/^ t IE 255 V23 I Copy 1 SPEECH or Ao""-. r> MR. VANDERPOEL, OF NEW YORK, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, ON THE BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE SETTLEMENT -.1* n OF CERTAIN REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS / CITY OF WASHINGTON: PRINTED BY FRANCIS PRESTON BLAIR; 1834. REVOIiUTIO\ARY CL.AIiUS. SPEECH OF MR. VANDERPOEL OF NEW YORK. In the House of Representativfn, February "2^, 1834, on ihc bill "to piovide for the settlement of certain Revolutionary Claims " Mr. Speaker: I have examined the details, re- flected upon the principle, and have endeavored to ascertain what will be the certain consequences of the passage of the bill upon your table; nnd after bestowing upon it that attention which is alike due to the amount it would draw from your Treasury, and to those goorl and gallunt men for whom it purports to piw.de, I feel it an incum- bent duty most strenuously to oppose its passage. Let no one inftr, sir, froni the course I am about to take, that I am insensble to the claims of the gHlIanl and veteran officers of the revolution. No, sir: 1 would freely award to them not only the justice, but the bounty of my country: but in the discharge of the important duties that here de- volve upon us, we shoidd remember, that there is a point be3^ond which liberality degenerates in- to prodigality, and ceases to be a virtue. In the halls of legislation, sir, the generous impidses of our nature should always hive the checks and balances which sober judgment and reason im- pose. The purse of the nation is confided to our care, arid if, on the one iiand, a I'iggardly and par- simonious spirit is unworthy of the generous and hign-minded Peopie whom we have the honor to represent, so on the other, a system of waste and extravagance, resulting from even the kindest feelings of our nature, would indicate a betrayal of our high trust. Our constituents have given us the power to dispense justice to all who have just claims upon the countiy; but I cannot find, sir, in the power of attorney under which we act, an authority to vote away the treasure of the People in indiscriminate largesses and enormous bounties, or by any imprudent act of legislatiori to provoke upon the Treasury the vast frauds and peculafons which the passage of the bili upon your table would, in my estimation, most inevita- bly occasion. Should the bill upon your table become a law, said Mr. V., a million, or more probably two millions of dollars, would be drawn from your Treasury under its piovisions. This, to be sure, said Mr. V., should not prevent its passage, pro- vided the subjects of it have a just or equitable claim upon the nation; but it should, at all events. inculcate a spirit of caution, and provoke to it the strictest scrutiny of gentlemen; an I, above ;ill, it should guard against that precipitancy in its passage through the House, with which it was here rushed through the Committee of the Whole. Its total escape ot criticism and comment in its passage through this first ordeal, is not at all sur- piising, when we consider how totally subordi- nate has been every other subject, in point of in- terest, to that great question, which has so unre- mittingly engaged the attention of the House during this session. The Bank, and the matters connected with the Bank, have constituted a mammoth interest, which seems to have swallow- ed up .all solicitude about other, though impor- tant concerns, and it would not be wonderful, if, amid all the crits of panic and distress which have been so unccMsingly rung through oin* ears, our accustomed vigilance in relation to other sub- jects, and other interests, had somewhat relaxed, it is only upon this principle, sir, that I can ac- count for the passage ot a bill through the commit- tee so important in amount, and as a general bill, so novel in principle as the one upon your table, without at all breaking that silence which seems to be so rare in this hall. It is not, however, too late to arrest it, if obnoxious to the objections which it shall now be my task to expose. In order to imderstand the provisions of the bill, it becomes necessary to advert to the origin ef the obligations which it recognises, and which it prop ises to discharge. It proceeds up- on the principle, that we owe the officers of the revolution who are embraced in its provisions, & debt, which at this late day we are under a mo- ral obligati m to pay, augmented too by the inte- rest of half a century. The research and reflec- tion which I have bestowed upon the subject have satisfied my mind, sir, that the debts proposed to be cancelled are of too equivocal a character, at this late day, to justify our exposure to the enor- mous frauds, imp.)sitions, and speculations, to which the bili upon your table will most assured- ly lead. The foundation of the claims for which the bill proposes to provide, rests in several resolves of the revolutionary Congress, which the com- mittee, who reported this bill, tell us, have crea-^ ted obligations, that h&re not yet been fully (M**- charged. In order to understand all the points involved in the discussion upon which I propose to enter, it becomes indispensably nece^-sary to re- cur to the resolves or promises which are said to have created the indebtedness, which the bill pro- poses 1o provide for. On the 15th (lay of May, 1778, Congress, by a ref.oive, that will be found