ROBERT MORRIS.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Office of Finance, January 21st, 1784.
Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose the extract of a letter of the 10th instant, from the Quarter Master General. The latter part of it, referring to a matter which he has long since brought before Congress, I shall not take the liberty of meddling with.
In the former part, he alludes to a letter of the 27th of October last, in which he had stated to me the claims of individuals for damages done by the army. Instances are mentioned peculiarly distressing, and of a nature to require compassion while justice demands for them somewhat more. I did not on the receipt of this letter address Congress on the subject of it, because the making any particular provision for the cases of individuals, is laboring to very little purpose, and by stilling the cries of one only raises the clamors of hundreds. This indeed was the remote cause of the Quarter Master's letter, for the resolution passed in the case of Stephen Moore, had given activity to the complaints of all those who knew of that resolution, and labored under similar grievances. But a stronger reason for not troubling Congress on the subject, was that I had already brought it before them in a letter of the 12th of August last. The following is an extract from that letter.
"There is, however, among the commissioner's questions to me, one which Congress alone can answer in the affirmative; viz. are charges for buildings, fences, wood, &c. damaged or destroyed by Continental troops or militia, to be allowed? Considering the extent and magnitude of this object on the one hand, and on the other, what serious injuries have been sustained by some individuals, the question is equally intricate and important. No answer has yet been given, although not unfrequently agitated, as the journals will testify. Whether Congress will leave it on the present footing, or order such damages to be allowed, or (making a distinction between wanton devastations and necessary impressure) leave the officer to account in one case and the public in another, or finally whether they will take a course between all these and order the accounts to be liquidated and reported, but the balances not to be finally allowed and certificates given, until their further order, are questions which it is in their wisdom to determine by that extensive view of things which they possess."
I shall take the liberty to observe to your Excellency, that claims of this kind become daily more urgent. The people recovering by degrees from their despondency as to the settlement of their old accounts and beginning to feel some hope of eventual payment, and of consequence a firmer reliance on and belief in the justice of the United States, naturally look forward from the measures already taken to those which prudence and equity may still further dictate. Some provision ought certainly to be made; but I must repeat that the object is not only great as to the pecuniary amount; but extensive as to place, persons, claims and circumstances. The caution hitherto preserved was therefore wise, but it can no longer be adhered to, because the idea held up to every applicant, was that after a termination of the war, and not before, provision should be made.