The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 (of 5)
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An augmentation of the revenue being indispensable to the solidity of
the public credit, a more eligible system than that proposed in the
bill, could not, it was believed, be devised. Still further to burden
commerce, would be a hazardous experiment which might afford no real
supplies to the treasury. Until some lights should be derived from
experience, it behoved the legislature to be cautious not to lay such
impositions upon trade as might probably introduce a spirit of
smuggling, which, with a nominal increase, would occasion a real
diminution of revenue. In the opinion of the best judges, the impost
on the mass of foreign merchandise could not safely be carried further
for the present. The extent of the mercantile capital of the United
States would not justify the attempt. Forcible arguments were also
drawn from the policy and the justice of multiplying the subjects of
taxation, and diversifying them by a union of internal with external
objects.
Neither would a direct tax be adviseable. The experience of the world
had proved, that a tax on consumption was less oppressive, and more
productive, than a tax on either property or income. Without
discussing the principles on which the fact was founded, the fact
itself was incontestable, that, by insensible means, much larger sums
might be drawn from any class of men, than could be extracted from
them by open and direct taxes. To the latter system there were still
other objections. The difficulty of carrying it into operation, no
census having yet been taken, would not be inconsiderable; and the
expense of collection through a country thinly settled, would be
enormous. Add to this, that public opinion was believed to be more
decidedly and unequivocally opposed to it, than to a duty on ardent
spirits. North Carolina had expressed her hostility to the one as well
as to the other, and several other states were known to disapprove of
direct taxes. From the real objections which existed against them, and
for other reasons suggested in the report of the secretary, they
ought, it was said, to remain untouched, as a resource when some great
emergency should require an exertion of all the faculties of the
United States.
Against the substitution of a duty on internal negotiations, it was
said, that revenue to any considerable extent could be collected from
them only by means of a stamp act, which was not less obnoxious to
popular resentment than an excise, would be less certainly productive
than the proposed duties, and was, in every respect, less eligible.
The honour, the justice, and the faith of the United States were
pledged, it was said, to that class of creditors for whose claims the
bill under consideration was intended to provide. No means of making
the provision had been suggested, which, on examination, would be
found equally eligible with a duty on ardent spirits. Much of the
public prejudice which appeared in certain parts of the United States
against the measure, was to be ascribed to their hostility to the term
"excise," a term which had been inaccurately applied to the duty in
question. When the law should be carried into operation, it would be
found not to possess those odious qualities which had excited
resentment against a system of excise. In those states where the
collection of a duty on spirits distilled within the country had
become familiar to the people, the same prejudices did not exist. On
the good sense and virtue of the nation they could confidently rely
for acquiescence in a measure which the public exigencies rendered
necessary, which tended to equalize the public burdens, and which in
its execution would not be oppressive.
A motion made by Mr. Jackson, to strike out that section which imposed
a duty on domestic distilled spirits, was negatived by thirty-six to
sixteen; and the bill was carried by thirty-five to twenty-one.
Some days after the passage of this bill, another question was brought
forward, which was understood to involve principles of deep interest
to the government.
[Sidenote: On a national bank.]
The secretary of the treasury had been the uniform advocate of a
national bank. Believing that such an institution would be "of primary
importance to the prosperous administration of the finances; and of
the greatest utility in the operations connected with the support of
public credit," he had earnestly recommended its adoption in the first
general system which he presented to the view of congress; and, at the
present session, had repeated that recommendation in a special report,
containing a copious and perspicuous argument on the policy of the
measure. A bill conforming to the plan he suggested was sent down from
the senate, and was permitted to proceed, unmolested, in the house of
representatives, to the third reading. On the final question, a great,
and, it would seem, an unexpected opposition was made to its passage.
Mr. Madison, Mr. Giles, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Stone spoke against it.
The general utility of banking systems was not admitted, and the
particular bill before the house was censured on its merits; but the
great strength of the argument was directed against the constitutional
authority of congress to pass an act for incorporating a national
bank.
