sylvania, on the present critical situation of affairs on the frontiers: the members, Mr. Carroll, Mr. Witherspoon, and Mr. Duane. A memorial from the general assembly of Pennsylvania, was read, respecting the payment of interest on money lent to the United States, and the settlement and payment of debts due to the inhabitants of that state by the United States. Ordered, That it be referred to a grand committee, consisting of a member from each state. TUESDAY, September 3, 1782. On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Cornell, Mr. Osgood, Mr. Izard, Mr. Bland, and Mr. Duane, appointed to consider and report the most just and practicable means of reducing the expenditures of the United States in the several departments: Resolved, That all resolutions heretofore passed respecting the pay and emoluments of the field-commissary of military stores, his deputies, conductors and clerks, be, and they are hereby repealed. Resolved, That the pay and emoluments of the field-commissary of military stores shall be 50 dollars per month, two rations per day, forage for two saddle horses, and one bat horse. He shall also be allowed 6 2-3 dollars per month for a servant, for whom he shall be entitled to draw one ration per day and the clothing allowed to a private soldier: That the pay and emoluments of a deputy field-commissary of military stores for the southern army, shall be 40 dollars per month, two rations per day, forage for two saddle horses and one bat horse He shall also be allowed 6 2-3 dollars per month for a servant, for whom he shall be entitled to draw one ration per day and the clothing allowed to a private soldier. Resolved, That the pay and emoluments of the deputy field-commissary of military stores at West-Point, shall be 40 dollars per month and two rations per day. That the pay and emoluments of the conductors or clerks shall be 30 dollars per month and one ration per day. Resolved, That there shall be one field-commissary of military stores and two conductors or clerks, for the main army in the field; one deputy fieldcommissary of military stores and two conductors or clerks for West-Point; one deputy field-commissary of military stores and two conductors or clerks, for the southern army; and one conductor for the post at Fort-Pitt; who shall be appointed by the commanding officer of the artillery, with the approbation of the commander in chief; excepting for the southern army, in which department the appointment shall be made by the commanding-officer of artillery there, with the approbation of the commanding-officer of that department. On motion of Mr. Ramsay, seconded by Mr. Few, Resolved, That the reasonable expenses of the post-master general, or of some trusty person in his department appointed by him, in travelling to and from Georgia on the business of the post-office, shall be defrayed by the United States. The committee, consisting of Mr. Jones, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Osgood, to whom was referred a letter of the 24th of June last from Thomas Edison, delivered in a report; Whereupon, On motion of Mr. Clark, seconded by Mr. Carroll, Resolved, That the superintendent of finance be, and he is hereby, directed to advance to Thomas Edison, at the rate of 500 dollars per annum, to be paid monthly, to commence the 23d day of April last, in compliance with the resolution of that day, including what he may have received in consequence thereof; the said allowance to continue so long as the, same may be necessary for his support, not exceeding one year. On motion of Mr. Osgood, seconded by Mr. Williamson, Whereas the Magnifique, a 74 gun ship belonging to the fleet of his most Christian majesty, commanded by the marquis de Vaudreuil, has been lately lost by accident in the harbor of Boston, and Congress are desirous of testifying on this occasion to his majesty, the sense they entertain of his generous exertions in behalf of the United States: Resolved, That the agent of marine be, and he is hereby, instructed to present the America, a 74 gun ship, in the name of the United States, to the chevalier de la Luzerne, for the service of his most Christian majesty. WEDNESDAY, September 4, 1782. On the report of a grand committee, consisting of a member from each state: Resolved, That 1,200,000 dollars be quotaed on the states, as absolutely and immediately necessary for payment of the interest of the public debt; and that it be recommended to the legislatures of the respective states, to lay such taxes as shall appear to them most proper and effectual for immediately raising their quota of the above sum. Resolved, That the money so raised in each state shall be applied towards paying the interest due on certificates issued from the loan-office of such state, and other liquidated debts of the United States contracted therein, before any part thereof shall be paid into the public treasury. Ordered, That the foregoing resolutions be referred to the grand committee to assess and report the quota of each state. THURSDAY, September 5, 1782. Mr. Jones, a delegate for Virginia, attended, and took his seat. The committee, consisting of Mr. Gilman, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. Condict, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Dyer, appointed pursuant to the resolution of the 17th of June, 1782, to enquire fully into the department of the post-office, reported the result of their enquiries, which was read. On motion of Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Atlee, Resolved, That the commander in chief be authorized to employ that part of the Pennsylvania line now in that state, in such manner as he shall judge most conducive to the public good, the resolutions of the 20th of February and 19th of March, 1781, notwithstanding. On motion of Mr. Rutledge, seconded by Mr. Witherspoon, Ordered, That copies of the estimates of the domestic debt of the United States, laid before Congress by the superintendent of finance, and an extract of his letter on that subject, be transmitted to the several states with the requisition of yesterday. The order of the day being called for, to take into further consideration the report of the grand committee, and the following proposition, part of the report, being under debate, viz. "That it is their opinion that the western lands, if ceded to the United States, might contribute towards a fund for paying the debt of these states." A motion was made by Mr. Bland, seconded by Mr. Lee, to add, “and therefore resolved, that Congress do accept the cession of territory made to them, by the state of Virginia, by their act bearing date the 2d of January, 1781, by the state of New-York on the 1st of March, 1781, and by the state of Connecticut in October, 1780, with the conditions therein named." This amendment being objected to as out of order, and the debate turning on a question of order: A motion was made by Mr. Duane, seconded by Mr. M'Kean, " that the further consideration of the report of the grand committee be postponed till tomorrow, to make way for the report of a committee on a letter from gen. Washington." And on the question for postponing, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Lee, So it was resolved in the affirmative. The report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Bland, Mr. Duane and Mr. Cornell, to whom was referred a letter of the 26th of August, from the secretary at war, and also a letter from general Washington, relative to a cartel, was taken into consideration and some progress made therein. FRIDAY, September 6, 1782. Congress resumed the consideration of the report of the committee relative to a cartel; and after debate, the farther consideration thereof was postponed till Monday next. Congress resumed the consideration of the report of the grand committee, and the following paragraph being read: "That it is their opinion that the western lands, if ceded to the United States, might contribute towards a fund for paying the debts of these states." A motion was made by Mr. Rutledge, seconded by Mr. Lee, to amend it, by inserting after "United States," the following words, "by the several states to which they belong." A motion was made by Mr. Dyer, seconded by Mr. McKean, to amend the amendment, by striking out the words " to which they belong," and in lieu thereof, inserting "claiming the same." A motion was then made by Mr. Witherspoon, seconded by Mr. Howell, to postpone the consideration of the paragraph with the amendments, and to take into consideration the following set of resolutions: "That if the several states claiming the exclusive property of the western lands, would make cessions of them to the United States, agreeably to the recommendation of Congress of the 6th of September and the resolution of the 10th of October, 1780, it would be an important fund for the discharge of the national debt: That, therefore, it be recommended to those states which have made no cessions, as soon as possible to take the above recommendation into consideration and determine thereon: That it be recommended to those states which have cessions not entirely agreeably to the above recommendation to reconsider them, and send the result to the United States in Congress assembled: That in case of a compliance with the above recommendation, no determinations of the particular states relating to private property of lands within those cessions, shall be reversed or altered without their consent, unless in such cases as the 9th article of the confederation shall render it necessary.” On the question to agree to this last motion, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Rutledge, So it was resolved in the affirmative. The resolutions being then read: on motion of Mr. Clark, MONDAY, September 9, 1782. The committee, consisting of Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Clark and Mr. Dyer, appointed to confer with the superintendent of finance, relative to the drawing bills of exchange for the payment of interest, report, "That there are no funds in Europe for the payment of bills for interest due on loan-office certificates since the first day of March last; that there are no bills of exchange in the loan office of any of the states, except those provided for the payment of interest due up to the first of March last; and that should any be issued from the officers at this time, for interest due since that time, it must be to the injury of those claimants for whose benefit they were intended;" Whereupon, Resolved, That the superintendent of finance be, and he is hereby directed to give immediate orders to the commissioners of the loan offices in the several states, to issue no bills of exchange for the interest which hath or may hereafter become due on loan-office certificates since the first day of March last. Congress resumed the consideration of the report of the committee, on the report of the secretary at war