The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume V Part 16

"It has also been a.s.serted, that America will be led from motives of interest, to give the preference in trade to this country, because we can supply her with manufactures cheaper than she can raise them or purchase them from others.

"But a commercial alliance is already ratified, greatly injurious to the trade of Great Britain, and should France succeed in supporting American independence, no one can doubt but other treaties, yet more injurious, will be added; and as to the ability of America to manufacture, she possesses, or can produce a greater variety of raw materials, than any other country on the globe. When she shall have a separate and distinct interest of her own to pursue, her views will be enlarged, her policy exerted to her own benefit, and her interest instead of being united with, will become not only different from, but opposite to that of Great Britain. She will readily perceive, that manufactures are the great foundation of commerce, that commerce is the great means of acquiring wealth, and that wealth is necessary to her own safety. With these interesting prospects before her, it is impossible to conceive, that she will not exert her capacity to promote manufactures and commerce. She will see it to be clearly her interest not only to manufacture for herself but others. Laws will be made granting bounties to encourage it, and duties will be laid to discourage or prohibit foreign importations. By these measures her manufactures will increase, her commerce will be extended; and feeling the benefits of them as they rise, her industry will be excited, until she shall not only supply her own wants, but those of Great Britain herself, with all the manufactures made with her own materials. The nature of commerce is roving; she has been at different periods in possession of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and the Venetians; Germany and France lately enjoyed her, and supplied Great Britain with their manufactures. Great Britain at present folds her in her arms."

Surely it was never intended that any American should read this pamphlet, it contains so many arguments and motives for perseverance in our righteous and glorious cause. It is astonishing, however, that, instead of stimulating England to pursue their unjust and inglorious enterprise, it does not convince all of the impracticability of it, and induce them to make peace.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, June 20th, 1780.

Sir,

Last evening I received the letter, an extract of which I have the honor to enclose. It is from Mr Gerry, a member of Congress, who has been a member of their Treasury Board from the beginning of the year 1776.[5]

[5] See this letter above, dated May 5th, 1780, p. 52.

It is much to be regretted, that the Congress did not publish their resolution to pay off the loan office certificates, according to the value of money, at the time of their being respectively issued, with their resolutions of the 18th of March; because this I think would have prevented the alarm, that has been spread in Europe. It will be found, that almost all the interest that European merchants or others have in our funds, lies in these certificates, and that almost all the paper bills now in possession of their factors in America, have been received within a few months; immediately before the 18th of March, and consequently received at a depreciation of forty for one, at least, perhaps at a much greater.

Although some Europeans may have considerable sums in loan office certificates, yet I have reason to believe, that the whole will be found much less than is imagined. They have realized their property generally as they went along. Some may have purchased land, others have purchased bills of exchange, others have purchased the produce of the country, which they have exported to St Eustatia, to the French West India Islands, and to Europe.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.

Translation.

Versailles, June 21st, 1780.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write me on the 16th of this month, and also the extract of the letter addressed to you from Boston, dated the 26th of April.

From this it appears, that the a.s.sembly of Ma.s.sachusetts has determined to adopt the resolution of Congress, fixing the value of the paper money at forty for one in specie. On reading that resolution, I was persuaded, that it had no other object than that of restoring the value of the paper money by lessening its quant.i.ty, and that in consequence of that operation the paper not brought in would take its course according to the circ.u.mstances, that would give it a greater or less degree of credit. What confirmed me in this opinion, was the liberty given to the possessors of the paper money to carry it to the treasury of their State, or to keep it in their own possession.

But from the information I have since received, and the letter, which you have been pleased to communicate to me, I have reason to believe, that it is the intention of Congress to maintain the paper money invariably at the exchange of forty for one, and to settle on that footing all the paper money, which has been thrown into circulation, in order to reduce insensibly the two hundred millions of dollars, for which it is indebted, to five millions.

I will not presume, Sir, to criticise upon this operation, because I have no right to examine or comment upon the internal arrangements, which Congress may consider as just and profitable; and moreover I readily agree, that there may be some situations so critical as to force the best regulated and best established governments to adopt extraordinary measures to repair their finances, and put them in a condition to answer the public expenses; and this I am persuaded has been the princ.i.p.al reason, that induced Congress to depreciate the money, which they themselves have emitted.

But while I admit, Sir, that that a.s.sembly might have recourse to the expedient abovementioned in order to remove their load of debt, I am far from agreeing, that it is just, or agreeable to the ordinary course of things to extend the effect to strangers, as well as to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, I think it ought to be confined to Americans, and that an exception ought to be made in favor of strangers, or at least, that some means ought to be devised to indemnify them, for the losses they may suffer by the general laws.

