Tweet
http://www.constitution.org/cmt/rshe...eatagainst.txt
A Caveat Against Injustice
or, An Inquiry into the Evils of a Fluctuating Medium of
Exchange,
WHEREIN is considered, whether the Bills of Credit on the Neighboring
Governments, are a legal Tender in Payment of Money, In the COLONY of
CONNECTICUT for Debts due by Book, and otherwise, where the Contract
Mentions only Old-Tenor Money.
by Roger Sherman
author of Article 1 Section 10 of the United States Constitution, “No State
shall make any Thing but
Gold and Silver Coin a tender in Payment of Debts”
Original publication, 1752
§1 Forasmuch, as there have many Disputes arisen of late concerning the
Medium of Exchange in this Colony, which have been occasioned chiefly by
Reason of our having such large Quantities of Paper Bills of Credit on
some of the Neighbouring Governments, passing in Payments among us, and
some of those Governments having issued much larger sums of Bills than
were necessary to supply themselves witha competent Medium of Exchange,
and not having supplied their Treasuries with any Fund for the
maintaining the Credit of such Bills; they have therefore been
continually depreciating and growing less in their Value, and have been
the principal Means of the Depreciation of the Bills of Credit emitted
by this Colony, by their passing promiscuously with them; and so have
been the Occasion of Much Embarrasment and Injustice, in the Trade and
Commerce of the Colony, and many People and especially Widows and
Orphans have been great Sufferers thereby.
§2 But our Legislature having at length taken effectual Care to prevent
further Depreciation of the Bills of this Colony, and the other
Governments not having taken the prudent Care, their Bills of Credit are
still sinking (1) in their Value, and have in Fackt sunk much below the
Value of the Bills of this Colony.
§3 Yet some People among us, by long Custom, are so far prejudiced in
Favour of a sinking Medium, and others not being really sensible of the
true State of the Case, are inclined to think that Bills of Credit on
the neighbouring Governments ought to be a legal Tender in Payments in
this Colony for all Debts due by Book and otherwise wheere there is no
special contract expressly mentioning some other Currency, and others
being of a different Opinion, the Disputes have been carried on so far,
as to occasion some Expence in the Law, and may be likely to occasion
much more, unless prevented by those Prejudices being some way removed.
And since it is a a Cause wherin every one is more or less interested, I
have ventured to shew my Opinion, with a sincere Desire to have Peace
and Justice maintained and promoted in the Colony. Not desiring any
Person to approve of my Observations any farther than he finds them
agreeable to the Principles of Justice and right Reason.
THE CASE STATED
§4 Suppose a Man comes to a Trader's Shop in this Colony to buy Goods,
and the Trader sells him a certain Quantity of Goods and tells him the
Price is som many Pounds, Shillings and Pence, (let it be more or less)
to be paid at the Expiration of one Year, from that Time, and the Man
receives the Goods but there is nothing said either by Seller or Buyer,
what Currency it is to be paid in, but the Goods are charged according
to the Value of Bills of Credit Old Tenor on this Colony.
§5 Now I Query what the Creditor has a Right to demand for a Debt so
contracted; or what the Debtor can oblige him to accept in Payment?
§6 The Creditor says, that the Debt being contracted in the Colony of
Connecticut, he ought to have what is known by the Laws of said Colony
to be Money: And that he has no Right to demand any thing else.
§7 The Debtor says, That Bills of Credit on the neighbouring Governments
have for many Years passed promiscuously with the Bills of Credit on
this Colony as Money in all Payments, (except special Contracts) and
that People in general where the Contracts ly at large have expected,
and do still expect, that any of the Bills of Credit on any of the
Governments in New-England, that have obtained a Currency in this Colony
will answer in Payment, and in as much as the Creditor did not give him
any Notice to the contrary, when he bought the Goods, therefore he
thinks that such Bills of Credit ought to be accepted in Payment for the
aforesaid Debt.
§8 And altho' there is no particular Statute in this Colony, that such
Bills of Credit shall be a legal Tender in Payments of Money: Yet the
Practice has been so universal for so long a Time, adnd the Creditor
himself has both received and pass'd them as Money constantly without
making Exceptions against them 'till this Debt was contracted, and for
many Years all Demands on Book Debts have been for Old Tenor Money
indifferently, without Distiction of Colonies, and Judgements in all
Courts have been given thereon accordingly: And any of the aforesaid
Bills of Credit have pass'd in Payment to satisfy all Judgements, so
obtain'd and this universal Custom, the Debtor saith, ought to be
esteemed as common Law and ought not without some special Reason to be
set aside, and that in this Case there is nothing special; and therefore
the Creditor ought not to make Demand or obtain Judgement different from
the common Custom of the Colony.
§9 In Answer to this the Creditor saith, that altho' Bills of Credit on
the neighbouring Governments have for a Number of Years been pass'd and
receiv'd in Payments: Yet it has been only by the voluntary Consent of
the Persons receiving them, and not because they were under any
Obligation to receive them; and that it is no Argument that a Person
shall be obliged to receive any Species where it won't answer his End,
because in Time past he has receiv'd it when it would answer.