of the 26th of August, and the letter of the 28th of the same month from the commander in chief; the report of the committee being as follows: "That your committee have carefully revised the report of the commissioners authorized by the commander in chief in pursuance of the act of Congress of the 18th of February last, to treat with the commissioners of Sir Henry Clinton and admiral Digby, then commanding the British land and naval forces at New-York, upon a general cartel for subsisting, safe-keeping, exchanging and better treating all land and naval prisoners of war: That in the opinion of your committee, the propositions and claims on the part of the United States in the course of the said negotiation, were founded in equity and justified on principles obviously dictated by the circumstances of the war: That there is too much reason to ascribe the inefficacy of the convention, to the predetermination of sir Henry Clinton to regain his captive soldiers, without regard to the enormous debt which had accrued and is daily increasing for their subsistence : That contending with an enemy whose chief confidence is placed in her riches and naval strength, and who is now disabled by the loss of a veteran army which cannot easily be replaced, the offers of the British general and admiral of a pecuniary composition for the large balance of prisoners of war, and of an exchange of a sailor for a soldier, were equally inadmissible; since a cartel acceded to on such grounds would render our victories fruitless, prolong the calamities of war, discourage the ardor of our troops, and endanger our national safety: That the attempts of the British commanders to enflame the minds of the marine prisoners in their power, and detach them from their allegiance, because an exchange on terms so detrimental to the public safety, could not be adopted, appear to your committee to be insidious and dishonorable. With respect to the information contained in the extract of sir Guy Carleton and admiral Digby's letter of the 2d of August, referred to your committee, "that after Mr. Laurens was discharged, he declared that he considered lord Cornwallis as freed from his parole;" your committee conceive it sufficient to observe, that no intimation having been received of such a fact except from the said extract, and Congress having given no directions to that purpose, the consideration thereof would, in their opinion, be premature, and ought therefore to be deferred: That in the opinion of your committee, chaplains, surgeons or hospital officers who shall be captured in future, may not be considered as prisoners of war; but that the condition offered by sir Guy Carleton to reconcile the unequal proposition of exchanging sailors for soldiers, namely, "that the former shall be at liberty to serve the moment they are released, but the latter shall not serve in nor against the United States for one year," is by no means satisfactory; for not to urge that the captive seamen are in general private citizens employed in the pursuit of commerce, and not as the proposition implies, attached to any public service: the facility with which British soldiers might be exchanged for the West-India garrisons, and the injury our ally might sustain by their operating against his possessions, are sufficient reasons to disprove the equity of the condition: Your committee beg leave to add, that in their opinion the commission to be given on the part of the British commanders in chief, of the land as well as naval forces, for concluding a general cartel in pursuance of the late act of Congress, ought to express that it is derived from or founded upon the ultimate authority of the king of Great-Britain, so that if a cartel should be established, it may not be considered as the unauthoritative act of an individual, destitute of a binding force on the British nation. A construction which your committee have the greatest reason to believe was given by the British ministry to a former agreement for the exchange of prisoners when sir William Howe commanded in America. Your committee are the rather induced to recommend this precaution, because it seems probable that engagements may be taken in the proposed negotiation for securing a part of the large balance which is due to the United States on account of the subsistence of British prisoners. If this remark deserves attention, it is the opinion of your committee that the powers of the commander in chief, for treating of and establishing a general cartel for the exchange of prisoners, either by himself or commissioners, should be granted by letters patent under the seal of the United States: Your committee cannot refrain from reminding Congress of the great weight of expense which is thrown upon the United States by the subsistence of so many thousand prisoners of war, for which the enemy constantly refuse to make a reasonable provision; and that in the opinion of your committee, the commander in chief ought to be instructed to remonstrate against the inhumanity and injustice of this procedure, and to insist in the most decided terms on reasonable satisfaction; and that if these, like former representations, should produce no effect, it will be high time to take measures, however disagreeable, for diminishing a burthen which is become intolerable." Whereupon, Resolved, That Congress approve the preceding report, and that it shall serve as an instruction to the commander in chief in executing the |