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' -' ii u ipi nil'1"'! ' ? "V I'1" , .1,1 u M i ii J Pi" w t - . v, .v.: MIL . .." ".uiv ' ;.--.- . : i-' i-' -- published (WtKtY) :biLUam EoVt AN. ' f ; , . . . ;. : " - Vol. iq. : ; -: -RALEIGH, ' (Wc.) " MONDAY, JUA'E 3; i8o5- ' - 'No;;. From the Vermont Journal. M. ELLIOT to his CONSTITUENTS. .,'... Letter V. lJTherc were several cither-question -of-considerable consequence on vyhicb i differ ed from the majority of the republican pari ty in Congress ; but in all of them a nunv herof tac mo&l mpectable republicans, and in two or three of them all the riefaucrs from tlie e New- Krrgland states, yith one or 'wo exceptions, united with mqin'opi Vi In this review I shall only notice, an V hat briefly, the motion to enquire iuto ihc official conduct of Ju.ige Ciiaje, the rcsolut'tCQ for abolishing the loan o&ccs, h$ motion to extinguish the Suus iiUn-yr-' a Miy Randolph's , Kcsoluiious re 6pCC,tiong the Georgia chums." I was Op posed to an inquisitorial investigation of die conduct of a public clficer, upon the inert: demand of a im-mbcr in his place, without any specific accusation ; but I submitted 'without a murmur to uie decision of tho ! mnjority, and voted tor the impeachmmtj lit the first instance after the evidence was . reported I voted, in the first instance, in -'favour -of bcoiitinuing the offices ot com- " missioners of loami.; bill upon a lai thcrcx. mination, I begun tofeav thai the measure might with propriety beconsirued into a violation of public faith, anu altered my vuU.. ,.Most ol the republican ruembers fkom Massachusetts, like myself, altered their votes up m deliberate investigation, and tile rcsohuion was rejected by.. small mijiritjv .Upon the moiiou to extinguish - the svtte balances the iwcinbcrs from die .Nrw-Kngland StatkS were uni;ed with the' single e-:ctptionpf my colleague, Mr.' Olin, to wh& integrity and ability I shall always bear n3ff':lete8timOTy and the fame Was the case on the sui jeel of .t lie Georgia Claima, except that one member from Mas. sachusetts did not vote upou the ques iuu. These questions were considered as in volving the interests of the eatiin states to the amount of several millions of dollars ; those states being crtditois to a large a IUOU.nt W resjtertcd the state balances ; and numbering uniting their citiiuus most '.Lhe liuntbt.ciiiiiiuiit' horn the Uiuted States bad stipulated with Georgia, ,'upon the cession ol the GVorgia Mississippi it r ritory, to compensve in a certain ratii l,;r i jrcts tVe all others of a local and complica ted nature, have nr heeu thuroughty in Vesllgated by the people at laic ; but as they have now become oi nation U impor tance, I shall render my consti Ui.enrsini, ac-' Ckj)tlle service by lieiniling to thrip: the infwrmatioii I possiss upon Utc-eabjv.ct. This letter will be devoied to a gential viv w vl the subject of the state tulai-.ccs and the succel-diug one to that ol the Georgia Claims. . . The State Balances, as they are called, result from cirtiimstaiu-es immediately con nected with our naiioual iiuupeiultiue. . InnunTerable were the difficulties whh.li pi e i,enled themselves ia our councils during the revolutionary war. ; and the smiles oi providence alone could have enabled our fathers U sui mount them. From peculiar circumsianctH, certain stales contributed tnore, and others lesit; than .their equitable ,pioportion, towards the support of the com mon cause ; and certain' principles were prescribed by CongreS for an ulii'mate e qnahzation settlement between tile suUk. The nscliuion under cflsiari-in pmpds ;d the cjjtttiiguishtii.t Ol the balances, due ro;n Several ii)diviuu:l-stales.l the Uniteates, as appears by a- rcport ol the iclfl aiissionvrs appointed to adjust and Ii n'l'v -to settle the.