The government of the United States, it was said, was limited; and the
powers which it might legitimately exercise were enumerated in the
constitution itself. In this enumeration, the power now contended for
was not to be found. Not being expressly given, it must be implied
from those which were given, or it could not be vested in the
government. The clauses under which it could be claimed were then
reviewed and critically examined; and it was contended that, on fair
construction, no one of these could be understood to imply so
important a power as that of creating a corporation.
The clause which enables congress to pass all laws necessary and
proper to execute the specified powers, must, according to the natural
and obvious force of the terms and the context, be limited to means
_necessary_ to the _end_ and _incident_ to the _nature_ of the
specified powers. The clause, it was said, was in fact merely
declaratory of what would have resulted by unavoidable implication, as
the appropriate, and as it were technical means of executing those
powers. Some gentlemen observed, that "the true exposition of a
necessary mean to produce a given end was that mean without which the
end could not be produced."
The bill was supported by Mr. Ames, Mr. Sedgwick, Mr. Smith, of South
Carolina, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Gerry, and Mr. Vining.
The utility of banking institutions was said to be demonstrated by
their effects. In all commercial countries they had been resorted to
as an instrument of great efficacy in mercantile transactions; and
even in the United States, their public and private advantages had
been felt and acknowledged.
Respecting the policy of the measure, no well founded doubt could be
entertained; but the objections to the constitutional authority of
congress deserved to be seriously considered.
That the government was limited by the terms of its creation was not
controverted; and that it could exercise only those powers which were
conferred on it by the constitution, was admitted. If, on examination,
that instrument should be found to forbid the passage of the bill, it
must be rejected, though it would be with deep regret that its friends
would suffer such an opportunity of serving their country to escape
for the want of a constitutional power to improve it.
In asserting the authority of the legislature to pass the bill,
gentlemen contended, that incidental as well as express powers must
necessarily belong to every government: and that, when a power is
delegated to effect particular objects, all the known and usual means
of effecting them, must pass as incidental to it. To remove all doubt
on this subject, the constitution of the United States had recognized
the principle, by enabling congress to make all laws which may be
necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested in
the government. They maintained the sound construction of this grant
to be a recognition of an authority in the national legislature, to
employ all the known and usual means for executing the powers vested
in the government. They then took a comprehensive view of those
powers, and contended that a bank was a known and usual instrument by
which several of them were exercised.
After a debate of great length, which was supported on both sides with
ability, and with that ardour which was naturally excited by the
importance attached by each party to the principle in contest, the
question was put, and the bill was carried in the affirmative by a
majority of nineteen voices.
[Sidenote: The opinions of the cabinet on the constitutionality of
this last law.]
The point which had been agitated with so much zeal in the house of
representatives, was examined with equal deliberation by the
executive. The cabinet was divided upon it. The secretary of state,
and the attorney general, conceived that congress had clearly
transcended their constitutional powers; while the secretary of the
treasury, with equal clearness, maintained the opposite opinion. The
advice of each minister, with his reasoning in support of it, was
required in writing, and their arguments were considered by the
President with all that attention which the magnitude of the question,
and the interest taken in it by the opposing parties, so eminently
required. This deliberate investigation of the subject terminated in a
conviction, that the constitution of the United States authorized the
measure;[52] and the sanction of the executive was given to the act.
[Footnote 52: See note, No. V. at the end of the volume.]
[Sidenote: Progress of parties.]
