USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the revolutionary history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. V > Part 7
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twenty pounds, and the same proportion of defect, according to the several quotas, happens in every other state. And this defect is the cause why the army has been so indifferently fed, cloathed and paid. It is the cause, likewise, of the nerveless state of the campaign, and the insecurity of the country. Now if a tax equal to thirteen and four pence per head, will remove all these difficulties, make people secure in their homes, leave them to follow the business of their stores and farms unmolested, and not only keep out, but drive out - the enemy from the country ; and if the neglect of raising this sum will let them in, and produce the evils which might be prevented, on which side, I ask, does the wisdom, interest and policy lie? Or rather would it not be an insult to reason to put the question? The sum when portioned out according to the several abilities of the people, can hurt no one, but an inroad from the enemy ruins hun- dreds of families.
Look at the destruction done in this city. The many houses totally destroyed, and others damaged; the waste of fences in the country round it, besides the plunder of furniture, forage and provision. I do not suppose that half a million sterling would reinstate the suf- ferers, and does this, I ask, bear any proportion to the expence that would make us secure. The damage on an average is at least ten pounds sterling per head, which is as much as thirteen shillings and four-pence per head comes to for fifteen years. The same has hap- pened on the frontiers, and in the Jersies, New-York, and other places where the enemy has been, Carolina and Georgia is likewise suffering the same fate.
That the people generally do not understand the insufficiency of the taxes to carry on the war, is evident, not only from common observation, but from the construction of several petitions, which were presented to the assembly of this state, against the recom- mendation of Congress of the 18th of March last. for taking up and funding the present currency at forty for one, and issuing now money in its stead. The prayer of the petition was, that the currency might be appreciated by taxes (meaning the present taxes) and that part of the taxes be applied to the support of the army, if the army could not be otherwise supported. Now it could not have been possible for such a petition to have been presented, had the petitioners known, that so far from part of the taxes being sufficient for the support of the army, the whole of them falls three-fourths short of the year's expences.
Before I proceed to propose methods by which a sufficiency of money may be raised, I shall take a short review of the general state of the country.
Notwithstanding the weight of the war, the ravages of the enemy, and the obstructions she has thrown in the way of trade and com- merce, so soon does a young country outgrow misfortune, that America has already surmounted many that once heavily oppressed her. For the first year or two of the war, we were shut up within our ports, scarce venturing to look towards the ocean. Now our rivers are beautified with large and valuable vessels, our stores filled with merchandize, and the produce of the country has a ready market,
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and an advantageous price. Gold and silver, that for awhile seemed to have retreated again within the bowels of the earth, is once more risen into circulation, and every day adds new strength to trade, commerce, and agriculture. In a pamphlet written by Sir John Dalrymple, and dispersed in America in the year 1775, he asserted, that, tico twenty gun ships, nay, says he, the tenders of those ships, stationed between Albemarle sound and Chcasapeak bay, would shut up the trade of America, for 600 miles. How little did Sir John Dalrymple know of the abilities of America !
While under the government of Britain, the trade of this country was loaded with restrictions. It was only a few foreign ports she was allowed to sail to. Now it is otherwise; and allowing that the quantity of trade is but half what it was before the war. the case must shew the vast advantage of an open trade, because the present quantity under her restrictions could not support itself; from which I infer, that if half the quantity without the restrictions can bear itself up nearly, if not quite, as well as the whole when subject to them, how prosperous must the condition of America be when the whole shall return open with all the world. By trade I do not mean the employment of a merchant only, but the whole interest and busi- ness of the country taken collectively.
It is not so much my intention, by this publication, to propose particular plans for raising money, as it is to shew the necessity and advantages to be derived from it. My principal design is to form the disposition of the people to such measures which I am fully per- suaded is their interest and duty to adopt, and which needs no other force to accomplish them than the force of being felt. But as every hint may be useful, I shall throw out a sketch, and leave others to make such improvements upon it as to them may appear reasonable.
The annual sum wanted is two millions, and the average rate in which it falls is thirteen shillings and four-pence per head.
Suppose then that we raise half the sum and sixty thousand pounds over. The average rate thereof will be seven shillings per head.
In this case we shall have half the supply we want, and an annual fund of sixty thousand pounds whereon to borrow the other million ; because sixty thousand pounds is the interest of a million at six per cent. and if at the end of another year we should be obliged by the continuance of the war, to borrow another million, the taxes will be increased to seven shillings and six-pence ; and thus for every million borrowed, an additional tax equal to six-pence per head must be levied.
The sum then to be raised next year will be one million and sixty thousand pounds: One half of which I would propose should be raised by duties on imported goods and prize goods, and the other half by a tax on landed- property and houses, or such other means as each state may devise.