- demands ol the .several. sU'Vtes lor kervices rendered and supplii.s4iir-tiisi'-d the Uuiittl States in the iae levoiu tioiiary war with Great Uritain. This tc porC was made on the 5:h Deciniber, 1T93. Tjic whole amount l tiie balauces dudirom thebtor states, and now pi o;-osed to ic cxti ajiulitljiS 3,5 1 Z,5 82. r c iv- Hump ihif?; ;;5t3s6ciirsctrs, Rhode-Island, Con necticut, Npw-Jersey,. South-Laiolina and not that so large a number of representatives i consicitr tne states they represent as inte rested, and were it not' that some men pos sess a vVonderful faculty of making any quts- -tiH-wbate'vtr a party one, this equal divi- , ! .TA.. I I. - ' i ' sioii ui me niiiionai legislature .on a suoject so simple," would appear to a'caadjd obser ver unaccountable. 'I cannot" butler, illus trate the nature and" merits of the settle ment and tUt irresistible strength of " the afgumeniaa"ganst the extinguishment, than "by subjoining an extract from the able specchol Gt n. Varnum, of Massachusetts, upon"the rtsolulion in question. 'The ordnance which passed the old Congress in 1787,' authorising the settle ment of the accounts of the several state?. against the Uuited States, for services rerU dered and supplies furnished dmin j tho wai-j" makes as amf.Ic and lileral provision dtt ari allowance of ail ihe accounts txhi bited, "as could possibly be' expected, or even asked, by any of the partiesp.thc set tlement : it wa"s, founded on the princi-ples-of mutual' compromise, and by the unani mous consent' all the states.- By tin conditions "of the. settlement agreed upon bytihat ordinance, the public faith ol ach 3tate ws s.jlcmr.ly pledged to ail the odu r states, and the public faith of the United States was solemnly plc'dgcdto each indivi dual sjtatc, ll tele ineut and pnD43r tiun of the debt allotted to each slate, be .agreed ahouid be final and conclusive. Sooir alter the es tablisement, t the present government in the year'lltsta law was parsed by Con gress for Iac1l1t.nm3.ll1c teilUtmnfcaud for cd the less so, merely cm the ground of the Legislature haying heretolore fallen into an error on die subject.-The fact is, that Con grtss did, in 1799, pass a law, for remit ting the balances, on condition , that each debtor stare would piy into tlie treasury of the United States, by a given period, tfie afcoiint of the sums which had been at sum the United Stalest' oi their 'resptc? t)Ve state debts prior tCc"settlenient. ' But, Siriit the time of passing-that lawf and ever since J have considered it in the ame point of light as I do the resolution 1 before j ou, and therefore cannot admit the commissioners thus mutually upon mill chosen bv all the Stat s, plj Georgia aref C editor states j JVew-loik, .2 Delaware ad North-Carolina debtor states to a laiifce aAiount i the other state . out lit- 1 de inteiestcd in the question. The com missioners ere -men of iutegrity aud ta- Jri-.ts. and t'ieir reiynt met with a Ceneral I " ' ..r-zrr , ' . . r-- si , 4 T!tTtc state New-York fcs act dally., paid a .rgc sum towards her balancet and. some ( the ntjirr debtor states have expressly re- jfognisrtd the s"etiremeitt. . It t now pro-' I'fted i3Txtnguish thel)alances by 4 mere tt ol potyr.