in the journals of the continental Congress, provided that all the ofR- ctrs of the continental lin ', who should rcii\ain in service to the end of the w.ar, should receive ^;even yeai".s' half pay, after the conclu'ion of the war. On the 3(1 d^ible, and gives to them, sir, not the moderate amounts which those received who applied when there w^is "a host of living witnesses" to detect them, if they were impostors— but princely for- tunes, sir. In answer to the position I have urged, that the act of 1828 ought to be regarded as a satisfaction of the claims intended to be covered by the bill under discussion, it will doubtless be sud that this act proposes only to include those men who did not receive their commutation certificates; and that the act of 1828 was designed to provide for the very men vrho received their commutation certificates, and that those who may receiva the benefits of this act will also be entitled to participate in the benefits of the act of IS-B. Yes, sir; that they will be entitled to receive from five to forty thousand dol- lars under this bill, and also the benefits of the act of 1828!! I grant, sir, that the Secreta- ry of the Treasury' has decided, that the evi- sure, fair and substantial, and answers the spirit dence of having received a commutation certi of the law; but there are not wanting instances, ficate under the resolve of 178.^ at once en- sir, in which the applicant or his agent draws up, tith s the applicant to the benefits of the act in the form of an affidavit, the dreams of some of 1828, hecMi^i that fad proves thixt he comes good and worthy octogenarian, who is just grop- within the resolves of October 1780, specified m ing through the dim twilight of second childhood, I the first section of the act of 1828; but this by no and acioss whose broken and clouded memory oc- casionally flit the names of Washington, and La- fayette, and Greene, and Burgoyne, and Corp.wal- lis; but whose revolutionniy reminiscences, be- yond this, are but as "the fleeting vision of an early dream." The vagaries of the good old man can always find abundant vouchers, in the .shape of certificates and affidavits to his credibility. Yes, sir; the village parson certifies to his perfect integrity — his next door neighbor seconds it — the neighboring j ustice follows suit — the county court, which is to lend its.se.al and final certificate, is, by this time, convinced that all is light, and freely renders the necessary auth.enlication; and on comes a most imposing volume of papers gotten up, secundera artem, and potent enough to satisfy the conscience of the Secretary here, 'diough he were the veriest sceptic that ever doubted orquih- bled!! This, sir, is no caricature. No, sir; it is cold reality, as too manj' instances have already demonstrated. Why then extend these gener.al systems, when they strve as the sui'e incentives to innumerable frauds' Do not suppose, from tliese remarks, that I :im opposed to the various pension laws in favor of the .soldiers of the revolution, which now adorn your statute book. No, sir; I regard them as but the just evidences of a nation's means proves, that Congress did not design this act of 1828 as a full satisfaction of all claims founded on these resolves, wiiether the claimants had received their commutation certificates or not. The first section of the act provides " /Aa^ cuck surviving officer, lohn was entitled to ha'f pay under the resolve of October, 1780," shall be enti- tled to full pay for life, to commence in March, 1826. 11 does not provide " that each surviving oflicer, who has received his coinnmtntion ccrtifi.- cnte," &c. shall so receive his half pay for life. This act, be it remembereJ, was an answer to a petition, not for bounty, but for payment of a strict debt; a debt tooj as I shall undertake to show, vastly more clear and indisputable than tliosii that are embraced by the bill under conside- ration. If Congress h\d intended merely to pro- vide for those who had received their certificates of commutation, and who had sustained a loss from their depreciation, the language of the act of 1828 would have been more limited and guarded. I am well aw.are, sir, it will be contended, that the memorialists who procur5d t'le pass.age of the bill of 1828, based their claims for relief upon other grounds; that they proceeded chiefly on the principle, that though the} did accept their 8. commutation under the resolves of 1783, yet that they were paid in certificates that were almost worthless, and that the wet of 1828 was merely passed to indemnify them for such loss by depre- ciation. That this, sir, was net the sole end and purpose of the act of 1828, is evident from the fact, that some officers who retained their certificates trll they were funded, did not suffer much, if any de- preciation. When the act of 1828 was piis.ed, it was found impossible to satisfy the just ciaims> of all by the adoption of dftVrent standards ot bounty. Some Iiad suffered, because they liad been p:»id in certificates that were almost as worthless as the rags out of which the paper up- on which they were written was manufactured; others, who had retained them till they were funded in 1790, did not sustain much loss. This number, to be sure, was very inconsiderable, as the officers were poor, and were obliged to sell of their commutatien under the resolves of 1783, were to be p.tid immediately "in money op secu- rities