The judgment is so much influenced by the wishes, the affections, and
the general theories of those by whom any political proposition is
decided, that a contrariety of opinion on this great constitutional
question ought to excite no surprise. It must be recollected that the
conflict between the powers of the general and state governments was
coeval with those governments. Even during the war, the preponderance
of the states was obvious; and, in a very few years after peace, the
struggle ended in the utter abasement of the general government. Many
causes concurred to produce a constitution which was deemed more
competent to the preservation of the union, but its adoption was
opposed by great numbers; and in some of the large states especially,
its enemies soon felt and manifested their superiority. The old line
of division was still as strongly marked as ever. Many retained the
opinion that liberty could be endangered only by encroachments upon
the states; and that it was the great duty of patriotism to restrain
the powers of the general government within the narrowest possible
limits.
In the other party, which was also respectable for its numbers, many
were found who had watched the progress of American affairs, and who
sincerely believed that the real danger which threatened the republic
was to be looked for in the undue ascendency of the states. To them it
appeared, that the substantial powers, and the extensive means of
influence, which were retained by the local sovereignties, furnished
them with weapons for aggression which were not easily to be resisted,
and that it behoved all those who were anxious for the happiness of
their country, to guard the equilibrium established in the
constitution, by preserving unimpaired, all the legitimate powers of
the union. These were more confirmed in their sentiments, by observing
the temper already discovered in the legislatures of several states,
respecting the proceedings of congress.
To this great and radical division of opinion, which would necessarily
affect every question on the authority of the national legislature,
other motives were added, which were believed to possess considerable
influence on all measures connected with the finances.
As an inevitable effect of the state of society, the public debt had
greatly accumulated in the middle and northern states, whose
inhabitants had derived, from its rapid appreciation, a proportional
augmentation of their wealth. This circumstance could not fail to
contribute to the complacency with which the plans of the secretary
were viewed by those who had felt their benefit, nor to the irritation
with which they were contemplated by others who had parted with their
claims on the nation. It is not impossible, that personal
considerations also mingled themselves with those which were merely
political.
With so many causes to bias the judgment, it would not have been
wonderful if arguments less plausible than those advanced by either
party had been deemed conclusive on its adversary; nor was it a matter
of surprise that each should have denied to those which were urged in
opposition, the weight to which they were certainly entitled. The
liberal mind which can review them without prejudice, will charge
neither the supporters nor the opponents of the bill with insincerity,
nor with being knowingly actuated by motives which might not have been
avowed.
This measure made a deep impression on many members of the
legislature; and contributed, not inconsiderably, to the complete
organization of those distinct and visible parties, which, in their
long and dubious conflict for power, have since shaken the United
States to their centre.
Among the last acts of the present congress, was an act to augment the
military establishment of the United States.
[Sidenote: War with the Indians.]
The earnest endeavours of the President to give security to the
north-western frontiers, by pacific arrangements, having been entirely
unavailing, it became his duty to employ such other means as were
placed in his hands, for the protection of the country. Confirmed by
all his experience in the opinion that vigorous offensive operations
alone could bring an Indian war to a happy conclusion, he had planned
an expedition against the hostile tribes north-west of the Ohio, as
soon as the impracticability of effecting a treaty with them had been
ascertained.
General Harmar, a veteran of the revolution, who had received his
appointment under the former government, was placed at the head of the
federal troops. On the 30th of September, he marched from fort
Washington with three hundred and twenty regulars. The whole army when
joined by the militia of Pennsylvania and Kentucky amounted to
fourteen hundred and fifty-three men. About the middle of October,
Colonel Harden, who commanded the Kentucky militia, and who had been
also a continental officer of considerable merit, was detached at the
head of six hundred men, chiefly militia, to reconnoitre the ground,
and to ascertain the intentions of the enemy. On his approach, the
Indians set fire to their principal village, and fled with
precipitation to the woods. As the object of the expedition would be
only half accomplished, unless the savages could be brought to action
and defeated, Colonel Harden was again detached at the head of two
hundred and ten men, thirty of whom were regulars. About ten miles
west of Chilicothe, where the main body of the army lay, he was
attacked by a party of Indians. The Pennsylvanians, who composed his
left column, had previously fallen in the rear; and the Kentuckians,
disregarding the exertions of their colonel, and of a few other
officers, fled on the first appearance of an enemy. The small corps of
regulars commanded by Lieutenant Armstrong made a brave resistance.