§10 And the Creditor furthur saith, that such Bills of Credit are of no
intrinsick Value, and their Extrinsical Value is fluctuating and very
uncertain, and therefore it would be unjust that any Person should be
obliged to receive them in Payment as Money in this Colony, (since
neither the Colony nor any of the Inhabitants thereof are under any
Obligation either to Refunds said Bills or to maintain the Credit of
them) for Money ought to be something of certain Value, it being that
whereby other Things are to be valued. (2)
§11 And I think it is a Principle that must be granted that no
Government has Right to impose on its Subjects any foreign Currency to
be received in Payments as Money which is not of intrinsick Value;
unless such Government will assume and undertake to secure and make Good
to the Possesor of such Currency the full Value which they oblige him to
receive it for. Because in so doing they would oblige Men to part with
their Estates for that which is worth nothing in it self and which they
don't know will ever procure him any Thing.
§12 And Rhode-Island Bills of Credit have been so far from being of
certain Value and securing to the Possessor the Value that they were
first stated at, that they have depreciated almost four seventh Parts in
nine Years last past, as appears by their own Acts of Assembly.
§13 For in the year 1743, it appears by the Face of the Bills then
emitted that Twenty-seven Shillings Old-Tenor was equal to one Ounce of
Silver. And by an Act of their General Assembly pass'd in March last,
they stated Fifty-four Shilling Old-Tenor Bills equal to one Ounce of
Silver, which sunk their Value one half. And by another Act in June
last, (viz. 1751) they stated Sixty-four Shillings in their Old-Tenor
Bills equal to one Ounce of Silver. And by another Act in August last
they gave Order and Direction to the Courts in that Colony to make
Allowance to the Creditors in making up Judgement from Time to Time as
the Bills shall depreciate for the Future, which shews that they expect
their Bills of Credit to depreciate for the Future.
§14 And since the Value of The Bills of Credit depend wholly on the Rate
at which they are stated and on the Credit of the Government by whom
they are emitted and that being the only Reason and Foundation upon
which they obtained their first Currency and by which the same has been
upheld ever since their first being current and therefor e when the
Publick Faith and Credit of such Government is violated, then the Reason
upon which such Bill obtained their Currency ceases and there remains no
Reason why they should be any longer current.
§15 And this I would lay down as a Principle that can't be denied that a
Debtor ought not to pay any Debts with less Value than was contracted
for, without the Consent or against the Will of the Creditor.
§16 And the Creditor further saith, that his accepting Rhode-Island
Bills of Credit when they stood stated equal to Silver at Twenty-seven
Shillings an Ounce, can be no Reason that he should receive them at the
same Value when they are stated equal to Silver at Fifty-four Shillings
an Ounce, and still to receive them at the same Rate when they are so
reduced down that Sixty-four Shillings is equal to but one Ounce of
Silver, and whoever does receive them so must not only act without, but
against Reason.
§17 And the Debtor can't possibly plead without any Truth that he
expected to pay in Rhode-Island Bills of Credit at their present Value
and under their present Circumstances, (any Debts contracted before the
aforesaid Acts of Rhode Island were published) because there was no such
Thing (as those Bills are under their present Circumstances) existing at
the Time of Contract, for as was observ'd before, the Value of such
Bills of Credit depend wholly upon the Rate at which they are stated and
on the Credit of the Government by whom they are emitted, and a Bill of
Credit for the same Sum that is stated equal to Silver at Twenty-seven
Shillings an Ounce, must be of more than double the Value of one stated
equal to Silver at Sixty-four Shillings an Ounce if the Credit of the
Emitter may be depended on: But if the Emitter's Credit can't be
depended on then neither of the Bills aforesaid are of any Value,
because it is evident that no Bills of Credit have any Value in
themselves, but are given to secure something of intrinsick Value, to
the Posessor.
§18 So that the Arguments draw from Custom are of no Force, because the
Reasons upon which that Custom were grounded do now cease.
§19 I grant that if any Thing whose Value is intrinsical and invariable
the same should obtain a Currency as a Medium of Exchange for a great
Number of Years in any Colony, it might with some Reason be urg'd that
it ought to be accepted in Payments for Debts where there is no special
Agreement for any other Species.
§20 But if what is us'd as a Medium of Exchange is fluctuating in its
Value it is no better than unjust Weights and Measures, both which are
condemn'd by the Laws of GOD and Man, and therefore the longest and most
universal Custom could never make the Use of such a Medium either lawful
or reasonable.
§21 Now suppose that Gold or Silver Coines that pass current in Payments
at a certain Rate by Tale should have a considerable Part of their
Weight filed or clipp'd off will any reasonable Man judge that they
ought to pass for the same Value as those of full Weight?
§22 But the State of R...I...d Bills of Credit is much worse than that
of Coins that are clipp'd, because what is left of those Coins is of
intrinsick Value: But the General Assembly of R...I...d having
depreciated their Bills of Credit have thereby violated their Promise
from Time to Time, and there is just Reason to suspect their Credit for
the Future for the small Value which they now promise for said Bills,
and they have not only violated their Promise as to the Value, pretended
to be secured to the Posessor by said Bills; but also as to the Time of
calling them in and paying the same, they have lengthened out the Time
Fifteen Years.
§23 So that if the Posessor must be kept out of the Use of his Money
until that Term is expired (and the Bills secure nothing to him sooner.)
One Ounce of Silver paid down now, would be worth more than Seven pounds
Ten Shillings in such Bills of Credit computing the Interest at 6 per
Cent per Annum.
§24 These Things considered, can any reasonable Man think that such
Bills of Credit (or rather of no Credit) ought to be a legal Tender in
Payment of Money in this Colony for Debts, for which the Debtor received
Species of much more Value than those Bills provided the Creditor could
get the full Value of them in Silver that they are now stated at.