at 6 per cent, per annum." They did not even receive their certificates till 1784. Requisi- tions, imder the government of the confederation, were made upon the States, but they were too poor to comply, and Congress had no means of enforcing' a compliance. The cei'tificates were not funded till 1790, and the pinching' wants of a vast majority of the officers would not permit them 1o retain them for six long years. They sold them therefore, for a mere song. Their coun- try promised them bread, sir, but they received only a stone. Compare then, sir, their claims upon your justice, so clearly and indubitably made out, with the dark siale and dubious claims pro- pose d to be provided for by the bill now under consideration. The first sir, most unequivocally and satisfactorily established; the second, resting^ only for their support upon the fallible recollec- them before that time, in order to procure some j tion of aged and imbecile witnesses, and barred little means to enable them to enter upon some new pursuits in life, that might secure comfort to themselves and to their families. Perhaps a f>rw, (and very few indeed, as I have urged) did not receive tlieir commiitaticm certificates — yet no discrimination is made between those who retain- ed and those who sold their certificates — all, all are equally entiti ;d to the benefits of the act of 1828, and that act should therefore, sir, be re- garded as a second compromise or commulatiori act, whose operations are as just and equ'Al as was practicable, consideiing the insuperable difficul- ty of adopting any uniform rule at this late day, for settling tlie accounts of the revolution, tliat will not be somewhat unequal in its operations. Let me ask, sir, what did those realize who ac too by repeated acts of limitation. It may not be amiss here, sir, to inquire what are these acts of limitation to which I have so fre- quently alluded. In November, 1785, and in July, , 1787, limitation resolves were passed, which in- cluded all revolutionai y claims founded upon the resohes of 1780 and 1783, and required that they should be presented within a short peried. On tlie 27th day of March, 1792, from a laudable spirit of indulgence and liberalily to the claimants, an act was passed suspcndin.u: these resolves for two yeais; on the 12th day of February, 1793, was passed the last act of limitation, extending the time for presenting these claims for the term of two years more. I put it, then, to gentlemen, shotdd not these various acts of limitation receive tually received their comnnitation certificates, some respect at our hands, especially when we and sold them? Those, I mean, who applied for them before this eleventh hour, and befoic the witnesses tiiat could disprove their right to them, if impostors, had desccmled to the tomb? Why, sir, so comparatively worthless were they before the funding act of 1790, that a capt.»in, who for his five years full pay, was entitled to two thousand four hundred dollars, actually received only $480. Tliis vast difference, produced as it was, not by the fmilt of the officers, but by the consider the antiquity of these claims, and their very doubtful character? As between individuals, statutes of limitation are no longer considered odiovi'; — no, sir, the interposition of the statute is no longer considered the rooue's plea. These acts are now regarded as salutary shields to sup- ply that loss oF evidence, which time ever works. The, wisdom of modern courts has rescued them from the odium with which prejudice and miscon- ception had once invested them. Only six years embarrassmehtof the Governmer.t, presents now I are i;ec; ssary to raise the presumption of pay- as fair and imposing a claim upon our justice, as do the claims (or which this bill is designed to provide; claims which have slumbered for more than half a centuiy, have been barred by re- peated acts of limitation; claims, wliich perhaps never had any existence in the j)erformance of the adequate ttrm of service, and which now, when the tongues that coukl contradict them are palsied by death, and the records that could falsity them are eonyumed b}' t!ie ilames, are lak- ed from the tomb b}/ ihs too Itivis/i nnd llberil ment as between individuals. How much more necessary these limitation acts as a shield in favor of Government, vas.tly more exposed, as it neces- sarily must be, to imposition, than are individuals. It will perhaps be said, that Government is not sueabie, that indlvicUials cannot enforce their claims agaiiist it through the medium of the judi- cial tribunals of the country. That argument, sir, has no force on this occasion, when we recur to the fact that these repeated acts, by which tht^ li- mitation statutes were extcr.ded, were so many notices and invitations to thesrj officers to come spirit wliidi noin scents to prevail. The cl;iim of those wlio suffered from the d'- 1 forward and exhibit their claims. It was preciation of their certificates, loan equ.dly f^- 1 saying to them, "Now is the accepted time" — ■vorable c(;nviclf ration with those whom )ou pro- 1 " Come now. and justice will be done to you." pose to mykc rich liy the blH upon yosu- table is And when we recur to the very important fact mucli slrengihei^ed, wlienuc consider, how total- that the last :sct of hml'atlon gj.ve them grace till ]y the Governn^ent failed in the performance of \79j, em!)racing a period of five year.s after the