The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5)
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After mentioning the intelligence from the army under the command of
General Wayne, and the state of Indian affairs, he again called the
attention of the house of representatives to a subject scarcely less
interesting than a system of defence against external and internal
violence.
"The time," he said, "which has elapsed since the commencement of our
fiscal measures, has developed our pecuniary resources, so as to open
the way for a definitive plan for the redemption of the public debt.
It is believed that the result is such as to encourage congress to
consummate this work without delay. Nothing can more promote the
permanent welfare of the union, and nothing would be more grateful to
our constituents. Indeed, whatever is unfinished of our system of
public credit, can not be benefited by procrastination; and, as far as
may be practicable, we ought to place that credit on grounds which can
not be disturbed, and to prevent that progressive accumulation of debt
which must ultimately endanger all governments."
He referred to subsequent communications for certain circumstances
attending the intercourse of the United States with foreign nations.
"However," he added, "it may not be unseasonable to announce that my
policy in our foreign transactions has been, to cultivate peace with
all the world; to observe treaties with pure and inviolate faith; to
check every deviation from the line of impartiality; to explain what
may have been misapprehended; and correct what may have been injurious
to any nation; and having thus acquired the right, to lose no time in
acquiring the ability, to insist upon justice being done to
ourselves."
In the senate, an answer was reported which contained the following
clause:
"Our anxiety, arising from the licentious and open resistance to the
laws in the western counties of Pennsylvania, has been increased by
the proceedings of certain self-created societies relative to the laws
and administration of the government; proceedings, in our
apprehension, founded in political error, calculated, if not intended,
to disorganize our government, and which, by inspiring delusive hopes
of support, have been instrumental in misleading our fellow citizens
in the scene of insurrection."
The address proceeded to express the most decided approbation of the
conduct of the President in relation to the insurgents; and, after
noticing the different parts of the speech, concluded with saying--
"At a period so momentous in the affairs of nations, the temperate,
just, and firm policy that you have pursued in respect to foreign
powers, has been eminently calculated to promote the great and
essential interest of our country, and has created the fairest title
to the public gratitude and thanks."
To this unequivocal approbation of the policy adopted by the executive
with regard to foreign nations, no objections were made. The clause
respecting democratic societies was seriously opposed; but the party
in favour of the administration had been strengthened in the senate by
recent events, and the address reported by the committee was agreed to
without alteration.
The same spirit did not prevail in the house of representatives. In
that branch of the legislature, the opposition party continued to be
the most powerful, and the respect of their leaders for the person and
character of the chief magistrate was visibly diminishing. His
interference with a favourite system was not forgotten, and the
mission of Mr. Jay still rankled in their bosoms.
The address prepared by the committee, to whom the speech was
referred, omitted to notice those parts which respected self created
societies, the victory of General Wayne, and the policy observed by
the executive in its intercourse with foreign nations. On a motion
being made by Mr. Dayton to amend it, by inserting a clause which
should express the satisfaction of the house at the success of the
army under General Wayne, Mr. Madison said, that it had been the wish
of the committee who framed the address, to avoid the minutia of the
speech: but as a desire was manifested to amplify particular parts, it
might not be amiss to glance at the policy observed towards foreign
nations. He therefore moved to amend the amendment by adding the
words, "solicitous also as we are for the preservation of peace with
all nations, we can not otherwise than warmly approve of _a_ policy in
our foreign transactions, which keeps in view as well the maintenance
of our national rights, as the continuance of that blessing." Mr.
Hillhouse wished the word _your_ to be substituted for the article
_a_, that the answer might point, not to an abstract policy, but to
that of the executive, and thus have a direct application to the
speech. This motion produced a warm discussion, which terminated in a
request that Mr. Madison would withdraw his amendment; the friends of
the administration being of opinion, that it was more eligible to pass
over that part of the speech in silence, than to answer it in terms so
equivocal as those to which alone the house seemed willing to assent.
A proposition was then made by Mr. Fitzsimmons to introduce into the
address, a clause declaring, that "in tracing the origin and progress
of the insurrection, they (the house of representatives) entertain no
doubt that certain self created societies and combinations of men,
careless of consequences, and disregarding truth, by disseminating
suspicions, jealousies, and accusations of the government, have had an
influence in fomenting this daring outrage against the principles of
social order, and the authority of the laws."
This attempt to censure certain organized assemblages of factious
individuals, who, under the imposing garb of watchfulness over
liberty, concealed designs subversive of all those principles which
preserve the order, the peace, and the happiness of society, was
resisted by the whole force of the opposition. A very eloquent and
animated debate ensued, which terminated in the committee, by striking
out the words "self created societies;" forty-seven voting for, and
forty-five against expunging them. The question was resumed in the
house; and, the chairman of the committee being opposed in sentiment
to the speaker, who was now placed in the chair, the majority was
precisely changed, and the words were reinstated. This victory,
however, if it may be termed one, was soon lost. A motion for
confining the censure to societies and combinations within the four
western counties of Pennsylvania and the adjacent country, succeeded
by the casting vote of the speaker, upon which, the friends of the
amendment gave it up, and the address was voted without expressing any
sentiment on the subject.