§25 For it must be remembered that according to the State of the Case
now in Question the Goods were charged according to the Value of
Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony. Wherefore upon the whole it appears that
it would be evidently unjust to impose Rhode-Island Bills of Credit in
payment for such a Debt, or any other in this Colony, unless the
Creditor obliged himself by a special Agreement to receive them in
Payment.
§26 And if he had agreed to receive them in Payment for Debts contracted
any Time between last March and June it would be unjust to oblige him to
take them without three Shillings on the Pound Allowance, for the
General Assembly of Rhode-Island depreciated them so much in June below
both their current and stated Value in March preceding.
§27 And to oblige People to receive them without such Allowance in this
Colony; would be, to more dishonest than they are in Rhode-Island Colony
for they are obliged by Law to make Allowance for the Depreciation.
§28 But in as much as we are not under the Jurisdiction of Rhode-Island
Government and therefore can take no Benefit by equitable Acts, I
suppose that according to the Rules of the Law, upon a Contract made in
this Colony for the Payment of Bills of Credit on the Colony of
Rhode-Island or any of the neighbouring Governments,
§29 if the Debtor could not produce such Bills under the same
Circumstances that they were at the Time of Contract, the Courts would
assess Damages for Connecticut Money, according to the Value of such
Bills at the Time of Contract.
§30 And the Reason is, because if on the one Hand all such Bills should
be called in and burnt between the Time of Contract and the Time of
Payment it would be unreasonable to oblige the Debtor to an
impossibility, and on the other Hand if there should between the Time of
Contract and the Time of Payment be an Act pass'd that all such Bills
should be brought into the Treasurer to be redeem'd by a certain Time or
else be Outlawed and rendered of no value and that Time should be
expired before the Time of Payment, or if by an Act of Assembly they
should be depreciated and sunk one half or two thirds of their Value, it
would be unreasonable that the Creditor should be thereby defrauded of
his just Due and lose so much of his Estate.
§31 But to impose Rhode-Island Bills of Credit in Payments for Debts in
this Colony when the Creditor never agreed to take them, and that
without any Allowance for the Depreciation, would be to take away Men's
Estates and wrong them of their just and righteous Dues without either
Law or Reason.
§32 And instead of having our Properties defended and secured to us by
the Protection of the Government under which we live; we should be
always exposed to have them taken from us by Fraud at the Pleasure of
other Governments, who have no Right of Jurisdiction over us.
§33 And according to this Argument, if Rhode-Island General Assembly has
been pleased last June to have stated their Old-Tenor Bills equal to
Silver at Forty-eight Pounds Twelve Shillings an Ounce, instead of
Sixty-four Shillings, and to have cut off the Value of them Eighteen
Shillings on the Pound, instead of Three Shillings, all Creditors in
this Colony would thereby have been necessitated to lose Ninety Pounds
out of every Hundred Pounds of their Debts which were then out standing,
for if they could take away one Sixth Part of their Value and reduce
them so much below the Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony and the Creditor
be notwithstanding obliged to receive them without Allowance, by the
Rule they might have taken away three Quarters of Nine Tenths or indeed
the whole, and the Creditor have had no more Remedy than he has now.
§34 And the Estates of poor Widows and Orphans must according to this
Principle in the same unjust Manner be taken away from them and given to
others that have no Right to them, (for what the Creditor loses in this
way the Debtor gains because the more the Bills of Credit depreciate the
less Value the Debtor can produce them for) and according to the
Debtor's Arguement the Executive Courts in this Colony must give
Judgement in Favour of all this Fraud and Iniquity at least, 'till there
is some special Act of Assembly to order them to the contrary; but I
believe that every honest Man of Common Sense, upon mature Consideration
of the Circumstances of the Case, will think that this is an Iniquity
not to be countenanced, but rather to be punished by the Judges.
§35 But in Answer to what is said concerning Demands being made for
Old-Tenor Money indifferently and the Courts giving Judgement
accordingly. The Creditor saith that Phrase in all Demands made in this
Colony ought to be understood to be the Old-Tenor Money of this Colony,
and no other, for there never was any Law in this Colony that Bills of
Credit on the neighbouring Governments should be a legal Tender in
Payments of Money, and I have observed before that it would be
unreasonable, that any such Foreign Currency should be imposed as Money,
and the same Phrase is us'd in taxing Bills of Cost in the Executive
Courts, but it is understood to be the Old-Tenor Money of this Colony
only, for a Thousand Pounds in Bills of Credit on the neighbouring
Governments would not be sufficient in the Law to satisfy a Bill of Cost
of Twenty Shillings Old-Tenor.
§36 And the General Assembly of this Colony have sufficiently declared
that they don't Esteem such Bills of Credit as Money, and that no Person
ought to be obliged to receive them as such. In that, they themselves
will not receive them for their Wages, neither do they oblige any other
Person whose Fees or Wages are stated by Law to receive them, but have
made Provision how they shall be paid exclusive of such Bills.
§37 And as to the Objection that they have been receiv'd in Payment to
satisfy all Judgements given as aforesaid, the Creditor faith, that it
was only by the same reasons that they should be received now at the
same Value as Bills of Credit on this Colony that there was formerly
because it is evident that there is now a real Difference in their
Values.
§38 For by a Law of the Province of the Massachusets-Bay, their Bills of
Old-Tenor are stated equal to Silver at Fifty Shillings an Ounce and
Seven Shillings and Six Pence are equal to One Shilling Proclamation
Money, and the Executive Courts in this Colony reckon Eight Shillings
Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony equal to One Shilling Proclamation Money
which is equal to Silver at Fifty-four Shillings Old-Tenor an Ounce.