is stipv.lations with them. Those who accepted funding act was passed, and after the credit of tiie couHtry was restored, a period within which every commutation certificate was worth the full amount which its face purported to represent , and within which, it is most natural to suppose, that all would have applied who were honestly entitled to them; a determination now, sir, at this late day, to re- pose oui selves upon these various acts of limita- tion, would not, in the least deg'ree, savour of hardship or injustice. But, sir, the justice and expediency, if not the absolute necessity, of in- terposing this defence against these stale claims, is indicated by other cogent considerations. The revolutionary records, that would enable us to de- tect frauds and impositions under the proposed bill, have been thrice exposed to fire; most, or at least many of the muster-rolls of the revolution, have been consumed by the^e repeated conflagra- tions. I have examined the records in the Trea- sury Department, and have ascertained that these casualties have rendered the proofs of settlement with, the ofllicers so imperfect, that they do not now furnish sufficient evidence to show us satis- factorily who were, or wiio were not, settled with as commutation officers, and who did, or did not, receive their certificates; and hence, to repel the presumption that the applicant did receive his cer- tificate at the time when he ought to have applied for it, it is not enough to say to us now, "Go to the records, sir, and there j ou will not find my name." If those records, could, sir, like the Phoenix, be made to rise from their .ish' s, to which the flames have reduced them, the answer to this strong presumption of settlement, flowing from the lapse of time, would be more satisficlory. It should he borne in mind, sir, that the bill up- on your table proposes to provide, not only for the surviving ofiiccrs who did not receive their commutation certificates, but also for the heirs and representatives of the dead. This provision, in favor of heirs, will expose you still more to im- position. Most of the applications under the proposed act would pioceed from the representa- tives of the dead. They, sir, can apply, without exposing themselves to the imputation of fraudu- lent motives. They have perhaps, heard their gallant ancestor tell of his gallant services in the revolution; they may have heard him say, that he thought his services ought to have secured him his commutation, though he knew, th^t technical- ly And stT\c{]y he was not entitled to it. He is gathered to his fathers. Those who come after him I'.ear of your acts of bounty and liberality. Thty h.ar of your gi\ ing fifteen thousand dol- lars to one, and twenty thousand to another; the temptation to apply to you becomes too strong to be resisted. If you pass this bill, they will come in hordes, sir, to your Treasury Department, with the mere scintilla of evidence which the bill pro- poses to recognise as sufficient; success will in- crease their efforts; opulence is at once showered upon them; when their ancestor, h^d he survived, could not, pcradventure, with his own oath, hvLVH brought his ca^^e within the resolve of March, 1783, and woidd not h.'vve jeoparded his fair and hard-f-arned fame by venturing an application. Out of his oun mouth could we have condemned him. It is well, sir, that v.e should here be re- minded, t!i;'.t the mobt eloquent and efRc'ent ad- vocates of the bill of 1828, as to those who had been p}.id in worthless certificates conceded that although the losses they sustained by reason of the fault and embarrassmeut of the government, were fnorally and conscientiously debts against us; yet that it was dangerous, nay, wholly inadmissible, to recognise this principle of strict indebtedness af^ ter these repeated acts of limitation, and. after this great lapse of time, because, it would tend to open the accounts of the revolutian in favor of the heirs of the dead, as well as the living. Such a principle, was, in their estimation too dangerous to be sanctioned, and though those good and high-minded men, whose memorial induced the passage of the act of 1828, sohcited not the boun- ty but the mere justice of the government, yet Congress, from an apprehension of the conse- quences of the very pi-inciple which this bill con- tains, the principle of opening the accounts of the revolution in favor of the heirs of the dead, as well as the living, did not seem disposed to recognise thisprnciple of strict debt. Mr. Webster, who was one of the ablest and most ardent advocates of the bill of 1828, in a speech, inferior in force and ability to none of the many able efforts of that very distinguished gentleman, used the following language: "For myself, I ani free to say, that if it were a case between individual and individuals, I think the officers would be entitled to relief in a court of equity. The conscience of chancery would deal with this case as with other cases of hard bar- gains; of advantages obtained by means of in- equality of situation, of acknowledged debts (Compounded from necessity or compound- ed without satisfaction; but although such would be my \\tvf of this claim, as between man and man, I do not place my vote for this bill on that ground . / see the consequence of admitting the claim on the ground of strict right. I see at once, that on that ground the heirs of the dead j vjould claim, as well as the living. 