-, aim Congress are-al most e- ddly divided ptr the question. Were.; it finius vacancies in the bo;:rd auri-eable to the principles of the crdinanct-'iOaKd, -so far S' I ha vedwctjvered'b) a iVeun i r.ct5 to the journals, this law pai-s. d w ithounj opposition. In irsl) C)iigi es again as sunied the consideration ol the si bjeet, ai..o j.is.sed a law which ucogiiizcd td die pi in ciples of the ciidinance 61 ir7,'and pro vided that a clisti iLut'.on of the" wholej.x pense should be made among the several'.' states according to the first census under the present constitution. This law mat also jwbsed by th almost unajfar.:)us con ., sciit 61' iMT T A'dXairtl Si In SeliSr V 'VTKere" tlie state soveresgnucs are niolT 1 -- ly rtiesenteel, it 'upbears by tlf journals, ttrlTaTv pu'ec( iihout r)rioMiiTn. " TTTus. sir i-Jn th fi) st agreement of 17 H7 to tlie fii.ul clost: o.'' 1 he settle went, ai! tbd states were imaii'ii-ix s in. the mode pvescriU-d loi settlement,, and Bcod most solemnly bou.id to each other to abide fcy it : and the public faith of the nation was, by die several acts ol Congress on the subject, mjst solemnly plcdgrd 10 carry it into" t fleet. " "arr ,the Legislature then rclinguish thcsciialanccs w'uhout a violation of riUcht ed public Taiil ? And yet is ill they undertake to do it ? Sir, it is a'Uind'amental priudipK in the gonernm.ent of vjl ciiiiiztd nations to pay the isist Sacred J:gard to plig'ited ,uijhc faithi And sir, tlm friends uf ouv gsvtrnmerit have detiv.ed 1nix.l1 .consolation from the idi-n, that t!ie U. Su'v's would ne ver sufjer their T.'ationslchai at te'rto be stain ed by a violation ol el.is i.mportanl national principle. Yet, sir, iiom wliat ha-j taken place, iHias been briieve'd, that the U.SrSt'es would not be behind any nation on the ravin, in the preservatiou.cf this public virtue. But ifthe resolaliTi on tlie tabieshould be passed irrtra law, this valuable principle will re ceive a wound vyhieh may lead to fatal con sequences. I niust be pel nutted to doulr jthe power pf-Congi ess V extinguish these liS'laiicts without the tonctirreflce of all the slates. '1 he' tcUti nieni having berii made under a tolemn agreement ol Jii die states, where w til you find a power vested in Con gress to aiicnate' the intere&t which any in dividual state- has acquired in the balance in consequence bf. that agreetneut," : and Vest it in another state r No such power istX piessed in the c6ristitulibut norcan 1 con ceive ii to be implied by any thing which i expressed in that instruments ir : t ' " 11 tiieii Congress have no constitution al power to makw the extinguishment, will not the transaction be 'considered an inno vation on jche rights of individual states, as Wefl as a dereliction of the public faith. i-VA gi-ndeman from New-York has said dial the extiuguishmerit could not be a yT--6UtKrtvfutfi"cJTaTtliI"because 'Connress that 'aS a circumstance in favour of the re solution. That provision has noweXDired. t ... ... . . . ...- unout oeing embraced by any 01 the debtt states, except in that which has been done iy the- slate ol New-York, in fortify ing her ports and harboui 4. If the state of Delaware had thought proper to have ctun piicd with this liberal provision, she might luve been discharged from a'debtdf 600,(XX dolls, for' SCO.OCO, but it see rtis that fehc pre lers a total extinction to a partial payment. If the balances ii.ould be extincuisheu they declined taking the risk, owitift to the information diev hachreceived from Cflpt. ivii.ii, ami viiie w tucnwil general Ctr.. culatioti ; it did not appear, ' Kbwev'ur, that either of the plaintmshad setnCaprJKinn tiil the 6th or ?th of May, nor was trier any positive J noj o hew having heard the report before thcyrotc the letter of the 2d of May, which, by the pst mark, did not leave Newbern till the 4tfv the characters of the plaintiffs wert proved by three wit r.esses to be fair. The defendants insisted that for want of a disclosure of material facts the policy was void, and they wtre dis- nttuisneu on the principle that the sctdementwas unjust, which is the only ground lakenin. favour of th eir extinguishment, 1 am appiehen- L sive that this is only. to bc-a stepping stone 10 a morj