On report of a committee, consisting of Mr. N. W. Jones, Mr. Clark and Mr. Patridge, to whom was referred a memorial of John Edgar: Resolved, That the superintendent of finance be, and hereby is, directed to afford to the said John Edgar such assistance as he may think reasonable for his support, until he be employed in such business as to render such assistance unnecessary, provided it shall not exceed one year. A committee, consisting of Mr. Bland, Mr. Wolcott, and Mr. Atlee, to whom was referred a letter of the 11th of March, 1782, from major-general Greene, having delivered in a report, and the report being read: Ordered, That it be referred to the superintendent of finance and secretary at war, to take order. A letter, of the 19th, from Jonas Fay, Moses Robinson, and Isaac Tichenor, was read; Whereupon, a motion was made by Mr. J. Jones, seconded by Mr. Madison, in the words following: "Jonas Fay, Moses Robinson, and Isaac Tichenor, styling themselves agents and delegates from the state of Vermont, having, in their letter of the 19th instant, informed Congress, that in consequence of the faith of Congress, pledged to them in and by a resolution of the 20th of August last, and by official advice from sundry gentlemen of the first characters in America, the legislature of Vermont have been prevailed upon to comply, in the most ample manner, with the resolution aforesaid." Resolved, That the secretary be directed to apply to the said Jonas Fay, Moses Robinson and Isaac Tichenor, and request them to communicate to him the said official advice, together with the names of the gentlemen from whom the same was received." On the question to agree to this, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. J. Jones, Pursuant to the resolution of 27th of February last, the superintendent of VOL. IV. 3 finance reports, that he means to appoint Mr. Jonathan Burrell, of the state of Connecticut, a commissioner to settle the accounts in the commissary's department, unless Congress disapprove the choice. On a report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Cornell, Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Dickinson, to whom was referred a report of the secretary at war: Resolved, That from and after the first day of May next, all resolves of Congress heretofore passed relative to rations, subsistence or allowances to officers over and above their pay and what they are entitled to from the quartermaster's department, except the allowance to the general commanding the southern army, be, and they are hereby repealed: that from and after the first day of May next, each officer shall be entitled to draw daily the number of rations, and to receive monthly as subsistence the number of dollars and parts of dollars, affixed to their several ranks, viz. All officers in the line of the army employed in any of the staff departments, shall be entitled, while acting therein, to draw the same number of rations and like subsistence to which they are entitled by their ranks in the army; and when any persons, not in the line of the army, are employed in any of the staff departments, they shall be entitled to draw the same number of rations and subsistence as officers of the line, acting in similar stations in the staff with them, are entitled to draw. No compensation shall hereafter be made to those officers who may neglect to draw rations to which they are entitled.. TUESDAY, April 23, 1782. On a report of the secretary at war: Resolved, That Mr. Appleton, the commissioner of the continental loan-office in the state of Massachusetts, be, and hereby is directed to charge the United States with the sum of 16,666 60-90 dollars, new emission, advanced for the use of the quarter-master general's department; and that colonel Pickering, quarter-master general, give a receipt for and be debited with the same sum. On report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Carroll, Mr. Boudinot and Mr. Clark, to whom was referred a letter of the 12th March, from Thomas Edison: Resolved, That the superintendent of finance be, and hereby is, directed to afford the said Thomas Edison, such assistance as he may think reasonable for his support, until he be employed in such business as to render such assistance unnecessary, provided it shall not exceed one year. On a report from the secretary at war, of the 23d of March, 1782, Resolved, That all such sick and wounded soldiers of the armies of the United States, who shall in future be reported by the inspector-general, or the inspector of a separate department, and approved by the commander in chief, or commanding officer of a separate department, as unfit for farther duty, either in the field or in garrison, and who apply for a discharge in preference to being placed or continued in the corps of invalids, shall be discharged, and be entitled to receive as a pension five dollars per month, in lieu of all pay and emoluments. Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, recommended to the several states to discharge such pensions annually, and draw on the superintendent of finance for the payment of the money they shall so advance. On a report from the secretary at war, to whom was referred a report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Cornell, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Dickinson, on a motion of Mr. Scott, a letter from the superintendent of finance, and a report of the secretary at war on the said letter, Congress came to the following resolution: Whereas the most strict economy in the public expenditures is absolutely necessary for a vigorous prosecution of the war; and whereas to that end it is requisite, to discontinue the practice of filling some of the places in the staffdepartinents, with persons not of the line of the army, which places may, with great savings to the public, be filled by supernumerary officers from the line. Resolved, therefore, That in future there be only ten lieutenants to each regiment of infantry, to be employed in the regimental line and staff, the regimental pay-master to be considered as not attached to any company: That the supernumerary junior lieutenants, beyond the number of ten in each regiment of infantry, be reduced; unless the officers of the regiment shall otherwise agree, as to those who shall retire according to the resolutions of the 3d and 21st of October, 1780, and shall accordingly retire on or before the 1st of June next, if in the main army, and the 1st of July next, if in the southern army, except such of them as shall accept of employments in the staff-departments, with the approbation of the heads of the respective departments, in which case they shall severally retain their respective ranks in the army, and be entitled to the full pay and subsistence belonging to their rank in the line, as a compensation for their respective services in the staff, without any other allowance whatsoever provided always, that nothing contained in the above resolution, shall affect the pay or rank of any officers in captivity during such captivity. FRIDAY, April 26, 1782. A letter, of the 24th, from the superintendent of finance, was read, respecting the accounts and claims of captain Landais; Whereupon, the report of a committeec, consisting of Mr. N. W. Jones, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Patridge, to whom was referred a memorial of capt. P. Landais, was called for, which being read, Resolved, That the report of the committee on capt. Landais's memorial be rejected, that the said memorial be dismissed, and that Congress approve of the steps taken in his case by the superintendent of finance. On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Floyd, and Mr. Osgood, to whom was referred a report of the secretary at war, on a letter from col. Baldwin: Resolved, That Jeduthun Baldwin, colonel of engineers in the army of the United States, be considered as a supernumerary officer retiring from the service; and that he be entitled according to his present pay to qual emoluments, which shall be received by the officers of the line, who retired under the resolutions of Congress of the 3d and 21st of October, 1780. On a report of a committee consisting of Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Bland, and Mr. Dickinson, to whom was referred a report of the delegates of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, on a memorial of col. Carrington: Resolved, That lieut. col. Carrington be informed, that the 7th article of the confederation having reserved to the states, the right of appointing all officers of and under the rank of colonels for the forces respectively raised by them, and of filling up all vacancies of such officers, Congress cannot appoint him to the vacancy in the command of the 4th regiment of artillery raised by the state of Pennsylvania. MONDAY, April 29, 1782. Mr. Wright, a delegate for the state of Maryland, attended and took his seat. A letter, of the 20th, from the commander in chief, was read, together with the copy of a memorial from the inhabitants of the county of Monmouth, in the state of New-Jersey, and sundry affidavits respecting the death of capt. Joshua Huddy; who, after being a prisoner some days with the enemy in New-York, was sent out with a party of refugees, and most cruelly and wantonly hanged on the heights of Middletown. These papers being committed, and the committee, consisting of Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Bee, having reported thereon: Resolved, That Congress having deliberately considered the said letter and the papers attending it, and being deeply impressed with the necessity of convincing the enemies of these United States, by the most decided conduct, that the repetition of their unprecedented and inhuman cruelties, so contrary to the laws of nations and of war, will no longer be suffered with impunity, do unanimously approve of the firm and judicious conduct of the commander in chief in his application to the British general at New-York, and do hereby assure him of their firmest support in his fixed purpose of exemplary retaliation. TUESDAY, April 30, 1782. On a report of the secretary at war, on a memorial of capt. Schreiber: Resolved, That the pay and depreciation of a lieutenant of artillery be allowed to captain Schreiber, from the 26th day of November, 1779, to the 2d of March, 1780; and that his accounts for pay as captain of engineers, from the 