1 know it is altogether impossible to open the accounts of the ' revolution, and to tiiink of daing justice to every I body. Much of suffering there necessarily was, 1 that can never be paid for. The honorable mem- j ber from New York (Mr. Van Buren) has stated \ what I think the true ground of the bill, /regard [it as an act of discreet and careful bounty, drawn forth by meritorious services and by personal nc- ' cessities." j Now, it would seem., that the committee that reported the bill upon your table apprehend no j danger from a recognition of the principle of ; strict debt, payable with half a century's interest; j payable too not only to survivors, but to the I Iteirs and representatives of the de.nd; a principle j which a few years ago was deemed to be so dan- ; geroiis by the warmest friends and most enlight- I ened and eloquent advocates of the interests of I the officers of the revolution. We should also I recollect, sir, that the provision in this bill in fa- i vor of the heirs of deceased officers, is novel as a j generyl principle in our legislation. None of I your general laws designed ta reward or compen- sate revolutionary services, contain such a provi- sion. They seem to have all proceeded mainly, ! if not solely, from a solicitude to strew with com- 10 fort and abundance the last days of those who yet linger amonf? us. The bill upon your table, sir, would seem to be grounded in a much more enlarged benevolence; for it embodies the novel' general principle of dispensing its blessings to the fortunate descendants of those who did not apply for this boon in their life time, because they in all probability well knew that tliey were not entitled to it. But we will doubtless be told, sir, that Con- gress has, in various instances, recognised the principle of this bill; that within the last two or three years it has passed several private bills granting this commutation, with 50 j'ears inte- rest, to particular individuals. But, sir, it be- comes material to inquire, when and how this practice originated. Sir, it originated in the ina- bility of a particu'ar class of officers for lack of that amount of evidence whicli was required by the Secretary of the Treasury to bring their cases within the provisions of tlie act of 1828. In 1829 I find none of these private acts providing for in- dividual cases. All seemed then to acquiesce in the act of 1828. In 1830 we are removed two years from the act of 1828, and in this year Con- gress passed several acts, bringing particular in- dividuals within the act of 1828. This was per- haps well enough; but furtlier than this Congress ought not to have gone. Towards tlie close of this session, however. Congress seemed to have become more liberal, and ppssefl three or four bills, granting to particular irtdividuals tiie five years commutation pay; but wilhout interest. It had not yet nerve enough to go the length now proposed; but in 18.'U, it began to give, with 50 years' interest, making an interest amount com- pared to wliich, the mere five years' pay is but a ti'ifle. The principle of liberality seems to have acquired strength as it progressed. Yes, sir, like fabled fame, ^* acquirit vires eundo." Yes, Con- gress, in 1832, it seems, did nothesi'ate to pass a number of private laws giving to a number of offi- cers and their heirs, who had, at best, «s I have attempted to show, but doubtful claims, more than ten times as much as was ever realized by those distinguished and gallant men who applied for their due before their claims became stale, and who, in 1828, petitioned you in strains so touching. It will now be said, yir, that it is too late to ob- ject to the principle contained in the private acts to which I have alluded; that inasmuch as we have legislated in favor of individuals, our mott) must now be "onward," and that to save ourselves the trouble of legislating for individual cases, we nmst erect one general manufictory, in which all these claims may be fabricated. I deny the soundness; of this reasoning Sir, if a dangerous principle has been recognised in par- ticular cases, such cases cannot operate as binding and authoritative precedents in favor of t'ne pro- posed extension of this principle. It is much bet- ter th;it we recede, than go further. We have Hot yet *' slept in so far," as to be obliged to yield to the desperate sentiment, " thit to return is more difficult than to g"o o'er;" and if, sir, we c: the cause of the revolution, also promised the officcis of her State 1 ne half I^av for life. Now, sir, d" the bill upon your table should pass, a portion of the officers of the Vir- ginia State line would first receive the benefits of the act of 1828, granting full pay for life— .?eco«rf, the halfpay for lite which Virgini;> iiromised theni; and then the enormous amount proposed to be gi- ven by the bill upon your table! This bold asser- tion, as to consequences, may startle some gentle- men; but the facts I am about to detail will amply jubtifv it. It is to ihe first Virginia regiment, commanded legislative branches of the Government were to be by Colonel George Gibson, thU I would now call found some of those who ha-', been their compa- the paiticular attention of the House. This regi- nionsinarms, who had winteied and summered ment was included in the promise ot \ irgmia ot with them, who had been the sharers oftheir toils, half pay for hfe to the officers of her State hue, their s. rvices, and tluir glory !