§39 And by an Act of Rhode-Island General Assembly Sixty four Shillings
of their Old-Tenor Bills is stated equal to one Ounce of Silver, at
which Rate nine Shillings and Six pence is equal to but One Shilling
Proclamation Money, whereas three Years ago the Bills of Old-Tenor on
all the three Governments aforesaid were of equal Value.
§40 And since it appears, that there is such a Difference in the stated
Value of the aforesaid Bills of Credit, no Man can with any Propriety be
said to make them all without Distinction, a Standard to value Things
by; for a Man could afford to sell any Goods or Merchandize for a less
Sum in Old-Tenor Bills of the Massachusets-Bay, than for the Old-Tenor
Bills of this Colony and he could afford to sell Goods for a less Sum by
15 per Cent for the Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony, than for the
Old-Tenor Bills on Rhode-Island Colony.
§41 And to say that an Accompt is charged in Old-Tenor Money
indifferently of this and the neighbouring Governments, is to say that
7s.-6d. and 8s. and 9s.-6.d are one and the same Sum, or that there is
no Difference between Fifty and Fifty-four, or between Fifty-four and
Sixty-four Q.E.D.
§42 And since it appears that it would be evidently absurd to make a
Demand for old-Tenor Money indifferently of this and the neighbouring
Governments, it follows that all Demands made for Old-Tenor Money in
this Colony must be for the Money of this Colony exclusive of the
Old-Tenor of the neighbouring Governments, or else for the Old-Tenor
Money of some one of the other Governments exclusive of the Old-Tenor of
this and the rest.
§43 And since nothing but a special Contract can intitle any Person to
demand the Money of any other Government, for a Debt contracted and
demanded in this Colony: It necessarily follows, that all Demands for
Debts due by Book, where the Contract lyes at large must be for the
Money of this Colony only.
§44 What I would be understood to mean by Old-Tenor Money of the Colony
of Connecticut is, whatsoever is established by Law in said Colony to
pass as, or in Lieu of Money, rated according to its Value in Old-Tenor
Bills on said Colony, and I supposed that the Words (Old-Tenor) when
us'd in Contracts are universally understood to be intended only to
assertain the Value of the Sum to which they are affixed and they must
be so understood when the Executive Courts tax Bills of Cost in
Old-Tenor Money, for they have no Right neither do they mean to exclude
Bills of the New-Tenor, or any of those Coins established by Law (to
pass in Payment for Fees) from being a sufficient Tender in Payment of
such Costs.
§45 And now I have gone through with what I first proposed, But perhaps
some, may be ready to say, that we are sensible that it is of bad
Consequence to have a fluctuating Medium of Exchange, but what can be
done to Remedy it?
§46 I answer take away the Cause, and the Effect will necessarily cease.
§47 But it may be further objected, that if it were not for the Bills of
Credit on the neighbouring Governments, we should have no Money to Trade
with, and what should we do for a Medium of Exchange? or how could we
live without?
§48 To this I answer, that if that were indeed the Case, we had better
die in a good Cause than live in a bad one. But I apprehend that the
Case in Fact is quite the reverse, for we in this Colony are seated on a
very fruitful Soil, the Product whereof, with our Labour and Industry
and the Divine Blessng thereon, would sufficiently furnish us with and
procure us all the Necessaries of Life and as good a Medium of Exchange
as any People in the World have or can desire.
§49 But so long as we part with our most valuable Commodities for such
Bills of Credit as are no Profit; but rather a Cheat, Vexation and Snare
to us, and become a Medium whereby we are continually cheating and
wronging one another in our Dealings and Commerce.
§50 And so long as we import so much more foreign Goods than are
necessary, and keep so many Merchants and Trader employed to procure and
deal them out to us: Great Part of which, we might as well make among
ourselves; and another great Part of which, we had much better be
without, especially the Spiritous Liquors of which vast Quantities are
consumed in this Colony every Year, unnecessarily to the great
Destruction of the Estates, Morals, Health and even the Lives of many of
the Inhabitants.
§51 I say so long as these Things are so we shall spend great Part of
our Labour and Substance for that which will not profit us.
§52 Whereas if these Things were reformed, the Provisions and other
Commodities which we might have to export yearly, and which other
Governments are dependant upon us for, would procure us Gold and Silver
abundantly sufficient for a Medium of Trade. And we might be as
independent, flourishing and happy a Colony as any in the British
Dominions.
§53 And with Submission I would humbly beg Leave to propose it to the
wise Consideration of the Honourable General Assembly of this Colony;
whether it would not be conductive to the welfare of the Colony to pass
some act to prevent the Bills last emitted by Rhode-Island Colony from
obtaining a Currency among us.
§54 And to appoint some reasonable Time (not exceeding the Term that our
Bills of Credit are allowed to pass) after the Expiration of which none
of the Bills of Credit on New Hampshire or Rhode-Island, shall be
allowed to pass in this Colony, that so People having previous Notice
thereof may order their Affairs so as to get rid of such Bills to the
best Advantage that they can before the Expiration of such Term.
§55 And whether it would not be very much for the Publick Good to lay a
large Excise upon all Rum imported into this Colony or distilled herein,
thereby effectually to restrain the excessive use thereof, which is such
a growing Evil among us and is leading to almost all other Vices.
§56 And I doubt not but that if those two great Evils that have been
mentioned were restrained we should soon see better Times.
