Sir, PRES. REED TO WILLIAM HENRY, 1781. Your several Favours of the 3d & 7 & 12* Inst. have been reccived & would have been answered sooner but for my Indisposition. We are sorry to find the Officers of the Army decline accepting the two Dollars, as we hoped in their distressed State for Want of Pay & Necessaries that this Sum would not have been beneath their Notice. If as a Symptom of finding themselves in a more comfortable State of Finance we should rejoice to hear it, but if it is too little for the Officers we think it too much for the Serjeant. Mr. W.'s Conduct has been the Subject of much Consideration & we are partly determined to remove him, but the Difficulty is to appoint the Successor- -We really have a Reluctance to appoint Persons to Offices who have declined them in Days of Difficulty & are also disinclined to the Government, but if suitable Persons of another Character cannot be had we must appoint the others-You may depend upon it some Thing will be done shortly on this Subject. With Respect to the Guard at the Magazines we supposed the Property to be of the United States, & have accordingly made strong Representations to the Board of War, accompanied with an Extract from your Letter & also from Col. Hubley on that Subject-As soon as any Determination is had we will let you know. As Col. Atlee is now going home we hope he will put his Lieutenants Accounts in such Train as that you may receive the Money which may be due the Publick from that Quarter. We are most exceedingly distressed for Want even of small Sums, the Treasury being deplorably low & not in any likely Way to be recruited very soon. You may depend upon it that no Use will be made of your Name in any Proceedings which respect Mr. W. We are very apprehensive that Congress will order the Convention Prisoners to the Number of 2500 or 3000 to be stationed at Lancaster & York. We have wrote to our Delegates & done every Thing in our Power to prevent it, but we fear with little Effect. A Rep resentation from the Inhabitants of Lancaster to their Members of Assembly would probably have a good Effect if the Measure appears to them disadvantageous to the State in general or the Town in particular. I am Sir, your Obed. Hbble. Ser. P. S. You will please to pay the Recruits their second Bounty as it becomes due, Council having given Directions for that Purpose which we hoped you had received. Indorsed, March 13, 1781. * See Vol. VIII, pages 754, 761. Sir, BOARD OF WAR TO PRES. REED, 1781. War Office, March 13, 1781. The Board have been honoured with your Excellency's Letter of yesterday. We shall send for Col. Procter & examine into the Affair of the Boy whose Case you have been pleased to mention. By the Articles of War the Col. or commanding Officer of the Regiment is the proper Person to grant Discharges. We could have wished that the Gentlemen who undertook the Business of the Pennsilvania Line had determined this Matter, as it seems in its Nature to be similar to the Cases they have already decided upon. We are daily applied to by Soldiers who wish to have Discharges on one pretence or other, & are fearful of beginning the Practice of granting them, as we do not know how far it may lead. We shall not however be inattentive to your Recommendation, to which we wish to pay every Respect. A very considerable Time ago we ordered the Dragoons of Col. Moylan's Regiment to take the Guard at Lancaster of the Magazine & publick Stores, & are at a Loss to know why our Orders were not complied with. The Stores & Ammunition are by no Means so considerable as the Inhabitants represent, but some Attention should be paid to them, & we thought we had provided for their Security by ordering the Guard before mentioned. We shall call upon the Commanding Officer to know the Reasons of his Failure to put our Directions into Execution. We are not a little uneasy under the Situation of the Affairs of the Convention Prisoners who must e'er this, be far advanced on their Way to this State. It does not appear that Congress have made any Alteration in their first Determination upon this Subject, nor is it likely they will supercede their former Resolve, as we understand the Committee to whom the Matter was referred have reported that the Measures recommended therein should be persued. Taking it therefore for granted that the first Resolve will stand, we beg that Council will be pleased to adopt the proper Measures for sustaining & guarding these Prisoners at such Places as they shall deem most convenient in this State. The Artificers being at Carlisle we hope that Place will not be thought of, as we are preparing for vigorously carrying on the several Branches of Business necessary for the ensuing Campaign. These Preparations would have been now far advanced had it been in our Power to have kept the Men at Work, which could not be done for Want of Provisions & Money. Whatever Derangements or Disadvantages the Post at Carlisle labours under, it is the chief Dependance we have for the Preparation of Ordnance Stores. We conceive that at least four hundred Rank & File of Militia, properly officered, will be necessary as Guards on a Supposition that one Division of the Prisoners is kept at Lancaster, where they may be guarded by about one hundred & fifty Men. The Magazine at that Place should then be also guarded by the Militia. We know not in what Situation the Barracks at Lancaster are but presume if the Prisoners are to be there Council will be pleased to direct them to be put in Order at the Expence of the United States. Altho' at the Close of the Resolve of Congress on this Subject it should seem that this Board are to take Measures for providing Guards & Supplies for the Prisoners; we think it necessary to inform that we have no other Means in our