But as the duties on imports and prize goods must be the same in all the states, therefore the rate per cent. or in what other form the duty shall be laid, must be ascertained, and regulated by Congress, and ingrafted in that form into the law of each state; and the
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monies arising therefrom carried into the treasury of each state. The duties to be paid in gold or silver.
There are many reasons why a duty on imports is the most con- venient duty or tax that can be collected, one of which is, because the whole is payable in a few places in a country, and it likewise- operates with the greatest ease and equality, because as every one. : pays in proportion to what he consumes, so people in general con- sume in proportion to what they can afford, and therefore the tax is regulated by the abilities which every man supposes himself to have, or in other words every man becomes his own assessor, and pays by a little at a time when it suits him to buy. Besides, it is a tax which people may pay or let alone by not consuming the articles; and though the alternative may have no influence on their conduct, the power of choosing is an agreeable thing to the mind. For my own part, it would be a satisfaction to me, was there a duty on all sorts of liquors during the war, as in my idea of things, it would be- an addition to the pleasure of society, to know, that when the health of the army goes round, a few drops from every glass become theirs. Ilow often have I heard an emphatical wish almost accompanied with a tear, "Oh, that our poor fellows in the field had some of this!"
Why then need we suffer under a fruitless sympathy, when there is a way to enjoy both the wish and the entertainment at once?
But the great national policy of putting a duty upon imports is, that it either keeps the foreign trade in our own hands or draws something- for the defence of the country from every foreigner who participates it with us.
Thus much for the first half of the taxes, and as each state will best devise means to raise the other half, I shall confine my remarks: to the resources of this state. .
The quota then of this state of one million and sixty thousand pounds will be one hundred and thirty-three thousand two hundred. and fifty pounds, the half of whis is sixty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-five pounds ;. and supposing one fourth part of Pennsyl- vania inhabited, then a tax of one bushel of wheat on every twenty acres of land, one with another, would produce the sum, and all the. present taxes to cease. Whereas the tythes of the bishops and clergy in England, exclusive of the taxes, are upwards of half a bushel of wheat on every single acre of land, good and bad, throughout the nation.
In a former part of this paper I mentioned the militia fines, but reserved speaking to the matter, which I shall now do: The ground I shall put it upon is, that two millions sterling a year will support a sufficient army, and all the expences of war and government, without having recource to the inconvenient method of continually calling men. from their employments, which of all others is the most expensive and the least substantial. I consider the revenue created by taxes as the first and principal thing, and fines only as secondary and accidental things. It was not the intention of the militia law to apply the militia fines to anything else but the support of the militia, neither do they produce any revenue to the state, yet these fines amount to more than all the taxes; for taking the muster role to be sixty thousand men,.
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the fine on forty thousand who may not attend, will be sixty thousand pounds sterling, and those who muster will give up a portion of time equal to half that sum, and if the eight classes should be called within the year, and one third turn out, the fine on the remaining forty thou- sand would amount to seventy-two millions of dollars, besides the fifteen shillings on every hundred pounds property, and the charge of seven and a half per cent. for collecting in certain instances, which on the whole would be upwards of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.
Now if those very fines disable the country from raising a sufficient revenue without producing an equivalent advantage, would it not be to the ease and interest of all parties to increase the revenue in the manner I have proposed, or any better, if a better can be devised, and cease the operation of the fines. I would still keep the militia as an organized body of men, and should there be a real necessity to call them forth, pay them out of the proper revenues of the state, and in- crease the taxes a third or fourth per cent. on those who did not attend. My limits will not allow me to go farther into this matter, which I shall therefore close with this remark ; that fines are, of all modes of revenue, the most unsuited to the mind of a free country. When a man pays a tax, he knows the public necessity requires it, and therefore feels a pride in discharging his duty ; but a fine seems an atonement for neglect of duty, and of consequence is paid with dis- credit, and frequently levied with severity.
I have now only one subject more to speak to, with which I shall conclude, which is, the resolve of Congress of the 18th of March last. for taking up and funding the present currency at forty for one, and issuing new money in its stead.
Every one knows I am not the flatterer of Congress, but in this instance they are right; and if that measure is supported, the cur- reney will acquire a value which without it, it will not. But this is not all : It will give relief to the finances until such time as they can be properly arranged, and save the country from being immediately double taxed under the present mode. In short, support that measure, and it will support you. I have now waded through a tedious course of difficult business, and over an untrodden path. The subject on every point it could be viewed was entangled with perplexities, and enveloped in obscurity, yet such are the resources of America, that she wants nothing but system to insure success.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia October 4, 1750.
(Postscript to be inserted in our next.)
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[No. II.]
To the LEGISLATURE of the State of NEW-JERSEY.' GENTLEMEN,
COME now to perform my promise, and to do what but for the bounds prescribed me, I should have done in my last.