FINIS
or, An Inquiry into the Evils of a Fluctuating Medium of
Exchange,
WHEREIN is considered, whether the Bills of Credit on the Neighboring
Governments, are a legal Tender in Payment of Money, In the COLONY of
CONNECTICUT for Debts due by Book, and otherwise, where the Contract
Mentions only Old-Tenor Money.
by Roger Sherman
author of Article 1 Section 10 of the United States Constitution, “No State
shall make any Thing but
Gold and Silver Coin a tender in Payment of Debts”
Original publication, 1752
§1 Forasmuch, as there have many Disputes arisen of late concerning the
Medium of Exchange in this Colony, which have been occasioned chiefly by
Reason of our having such large Quantities of Paper Bills of Credit on
some of the Neighbouring Governments, passing in Payments among us, and
some of those Governments having issued much larger sums of Bills than
were necessary to supply themselves witha competent Medium of Exchange,
and not having supplied their Treasuries with any Fund for the
maintaining the Credit of such Bills; they have therefore been
continually depreciating and growing less in their Value, and have been
the principal Means of the Depreciation of the Bills of Credit emitted
by this Colony, by their passing promiscuously with them; and so have
been the Occasion of Much Embarrasment and Injustice, in the Trade and
Commerce of the Colony, and many People and especially Widows and
Orphans have been great Sufferers thereby.
§2 But our Legislature having at length taken effectual Care to prevent
further Depreciation of the Bills of this Colony, and the other
Governments not having taken the prudent Care, their Bills of Credit are
still sinking (1) in their Value, and have in Fackt sunk much below the
Value of the Bills of this Colony.
§3 Yet some People among us, by long Custom, are so far prejudiced in
Favour of a sinking Medium, and others not being really sensible of the
true State of the Case, are inclined to think that Bills of Credit on
the neighbouring Governments ought to be a legal Tender in Payments in
this Colony for all Debts due by Book and otherwise wheere there is no
special contract expressly mentioning some other Currency, and others
being of a different Opinion, the Disputes have been carried on so far,
as to occasion some Expence in the Law, and may be likely to occasion
much more, unless prevented by those Prejudices being some way removed.
And since it is a a Cause wherin every one is more or less interested, I
have ventured to shew my Opinion, with a sincere Desire to have Peace
and Justice maintained and promoted in the Colony. Not desiring any
Person to approve of my Observations any farther than he finds them
agreeable to the Principles of Justice and right Reason.
THE CASE STATED
§4 Suppose a Man comes to a Trader's Shop in this Colony to buy Goods,
and the Trader sells him a certain Quantity of Goods and tells him the
Price is som many Pounds, Shillings and Pence, (let it be more or less)
to be paid at the Expiration of one Year, from that Time, and the Man
receives the Goods but there is nothing said either by Seller or Buyer,
what Currency it is to be paid in, but the Goods are charged according
to the Value of Bills of Credit Old Tenor on this Colony.
§5 Now I Query what the Creditor has a Right to demand for a Debt so
contracted; or what the Debtor can oblige him to accept in Payment?
§6 The Creditor says, that the Debt being contracted in the Colony of
Connecticut, he ought to have what is known by the Laws of said Colony
to be Money: And that he has no Right to demand any thing else.
§7 The Debtor says, That Bills of Credit on the neighbouring Governments
have for many Years passed promiscuously with the Bills of Credit on
this Colony as Money in all Payments, (except special Contracts) and
that People in general where the Contracts ly at large have expected,
and do still expect, that any of the Bills of Credit on any of the
Governments in New-England, that have obtained a Currency in this Colony
will answer in Payment, and in as much as the Creditor did not give him
any Notice to the contrary, when he bought the Goods, therefore he
thinks that such Bills of Credit ought to be accepted in Payment for the
aforesaid Debt.
§8 And altho' there is no particular Statute in this Colony, that such
Bills of Credit shall be a legal Tender in Payments of Money: Yet the
Practice has been so universal for so long a Time, adnd the Creditor
himself has both received and pass'd them as Money constantly without
making Exceptions against them 'till this Debt was contracted, and for
many Years all Demands on Book Debts have been for Old Tenor Money
indifferently, without Distiction of Colonies, and Judgements in all
Courts have been given thereon accordingly: And any of the aforesaid
Bills of Credit have pass'd in Payment to satisfy all Judgements, so
obtain'd and this universal Custom, the Debtor saith, ought to be
esteemed as common Law and ought not without some special Reason to be
set aside, and that in this Case there is nothing special; and therefore
the Creditor ought not to make Demand or obtain Judgement different from
the common Custom of the Colony.
§9 In Answer to this the Creditor saith, that altho' Bills of Credit on
the neighbouring Governments have for a Number of Years been pass'd and
receiv'd in Payments: Yet it has been only by the voluntary Consent of
the Persons receiving them, and not because they were under any
Obligation to receive them; and that it is no Argument that a Person
shall be obliged to receive any Species where it won't answer his End,
because in Time past he has receiv'd it when it would answer.
§10 And the Creditor furthur saith, that such Bills of Credit are of no
intrinsick Value, and their Extrinsical Value is fluctuating and very
uncertain, and therefore it would be unjust that any Person should be
obliged to receive them in Payment as Money in this Colony, (since
neither the Colony nor any of the Inhabitants thereof are under any
Obligation either to Refunds said Bills or to maintain the Credit of
them) for Money ought to be something of certain Value, it being that
whereby other Things are to be valued. (2)
§11 And I think it is a Principle that must be granted that no
Government has Right to impose on its Subjects any foreign Currency to
be received in Payments as Money which is not of intrinsick Value;
unless such Government will assume and undertake to secure and make Good
to the Possesor of such Currency the full Value which they oblige him to
receive it for. Because in so doing they would oblige Men to part with
their Estates for that which is worth nothing in it self and which they
don't know will ever procure him any Thing.
