I have lately employed an accountant, the son of our banker, to form complete books of our accounts, to be sent to Congress. They are not yet ready. When they are, I shall send them by the first safe opportunity. In the meantime, I may just mention some particulars of our disbursements. Great quantities of clothing, arms, ammunition, and naval stores, sent from time to time; payment of bills from Mr Bingham, one hundred thousand livres; Congress bills in favor of Haywood & Co. above two hundred thousand; advanced to Mr Ross, about twenty thousand pounds sterling; paid Congress drafts in favor of returned officers, ninetythree thousand and eighty livres; to our prisoners in England, and after their escape to help them home, and to other Americans here in distress, a great sum; I cannot at present say how much; supplies to Mr Hodge for fitting out Captain Cunningham, very considerable; for the freight of ships to carry over the supplies, great sums; to Mr William Lee, and Mr Izard, five thousand five hundred pounds sterling; and for fitting the frigates Raleigh, Alfred, Boston, Providence, Alliance, Ranger, &c. I imagine not less than sixty or seventy thousand livres each, taken one with another; and for the maintenance of the English prisoners, I believe, when I get in all the accounts, I shall find one hundred thousand livres not sufficient, having already paid above sixtyfive thousand on that article. And now the drafts of the Treasurer of the loans, coming very fast upon me, the anxiety I have suffered, and the distress of mind lest I should not be able to pay them, has for a long time been very great indeed.
To apply again to this Court for money for a particular purpose, which they had already over and over again provided for and furnished us, was extremely awkward; I therefore repeated the general applications, which we had made when together, for aids of money, and received the general answers, that the expense of government for the navy was so great, that at present it was exceedingly difficult to furnish the necessary supplies. That France, by sending a fleet to America, obliged the enemy to divide their forces, and left them so weak on the continent, as to aid us by lessening our expense, if it could not by giving us money, &c. &c. and I was asked if we did not receive money from Spain? I know indeed of some money received from thence, and I have heard of more, but know not how much, Mr Arthur Lee, as Minister for Spain, having taken to himself all the management of that affair, and will account to Congress. I only understand, that there is none of it left to assist in paying Congress bills. I at length obtained, as abovementioned, the King's bon for payment of the interest of three millions, if I could borrow it in Holland, or elsewhere, but though two eminent houses in Amsterdam have undertaken it, and had hopes of success, they have both lately written to me, that the great demands of money for Germany and for England had raised interest above our limits, and that the successes of the English in Georgia and St Lucia, and in destroying the French trade, with the supposed divisions in Congress, all much magnified by the British Minister, and the pressing application to borrow by several of our States separately, had made the monied people doubtful of our stability, as well as our ability to repay what might be lent us, and that it was necessary to wait a more favorable moment for proceeding with our loan.
In this situation, I have been applied to by Mr William Lee, and lately through our banker, by Mr Izard, for more money for their expenses, and I am told there is much anger against me for declining to furnish them, and that I am charged with disobeying an order of Congress,[14] and with cruelly attempting to distress gentlemen, who are in the service of their country. They have indeed produced to me a resolve of Congress, empowering them to draw on the Commissioners in France for their expenses at foreign Courts; and doubtless Congress, when that resolve was made, intended to enable us to pay those drafts; but as that has not been done, and the gentlemen (except Mr Lee for a few weeks) have not incurred any expense at foreign Courts, and if they had, the five thousand five hundred guineas, received by them in about nine months, seemed an ample provision for it, and as both of them might command money from England, I do not conceive that I disobeyed an order of Congress, and that if I did, the circumstances will excuse it; and I could have no intention to distress them, because I must know it is out of my power, as their private fortunes and credit will enable them at all times to pay their own expenses.
In short, the dreadful consequence of ruin to our public credit, both in America and Europe, that must attend protesting a single Congress draft for interest after our funds were out, would have weighed with me against the payment of more money to those gentlemen, if the demand had otherwise been well founded. I am, however, in the judgment of Congress: and if I have done amiss, must submit dutifully to their censure. Thanks to God, I have this last week got over the difficulty, so far as relates to the bills, which will all be punctually paid; but if the Navy Board sends more ships here to be fitted, or the Congress continue to draw for the payment of other debts, the ships will be disappointed, and I shall probably be made a bankrupt, unless funds are at the same time sent over to discharge such demands.