This triumph over the administration revived, for a moment, the
drooping energies of these pernicious societies. But it was only for a
moment. The agency ascribed to them by the opinion of the public, as
well as of the President, in producing an insurrection which was
generally execrated, had essentially affected them; and while
languishing under this wound, they received a deadly blow from a
quarter whence hostility was least expected.
The remnant of the French convention, rendered desperate by the
ferocious despotism of the Jacobins, and of the sanguinary tyrant who
had made himself their chief; perceiving that the number of victims
who were immolated as his caprice might suggest, instead of satiating,
could only stimulate his appetite for blood, had, at length, sought
for safety by boldly confronting danger; and, succeeding in a
desperate attempt to bring Robespierre to the guillotine, had
terminated his reign of terror. The colossean power of the clubs,
which had been abused to an excess that gives to faithful history the
appearance of fiction, fell with that of their favourite member, and
they sunk into long merited disgrace. The means by which their
political influence had been maintained were wrested from them; and,
in a short time, their meetings were prohibited. Not more certain is
it that the boldest streams must disappear, if the fountains which fed
them be emptied, than was the dissolution of the democratic societies
of America, when the Jacobin clubs were denounced by France. As if
their destinies depended on the same thread, the political death of
the former was the unerring signal for that of the latter; and their
expiring struggles, incapable of deferring their fate, only attested
the reluctance with which they surrendered their much abused power.
Notwithstanding the disagreement between the executive and one branch
of the legislature concerning self created societies, and the policy
observed towards foreign nations, the speech of the President was
treated with marked respect; and the several subjects which it
recommended, engaged the immediate attention of congress. A bill was
passed authorizing the President to station a detachment of militia in
the four western counties of Pennsylvania; provision was made to
compensate those whose property had been destroyed by the insurgents,
should those who had committed the injury be unable to repair it: and
an appropriation exceeding one million one hundred thousand dollars
was made to defray the expenses occasioned by the insurrection.
Many of the difficulties which had occurred in drawing out the militia
were removed, and a bill was introduced to give greater energy to the
militia system generally; but this subject possessed so many intrinsic
difficulties, that the session passed away without effecting any thing
respecting it.
A bill for the gradual redemption of the national debt was more
successful. The President had repeatedly and earnestly recommended to
the legislature the adoption of measures which might effect this
favourite object; but, although that party which had been reproached
with a desire to accumulate debt as a means of subverting the
republican system had uniformly manifested a disposition to carry this
recommendation into effect, their desire had hitherto been opposed by
obstacles they were unable to surmount. Professions of an anxious
solicitude to discharge the national engagements, without providing
the means of actual payment, might gratify those who consider words as
things, but would be justly estimated by men, who, neither condemning
indiscriminately, nor approving blindly, all the measures of
government, expect that, in point of fact, it shall be rightly and
honestly administered. On the friends of the administration,
therefore, it was incumbent to provide real, substantial funds, which
should attest the sincerity of their professions. This provision could
not be made without difficulty. The duty on imported articles, and on
tonnage, though rapidly augmenting, could not, immediately, be
rendered sufficiently productive to meet, alone, the various
exigencies of the treasury, and yield a surplus for the secure
establishment of a permanent fund to redeem the principal of the debt.
Additional sources of revenue must therefore be explored, or the idea
of reducing the debt be abandoned. New taxes are the never failing
sources of discontent to those who pay them, and will ever furnish
weapons against those who impose them, too operative not to be seized
by their antagonists. In a government where popularity is power, it
requires no small degree of patriotism to encounter the odium which,
however urgently required, they seldom fail to excite. Ready faith is
given to the declaration that they are unjust, tyrannical, and
unnecessary; and no inconsiderable degree of firmness is requisite to
persevere in a course attended with so much political hazard. The
opposition made to the internal taxes, which commenced in congress,
had extended itself through the community. Although only the act
imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States had been
resisted by force, yet such a degree of irritation was manifested
against the whole system, as to evince the repugnance with which a
large portion of the people saw it go into operation. The duties on
refined sugars, and manufactured tobacco, especially, were censured in
terms which would authorize an opinion that a defect of power, rather
than of will, to resist the execution of the law, confined some of its
opponents to remonstrances. Nothing could be more unfriendly than this
spirit, to the reduction of the debt.