§12 And Rhode-Island Bills of Credit have been so far from being of
certain Value and securing to the Possessor the Value that they were
first stated at, that they have depreciated almost four seventh Parts in
nine Years last past, as appears by their own Acts of Assembly.
§13 For in the year 1743, it appears by the Face of the Bills then
emitted that Twenty-seven Shillings Old-Tenor was equal to one Ounce of
Silver. And by an Act of their General Assembly pass'd in March last,
they stated Fifty-four Shilling Old-Tenor Bills equal to one Ounce of
Silver, which sunk their Value one half. And by another Act in June
last, (viz. 1751) they stated Sixty-four Shillings in their Old-Tenor
Bills equal to one Ounce of Silver. And by another Act in August last
they gave Order and Direction to the Courts in that Colony to make
Allowance to the Creditors in making up Judgement from Time to Time as
the Bills shall depreciate for the Future, which shews that they expect
their Bills of Credit to depreciate for the Future.
§14 And since the Value of The Bills of Credit depend wholly on the Rate
at which they are stated and on the Credit of the Government by whom
they are emitted and that being the only Reason and Foundation upon
which they obtained their first Currency and by which the same has been
upheld ever since their first being current and therefor e when the
Publick Faith and Credit of such Government is violated, then the Reason
upon which such Bill obtained their Currency ceases and there remains no
Reason why they should be any longer current.
§15 And this I would lay down as a Principle that can't be denied that a
Debtor ought not to pay any Debts with less Value than was contracted
for, without the Consent or against the Will of the Creditor.
§16 And the Creditor further saith, that his accepting Rhode-Island
Bills of Credit when they stood stated equal to Silver at Twenty-seven
Shillings an Ounce, can be no Reason that he should receive them at the
same Value when they are stated equal to Silver at Fifty-four Shillings
an Ounce, and still to receive them at the same Rate when they are so
reduced down that Sixty-four Shillings is equal to but one Ounce of
Silver, and whoever does receive them so must not only act without, but
against Reason.
§17 And the Debtor can't possibly plead without any Truth that he
expected to pay in Rhode-Island Bills of Credit at their present Value
and under their present Circumstances, (any Debts contracted before the
aforesaid Acts of Rhode Island were published) because there was no such
Thing (as those Bills are under their present Circumstances) existing at
the Time of Contract, for as was observ'd before, the Value of such
Bills of Credit depend wholly upon the Rate at which they are stated and
on the Credit of the Government by whom they are emitted, and a Bill of
Credit for the same Sum that is stated equal to Silver at Twenty-seven
Shillings an Ounce, must be of more than double the Value of one stated
equal to Silver at Sixty-four Shillings an Ounce if the Credit of the
Emitter may be depended on: But if the Emitter's Credit can't be
depended on then neither of the Bills aforesaid are of any Value,
because it is evident that no Bills of Credit have any Value in
themselves, but are given to secure something of intrinsick Value, to
the Posessor.
§18 So that the Arguments draw from Custom are of no Force, because the
Reasons upon which that Custom were grounded do now cease.
§19 I grant that if any Thing whose Value is intrinsical and invariable
the same should obtain a Currency as a Medium of Exchange for a great
Number of Years in any Colony, it might with some Reason be urg'd that
it ought to be accepted in Payments for Debts where there is no special
Agreement for any other Species.
§20 But if what is us'd as a Medium of Exchange is fluctuating in its
Value it is no better than unjust Weights and Measures, both which are
condemn'd by the Laws of GOD and Man, and therefore the longest and most
universal Custom could never make the Use of such a Medium either lawful
or reasonable.
§21 Now suppose that Gold or Silver Coines that pass current in Payments
at a certain Rate by Tale should have a considerable Part of their
Weight filed or clipp'd off will any reasonable Man judge that they
ought to pass for the same Value as those of full Weight?
§22 But the State of R...I...d Bills of Credit is much worse than that
of Coins that are clipp'd, because what is left of those Coins is of
intrinsick Value: But the General Assembly of R...I...d having
depreciated their Bills of Credit have thereby violated their Promise
from Time to Time, and there is just Reason to suspect their Credit for
the Future for the small Value which they now promise for said Bills,
and they have not only violated their Promise as to the Value, pretended
to be secured to the Posessor by said Bills; but also as to the Time of
calling them in and paying the same, they have lengthened out the Time
Fifteen Years.
§23 So that if the Posessor must be kept out of the Use of his Money
until that Term is expired (and the Bills secure nothing to him sooner.)
One Ounce of Silver paid down now, would be worth more than Seven pounds
Ten Shillings in such Bills of Credit computing the Interest at 6 per
Cent per Annum.
§24 These Things considered, can any reasonable Man think that such
Bills of Credit (or rather of no Credit) ought to be a legal Tender in
Payment of Money in this Colony for Debts, for which the Debtor received
Species of much more Value than those Bills provided the Creditor could
get the full Value of them in Silver that they are now stated at.
