress are under, of representing to the immediate and impartial consideration of the several States, the utter impossibility of maintaining and preserving the faith of the Federal Government by temporary requisitions on the States, and the consequent necessity of an early and complete accession of all the States to the revenue system of the 18th of April, 1783.

Although in a business of this magnitude and importance to the respective States, it was natural to expect a due degree of caution,

and a thorough investigation of the system recommended, yet the committee cannot forbear to remark, that this plan has been under reference for nearly three years; that, during that period, numerous changes have taken place in the delegations of every State, but that this system has received the repeated approbation of each successive Congress, and that the urgency of the public engagements at this time, renders it the unquestionable duty of the several States to adopt, without further delay, those measures which alone, in the judgment of the committee, can preserve the sacred faith of this confederacy."

"Thus it is evident that the sum of 2,457,987 25-90ths dollars only, was received in a space of more than four years, when the requisitions, in the most forcible manner, pressed on the States the payment of much larger sums, and for purposes of the highest national importance. It should be here observed, that the receipts of the last fourteen months of the above period, amount only to 432,897 81-90ths dollars, which is at the rate of 371,052 dollars per annum, a sum short of what is essentially necessary for the bare maintenance of the Federal Government on the most economical establishment, and in time of profound peace.

The committee observe, with great concern, that the security of the navigation and commerce of the citizens of these States from the Barbary powers, the protection of the frontier inhabitants from the savages, the immediate establishment of military magazines in different parts of the Union, rendered indispensable by the principles of public safety, the maintenance of the Federal Government at home, and the support of the public servants abroad, each and all, depend upon the contributions of the States under the annual requisitions of Congress. The moneys essentially necessary for these important objects, will so far exceed the sums formerly collected from the States by taxes, that no hope can be indulged of being able, from that source, to make any remittances for the discharge of foreign engagements.

Thus circumstanced, after the most solemn deliberation, and under the fullest conviction that the public embarrassments are such as above represented, and that they are daily increasing, the com

« PreviousContinue »