lavourue object, 1 mean the extinguisbment of the balances due to the creditor states tn the settlement ; for al though these balances have been funded by (lie Uuiicd States, it is well known, that ilie evidences of the debt in the pbsbesyon f the creditor states are not transferable, r that Cngrvss will have1 nothing to do to, .cft'e'cl ihis part of the business, butt- order payment to the creditor states uu those ba- I since s to be stopiyd.? , ...... .,... I. shah conclude' with obsei-vmg that it is not probable tl at the tithior slates will ever 4jay the iuil amount of their balance j nor tsTivpi obal.le that the creditor states will e yer ciigagejti a civil war to compel lh m to -niake payment. This situation of things Im fiisiies, .however, no argument in favour oi the adoption' of the. monstrous princi ple, or rather pervtrsiaa-iif sll piiuciple, tts heiocst debts "may be extingusj-icd by a wanton1 act of power. - Let the baljnees "vCSHS o' eeCTd agaiiiit the debtors uptH a Sciie of justice shall, prevail sver ptivate jnSs'kRdiv & dMcehe, nj. to. make an ha. neiuiubUr coniproBii.ee with -their creditors. , JAMES ELLIOT. I A A - - charged. Mr. Hallo well, on behalf of the plaintiffs, went into a -minute examination qt the tes timony; eitdaavored to show that whatever might have been the suspicions entertained by others m Newbern, knowledge of the cirrcny tanc?5 detaired by Capt. Kinns was not brought home to the Plaintiffs themselves and that as they were proved lo be honest wfi, fraud could not be presumed against them, but must, in order to vacate this po licy, be positively provtt-hit '.he plaintiffs' letter of the 2d of May was not couched in terms of anxiety or eagcrnts as if they feared that the least delay would frustrate their views, hut was in trie T usual ca!m,6bber strain of business, and therefore. afforded, no grounds of suspicion, but rather tended to shovir that they knew nothing more than they communicated thri'ein. " Mr. Kawle, for the defendants, fcohtend d that the plaintiffs had eOncealfd Iiom the uhdvrwriters facts which were material ip the risk, and therfore ought to have been disclosed -that from a view of the whole evidence taker) -together, they ftiust hae Jven acquainted withthese fat ts btforf ibelf "" f- iter of the 2d ol May left Newberb ; that if the assured did not communicaflfc all ma. teriul iscts, whea he applied for insurance, the contract was void, although there might lie no fraudulent view but mere error in judgment as to the necessity of such dis closure, jr, . , Mr. Levy replied to Mr. Rawle.com batted his arguments, and with great zeal and ability supported, illustjrated and en forced the arguments oi Mf. Hallowell. Judge WashipgtoBjdclivcred a mrit ex- iBcncnx cnargr to tne jun ncv a,fcrt From tiie jlnwrkan Daily Advcr titer-. LAW INT"ETLIGEiCE. VtKLVir COVUT UN11 ti Si ATI- s( lfaeJ. ' had already given up a part of the debt. It seem 3 to me that, the gentleman's con clusion does not naturally folluiw ihepretni ses, whpchTiclias stated, for if it could, un JcFsny" cifciiitrstalHtes7be conside red a de reliction 01 puulic Wthto extinguish tpese John Vail and Bennert Vail ci North Crol:na, -- Mint-it The P'ncenix Infurante Company of Phi!ad(jihia. J THIS cause was tried on Thursday last, before Judges U'mhhigton and Peters, ;.nd a special jury. , It aj peand in evidmce that the plaiuliffs who it sided in Newbern, Notl'-CaroHna, on tl.v 2,1. of AUy, 180, wrote to their orrtsyendent in Ph'iadek "p'sia, requesting" him to effect insurance on nine ptmtheons ot k urn which they had ship ped at Norf'jiii, on board the sloop Maria, Captain Dugi;id, " ivho xvws at Njffolk on the 1 i'th, cj April preceding, ready jor sea hound t? S'ewbertC' diat the correspondent in fr.ila jclpliia received this letter on the 13th of May, and on the 14th of the same month, after , he had applied to several other offices and the risk had eithsr bten deciiiied or a hih premium asked cm account of-ihe.