Congress, at a time when they supposed the par of exchange (or in other words the quantum of depreciation) throughout the United States, taken collectively, was at about forty for one, with design to give stability to their currency, and in some measure to supply their treasury, determined on a new emission of specie value; to secure which from depreciation, they set a triple guard upon it, resolving, 1st, That none of it should be emitted in any state, until that state had established a fund for the redemption of the quota assigned to it. 2d, That it should bear an annual interest of five per cent. to be paid in specie, or bills of exchange on our Commissioners in Europe. 3d, To prevent any depreciation arising from the quantity, it was deter- mined that no more than a certain specified sum should be emitted, and not even that, but upon a proportionable quantity of the old being first brought in and destroyed.
Thus circumstanceed, nothing but the unaccountable caprice incident to human nature in certain situations (and I believe not that) can depreciate it.
I know much has been said against this measure as being a breach of public faith, and have often heard persons rail against Congress for having broke faith with the people. I confess my idea has always been that Congress were the representatives of the people, and there- fore that the Congress and the People were the same, and that the acts of the one were the acts of the other, consequently to say that the Congress had broke faith with the people, was, in other words, to say that the people had broke faith with themselves, were deceiving and imposing upon themselves, which is absurd.
The idea that Congress and People are two distinct bodies, pur- suing separate interests, is, I know, a favourite one with our enemies, and by them inculcated on us by every art in their power. Admitting this plea, let us look back to our first associations, on the faith of which Congress have acted; we there in the most solemn manner pledged our lives and fortunes, and everything we held dear and sacred, to support them in such measures as should appear to them necessary for maintaining and securing the rights and privileges of America. One of the measures then absolutely necessary was striking bills of credit, on this our faith. so solemnly pledged. Have we then, agreeably to these our obligations, thus freely entered into, supported these bills? or have we through interested (not to say worse) motives, spight of every effort of Congress, spight of our own plighted faith, not only suffered them to depreciate, but actually assisted in the de-
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preciation, and thereby deceived Congress in their just expectations, and disappointed them in their best endeavours. If this then is the case, and deny it who can, for justice sake let the blame lie at the right door, and Congress be forever acquitted.
But to return from this digression to the consequences which the resolutions for a new emission had on this state, permit me to observe, that from a paucity incident to popular governments, it was long ere our legislature came into the measure to effect; during which time the continental treasury became more and more exhausted, while we were still performing services which they were unable to pay us for, and furnishing supplies for which we ourselves undertook to pay, thereby emptying our own coffers with little prospect of again filling them, except with certificates, and rendering us unable to procure a sufficient quantity of the old emissions to exchange for the new. But what had a particular effect on the new emission was, that during this interval the old had considerably depreciated, and our legislature, with a mistaken view of adhering strictly to the resolution of Congress, fixed the exchange between the new money and continental at one for forty, and yet in the same law declare the new equal in value with gold and silver; here then is a direct contradiction, the exchange be- tween gold and silver and continental being upwards of sixty for one when the new money first made its appearance; the new emission therefore was at first as it were suspended in equilibrio between the two; but as the taxes were levied in continental, and the new to be received but as one for forty in them, it was easy to foresee which scale must preponderate. Accordingly the new is by common consent, as well as by law, fixed at forty times the value of continental; whereas it is evident that on the same principles, had it not been for the un- lucky forty-for-one clause, that is, had it been in nowise connected with continental but received in taxes at the specie exchange, it would with the same ease have been fixed at specie value. What I would therefore propose is, that the law should be amended, and that specie should be the standard-value of the new emission, and that it should be received in continental taxes at the specie exchange be that what it may, for it appears to me the greatest absurdity to suppose that in private dealings it should pass at one value, in public at another. This I conceive would likewise effectually take off the odium of "breach of public faith" from the measure.
I come now to consider the case of the certificates; and here I have already observed, that the state is considerably indebted to the con- tinent, if then we could take on us the debts due from the continent to individuals, and get credited for the amount with Congress, we - should thereby not only pay off our present debt to them, but stand considerably in advance, for which we should be entitled to interest. This, considering the present situation of our treasury, may be thought a romantic scheme, but perhaps on further consideration, it may not be found so wild as at first it would appear, nay, so far from being difficult, it may, instead of laying any further burdens on the people, be made a considerable easement to the present; the plan is simple, the path is plain. What is the complaint of the people against the certificates? That they cannot with them pay their debts, their taxes,
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&c. Now to whom are these debts, these taxes to be paid? We are told, and most of us know very well, that there are immense debts due to the states from the commissioners and purchasers of forfeited estates, and from several counties on account of arrears of taxes, &c. The whole of these therefore might be received in certificates, valued according to their dates and the time when the debts and taxes be- came due, and to discharge the remaining certificates, let a sufficient sum be struck in bills of credit by this state on the same foundation . as those emitted during the last war, and to be redeemed, in shorter periods, in the same manner.