The reports of the secretary of the treasury having suggested the
several steps which had been taken by congress in the system of
internal taxation, he was justly considered as its author. The
perseverance which marked the character of this officer, gave full
assurance that no clamour would deter him from continuing to recommend
measures which he believed to be essential to the due administration
of the finances. That the establishment of public credit on a sound
basis was all important to the character and prosperity of the United
States, constituted one of those political maxims to which he
invariably adhered; and to effect it completely, seems to have been
among the first objects of his ambition. He had bestowed upon this
favourite subject the most attentive consideration; and while the
legislature was engaged in the discussions of a report made by a
select committee on a resolution moved by Mr. Smith, of South
Carolina, purporting that further provision ought to be made for the
reduction of the debt, addressed a letter to the house of
representatives, through their speaker, informing them that he had
digested and prepared a plan on the basis of the actual revenues, for
the further support of public credit, which he was ready to
communicate.
This comprehensive and valuable report presented the result of his
laborious and useful investigations, on a subject equally intricate
and interesting.
This was the last official act of Colonel Hamilton. The penurious
provision made for those who filled the high executive departments in
the American government, excluded from a long continuance in office
all those whose fortunes were moderate, and whose professional talents
placed a decent independence within their reach. While slandered as
the accumulator of thousands by illicit means, Colonel Hamilton had
wasted in the public service great part of the property acquired by
his previous labours, and had found himself compelled to decide on
retiring from his political station. The accusations brought against
him in the last session of the second congress had postponed the
execution of this design, until opportunity should be afforded for a
more full investigation of his official conduct; but he informed the
President that, on the close of the session, to meet in December,
1793, he should resign his situation in the administration. The events
which accumulated about that time, and which were, he said in a letter
to the President, of a nature to render the continuance of peace in a
considerable degree precarious, deferred his meditated retreat. "I do
not perceive," he added, "that I could voluntarily quit my post at
such a juncture, consistently with considerations either of duty or
character; and therefore, I find myself reluctantly obliged to defer
the offer of my resignation.
"But if any circumstances should have taken place in consequence of
the intimation of an intention to resign, or should otherwise exist,
which serve to render my continuance in office in any degree
inconvenient or ineligible, I beg leave to assure you, sir, that I
should yield to them with all the readiness naturally inspired by an
impatient desire to relinquish a situation, in which, even a momentary
stay is opposed by the strongest personal and family reasons, and
could only be produced by a sense of duty or reputation."
[Sidenote: Resignation of Colonel Hamilton.]
{1795}
Assurances being given by the President, of the pleasure with which
the intelligence, that he would continue at his post through the
crisis, was received, he remained in office until the commencement of
the ensuing year. On the 1st of December, immediately on his return
from the western country, the dangers of domestic insurrection or
foreign war having subsided, he gave notice that he should on the last
day of January give in his resignation.
Seldom has any minister excited the opposite passions of love and hate
in a higher degree than Colonel Hamilton. His talents were too
pre-eminent not to receive from all the tribute of profound respect;
and his integrity and honour as a man, not less than his official
rectitude, though slandered at a distance, were admitted to be
superior to reproach, by those enemies who knew him.
But with respect to his political principles and designs, the most
contradictory opinions were entertained. While one party sincerely
believed his object to be the preservation of the constitution of the
United States in its original purity; the other, with perhaps equal
sincerity, imputed to him the insidious intention of subverting it.
While his friends were persuaded, that as a statesman, he viewed all
foreign nations with an equal eye; his enemies could perceive in his
conduct, only hostility to France and attachment to her rival.
It was his fortune to hold a conspicuous station in times which were
peculiarly tempestuous, and under circumstances peculiarly
unfavourable to the fair action of the judgment. In the midst of
prejudices against the national debt, which had taken deep root, and
had long been nourished, he was called to the head of a department,
whose duty it was to contend with those prejudices, and to offer a
system which, in doing justice to the creditor of the public, might
retrieve the reputation of his country. While the passions were
inflamed by a stern contest between the advocates of a national, and
of state governments, duties were assigned to him, in the execution of
which there were frequent occasions to manifest his devotion to the
former. When a raging fever, caught from that which was desolating
France, and exhibiting some of its symptoms, had seized the public
mind, and reached its understanding, it was unfavourable to his quiet,
and perhaps to his fame, that he remain uninfected by the disease. He
judged the French revolution without prejudice; and had the courage to
predict that it could not terminate in a free and popular government.