-heavy gales mid stormy weather wbicfi had preyailtd on -the Virginia coast from the middle of the latter end of apfil; the pre sent defendtnts subscribed the . Policy on which the action was founded the Vice President btlbre he agreed to underwrite, observing that there had benv vc'ry bad -weather on the Coast. It appeared further in evidence, that Cap tain Kinnsof the schooner Hiram, bad ar rived jir Newbefa .trom Norfolk, about thc last of April or at Jui dwst on the first of May, aod had 'given inteUicence there.that .Captain Duguid had. sailed the day before nim ; tnat aptamg Kinns,- on the 20th of April hadseen Captain Duguiu's sloop near the lloi sc bnoe shoal standing to sea im mediate ry seyerelv and continued till the 23d. dur ing which time Uaptain Kinns did; not ven iureeout tu sea, but remained at Old Point , Comfort till the stor m had subsided y that shortly alter Captain Kinns's arrival at Ne w bern it was the cerie'ral apprehension that ittcas otinsuranea Jt.iHss-'ieevitttrfaLJjeft: mitfMharcd-faiih, fair, open and cafe. did cor.ducmiooia he observed it tht essence of the ccntfa tf)44 the very nature of the transaction, if considered on the prin ciples of common sense, shewed ittobe so: One man, unwilling or unable to eccotinter rhi himself, applies to another to encoun ter it for him, for a ttipukt-'. premium e older to be enabled to decide whether be will take it ul tilt, or upon ti'hat ttrms, he ought tn know precisely what the risk is, and . this he can only know from the information -ol the applicant Uimself, in whose breast all ther circumstance-attending it are or are tvpposed to iff deposited be is bound there fore to put th? person applied to in posses sion of evrry tiing he knows himself or at least e vei y tiling ma'erial to .the riskr or ; AHich if known, would cither, tend to r cr;ne Uje premium, or deter the r aO- i:,- fj-nm -nu-i nD into tlie con' . ""Cer- , these principles .he obseived, JfJJf'f "ihe presenrcase, tiobTd,I:ish tn' T ' lution ot it ; it the. plaintifiaT-Oiie fciT' "' vtatrd by Captain Kinns before their letter v 'left Newbeni, they ought to have disclosed :hem, as they were certainly very material - . Hid that it was of no consequence whetbet'" their not disclosing them arose fromwWor mere mistake, as in"eitlitr case the oolicy was voul: whether the plaintiffs kn wtK ' - or Bt t, he left to the jtry to decide upon? t . 1 1 . hucd"u" yjacii out de-, dared tlatwyir proof of such knowledge was not indispensable ) tt ws sufficient if -the circumstances were of such public no toriety r that, according , to the commba ' course of events, they must be presumed to, have known them. 'As to the evidepcebf - f -tV ''"dclrhia between thev plaiuiiffs agent and the . V'lce.Pres'id'earf the Company, he considered' that aa-Af'. ' c'ndc4ku1itedoj(hraw off -' in controvrrsy', ; , ' ' J fddge . PcteM adveVtI (n m f e, w snew that the plaintiffs had. lnor ledgeof theacts not.disclosed; and wens -.T,ort u entitled to - recoyrr:,' ''.'. : - he TurV.Oll. Friilav imnrnin.. -'i" i ,. - t . .(, leuiruca uet fe:r inr d, rtuhmtx. . ' - - the Maria was lost": that the plaintiff1-, arDli- balances, itcatmot this tiroo b, cjonsider- lUi to the Newbtrn lu'surance Office, but J w"ttted vet It is well worthy of obs'ervitUn k.f sIthougli cOfnmeticVd bnJy in Octeber - j -V-r,. ' y . 1 . ' . Xfr-
The Raleigh Minerva (Raleigh, N.C.)
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June 3, 1805, edition 1
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