With regard to the fitting out of ships, receiving and disposing of cargoes, and purchasing of supplies, I beg leave to mention, that besides my being wholly unacquainted with such business, the distance I am from the ports renders my having anything to do with it extremely inconvenient. Commercial agents have indeed been appointed by Mr William Lee, but they and the captains are continually writing for my opinion or orders, or leave to do this or that, by which much time is lost to them, and much of mine taken up to little purpose, from my ignorance. I see clearly, however, that many of the captains are exorbitant in their demands, and in some cases I think those demands are too easily complied with by the agents, perhaps because the commissions are in proportion to the expense. I wish, therefore, the Congress would appoint the consuls they have a right to appoint by the treaty, and put into their hands all that sort of employment. I have in my desk, I suppose, not less than fifty applications from different ports, praying the appointment, and offering to serve gratis for the honor of it, and the advantage it gives in trade; but I imagine that if consuls are appointed, they will be of our own people from America, who, if they should make fortunes abroad, might return with them to their country.
The commissions demanded by the agents seem to me in some cases very high. For instance, Mr Schweighauser, in a late account, charges five per cent on the simple delivery of the tobaccos to the officer of the Farmers-General in the port, and by that means makes the commission on the delivery of the two last cargoes amount to about six hundred and thirty pounds sterling. As there was no sale in the case, he has, in order to calculate the commission, valued the tobacco at ninety livres the hundred weight, whereas it was, by our contract with the Farmers, to be delivered at about forty livres. I got a friend, who was going upon change, to inquire among the merchants what was the custom in such cases of delivery. I send enclosed the result he has given me of his inquiries. In consequence, I have refused to pay the commission of five per cent on this article; and I know not why it was, as is said, agreed with him at the time of his appointment, that he should have five per cent on his transactions, if the custom is only two per cent, as by my information.
I have mentioned above the applications of separate States to borrow money in Europe, on which I beg leave to remark, that when the General Congress are endeavoring to obtain a loan, these separate attempts interfere, and are extremely inconvenient, especially where some of the agents are empowered to offer a higher interest, and some have powers in that respect unlimited. We have likewise lately had applications from three several States to this Court, to be furnished with great quantities of arms, ammunition, and clothing, or with money upon credit to buy them; and from one State to be supplied with naval stores and ships of war. These agents, finding that they had not interest to obtain such grants, have severally applied to me, and seem to think it my duty, as Minister for the United States, to support and enforce their particular demands. I have endeavored to do so, but I find the Ministers do not like these separate applications, and seem to think that they should properly come only through Congress, to whom the several States in such cases ought first to make known their wants, and then the Congress could instruct their Minister accordingly. This would save the King's Ministers a good deal of trouble, and the several States the expense of these particular agents; concerning whom I would add a little remark, that we have in America, too readily, in various instances, given faith to the pretensions of strangers from Europe, and who offer their services as persons who have powerful friends, and great interest in their own country, and by that means obtain contracts, orders, or commissions, to procure what we want, and who, when they come here, are totally unknown, and have no other credit but what such commissions give them, or if known, the commissions do not add so much to their credit as they diminish that of their employers.
I have received two letters from a Frenchman, settled in one of the ports of Barbary, offering himself to act as our Minister with the Emperor, with whom he pretended to be intimate, and acquainting me that his Imperial Majesty wondered we had never sent to thank him for being the first power on this side of the Atlantic that had acknowledged our independence, and opened his ports to us; advising that we should send the Emperor a present. On inquiry at the office in whose department Africa is included, I learnt the character of this man to be such, that it was not safe to have any correspondence with him, and therefore I did not answer his letters. I suppose Congress has received the memorial we presented to this Court respecting the Barbary States, and requesting the King's good offices with them, agreeable to the treaty; and also the answer, expressing the King's readiness to perform those good offices whenever the Congress should send us instructions, and make provision for the necessary presents;[15] or if those papers have not yet got to hand, they will be found among the copies carried over by Mr Adams, and therefore I only mention them by way of remembrance. Whenever a treaty with the Emperor is intended, I suppose some of our naval stores will be an acceptable present, and the expectation of continued supplies of such stores, a powerful motive for entering into and continuing a friendship.
I should send you copies of several other memorials and public papers; but as Mr Adams goes in the same ship, and has the whole of our transactions during his time, it is not so necessary by this vessel. The disposition of this nation in general continues friendly towards us and our cause, and I do not see the least diminution of it, except among the West India merchants and planters, whose losses have rendered them a little discontented. Spain has been long acting as a mediator, but arming all the time most vigorously. Her naval force is now very great indeed, and as her last proposition of a long truce, in which America should be included and treated as independent in fact, though not expressly acknowledged as such, has been lately rejected by England, it is now thought, that her open junction with France in the war is not far distant.
The Commissioners here have a power in general terms to treat of peace, friendship, and commerce with European States, but I apprehend this is scarce explicit enough to authorise me to treat of such a truce, if the proposition should again come upon the tapis. I therefore wish the Congress to consider of it, and give such powers as may be necessary to whom they may think proper, that, if a favorable opportunity of making an advantageous treaty should offer, it may not be missed.