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sity of the consoling influence of an immediate advance of pay. Colonel Ogden said, he wished not, indeed, to return to the army, if he was to be the messenger of disappointment to them. The deputies were asked, first, what particular steps they supposed would be taken by the army in case no pay could be immediately advanced; to which they answered, that it was impossible to say precisely; that although the sergeants, and some of the most intelligent privates, had been often observed in sequestered consultations, yet it was not known that any premeditated plan had been formed; that there was sufficient reason to dread that at least a mutiny would ensue, and the rather as the temper of the officers, at least those of inferior grades, would with less vigor than heretofore struggle against it. They remarked, on this occasion, that the situation of the officers was rendered extremely delicate, and had been sorely felt, when called upon to punish in soldiers a breach of engagements to the public, which had been preceded by uniform and flagrant breaches by the latter of its engagements to the former. General McDougall said, that the army were verging to that state, which, we are told, will make a wise man mad; and Colonel Brooks said, that his apprehensions were drawn from the circumstance that the temper of the army was such, that they did not reason or deliberate coolly on consequences, and, therefore, a disappointment might throw them blindly into extremities. They observed, that the irritations of the army had resulted, in part, from the distinctions made between the civil and military lists, the former regularly receiving their salaries, VOL. I.-17

and the latter as regularly left unpaid. They mentioned, in particular, that the members of the Legislatures would never agree to an adjournment without paying themselves fully for their services. In answer to this remark it was observed, that the civil officers, on the average, did not derive from their appointments more than the means of their subsistence; and that the military, although not furnished with their pay properly so called, were in fact furnished with the same necessaries.

On the second point, to wit, "adequate provision for the general arrears due to them," the deputies animadverted with surprise, and even indignation, on the repugnance of the States, some of them at least, to establish a federal revenue for discharging the federal engagements. They supposed that the ease, not to say affluence, with which the people at large lived, sufficiently indicated resources far beyond the actual exertions; and that if a proper application of these resources was omitted by the country, and the army thereby exposed to unnecessary sufferings, it must naturally be expected that the patience of the latter would have its limits. As the deputies were sensible that the general disposition of Congress strongly favored this object, they were less diffuse on it. General McDougall made a remark which may deserve the greater attention, as he stepped from the tenor of his discourse to introduce it, and delivered it with peculiar emphasis. He said that the most intelligent and considerate part of the army were deeply affected at the debility and defects in the Federal Government, and the unwillingness of the States to cement and invigorate it, as, in case of

its dissolution, the benefits expected from the Revolution would be greatly impaired; and as, in particular, the contests which might ensue among the States would be sure to embroil the officers which respectively belonged to them.

On the third point, to wit, "half-pay for life," they expressed equal dissatisfaction at the States which opposed it, observing that it formed a part of the wages stipulated to them by Congress, and was but a reasonable provision for the remnant of their lives, which had been freely exposed in the defence of their country, and would be incompatible with a return to occupations and professions for which military habits, of seven years standing, unfitted them. They complained that this part of their reward had been industriously and artfully stigmatized in many States with the name of pension, although it was as reasonable that those who had lent their blood and services to the public should receive an annuity thereon, as those who had lent their money; and that the officers, whom new arrangements had, from time to time, excluded, actually labored under the opprobrium of pensioners, with the additional mortification of not receiving a shilling of the emoluments. They referred, however, to their memorial to show that they were authorized and ready to commute their halfpay for any equivalent and less exceptionable pro

vision.

After the departure of the Deputies, the Grand Committee appointed a sub-committee, consisting of Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. MADISON, and Mr. RUTLEDge, to report arrangements, in concert with the Superintendent of Finance, for their consideration.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14TH.

Congress adjourned for the meeting of the Grand Committee, to whom was referred the Report concerning the valuation of the lands, and who accordingly met.

The Committee were, in general, strongly impressed with the extreme difficulty and inequality, if not impracticability, of fulfilling the Article of the Confederation relative to this point; Mr. Rutledge, however, excepted, who, although he did not think the rule so good a one as a census of inhabitants, thought it less impracticable than the other members. And if the valuation of land had not been prescribed by the Federal Articles, the Committee would certainly have preferred some other rule of appointment, particularly that of numbers, under certain qualifications as to slaves. As the Federal Constitution, however, left no option, and a few* only were disposed to recommend to the States an alteration of it, it was necessary to proceed, first, to settle its meaning; secondly, to settle the least objectionable mode of valuation. On the first point it was doubted, by several members, whether the returns which the report under consideration required from the States would not be final, and whether the Articles of Confederation would allow Congress to alter them after they had fixed on this mode; on this point no vote was taken. A second question, afterwards raised

* Mr. HAMILTON was most strenuous on this point. Mr. WILSON also favored the idea. Mr. MADISON also, but restrained, in some measure, by the declared sense of Virginia. Mr. GORHAM, and several others also, but wishing previous experience.

in the course of the discussion, was, how far the Articles required a specific valuation, and how far it gave a latitude as to the mode; on this point, also, there was a diversity of opinions, but no vote taken.

Secondly, as to the mode itself referred to the Grand Committee, it was strongly objected to by the Delegate from Connecticut, Mr. DYER, by Mr. HAMILTON, by Mr. WILSON, by Mr. CARROLL, and by Mr. MADISON, as leaving the States too much to the bias of interest, as well as too uncertain and tedious in the execution. In favor of the Report was Mr. RUTLEDGE, the father of it, who thought the honor of the States, and their mutual confidence, a sufficient security against frauds and the suspicion of them. Mr. GORHAM favored the Report also, as the least impracticable mode, and as it was necessary to attempt at least some compliance with the federal rule before any attempt could be properly made to vary it. An opinion entertained by Massachusetts, that she was comparatively in advance to the United States, made her anxious for a speedy settlement of the mode by which a final apportionment of the common burden could be effected. The sentiments of the other members of the Committee were not expressed.

Mr. HAMILTON proposed, in lieu of a reference of the valuation to the States, to class the lands throughout the United States under distinctive descriptions, viz: arable, pasture, wood, &c., and to annex a uniform rate to the several classes according to their dif ferent comparative value, calling on the States only for a return of the quantities and descriptions. This mode would have been acceptable to the more com

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