§25 For it must be remembered that according to the State of the Case
now in Question the Goods were charged according to the Value of
Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony. Wherefore upon the whole it appears that
it would be evidently unjust to impose Rhode-Island Bills of Credit in
payment for such a Debt, or any other in this Colony, unless the
Creditor obliged himself by a special Agreement to receive them in
Payment.
§26 And if he had agreed to receive them in Payment for Debts contracted
any Time between last March and June it would be unjust to oblige him to
take them without three Shillings on the Pound Allowance, for the
General Assembly of Rhode-Island depreciated them so much in June below
both their current and stated Value in March preceding.
§27 And to oblige People to receive them without such Allowance in this
Colony; would be, to more dishonest than they are in Rhode-Island Colony
for they are obliged by Law to make Allowance for the Depreciation.
§28 But in as much as we are not under the Jurisdiction of Rhode-Island
Government and therefore can take no Benefit by equitable Acts, I
suppose that according to the Rules of the Law, upon a Contract made in
this Colony for the Payment of Bills of Credit on the Colony of
Rhode-Island or any of the neighbouring Governments,
§29 if the Debtor could not produce such Bills under the same
Circumstances that they were at the Time of Contract, the Courts would
assess Damages for Connecticut Money, according to the Value of such
Bills at the Time of Contract.
§30 And the Reason is, because if on the one Hand all such Bills should
be called in and burnt between the Time of Contract and the Time of
Payment it would be unreasonable to oblige the Debtor to an
impossibility, and on the other Hand if there should between the Time of
Contract and the Time of Payment be an Act pass'd that all such Bills
should be brought into the Treasurer to be redeem'd by a certain Time or
else be Outlawed and rendered of no value and that Time should be
expired before the Time of Payment, or if by an Act of Assembly they
should be depreciated and sunk one half or two thirds of their Value, it
would be unreasonable that the Creditor should be thereby defrauded of
his just Due and lose so much of his Estate.
§31 But to impose Rhode-Island Bills of Credit in Payments for Debts in
this Colony when the Creditor never agreed to take them, and that
without any Allowance for the Depreciation, would be to take away Men's
Estates and wrong them of their just and righteous Dues without either
Law or Reason.
§32 And instead of having our Properties defended and secured to us by
the Protection of the Government under which we live; we should be
always exposed to have them taken from us by Fraud at the Pleasure of
other Governments, who have no Right of Jurisdiction over us.
§33 And according to this Argument, if Rhode-Island General Assembly has
been pleased last June to have stated their Old-Tenor Bills equal to
Silver at Forty-eight Pounds Twelve Shillings an Ounce, instead of
Sixty-four Shillings, and to have cut off the Value of them Eighteen
Shillings on the Pound, instead of Three Shillings, all Creditors in
this Colony would thereby have been necessitated to lose Ninety Pounds
out of every Hundred Pounds of their Debts which were then out standing,
for if they could take away one Sixth Part of their Value and reduce
them so much below the Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony and the Creditor
be notwithstanding obliged to receive them without Allowance, by the
Rule they might have taken away three Quarters of Nine Tenths or indeed
the whole, and the Creditor have had no more Remedy than he has now.
§34 And the Estates of poor Widows and Orphans must according to this
Principle in the same unjust Manner be taken away from them and given to
others that have no Right to them, (for what the Creditor loses in this
way the Debtor gains because the more the Bills of Credit depreciate the
less Value the Debtor can produce them for) and according to the
Debtor's Arguement the Executive Courts in this Colony must give
Judgement in Favour of all this Fraud and Iniquity at least, 'till there
is some special Act of Assembly to order them to the contrary; but I
believe that every honest Man of Common Sense, upon mature Consideration
of the Circumstances of the Case, will think that this is an Iniquity
not to be countenanced, but rather to be punished by the Judges.
§35 But in Answer to what is said concerning Demands being made for
Old-Tenor Money indifferently and the Courts giving Judgement
accordingly. The Creditor saith that Phrase in all Demands made in this
Colony ought to be understood to be the Old-Tenor Money of this Colony,
and no other, for there never was any Law in this Colony that Bills of
Credit on the neighbouring Governments should be a legal Tender in
Payments of Money, and I have observed before that it would be
unreasonable, that any such Foreign Currency should be imposed as Money,
and the same Phrase is us'd in taxing Bills of Cost in the Executive
Courts, but it is understood to be the Old-Tenor Money of this Colony
only, for a Thousand Pounds in Bills of Credit on the neighbouring
Governments would not be sufficient in the Law to satisfy a Bill of Cost
of Twenty Shillings Old-Tenor.
§36 And the General Assembly of this Colony have sufficiently declared
that they don't Esteem such Bills of Credit as Money, and that no Person
ought to be obliged to receive them as such. In that, they themselves
will not receive them for their Wages, neither do they oblige any other
Person whose Fees or Wages are stated by Law to receive them, but have
made Provision how they shall be paid exclusive of such Bills.
§37 And as to the Objection that they have been receiv'd in Payment to
satisfy all Judgements given as aforesaid, the Creditor faith, that it
was only by the same reasons that they should be received now at the
same Value as Bills of Credit on this Colony that there was formerly
because it is evident that there is now a real Difference in their
Values.
§38 For by a Law of the Province of the Massachusets-Bay, their Bills of
Old-Tenor are stated equal to Silver at Fifty Shillings an Ounce and
Seven Shillings and Six Pence are equal to One Shilling Proclamation
Money, and the Executive Courts in this Colony reckon Eight Shillings
Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony equal to One Shilling Proclamation Money
which is equal to Silver at Fifty-four Shillings Old-Tenor an Ounce.