Power than by calling on your Excellency & the Honble Council for Militia as Guards & for Supplies of Provisions in Part of the Quota requested by Congress of the State. When the Prisoners arrive we shall appoint an Officer to superintend them & see that due Order is preserved & the Supplies properly dis tributed. Sir, PRES. REED TO COL. ADAM HUBLEY, 1781. March 14, 1781. Your Favour of the 3a Inst. has been duly received-inclosed you have the Resolutions of Council with Respect to the Volunteers, to whom you will observe that the Pay is due from the United States & that the Soldiers who are engaged for the War & served during the same Period have not yet received theirs. Col. Atlee being now returned we hope you will be able to get the Business of the Lieutenants in Train, so as to have all due Ārrangements made-This will be the more necessary if the Convention Prisoners should be brought into this State as proposed, Lancaster & York being the Places thought of for their Reception. We have wrote to the Board of War respecting the Magazine, for as the Property is of the United States, we think it quite sufficient to find the Building without adding the Expence of a constant Guard. As soon as the Answer is received will let you know. Council would have you bring down the Arms &c. from Cox's Town, & have them put in Order as soon as possible. Supposing that Congress should require a Guard of us we should rather engage a few Men for a Constancy if to be had than go this Militia Detail. We wish you to inform us whether this may not be done. I am Sir, Indorsed, your Obed. Hbbl. Serv. March 14, 1781. Directed, Col. A. Hubley. Sir, PRES. REED TO MONS. HOLKer, 1781. My Indisposition last Week prevented my sending you the inclosed Memorandum of the particulars which were the Subject of Discussion last Fall in the Council & by which we apprehended the Interest of the State & its inhabitants & the necessary Harmony of publick Business to be material affected. The Change of Circumstances by taking off the Embargo & some other particulars have made farther Discussion less necessary for future Government than it would otherwise have been, but as we are disposed to attend to any Explanations you may think proper to give, the several Matters are stated for your Information & Consideration. Indorsed, I am Sir, your most Obet Hbble Servt. Hr. Holker being Agent of the French Marine & Ships arriving with Merchandize to his Care & Direction which by the Laws of the States should have been reported at the Custom House & of which notice was given to Mr. Holker first by the Naval Officer & after Report by him of neglect by the President of the State, & an assurance given on the Part of Mr. Holker that all necessary Steps should be taken the same was finally omitted & the Vessels sailed again without any Regard to the Laws of the State in this particular. By Mr. Holkers going to the Office with Capt. Etheart upon his arrival, & promising a Compliance with the Law as well as by the Nature of his Office as Agent, it is presumed Mr. Holker should done the Business himself or used effectual Measures to have had it done by Capt. Ethcart. Secondly. When Commissioner appointed by the Assembly made a Tour thro the State last Fall, great Complaints were made by the Inhabitants of the frontier Townships in Berks County, that Persons employed under some Contract with the Consul of France cutting Masts on the Waters of Schuylkill had brought the Depredations of the Indians on their settlements, occasioned a Call of Militia of 300 Men & thereby brought an Expence on the State of at least £1000. Whether these Masts were cut on the vacant Lands of the State or private Property does not appear. But it is apprehended to be wrong in two Respects. 1. That Masts of a particular Size have in America ever been deemed not mere Private Property even when growing on private Soil, but a Property in which the publick was interested, suitable Masts being an Article of great national Concern & hence before the Revolution Masts above were seizable if found in private Possession & the Lands having been located under this Reservation it may be reasonably questioned whether the Right is not vested in the State. Mr. Smith, now Loan Officer was formerly Deputy Ranger under Govr Wentworth for the Purpose of procuring the publick Property in Masts in this State. Secondly. The probable & natural Tendency this Business would have to distress the Inhabitants by raising so distinguished an Object of attention to the Enemy & the Savages their allies which would have made it reasonable to have had the Countenance of publick Authority. Thirdly. The improper use made of the Priviledge granted Mr. Holker as Agent of the French Marines to export Flour out of this State under the late Embargo Law, it being represented to the Council that Mr. Holker after purchasing Flour has sold it again to Merchants having Vessels bound to the West Indies transferring to them in that Case the Privilege of Exportation for private Emoluments-the Facts as represented being that Mr. Holker sold the Flour at an advanced price of the Market here laying the Exporter under an Obligation to offer it to the government of the French Island, but if either this Defect of Quality or Difference of Price it was not taken, the Merchant then having the Priviledge to dispose of it as he thought proper-Mr. Holker in this Case accompanying the Flour with the Passport of the State obtained under the Indulgence afforded by Law to Flour shipped for the immediate use of his Christian Majesty's Army & Navy. Fourthly. The Representation given by Genl. Arnold in his Papers of Mr. Holker's Concern in the Sloop Active then in Dispute with their State has been since explained by the Minister to Satisfaction. |