— brothers, whose but was, by an act of the l^egislature ot \irgima fellow-feeling for them would" have warmed their in 1777, transferred from the Si ate to the conti- nental service, in order to supply the place ot the ninth Virginia continental regir.ent, which had been captured at tlie battle of Germantown. Af- ter this transfer, it coutinufd in the continental service till the close of the war. Sone years af- ter the close of the war, cert n, the amount of the- judg- ments which they have obtained against the State of Virginia, and wiiich are now unsatisfied. Now, sir, idihough these very officers of Gib- son's regiment were paid over one hundred thoushnd dollars with the fi-uits of that act, al- though tl>ey prosecuted Virginia as belonging to her State line, yet they would not onlv receive the enormous sums intended to be distributed by the pass:ige of the bill under considtration, but would also be entitled ti the benefits of the act of 1828; forthe Secret.ary of the Treasury and ci War have given such a construction to the art of 1828, as to bring within its provisions the officers of this first Virginia ngimcnt, commanded by George Gibson. N.ay more. Congress itself has recognised this regimeiit as a continental rpg-i- ment, by the passage of i)rivate acts m 1832, granting commutation with interest, to the offi- cers of this regiment and their representatives. I need onlv refer to the case of William Vauters, (vvl-.ich may be found in the n ports of the commit- tees of 1832,) whose heirs by a spf-cial .act of Con- gress of that year, receivedfive ye.ars comnnita- tion pay with interest. Vimters, as ajipears from the report of the committee, belonged to Gib- son's ri-giment; his heirs have thus participated in the large fruits of the judgment against Virginia, on the ground that they bclongea to the'statu line; and now, under the provisions of this bill, the Secretary of the Tre.isury would be compelled to extend to them j7s rich be'nefits; for his mouth wo dd now be hermetically scaled after the con- struction he has given to the act of 1828, and af- ter the practical construction which Congress has given it, by extending the continental h^lf pay, with interest, to some of th.e officers and tiieir heirs, of Gibson's regiment. The Virginia me- morial for indemnity against the claims of these supernumerary officers of her state line, which was presented to Congress in 1832, expressly states, "tliat the regiment of Gibson contin- ued in service to the end of the war; that it has been re cognised as a continental regiment, both by Congress and the other departments of tiie Government; that its stirviving officers .are now re- ceiving pay from the United States, under the provisions of the act of Congress of May 15, 1828; that payments had sdready then been made to the of- ficers and the representatives of officers of this re- giment to ihe amount of $40,000; that judgments had been rendered on sim lar claims ag.ainst the Commonwealth to the amount of about $27,C00; and that the claims of the officers of the regiment who had not prosecuted, amounted to $'31,200 more, make an aggregate of more than one hun- dred thousand dollars." Now sir, afiei receiving from Virginia this enor- mous sum, and after receiving from the Unit -d btates their full pay f )r life, under the ac^ of 1828, what IS proposed to be given to them by the bill under discussion? An amount indeed, that should induce us to pause! The following statement exhibits the amount which the bill will .secure to each of^i'^er of the Continental line: To a Miijor General, five years' pay, $9,960 00 Interest, 29,954 00 Aggi-egate, §39,914 00 To a Brigadier General, $30,056 25 Toa Colonel of Infiniry, 18,033 75 To a Lieutenant Colonel, 14,427 00 Ti) a Major of Infantry, 12,022 50 To a Captain ot Infantry, 9,618 00 lo a Lieutenant of Inf^uitr}', 6,412 00 To an Ensign of do. 4,809 00 These are indeed pretty round and literal sums in these times of ''panic end distress." The offi- cers of the first and second Virginia regiments would receive double the above amounts. Though the second regiment, commanded by D.abney and IJrent, was not transferred totiie Conti- nentil line by an act of the Legislature, yet it marched with die first, served thioughout the war with the first regiment, and was alike Continent- id in its service with the first. It is the service, not the name, that gives the claim to half pay. Time then, sir, instead of weakening and dimin- ishing a claim, according to the notions of the committee that reported this bill, would secta to ijive it twenty fold efficacy and strength. In pro- portion as it becomes stale and rusty, it seems to magnify and strengthen. Whut, I again ..sk, did thoae who were paid in a depreciated curreicy re- ceive' I h.ave already told you, sir, that a Cap- tun, who disposed of his certificate beiore the funding act, received only $480. To all Captains who come in under this act, you propose to give $9,618; to those of the first and second Virginia regiments, including what they have already re- ceived from the avails of your act of 1832, more THAiv TWKNTT TBOusAJin Doi.LARs!! What rank injustice, sir. to those v ho w.>re paid in valueless certificates, and who did not live to see these hal- cyon days of unrestrained munificence!! Are not their spirits here, si', to rebuke us; to remind us of our partiality to the favored objects of tins bill; to tell us o' the ni.