Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress Page: 183
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183
GALES & SEAXON'S REGISTER
184
SENATE.]
Surviving Officers of the Revolution.
[Jan. 28, 1828.
!'
L
Mr. SMITH, of Maryland, was, lie said, one of those
officers who entered the army at an early period, and re-
signed before the close of the-war. He had, therefore,
no claim, and never had advanced any. None who left
the army before the close of the war can have any claim.
In the year 1778, General Washihotojt addressed Con-
gress onthestate of the army, which was near dissolution.
In 1779, many of the officers resigned ; and to prevent
more from resigning, the act of 1780 was passed. No
one, then, who resigned before the close of the war, can
be entitled to any benefit from the provisions of that act.
After some l'emarks from Messrs. HARRISON and
WOODBURY—
Mr. RUGGLES, in reply to Mr. Smith, of Maryland,
said, that many meritorious officei's, who had resigned
before the close of the war, were as much entitled to
remuneration for their services, as any who had served to
the close of the war. He would cite the case of an of-
ficer whom he knew : He was a soldier at the battle of
Bunker's Hill ; and, for his gallantry, received a com-
mission as a Lieutenant. He was for some time engaged,
with great credit to himself, in the severest enterprises
of the war. He then resigned from ill health. This man
fought before the war was legalized; he fought, in its
earliest struggles, with a halter about his neck. Surely,
upon every principle of justice, he was as much entitled
to remuneration as those who entered after him, and con-
tinued to the close of the war. This man recently died,
ancl left a helpless family. If his children were not pro-
vided for, he would vote for no provisipn.
Mr. CHAMBERS said he could. nlrt consent to give a
silent vote, after the declaration of the honorable gentle-
man from Maine, [Mr. Pahiu*,] that he should hereafter
offer the amendment which he had just withdrawn : and
after the remarks of the honorable gentleman from Ohio,
[Mr. 11ugoi,es,] that he could not vote for filling the blank
with any sum until a provision was inserted in the bill for
the other officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary Army.
The only difficulty, Mr. C. had long beiieved, which
would be opposed to the recovery of this claim, was the
one now presented by the proposed course. He did not
believe that the good sense of the American people, or
the justice of Congress, could ever permit a direct re jec-
tion of this claim. He was only apprehensive, therefore, of
the indirect mode of attack, which had heretofore prov-
ed fetal. For a long series of years these claimants have
addressed themselves to the liberality, to the generosity
and to the charity of the Government. They had asso-
ciated themselves in this appeal with other ollicers and
soldiers of the Revolutionary war, and had surrounded
their case with all the material, and had connected with
it all the considerations which could, operate upon the
sympathies and sensibilities of a noble and generous na-
tion. They had told over the well known story of the
hardships and sufferings of a Revolutionary war, the
scars, the wounds, the hunger and nakedness and pover-
courage and constancy of those who fought and
bled in that mighty struggle which resulted in securing
to us the means of enjoying every civil and political bless-
ing. They appealed in vain. Year after year has rolled
away, and age, disease, and death, have thinned their
numbers to a little remnant, who now hover over the
grave, most of them in indigence and want. They have
now made a last effort to engage the notice of the Gov-
ernment : not by an appeal to its charity or its generosi-
ty ; not as mendicants asking its bounty ; not as pension-
ers, sir. Let me say to the honorable member from
Maine, [Mr. I'arms,] who has introduced this term, that
the wealth of this nation is too little to place these men
in that character. Exhaust the annua] revenue of the
nation in filling their coffers and multiplying their luxu-
ries, and yet, sir, the present generation must ever re-
main pensioners to the veterans of the Revolution, whose
toil and blood are the source whence this revenue is de-
rived. No, sir, said Mr. C. it is not as objects of charity,
that these men now come. They present you a copy of
your contract; they tell you it has been violated to their
pecuniary loss; that the obligation of the Government
has not been redeemed, and they give a statement of facts
from which they say the principles of acknowledged law
authorise them to demand satisfaction at your hands.
They refer to the page and letter of your own records,
and to the undisputed history of the day, as making out
a case which calls for the decision—the judicial decision
of this tribunal. Does any honorable member on this
floor dispute the facts, or deny the application of the
principles of law and equity to those facts ? This would
be a fair and legitimate ground of discussion. It the terms
of the contract are not as set forth, if the rules which
should govern that contract are not as they are stated to
be, let this be urged as a reason why this debt should not
be paid. But a very different course is suggested. Other
claims, resting on other grounds, and properly to be
governed by other considerations, are referred to, and
we are told that this debt ought not to be paid until those
other claims are ascertained and adjusted. The Govern-
ment, like an individual, ought to be controlled by the
great moral principles which enter into all pecuniary
transactions. Good faith and the observance of contracts
are demanded from a Government to the same extent as
from an individual. Let, then, the case be supposed,
that an individual is applied to for the discharge of a fair
debt: will any honorable man feel himself justified in
turning an honest creditor from his door, with no other
reason than that he is indebted to sundry other indivi-
duals, in large amounts, and he must ascertain the na-
ture and extent of his engagements, before he can pay
the claim which is presented to him ? and if the creditor
could also urge his pressing necessities, his indigence,
his age and decrepitude, would it not be still less ex-
cusable to repulse him with such an evasive reply ? And
if when impelled by the extremity of his distress, the cre-
ditor should assert and the debtor concede the highly
meritorious nature of the services charged, the great
peril to his life and the certain destruction to his fortunes,
which were encountered in the performance, and the
great advantage and abundant wealth derived by him
from whom was asked but a portion of that price which,
by his bond, he had promised to pay, would, Mr. C. again
inquired, would any honorable man feel excused for
again repeating his refusal to discharge* nay, even to
examine the claim, until other transactions-were adjust-
ed, involving matters having no connection with it ?
Would not the moral sense of the community be disgust-
ed with such conduct, and merited indignation over-
whelm its author }
Is not such the case of these officers ? Thev claim the
same privilege which is extended to the nicst humble in-
dividual in the community—the privilege of demanding
justice from the Government, They have submitted, in
respectful terms, an argument to sustain their demand,
rheir memorial has been examined by an intelligent
committee, and the exposition by the Chairman appear-
ed to him to demonstrate the obligation of the Govern-
ment to pay their debt. To the arguments thus urged,
and to his mind conclusively urged, no member of the
Senate had opposed contrary arguments, and in that state
of things he did not intend to add one word more on that
part of the case. His object was to resist the fatal influ-
ence of proposed amendments, which 'the honorable gen-
tleman from Maine [Mr. Paiuub] must pardon him for say-
ing were calculated to destroy all prospect of final success.
7 he gentleman had said, and no doubt with great sincerity,
that he was not influenced by a motive to embarrass this
bill ; but, let the motive be what it may, such is the ef«
ect. delay alone is fatal. The few surviving patriots
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress, book, 1828; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30740/m1/96/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.