There being certainly then a balance of 549,278.19 D. and probably much more in the bank, there must have been a balance of 39,278.19 D. before the last draughts for 510,000 D. were made in it's favor. Why then were they made? But to put these matters out of question two further statements are requisite, viz. 1. The account of the U. S. with the bank, from which we may see whether the state of the account was such as to require this paiment. 2. A statement of the surplusses of revenue which actually arose, and might have been applied to the purchase of the publick debt. The amount of these surplusses are to be added to our balance against the bank. GILES TREASURY RESOLUTIONS.1 [February? 1793] JEFFERSON'S DRAFT. 1. Resolved, That it is essential to the due administration of the Government of the United States, that laws making specific appropriations of money should be strictly observed by the Secretary of the Treasury thereof. 2. Resolved, That a violation of a law making appropriations of money is a violation of that section of the Constitution of the United States which requires that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. RESOLUTIONS AS MOVED. 1. Resolved, That it is essential to the due administration of the Government of the United States, that laws making specific appropriations of money should be strictly observed by the administrator of the finances thereof. 2. Resolved, That a violation of a law making appropriations of money, is a violation of that section of the Constitution of the United States which requires that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. 1 From the original courteously loaned me by Miss S. N. Randolph. See 1, 222, and Annals, II, 999. 3. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury, in drawing to this country and lodging in the bank the funds raised in Europe, which ought to have been applied to the paiments of our debts there in order to stop interest, has violated the instructions of the President of the United States for the benefit of speculators and to increase the profits of that institution. 4. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has deviated from the instructions given by the President of the United States, in exceeding the authorities for making loans under the acts of the 4th and 12th of August, 1790. 5. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has omitted to discharge an essential duty of his office, in failing to give Congress official information in due time, of the moneys drawn by him from Europe into the United States; which drawing commenced December, 1790, and continued till January, 1793; and of the causes of making such drafts. 3. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has violated the law passed the 4th of August, 1790, making appropriations of certain moneys authorized to be borrowed by the same law, in the following particulars, viz First, By applying a certain portion of the principal borrowed to the payment of interest falling due upon that principal, which was not authorized by that or any other law. Secondly, By drawing part of the same moneys into the United States, without the instructions of the President of the United States. 4. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has deviated from the instructions given by the President of the United States, in exceeding the authorities for making loans under the acts of the 4th and 12th of August, 1790. 5. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has omitted to discharge an essential duty of his office, in failing to give Congress official information in due time, of the moneys drawn by him from Europe into the United States; which drawing commenced commenced December, 1790, and continued till January, 1793; and of the causes of making such drafts. 6. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has, without the instruction of the President of the United States, drawn more moneys borrowed in Holland into the United States than the President of the United States was authorized to draw, under the act of the 12th of August, 1790; which act appropriated two millions of dollars only, when borrowed, to the purchase of the Public Debt: And that he has omitted to discharge an essential duty of his office, in failing to give official information to the Commissioners for purchasing the Public Debt, of the various sums drawn from time to time, suggested by him to have been intended for the purchase of the Public Debt. 7. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury did not consult the public interest in negotiating a Loan with the Bank of the United States, and drawing therefrom four hundred thousand dollars, at five per cent. per annum, when a greater sum of public money was deposited in various banks at the respective periods of making the respective drafts. 8. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has been guilty of an indecorum to this 6. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has, without the instructions of the President of the United States, drawn more moneys borrowed in Holland into the United States than the President of the United States was authorized to draw, under the act of the 12th of August, 1790; which act appropriated two millions of dollars only, when borrowed, to the purchase of the Public Debt: And that he has omitted to discharge an essential duty of his office, in failing to give official information to the Commissioners for purchasing the Public Debt, of the various sums drawn from time to time, suggested by him to have been intended for the purchase of the Public Debt. 7. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury did not consult the public interest in negotiating a Loan with the Bank of the United States, and drawing therefrom four hundred thousand dollars, at five per cent. per annum, when a greater sum of public money was deposited in various banks at the respective periods of making the respective drafts. 8. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has been guilty of indecorum to this House, in undertaking to judge of its motives in calling for information which was demandable of him, from the constitution of his office; and in failing to give all the necessary information within his knowledge, relatively to the subjects of the reference made to him of the 19th January, 1792, and of the 22d November, 1792, during the present session. 9. Resolved, That at the next meeting of Congress, the act of Sep 28, 1789, establishing a Department of Treasury should be so amended as to constitute the office of the Treasurer of the United States a separate department, independent of the Secretary of the Treasury. 10. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has been guilty of maladministration in the duties of his office, and should, in the opinion of Congress, be removed from his office by the President of the United States. House, in undertaking to judge of its motives in calling for information which was demandable of him, from the constitution of his office; and in failing to give all the necessary information within his knowledge, relatively to the subjects of the reference made to him of the 19th of January, 1792, and of the 22d November, 1792, during the present session. 9. Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted to the President of the United States. NOTES ON PARTY POLICY.1 J. MSS. [Feb.? 1793.] AGENDA. Divide the Treasury department. Abolish the bank. Repeal the Excise law & let states raise the money. 1 This paper is undated, but is apparently an outline of the reforms in the government desired by Jefferson. In the absence of a definite platform of the Lower impost. Treasurer to pay and receive cash not bills. Repeal irredeemable quality and borrow at 4. pr. cent. Exclude paper holders. Condemn report of. THE ASSUMPTION.1 [Feb. 1793.] The assumption of the State debts in 1790, was a supplementary measure in Hamilton's fiscal system. When attempted in the House of Representatives it failed. This threw Hamilton himself & a number of members into deep dismay. Going to the President's one day I met Hamilton, as I approached the door, his look was sombre, haggard, & dejected beyond description, even his dress uncouth & neglected, he asked to speak with me, we stood in the street near the door, he opened the subject of the assumption of the State debts, the necessity of it in the general fiscal arrangement & its indispensible necessity towards a preservation of the union and particularly of the New England States, who had made great expenditures during the war on expeditions which tho' of their own undertaking were for the common cause: that they considered the assumption of these by the Union so just, and it's denial so probably injurious that they would make it a sine qua non of a continuance of the Union That as to his own part, if he had not credit enough to carry such a measure as that he could be of no use & was determ to resign, he observed at the same time, that tho' our particular business laid in separate departments, yet the Administration & it's success was a common concern, and that we should make common cause newly formed democratic party, it is therefore of considerable importance, and is of especial interest as showing Jefferson's plans to break up the "Treasury Junto," by dividing the treasury, and by excluding from Congress all holders of Bank stock. The report referred to is probably Hamilton's report on the foreign loans of Jan. 3, 1793, which was an especially obnoxious one to Jefferson. 1 Undated, but probably prepared at this time as a sort of vindication of his own conduct. |