III.—PRESENT CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY NO REASON AGAINST PAYMENT OF JUST DEBTS.
It is sometimes suggested, that, even assuming the meritorious character of these claims, yet, in the present condition of the country, they ought to be postponed. Looking at the practical consequences of this suggestion, it will be found, that, though plausible in form, it is fatal in substance. Any postponement must inevitably throw these claims into direct competition with those now accumulating on account of losses during the Rebellion, having in their favor the swelling sympathies of our time. It is not unjust to human nature, if the Committee say that the distant in time, like the distant in space, is too often out of mind. If the earlier claims are just, they should not be exposed to the hazards of any such competition, when feeling will be stronger than reason. From the probability of future claims, whose shadows already commence, the argument is strengthened for the immediate satisfaction of those now existing, especially when we consider their character and origin.
The resources of the people are tasked to put down the Rebellion which Slavery has aroused. Let nothing be stinted. But there is another duty not to be forgotten. The just debts of the Republic must be paid, to the last dollar. Here, also, nothing must be stinted; and the glory of the one will be kindred to the glory of the other. The Republic will have new title to love at home and to honor abroad, when with one hand it overcomes the Rebellion now menacing its existence, and with the other does justice to ancient petitioners, long neglected, constituting the only remaining creditors left to us from the War of Independence.
STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION.
Therefore, putting aside all preliminary objections from alleged antiquity, from the character of the actual possessors, or from the present condition of the country, the Committee insist that the present obligations of the United States must be determined according to principles of justice and the facts of the case. The hearing now is as if there had been no lapse of time since the obligations accrued, and as if no war now existed to task the country.
Is the money justly due? To answer this question, the subject must be considered in detail, under several heads.
First. Claims of citizens of the United States against France, founded on spoliations of our commerce, as seen in their origin and history.
Secondly. Counter claims of France, founded on treaty stipulations and services rendered in the War of Independence, also as seen in their origin and history.
Thirdly. The Convention of 1800 and the reciprocal release of the two Governments, by which the “individual” claims of the petitioners were treated as a set-off to the “national” claims of France.