Such opinions, at such a time, could not fail to draw a load of
obloquy upon a man whose frankness gave them publicity, and whose
boldness and decision of character insured them an able and steady
support. The suspicions they were calculated to generate, derived
great additional force from the political theories he was understood
to hold. It was known that, in his judgment, the constitution of the
United States was rather chargeable with imbecility, than censurable
for its too great strength; and that the real sources of danger to
American happiness and liberty, were to be found in its want of the
means to effect the objects of its institution;--in its being exposed
to the encroachments of the states,--not in the magnitude of its
powers. Without attempting to conceal these opinions, he declared his
perfect acquiescence in the decision of his country; his hope that the
issue would be fortunate; and his firm determination, in whatever
might depend upon his exertions, to give the experiment the fairest
chance for success. No part of his political conduct has been
perceived, which would inspire doubts of the sincerity of these
declarations. His friends may appeal with confidence to his official
acts, to all his public conduct, for the refutation of those charges
which were made against him while at the head of the treasury
department, and were continued, without interruption, till he ceased
to be the object of jealousy.
In the esteem and good opinion of the President, to whom he was best
known, Colonel Hamilton at all times maintained a high place. While
balancing on the mission to England, and searching for a person to
whom the interesting negotiation with that government should be
confided, the mind of the chief magistrate was directed, among others,
to this gentleman.[30] He carried with him out of office,[31] the same
cordial esteem for his character, and respect for his talents, which
had induced his appointment.
[Footnote 30: The apprehensions entertained by the
opposition that Colonel Hamilton would be appointed on the
embassy to England were extreme. Among the letters to
General Washington, are some from members of each branch of
the legislature, advising against the mission generally, and
dissuading him from the appointment of Colonel Hamilton
particularly, in terms which manifest a real opinion that
the best interests of the nation would be sacrificed by such
an appointment. Colonel Hamilton himself recommended Mr.
Jay.]
[Footnote 31: See note No. X. at the end of the volume.]
[Sidenote: Is succeeded by Mr. Wolcott.]
The vacant office of secretary of the treasury was filled by Mr.
Wolcott, of Connecticut, a gentleman of sound judgment, who was well
versed in its duties. He had served as comptroller for a considerable
time, and in that situation, had been eminently useful to the head of
the department.
The report of the select committee recommended additional objects for
internal taxation, and that the temporary duties already imposed
should be rendered permanent. The opposition made to this important
part of the system was so ardent, and so persevering, that, though the
measure was taken up early in the session, the bill did not pass the
house of representatives until late in February. Not only were the
taxes proposed by the friends of the administration encountered
successively by popular objections, urged with all the vehemence of
passion, and zeal of conviction, but it was with extreme difficulty
that the duties on sugar refined, and tobacco manufactured, within the
United States, could be rendered permanent. When gentlemen were urged
to produce a substitute for the system they opposed, a direct tax was
mentioned with approbation; but no disposition was shown to incur the
responsibility of becoming the patrons of such a measure. At length,
by the most persevering exertions of the federal party, the bill was
carried through the house; and thus was that system adopted, which, if
its operations shall not be disturbed, and if no great accumulations
of debt be made, will, in a few years, discharge all the engagements
of the United States.
On the third of March, this important session was ended. Although the
party hostile to the administration had obtained a small majority in
one branch of the legislature, several circumstances had occurred to
give great weight to the recommendations of the President. Among these
may be reckoned the victory obtained by General Wayne, and the
suppression of the western insurrection. In some points, however,
which he had pressed with earnestness, his sentiments did not prevail.
One of these was a bill introduced into the senate for preserving
peace with the Indians, by protecting them from the intrusions and
incursions of the whites.
From the commencement of his administration, the President had
reviewed this subject with great interest, and had permitted scarcely
a session of congress to pass away, without pressing it on the
attention of the legislature. It had been mentioned in his speech at
the commencement of the present session, and had been further enforced
by a message accompanying a report made upon it by the secretary of
war. The following humane sentiments, extracted from that report, are
characteristic of the general views of the administration.
"It seems that our own experience would demonstrate the propriety of
endeavouring to preserve a pacific conduct in preference to a hostile
one with the Indian tribes. The United States can get nothing by an
Indian war; but they risk men, money, and reputation. As we are more
powerful and more enlightened than they are, there is a responsibility
of national character that we should treat them with kindness, and
even with liberality."
The plan suggested in this report was, to add to those arrangements
respecting trade, which were indispensable to the preservation of
peace, a chain of garrisoned posts within the territory of the
Indians, provided their assent to the measure should be obtained; and
to subject all those who should trespass on their lands to martial
law. A bill founded on this report passed the senate, but was lost, in
the house of representatives, by a small majority.
[Sidenote: Resignation of General Knox.]
This report preceded the resignation of the secretary of war but a few
days. This valuable officer, too, was driven from the service of the
public, by the scantiness of the compensation allowed him.
On the 28th of December, 1794, he addressed a letter to the President
giving him official notice that, with the year, his services as
secretary for the department of war would cease. This resolution had
long before been verbally communicated.