^''gardly pittance we extendi d to them in their life time, and of the uns])aring hand with which we arc now about to lavish our trea- sure upon those surviving officers, and the heirs of tliose officers, who may not lieretofore have re- ceived, because most probably, they were not en- titled to their coimtry's bounty. On what principle sir, is this most liberal allow- ance of more than fifty years' interest defensi- ble? The obligali( n to pay interest, it keems, was not felt when you first began t^) legislate in these particular cases. It cannot, sir, be allowed on any principle of justice or equity. Congress passed various acts of limitation, that were public invitations for these clairjants to come forth immediately and present their claims. It was saying to them "Come now, government is ready to pay wiiat it has promised you." This, sir, was in the nature of a tender to the creditor, which always arrests the accumulation of interest. Do the o'ljecls of this bill pretend tliat they have ever before presented ihtir cliims, and that go- 13 vernmcnt either neglected or refused to pay the demands contemplated by the bill? Thib cannot be, it is not pretended. Sir, on the one side, there has been jiii uiiilorm readiness to pay; re- peated notices to come and present tlicse claims On the other, a totd neglect to exhibit llicir claims, until they come to vis marred by tiie rust and weakened Ly the delay uf half a century. Every principle of law that would govern such a case between individual and individual miht.itei against the allowance of interest. An ofTer of a party to pay a demand arrests, the progress of in- terest; and when sir, the creditor is by the terms of the contract to present the demand witliin a given time, as was the case here, if we regard the various acts of limitation and the vary terms of the resolves ot 1783, liis own act or omission to present it shall not secure advantage to him and prejudice to his debtor. It i* a sound principle both of law and ethics, sir, that no man shall be permitted to take advantage of his own act or omission. Every principle of law and every dic- tate of sound reason forbid the allowance of inte- rest to tlie objects ofthis bill; and are we not, sir, most i)eremptorally called upon to apply those considerations, those analogies and rules that MO\tld govern Individuals in cases, where tiie interest is nearly foin--fo!d greater than the principle'' Let a becoming spirit of economy answer. A word more, sir, about the delalls of the bill and its extreme liberality to its most favored objects. Afttr determining that the Secretary shall decide the cases upon principles of *' equity anrf_/'us/ice," three subdivisions are superadded, which strike me as rather anomolou?; for they are rules not to require evidence, but to dixpense with evidence. They throw the burthen of proof, not upon the claimant, but upon the party upon w hich the claim Is made. By them, sir, imagina- tion and presumption are employed to perform the office of strict proof. The following sir, are those very liberal and indulgent rules which the bill prcposes to establlsli for the benefit of the claimant : Ist. "It being established, that an ofTiccr of the continental line was in service as such, on the 21st of October 1780, and until the new arrange- ment of the army provided for by t!ie resolu- tion of that date was effected, he shall be pre- sumed, unless he was then retained In active ser- vice, to have been reduced by that arrangement, and therefore be entitled to half pay for life, or the commutation in lieu thereof. " 2d "A continental officer proved to have re- mainei in service, aftei the arrangement of the army under said resolution of October, 1780, shall be presumed to huve served to the end of the war, or to have retired, entith d to hi. If pay for life, unless it appear that he died in the service, or resigned, or was dismissed, or voluntarily aban- doned an actual command In the service of the United States." '.. 3d "A continental officer, who died during the war, and within three months after he Is prov- ed to have been with his command, shall be pre- sumed to have died in the service, unless the con- trary appears." C.»n it, sir, require any long train of reasoning to shew the inexpediency of these provi.'-ions, ad the infinite frauds and impostlons to which they will give rise? You my, s r, "prove- this f icr, and a most cop.clusive inff rence in ) our favor shall residt from it;" though the evid<. nee is by no meais satisfactory, yi t it is all that we will require from you. Prov. , sir, that \ on served till after October, 1780, and you shall be deemt d to have ser\ed till the end of the war, unless tiie contra- ry is yliovvn. Slio'.vn by whom, sir? By a gov- ernment, most of whose revolutionary records have been consumed by the flames, .