Two objections will, I foresee, be made to this scheme.
1. That the credit of the state is not sufficient to venture so large a draught upon it.
I answer, that during the last war no doubt was made of our ability to redeem any sum which we might find necessary to emit; and I am bold to say, that New-Jersey, even in its present exhausted state, is able to support double the amount of the then emissions, and if we may look forward to the end of the war, and anticipate the advantages which we shall probably then enjoy, I think no man will ever doubt the credit of the state.
2. The second objection is, that we shall be over-run with the quan- tity of money, and that it will depreciate merely from that circum- stance.
To which I answer, the quantity will be trifling to what we should at first blush suppose, when those countless thousands are reduced to their real value, (which every holder of a certificate would gladly receive) the vision disappears, and we shall find no such shocking addition to our current cash, especially when we consider the present scarcity and the constant calls we shall be under the necessity of making to enable us to furnish our supplies for the army.
'To illustrate these observations I shall venture at a calculation, and suppose that after the debts due to the state are fully paid, the re- maining certificates will amount to twenty millions of dollars, and that the rate of exchange at which they ought to be paid, taking them col- lectively, is as one for fifty, then say this sum shall be redeemed within ten years, the amount is fifteen thousand pounds annually ; a sum barely equal to the late sinking fund, and less by thirty-five thou- sand pounds than was in circulation on the same footing at the end of the last war, with the advantage of being redeemed in three years less time ; and will any person suppose the credit of this state insufficient for that sum, or that the quantity can cause a depreciation.
Thus have I attempted to shew the cause of our distresses, and to point out a remedy. If I am wrong in the first instance, I am prob- ably so in the last. However it is conceeded on all hands, that in our present situation, something decisive must be done. If a better plan should be proposed, by all means embrace it; if not, and it shall appear to you that the present will fix a standard to our long fluctu- ating cash ; will give it stability and currency; will discharge our debt to the continent, and put us on a' respectful footing there; will ease the people from the burthen of their certificates; will enable them to pay not only their arrears of taxes and debts due to the state,
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but also their debts to and contracts with each other, and thereby enable all to pay their current taxes without distress; if it will not only do this, but enable us in future to purchase our supplies for the army with cash, then you will not hesitate a moment to adopt it. "To linger is to die ;" indecision will be our ruin. While the legislature are wavering and uncertain, the people will be doubtful and sus- picious. We are at that crisis when, unless some effectual remedy is applied, we perish. We are at that crisis when a proper remedy skillfully applied, will perform wonders, and soon raise the body politic to fresh life and vigour.
SCIPIO.
CHATHAM, October 25.
Extract of a letter from West-Point, dated Oct. 19.
"We have no material news at this post. The trifling descent of the Indians, and their possessing themselves of Forts George and Anne, I dare say you have heard; as also of General Greene's leaving us to take the com- mand of the Southern army, and General Heath's suc- ceeding him. The garrison is exceeding healthy and well supplied, so that were the enemy disposed to avail themselves of any advantages which the particular in- formation of Arnold's perfidy has afforded them, I am confident they would not be able."
TRENTON, NOVEMBER 1.
Conclusion of the returns of members of the legisla- ture, received since our last.
Bergen. Council, Theunis Dey, Esq. Assembly, Peter Wilson, Isaach Blanch and Gabriel Ogden, Esqrs.
Cape-May. Council, Jesse Hand, Esq. Assembly, Joseph Hildreth, Jeremiah Eldredge and Matthew Whil- den, Esqrs.
Tuesday sennight the Honourable the Legislature, met at this place, agreeably to the constitution .- At the open- ing of the session the Honourable John Stevens, Esq., was re-chosen Vice-President of the Legislative Council,
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and the Honourable Josiah Hornblower was chosen Speaker of the House of Assembly.
Yesterday at a joint-meeting of the Honourable Leg- islative Council and Assembly His Excellency William Livingston, Esq. was re-elected Governor and Captain- General, for the ensuing year: and John Stevens, jun. Esq. was re-appointed Treasurer.
Two of the prizes to the Saratoga sloop of war, men- tioned in our last, are arrived at Philadelphia, and a third is said to be in Cheaseapeak-Bay.
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Congress have promoted Brigadier Samuel Holden Parsons, of Connecticut, to the rank of Major-General in the army of the United States.
Extract of a letter from Goshen, dated October 26.
"We have been in alarm here since the 20th instant, by occasion of the Indians and Tories making depreda- tions above Albany, &c. but it is now over, as our worthy Governor Clinton has had a bloody engagement with the enemy, and totally defeated them, taking their baggage and six field pieces-many have fallen on both sides .- I have to regret the loss of some brave fellows-we ex- peet further particulars every moment."
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