After twenty-three of them had fallen in the field, the surviving
seven made their escape and rejoined the army.
[Sidenote: Defeat of Harmar.]
Notwithstanding this check, the remaining towns on the Scioto were
reduced to ashes, and the provisions laid up for the winter were
entirely destroyed. This service being accomplished, the army
commenced its march towards fort Washington. Being desirous of wiping
off the disgrace which his arms had sustained, General Harmar halted
about eight miles from Chilicothe, and once more detached Colonel
Harden with orders to find the enemy and bring on an engagement. His
command consisted of three hundred and sixty men, of whom sixty were
regulars commanded by Major Wyllys. Early the next morning, this
detachment reached the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary,
where it was divided into three columns. The left division, commanded
by Colonel Harden in person, crossed the St. Joseph, and proceeded up
its western bank. The centre, consisting of the federal troops, was
led by Major Wyllys up the eastern side of that river; and the right,
under the command of Major M'Millan, marched along a range of heights
which commanded the right flank of the centre division. The columns
had proceeded but a short distance, when each was met by a
considerable body of Indians, and a severe engagement ensued. The
militia retrieved their reputation, and several of their bravest
officers fell. The heights on the right having been, from some cause
not mentioned, unoccupied by the American troops, the savages seized
them early in the action, and attacked the right flank of the centre
with great fury. Although Major Wyllys was among the first who fell,
the battle was maintained by the regulars with spirit, and
considerable execution was done on both sides. At length, the scanty
remnant of this small band, quite overpowered by numbers, was driven
off the ground, leaving fifty of their comrades, exclusive of Major
Wyllys and Lieutenant Farthingham, dead upon the field. The loss
sustained by the militia was also considerable. It amounted to upwards
of one hundred men, among whom were nine officers. After an engagement
of extreme severity, the detachment joined the main army, which
continued its march to fort Washington.
General Harmar, with what propriety it is not easy to discern, claimed
the victory. He conceived, not entirely without reason, that the loss
of a considerable number of men, would be fatal to the Indians,
although a still greater loss should be sustained by the Americans,
because the savages did not possess a population from which they could
replace the warriors who had fallen. The event, however, did not
justify this opinion.
The information respecting this expedition was quickly followed by
intelligence stating the deplorable condition of the frontiers. An
address from the representatives of all the counties of Kentucky, and
those of Virginia bordering on the Ohio, was presented to the
President, praying that the defence of the country might be committed
to militia unmixed with regulars, and that they might immediately be
drawn out to oppose "the exulting foe." To this address, the President
gave a conciliatory answer, but he understood too well the nature of
the service, to yield to the request it contained. Such were his
communications to the legislature, that a regiment was added to the
permanent military establishment, and he was authorized to raise a
body of two thousand men, for six months, and to appoint a major
general, and a brigadier general, to continue in command so long as he
should think their services necessary.
[Sidenote: Adjournment of congress.]