§39 And by an Act of Rhode-Island General Assembly Sixty four Shillings
of their Old-Tenor Bills is stated equal to one Ounce of Silver, at
which Rate nine Shillings and Six pence is equal to but One Shilling
Proclamation Money, whereas three Years ago the Bills of Old-Tenor on
all the three Governments aforesaid were of equal Value.
§40 And since it appears, that there is such a Difference in the stated
Value of the aforesaid Bills of Credit, no Man can with any Propriety be
said to make them all without Distinction, a Standard to value Things
by; for a Man could afford to sell any Goods or Merchandize for a less
Sum in Old-Tenor Bills of the Massachusets-Bay, than for the Old-Tenor
Bills of this Colony and he could afford to sell Goods for a less Sum by
15 per Cent for the Old-Tenor Bills of this Colony, than for the
Old-Tenor Bills on Rhode-Island Colony.
§41 And to say that an Accompt is charged in Old-Tenor Money
indifferently of this and the neighbouring Governments, is to say that
7s.-6d. and 8s. and 9s.-6.d are one and the same Sum, or that there is
no Difference between Fifty and Fifty-four, or between Fifty-four and
Sixty-four Q.E.D.
§42 And since it appears that it would be evidently absurd to make a
Demand for old-Tenor Money indifferently of this and the neighbouring
Governments, it follows that all Demands made for Old-Tenor Money in
this Colony must be for the Money of this Colony exclusive of the
Old-Tenor of the neighbouring Governments, or else for the Old-Tenor
Money of some one of the other Governments exclusive of the Old-Tenor of
this and the rest.
§43 And since nothing but a special Contract can intitle any Person to
demand the Money of any other Government, for a Debt contracted and
demanded in this Colony: It necessarily follows, that all Demands for
Debts due by Book, where the Contract lyes at large must be for the
Money of this Colony only.
§44 What I would be understood to mean by Old-Tenor Money of the Colony
of Connecticut is, whatsoever is established by Law in said Colony to
pass as, or in Lieu of Money, rated according to its Value in Old-Tenor
Bills on said Colony, and I supposed that the Words (Old-Tenor) when
us'd in Contracts are universally understood to be intended only to
assertain the Value of the Sum to which they are affixed and they must
be so understood when the Executive Courts tax Bills of Cost in
Old-Tenor Money, for they have no Right neither do they mean to exclude
Bills of the New-Tenor, or any of those Coins established by Law (to
pass in Payment for Fees) from being a sufficient Tender in Payment of
such Costs.
§45 And now I have gone through with what I first proposed, But perhaps
some, may be ready to say, that we are sensible that it is of bad
Consequence to have a fluctuating Medium of Exchange, but what can be
done to Remedy it?
§46 I answer take away the Cause, and the Effect will necessarily cease.
§47 But it may be further objected, that if it were not for the Bills of
Credit on the neighbouring Governments, we should have no Money to Trade
with, and what should we do for a Medium of Exchange? or how could we
live without?
§48 To this I answer, that if that were indeed the Case, we had better
die in a good Cause than live in a bad one. But I apprehend that the
Case in Fact is quite the reverse, for we in this Colony are seated on a
very fruitful Soil, the Product whereof, with our Labour and Industry
and the Divine Blessng thereon, would sufficiently furnish us with and
procure us all the Necessaries of Life and as good a Medium of Exchange
as any People in the World have or can desire.
§49 But so long as we part with our most valuable Commodities for such
Bills of Credit as are no Profit; but rather a Cheat, Vexation and Snare
to us, and become a Medium whereby we are continually cheating and
wronging one another in our Dealings and Commerce.
§50 And so long as we import so much more foreign Goods than are
necessary, and keep so many Merchants and Trader employed to procure and
deal them out to us: Great Part of which, we might as well make among
ourselves; and another great Part of which, we had much better be
without, especially the Spiritous Liquors of which vast Quantities are
consumed in this Colony every Year, unnecessarily to the great
Destruction of the Estates, Morals, Health and even the Lives of many of
the Inhabitants.
§51 I say so long as these Things are so we shall spend great Part of
our Labour and Substance for that which will not profit us.
§52 Whereas if these Things were reformed, the Provisions and other
Commodities which we might have to export yearly, and which other
Governments are dependant upon us for, would procure us Gold and Silver
abundantly sufficient for a Medium of Trade. And we might be as
independent, flourishing and happy a Colony as any in the British
Dominions.
§53 And with Submission I would humbly beg Leave to propose it to the
wise Consideration of the Honourable General Assembly of this Colony;
whether it would not be conductive to the welfare of the Colony to pass
some act to prevent the Bills last emitted by Rhode-Island Colony from
obtaining a Currency among us.
§54 And to appoint some reasonable Time (not exceeding the Term that our
Bills of Credit are allowed to pass) after the Expiration of which none
of the Bills of Credit on New Hampshire or Rhode-Island, shall be
allowed to pass in this Colony, that so People having previous Notice
thereof may order their Affairs so as to get rid of such Bills to the
best Advantage that they can before the Expiration of such Term.
§55 And whether it would not be very much for the Publick Good to lay a
large Excise upon all Rum imported into this Colony or distilled herein,
thereby effectually to restrain the excessive use thereof, which is such
a growing Evil among us and is leading to almost all other Vices.
§56 And I doubt not but that if those two great Evils that have been
mentioned were restrained we should soon see better Times.
FINIS