\lany offi- cers resigned between October, 1780, and Nov. 1783, of whose resignation there is not now a vestige of evidence among the archives snd re- cords of your government. This system of per- .sump lion and Intindment in (avor of the claim- ants, is very similir to )Our maximum and mint- mum principles In your tariff laws; and I had, in- deed, sir, supposed that we had had a sufficient trial of the effect of fictions and preiumptions in your impost laws, to have given them their eter- nal quietus. I would now ask, s'r, why these relaxations and presumptions in flivor of offict'rs, and not as to the common soldiers? The latter, when he ap- plies for a pension, is tied down to strict and most conclusive proof of his revolutionary services; !:nd many a fiiithfid soldier is daily subjected to tile sad mortification i n of eulogy, but the memory of the poor and gallant soldier, who was perhaps the instrument that executed the n;)ble d.ed of daring, receives not even the tribute of a passing notice!! Why, then, all this relaxation of proof in favor of the officer, and this extreme rigor in regard to tke soldier? And, sir, th s discrimination in favor of the offi- cer appears.much more lujjust, when we recollect, that from the very nature of things, it is much easier n of thfm is as indelible as is the name of the wife of his bosom, and the features of his children, whom he so fondly loves. Thtir names and their feats can never be forgotten by him, until he forgets the common dangers they sufllered, the common haidships they endured, and tlie common tri- umphs they achieved. How much more difficult, sir, tlie task of the common soldier, when he is called upon, to ad- duce the evidence of his revolutionary services. He was only one of fifiy, sixty, or eighty obscure men. He was humble in rank, and probably made no such lasting impression opon his comrades in arms, as to induce any of them now to remem- ber him, after ihe lapse of more than fifty years. And a vast majority of his fellow soldurs, where are they now? Lei the sure and dreadful rava- ges, which death always makes in half a centu- rj', answer! Why, 1 again ask, this indidgence to the offict r, and this severe rigor as to the soldier? It must be remembered, sir, that the bill upon your table proposes to transfer very important du- ties from the legislative to one of the executive departments of the government. l,et then those gentlemen who are so diligent and sharp- scenttd in their efforts to detect, and guard against executive encroachment — who perceive "spectres and hydras d i*e" in every new delegation of pow- er to the Executive — let them see to it, that this transfer of jurisdiction is not too readily made. I call upon them, to carry into practice here the principles that thi y have already so repeatedly and so vehemently promulgated on this floor. The Secretary of the Tieasury does not crave this new power. No, sir, he does notiravethc onerous and unpleasant duties you propose by this bill to impose upon him. He must know sir, that, with all the vigilance h^ could exercise, the bill upon your table, with iis veiy liberal provi- sions, would compel him to grant thousands to applicants, who have no fair and conscientious claim to the bounty of their country. Is it not then, all things being considered, far better, far safer, to look into each particular case as it comes before us, than to publish to the world the joud and general invitation tc Impostors, which is so emphaically involved iu the provisions of this bill? As a general principle, sir, my immediate con- stituten's liave perhaps, as little interest against the passage of bills of this description, as liave the constituents of any gentleman on this floor. Kxtend your pension, your revolutionary com- pensation system as much as you ple.\se, pass act uponact,pile Ossa upon Pelion, increase the annual expenses of your government millions and mil- lions, frustrate the design of y>)ur memorable compromise bill, and a very great proportion of my constituents would derive much consolation in the ihcrea ,ed impetus it would impart to their shuttles ar,d iheir spindles. But standing here, sir.asone of the judges, between tkose who are to be benefit* d by this bill,and the great body of the American People, 1 cannot approve of i's tmpre- cedenlly liber.il and novel provisions. If. howev- er, any gentleman shall succeed in convincing a majority of this House, that the fears of conse- quences I have expressed are unfounded, and that the bill ought to become a law, my regret, at wh;>tl miy deem a violition of correct principle in the passage of the b 11 will be very much di- minished by Lv recolletion of the kind spirit, which dictated this aberration from precedent and princi[)le. Mr. Speaker, I have done. I have felt myself called upon to say thus much against the passage of the bill upon your table. The duty I have discharged is unpleasant. I know it is an un- popular one. If left to the impulses of my own feelings and sympathies, my voice would not have been raised against this bill; for who that breathes the air of freedom, does not equally appreciate the gal ant services and revere the glorious me- mory of the veterans of the revolution! We can not, we should not, even as legislators, by too stern a stoicism, freeze up all the avenues to our hearts against the little remnant of that gal- lant band who yet dwell among us, and who, like the leaves of autumn, are daily dropping away. But, to the honor (-f our country be it .said, no American Belisarius is now, in the decline of life, doomed to go about begging for a penny. Am- ple provision has already been made for hini. Yes, he descends the down-hill of life with his country's gratitude to cheer, and his country's , bounty to comfort him. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 011 801 880 1 f LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ■jm 1 011 801 880 1 Holllnger Corp. pH8.5