CHAPTER X

THE JAY TREATY

VALUABLE SUPPORT BY THE CHAMBER-RESULTS EFFECTEDSESSIONS INTERRUPTED BY YELLOW FEVER

INTERREGNUM OF ELEVEN YEARS

1794-1806

DURING its career of a century and a half the Chamber has demonstrated, on every occasion which called for a declaration of its principles, that while its members sought at all times to secure the blessings of peace, they were immovably opposed to peace obtained at the price of honor. One of the most notable and public-spirited displays of its attitude on this subject ever made by the Chamber occurred in 1794 and 1795. The occasion for it was President Washington's act in sending John Jay, who at the time was Chief Justice of the United States, as envoy extraordinary to Great Britain in the spring of 1794. Washington's explanation of his action was the "serious aspect" of affairs, brought about by the attacks made upon neutral trade under the orders in council issued by the British Government in the long contest with France that had recently begun and that ended twenty-one years later in the battle of Waterloo. Washington had imposed an embargo and threatened retaliation. He gave as a reason for sending Jay his belief that "peace ought to be pursued with unremitted zeal before the last resort, which has so often been the scourge of nations, is contemplated." There were wide differences of opinion about the wisdom of this appointment and much severe condemnation of it. The Chamber of Commerce did not hesitate a moment about its duty in the controversy. On May 9, three days after Jay had been given

his instructions, it passed resolutions approving the mission and saying: "If, nevertheless, this embassy should fail to preserve to us the blessings of Peace, yet we persuade ourselves it cannot fail to convince all nations of our justice and moderation, to unite our own sentiments and efforts, and render an appeal to arms more honorable to us and more formidable to our enemies."

Jay had scarcely sailed on his mission when the British governor of Canada, Lord Dorchester, made a speech unfriendly in character to the United States, and other developments occurred which so intensified the bitterness between the two countries that Washington said in a message to Congress, on May 21, 1794: "This new state of things suggests the propriety of placing the United States in a posture of effectual preparation for an event, which, notwithstanding the endeavors making to avert it, may, by circumstances beyond our control, be forced upon us."

Washington had sent Jay to England as a last chance of maintaining peace. On arriving, Jay found that Pitt had voluntarily retreated from his position and that new orders had been issued exempting from seizure American vessels engaged in the direct trade from the United States to the French West Indies. This concession was of great value, for the Americans quickly proved that they could carry West Indian produce to Europe, not only more cheaply than British ships could, but almost as quickly and could make double freight by stopping at an American port on the return voyage. The concession was attributed to fear on the part of Great Britain caused by the firm attitude which Washington had taken in his suggestion to Congress, quoted above, for "effectual preparation" in case the controversy should result in war. The British concession justified the memorable opinion which he had expressed four years earlier, in his address to Congress in joint session, on January 8, 1790: "To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace. A

free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined." Jay had the benefit of this partial retreat by the British Government in opening his negotiations with Earl Granville. Various projects were considered, and a treaty was signed on November 19, 1794. It settled the eastern boundary of Maine, secured the surrender of western forts still held by the British, and recovered $10,345,000 for illegal captures by British cruisers.

When Washington received the treaty he deliberated for some time as to whether, in view of the excited condition of the public mind, to submit it to the Senate for ratification and to the House for the legislation necessary to carry out its provisions. There was a furious outcry against it. Hamilton at first raised objections to it, and subsequently, when he attempted to speak in public in its defense, was mobbed.

While public excitement was at its height and the fate of the treaty in the Senate and House uncertain, the Chamber of Commerce called a special meeting on July 21, 1795, for the purpose of considering the subject which "particularly agitates the public mind, the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, between the United States and Great Britain." The minutes for the day have this entry: "This meeting was the most respectable ever held in the Chamber of Commerce, (upwards of seventy members being present). After the treaty was read, resolutions approving thereof were adopted with only ten dissenting voices."

This action by the Chamber, at a critical stage of the treaty's progress, led to similar action by other mercantile bodies throughout the country and this support had a powerful influence in securing its ratification by the Senate and the passage of the necessary enabling legislation by the House.

Events were to prove that the Chamber was far-sighted in the wisdom of its action. Through the effects of Pitt's concession and certain provisions of the treaty, there was a sudden increase in American shipping of such volume, says Henry

Adams in his "History of the United States," that "at the close of the century the British flag seemed in danger of complete exclusion from the harbors of the United States." In support of this statement Mr. Adams gives the following figures:

In 1790 more than 550 British ships, with a capacity of more than 115,000 tons, had entered inward and outward, representing about half that number of actual vessels; in 1799 the customhouse returns showed not 100 entries, and in 1800 about 140, representing a capacity of 40,000 tons. In the three years 17901792, the returns showed an average of some 280 outward and inward entries of American ships with a capacity of 54,000 tons; in 1800 the entries were 1,057, with a capacity of 236,000 tons. The Americans were not only beginning to engross the direct trade between their own ports and Europe, but were also rapidly obtaining the indirect carrying-trade between the West Indies and the European continent, and even between one European country and another.

Summing up the effects of the Jay treaty, Mr. Adams writes: "Chief Justice Jay, in 1794, negotiated a treaty with Lord Granville which was in some respects very hard upon the United States, but was inestimably valuable to them, because it tied Pitt's hands and gave time for the new American Constitution to gain strength. Ten years steady progress were well worth any temporary concessions."

While on his way back from London Jay was elected Governor of New York, and that the Chamber took an active part in the celebration which greeted him on his arrival is shown by an entry in the minutes of the session of January 2, 1795, ordering payment for "gunpowder expended in celebrating the election of John Jay as Governor of the State."

It is difficult for the present generation to realize what a scourge yellow fever was in American cities during the closing years of 1700 and the first quarter of 1800. It appeared regularly every year, more often in Southern than in Northern

cities, and its advent paralyzed all social and business life during its stay. The secret of the transmission of the disease, which was also its prevention, was discovered by a board of army surgeons in 1900 after the Spanish War. Two members of the board-Lazear and Carroll-permitted themselves to be bitten by yellow-fever infected mosquitoes. Both got the disease; Carroll recovered but Lazear died-a martyr to science and the human race. Other like tests were made upon volunteers for the purpose, and the result was absolute demonstration that the disease was transmitted by the mosquito of a peculiar type and by that mosquito alone. This discovery not only banished the pest forever from American cities but from the Isthmus of Panama, thus making possible the construction of the canal.

The first visit of yellow fever to New York occurred in 1795 and continued through the months of August, September, October, and November, causing the death of about seven hundred persons, mostly foreigners. A second visit, equally deadly, came in 1798, a third in 1799, and a fourth in 1822. In consequence of the general alarm which it caused there was an exodus of the population to regions outside the city limits. The Chamber of Commerce suspended all meetings during the summer whenever it appeared. It is recorded in the minutes of August, 1798, that a "malignant yellow-fever having appeared about the 28th of August, and a general dispersion of the inhabitants of New York having taken place soon after, no meeting was held from that time till December 24."

But while its activities suffered by these long interruptions, the Chamber during 1796, 1797, and 1798 continued to exert its influence steadily on the side of the best interests of the trade and commerce of the city, approving a bill before Congress for the protection of American seamen and sending a special representative to Philadelphia to impress upon Congress, then in session there, the necessity of adequate fortification of the harbor of New York.