In order to make you sensible of the truth of this observation, I will only remark, Sir, that the Americans alone ought to support the expense, which is occasioned by the defence of their liberty, and that they ought to consider the depreciation of their paper money, only as an impost which ought to fall upon themselves, as the paper money was at first established only to relieve them from the necessity of paying taxes. I will only add, that the French, if they are obliged to submit to the reduction proposed by Congress, will find themselves victims of their zeal, and I may say of the rashness, with which they exposed themselves in furnishing the Americans with arms, ammunition, and clothing; and in a word, with all things of the first necessity, of which the Americans at the time stood in need. You will agree with me, Sir, that this is not what the subjects of the King ought to expect, and that after escaping the dangers of the sea, the vigilance of the English, instead of dreading to see themselves plundered in America, they ought on the contrary, to expect the thanks of Congress, and of all the Americans, and believe, that their property will be as secure and sacred in America as in France itself.

It was with this persuasion, and in a reliance on public faith, that they received paper money in exchange for their merchandise, and kept that paper with a view to employ it in new speculations of commerce.

The unexpected reduction of this paper overturns all their calculations at the same time that it ruins their fortune. I ask, Sir, if these consequences can induce you to believe, that this act of Congress is proper to advance the credit of the United States, to inspire a confidence in their promises, to invite the European nations to run the same risks, to which the subjects of his Majesty have exposed themselves?

These, Sir, are the princ.i.p.al reflections occasioned by the resolution of Congress of the 18th of March. I thought it my duty to communicate them to you with an entire confidence, because you are too enlightened not to feel their force and justice, and too much attached to your country, not to use all your endeavors to engage it to take steps to do justice to the subjects of the King.

I will not conceal from you, that the Chevalier de la Luzerne has received orders to make the strongest representations on this subject, and that the King is firmly persuaded, that the United States will be forward to give to him, on this occasion, a mark of their attachment by granting to his subjects the just satisfaction, which they solicit and expect, from the wisdom and justice of the United States.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, June 22d, 1780.

Sir,

I received this day the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to write me on the 21st of this month.

I thank your Excellency for the confidence, which induced you to communicate this letter to me, and the continuance of which I shall ever study to deserve.

When your Excellency says, that his Majesty's Minister at Congress has already received orders to make representations against the resolutions of Congress of the 18th of March, as far as they effect his subjects, I am at a loss to know with certainty, whether your Excellency means only, that such orders have lately pa.s.sed, and are sent off to go to America, or whether you mean, that such orders were sent so long ago as to have reached the hand of the Chevalier de la Luzerne.

If the latter is your Excellency's meaning, there is no remedy; if the former, I would submit it to your Excellency's consideration, whether those orders may not be stopped and delayed a little time, until his Excellency Mr Franklin may have opportunity to make his representations to his Majesty's Ministers, to the end, that if it should appear, that those orders were issued in consequence of misinformation, they may be revoked, otherwise sent on.

I will do myself the honor to write fully to your Excellency upon this subject without loss of time, and although it is a subject on which I pretend not to an accurate knowledge in the detail, yet I flatter myself I am so far master of the principles as to demonstrate, that the plan of Congress is not only wise, but just.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, June 22d, 1780.

Sir,

I this day acknowledge the receipt of the letter, which you did me the honor to write to me on the 21st.

I have the honor to agree with your Excellency in opinion, that it is the intention of Congress to redeem all their paper bills which are extant, at an exchange of forty for one, by which means, the two hundred millions of dollars, which are out, will be reduced to about five millions.

I apprehend, with your Excellency, that it was necessary for the Congress to put themselves in a condition to defray the public expenses. They found their currency to be so depreciated, and so rapidly depreciating, that a further emission sufficient to discharge the public expenses another year, would have, probably, depreciated it to two hundred for one; perhaps, would have so totally discredited it, that n.o.body would have taken it at any rate. It was absolutely necessary, then, to stop emitting. Yet it was absolutely necessary to have an army to save their cities from the fire, and their citizens from the sword. That army must be fed, clothed, paid, and armed, and other expenses must be defrayed. It had become necessary, therefore, at this time, to call in their paper; for there is no nation that is able to carry on war by the taxes, which can be raised within the year. But I am far from thinking, that this necessity was the cause of their calling it in at a depreciated value, because I am well convinced that they would have called it in at a depreciated value, if the British fleet and army had been withdrawn from the United States, and a general peace had been concluded. My reason for this belief is, the evident injustice of calling it in at its nominal value, a silver dollar for a paper one. The public has its rights as well as individuals; and every individual has a share in the rights of the public. Justice is due to the body politic, as well as to the possessor of the bills; and to have paid off the bills at their nominal value, would have wronged the body politic of thirtynine dollars in every forty, as really as if forty dollars had been paid for one, at the first emission in 1775, when each paper dollar was worth, and would fetch a silver one.

I beg leave to ask your Excellency, whether you judge that the Congress ought to pay two hundred millions of silver dollars, for the two hundred millions of paper dollars which are abroad? I presume your Excellency will not think that they ought; because I have never met with any man in America or in Europe, that was of that opinion. All agree, that Congress ought to redeem it at a depreciated value. The only question then, is, at what depreciation? Shall it be at seventyfive, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, or five, for one? After it is once admitted, that it ought to be redeemed at a less value than the nominal, the question arises, at what value? What rule? I answer, there is no other rule of justice than the current value, the value at which it generally pa.s.ses from man to man. The Congress have set it at forty for one; and they are the best judges of this, as they represent all parts of the continent where the paper circulates.