2d day of March, 1780, to the 1st day of May, 1782, be settled on like principles with the accounts of other foreign officers retiring from the service. On motion of Mr. Madison, seconded by Mr. Montgomery, Ordered, That the superintendent of finance do prepare and lay before Congress, a state of the monies borrowed and not repaid by the United States, prior to the first day of January last; and that he also lay before Congress every half year, computing from the said first day of January, a state of all monies borrowed and bills emitted during such periods respectively, that the same may be transmitted to the respective states pursuant to the direction contained in the 9th article of the confederation. WEDNESDAY, May 1, 1782. Mr. William Few, a delegate for the state of Georgia, attended, and produced credentials under the great seal of the state, by which it appears that the hon. Edward Telfair, Noble Wimberley Jones, and William Few, are appointed delegates in the Congress of the United States of America, to continue in office until the first Tuesday in January, 1783. The order of the day for taking into consideration the report of the committee, consisting of Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Varnum, Mr. Jenifer, Mr. Smith and Mr. Livermore, on the cessions of New-York, Virginia and Connecticut, and the petitions of the Indiana, Vandalia, Illinois and Wabash companies, being called for by the delegates of Virginia, and the report being read through, and the first paragraph again read from the chair, the motion of the 18th of April as then amended, was moved by Mr. Bland, seconded by Mr. Clark, viz. "That the report under consideration be postponed; that previous to any determination in Congress relative to the cessions of the western lands, the name of each member present be called over by the secretary; that on such call, each member do declare upon his honour, whether he is or is not personally interested, directly or indirectly, in the claims of any company or companies, which have petitioned against the territorial rights of any one of the states by whom such cessions have been made, and that such declaration be entered on the journal:" A motion was made by Mr. Clark, seconded by Mr. Ellery, to strike out the words" that the report under consideration be postponed," and in lieu thereof to insert, "inasmuch as the report under consideration is of a nature, in which all the several states are essentially interested and consequently ought to have notice, and an opportunity to be present by their representatives in Congress at the determination thereof, there being but nine states represented at this time, that therefore the said report be postponed until the first day of August next; and that the executive authority of the several states be informed thereof, and furnished with copies of the said report, in order that each state may be fully represented, and their delegates properly instructed upon the subject at that time." On the question to agree to the amendment, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. Scott, So the question was lost. A division of the motion was then called for, and on the question to agree to the first part, namely, "that the report under consideration be postponed; the yeas and nays were required by Mr. Bland. The report being as follows: "The committee, to whom the cessions of New-York, Virginia, Connecticut, and the petitions of the Indiana, Vandalia, Illinois and Wabash companies, were referred, do report, that having had a meeting with the agents on the part of New-York, Connecticut and Virginia, the agents for New-York and Connecticut laid before your committee their several claims to the lands said to be contained in their several states, together with vouchers to support the same; but the delegates on the part of Virginia declining any elucidation of their claim, either to the lands ceded in the act referred to your committee, or the lands requested to be guaranteed to the said state by Congress, delivered to your committee the written paper hereto annexed and numbered twenty: That your committee have carefully examined all the vouchers laid before them, and obtained all the information into the state of the lands mentioned in the several cessions aforesaid, and having maturely considered the same, are unanimously of opinion, and do report the following resolutions: Resolved, That Congress do, in behalf of the United States, accept the cession made by the state of New-York, as contained in the instrument of writ ing executed for that purpose by the agents of New-York, dated the day of last past, and now among the files of Congress; and that the president do take the proper measures to have the same legally authenticated, and registered in the public records of the state of New-York. The reasons that induced your committee to recommend the acceptance of this cession, are, 1st. It clearly appeared to your committee, that all the lands belonging to the Six Nations of Indians, and their tributaries, have been in due form put under the protection of the crown of England by the said Six Nations, as appendant to the late government of New-York, so far as respects jurisdiction only. |