With the 3d of March, 1791, terminated the first congress elected
under the constitution of the United States. The party denominated
federal having prevailed at the elections, a majority of the members
were steadfast friends of the constitution, and were sincerely
desirous of supporting a system they had themselves introduced, and on
the preservation of which, in full health and vigour, they firmly
believed the happiness of their fellow citizens, and the
respectability of the nation, greatly to depend. To organize a
government, to retrieve the national character, to establish a system
of revenue, and to create public credit, were among the arduous duties
which were imposed upon them by the political situation of their
country. With persevering labour, guided by no inconsiderable portion
of virtue and intelligence, these objects were, in a great degree,
accomplished. Out of the measures proposed for their attainment,
questions alike intricate and interesting unavoidably arose. It is not
in the nature of man to discuss such questions without strongly
agitating the passions, and exciting irritations which do not readily
subside. Had it even been the happy and singular lot of America to see
its national legislature assemble uninfluenced by those prejudices
which grew out of the previous divisions of the country, the many
delicate points which they were under the necessity of deciding, could
not have failed to disturb this enviable state of harmony, and to
mingle some share of party spirit with their deliberations. But when
the actual state of the public mind was contemplated, and due weight
was given to the important consideration that, at no very distant day,
a successor to the present chief magistrate must be elected, it was
still less to be hoped that the first congress could pass away,
without producing strong and permanent dispositions in parties, to
impute to each other designs unfriendly to the public happiness. As
yet, however, these imputations did not extend to the President. His
character was held sacred, and the purity of his motives was admitted
by all. Some divisions were understood to have found their way into
the cabinet. It was insinuated that between the secretaries of state
and of the treasury, very serious differences had arisen; but these
high personages were believed, to be equally attached to the
President, who was not suspected of undue partiality to either. If his
assent to the bill for incorporating the national bank produced
discontent, the opponents of that measure seemed disposed to ascribe
his conduct, in that instance, to his judgment, rather than to any
prepossession in favour of the party by whom it was carried. The
opposition, therefore, in congress, to the measures of the government,
seemed to be levelled at the secretary of the treasury, and at the
northern members by whom those measures were generally supported, not
at the President by whom they were approved. By taking this direction,
it made its way into the public mind, without being encountered by
that devoted affection which a great majority of the people felt for
the chief magistrate of the union. In the mean time, the national
prosperity was in a state of rapid progress; and the government was
gaining, though slowly, in the public opinion. But in several of the
state assemblies, especially in the southern division of the
continent, serious evidences of dissatisfaction were exhibited, which
demonstrated the jealousy with which the local sovereignties
contemplated the powers exercised by the federal legislature.
CHAPTER VII.
General St. Clair appointed Commander-in-chief.... The
President makes a tour through the southern states....
Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... Debate on the
bill for apportioning representatives.... Militia law....
Defeat of St. Clair.... Opposition to the increase of the
army.... Report of the Secretary of the Treasury for raising
additional supplies.... Congress adjourns.... Strictures on
the conduct of administration, with a view of parties....
Disagreement between the Secretaries of State and
Treasury.... Letters from General Washington.... Opposition
to the excise law.... President's proclamation....
Insurrection and massacre in the island of St. Domingo....
General Wayne appointed to the command of the army....
Meeting of Congress.... President's speech.... Resolutions
implicating the Secretary of the Treasury rejected....
Congress adjourns.... Progress of the French revolution, and
its effects on parties in the United States.
{1791}
More ample means for the protection of the frontiers having been
placed in the hands of the executive, the immediate attention of the
President was directed to this interesting object.
[Sidenote: General St. Clair appointed commander-in-chief of the
army.]
Major General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory north-west
of the Ohio, was appointed Commander-in-chief of the forces to be
employed in the meditated expedition. This gentleman had served
through the war of the revolution with reputation, though it had never
been his fortune to distinguish himself. The evacuation of Ticonderoga
had indeed, at one time, subjected him to much public censure; but it
was found, upon inquiry, to be unmerited. Other motives, in addition
to the persuasion of his fitness for the service, conduced to his
appointment. With the sword, the olive branch was still to be
tendered; and it was thought adviseable to place them in the same
hands. The governor, having been made officially the negotiator with
the tribes inhabiting the territories over which he presided, being a
military man, acquainted with the country into which the war was to be
carried, possessing considerable influence with the inhabitants of the
frontiers, and being so placed as to superintend the preparations for
the expedition advantageously, seemed to have claims to the station
which were not to be overlooked. It was also a consideration of some
importance, that the high rank he had held in the American army, would
obviate those difficulties in filling the inferior grades with men of
experience, which might certainly be expected, should a person who had
acted in a less elevated station, be selected for the chief command.