this state of things the Attorney General should be directed either to prosecute or defend for the original claimants, as should appear to him most likely to insure justice. A step of this kind appeared to the Secretary to be warranted and dictated, as well by a due regard to the defenceless situation of the parties who may have been prejudiced, as by considerations resulting from the propriety of discouraging similar practices. It is with reluctance and pain the Secretary is induced to make this representation to the President. The respect which he entertains for the decisions of the two houses of Congress; the respect which is due to those movements of humanity towards the supposed sufferers, and of indignation against those who are presumed to have taken an undue advantage; an unwillingness to present before the mind of the President, especially at the present juncture, considerations which may occasion perplexity or anxiety, concur in rendering the task peculiarly unwelcome. Yet the principles which appear to the Secretary to have been invaded, in this instance, are, in his estimation, of such fundamental consequence to the stability, character, and success of the government, and at the same time so immediately interesting to the department intrusted to his care, that he feels himself irresistibly impelled by a sense of duty, as well to the Chief Magistrate as to the community, to make a full communication of his impressions and reflections. He is sensible that an inflexible adherence to the principles contended for must often have an air of rigor, and will sometimes be productive of particular inconveniences. The general rules of property, and all those general rules which form the links of society, frequently involve in their ordinary operation, particular hardships and injuries; yet the public order and the general happiness require a steady conformity to them. It is perhaps always better that partial evils should be submitted to, than that principles should be violated. In the infancy of our present government, peculiar strictness and circumspection are called for, by the too numerous instances of relaxations, which in other quarters, and on other occasions, have discredited our public measures. The Secretary is not unaware of the delicacy of an opposition to the resolutions in question, by the President, should his view of the subject coincide with that of the Secretary; yet he begs leave on this point to remark, that such an opposition in a case, in which a small part of the community only is directly concerned, would be less likely to have disagreeable consequences than in one which should affect a very considerable portion of it; and the prevention of an ill precedent, if it be truly one, may prove a decisive obstacle to other cases of greater extent and magnitude, and of a more critical tendency. If the objections are as solid as they appear to the Secretary to be, he trusts they cannot fail, with the sanction of the President, to engage the approbation, not only of the generality of considerate men, but of the community at large. And if momentary dissatisfaction should happen to exist in particular parts of the Union, it is to be hoped it will be speedily removed by the measures which, under the direction of the President, may be pursued, for obtaining the same end in an unexceptionable mode; for the s cess of which the Secretary will not fail to exert his most zealous endeavors. It is proper that the President should be informed, that if ob jections should be made by him, they will in all probability be effectual; as the resolutions passed in the Senate with no greater majority than twelve to ten. The Secretary feels an unreserved confidence in the justice. and magnanimity of the President; that whatever may be his view of the subject, he will at least impute the present representation to an earnest and anxious conviction in the mind of the Secretary, of the truth and importance of the principles which he supports, and of the inauspicious tendency of the measure to which he objects, co-operating with a pure and ardent zeal for the public good, and for the honor and prosperity of the administration of the Chief Magistrate. HAMILTON TO SHORT. SIR: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 29, 1790. I am honored with your letters of the 28th and 30th, which did not come to my hands till the 27th instant. The conduct you have prescribed to yourself in regard to the negotiations concerning the debt of the United States, appears to be very prudent and judicious, and such as will give the United States a convenient election of the measures to be pursued in future. Previous to the receipt of your favor, I had written to the commissioners upon the business of their letter of the 25th of January, a duplicate of which you were so good as to inclose to me. Considering their zeal, exertions, and general deportment on former occasions, as entitling them to the regard of government, I wrote them in a manner corresponding with those impressions, yet so as to leave the United States at full liberty in their final determinations on the late transaction, and particularly guarding against the ill consequences that would result from establishing a precedent of this nature. It is possible, when our arrangements shall be completed, that the United States may find it convenient to confirm this transaction, but in the mean time it appeared most advisable to treat it as I have mentioned. I am to acknowledge my obligation to you for the return of the vessels and cargoes from the United States that have arrived in the ports of France. It will be on many occasions a very useful document. With cordial satisfaction, sir, I reciprocate your congratulations on the late happy change in the situation of our country, and I feel great pleasure in receiving information so authentic that it has influenced favorably the dispositions of the European' nations. A prosecution of the same just and salutary principles, it may be reasonably hoped, will give permanency to our present advantages, and secure a larger portion of those benefits which the United States are qualified to produce. JEFFERSON TO HAMILTON. June 12, 1790. Thomas Jefferson has the honor to send to the Secretary of the Treasury a rough draft of a Report on the subject of measures, weights, and coins, in order that the Secretary may be able to accommodate his plan of a MINT to the very small alteration of the money unit proposed in this Report. HAMILTON TO JEFFERSON. June 13, 1790. The Secretary of the Treasury has the honor to acknowledge the reception of the Report of the Secretary of State on the subject of measures, weights, and coins. There is no view which he has taken of the matter which stands opposed to the alteration of the money unit as at present contemplated by the regulations of Congress, either in the way suggested in the Report or in that mentioned in the note of yesterday. And there are certainly strong reasons to render a correspondency desirable. The idea of a general standard among nations, as in the proposal of the Bishop d'Autun, seems full of convenience and order. HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON. June 18, 1790. The Secretary of the Treasury, having, in consequence of the Act for the establishment and support of light-houses, directed his inquiries to that object, begs leave most respectfully to submit the result to the President of the United States of America. New Hampshire. In this State is only one light-house, situated on a point of land on the island of Newcastle, three miles from Portsmouth, without the walls of the fort which commands the entrance of the Piscataqua river. It is under the superintendence of a commissary, who is captain of the fort; and is, at present, in good repair. The annual expense of maintaining it is estimated at $217 20. Massachusetts. In this State are six light-houses, at the following places, viz. : Boston, Plum Island, Nantucket, Portland. The whole expense attending the support of these establishments, including the officers' salaries, is estimated at The officers appointed for their management are, at Boston, Captain Thomas Knox, with an annual salary of $5736 00 $400 00 At Cape Ann, Mr. Samuel Houston, with ditto, 400 00 At Plymouth, the widow of the late General Thomas, with ditto, 233 50 At Plum Island, Mr. Lowell, with ditto, 220 00 At Nantucket, Mr. Paul Pinkham, with ditto, 250 00 At Portland, the building not being perfectly completed, no person is yet appointed to superintend it. Exclusive of the above, there is an officer styled a commissary, who has the charge of supplying the whole. This office is now filled by Mr. Divens, but what allowance he has for executing it, the Secretary has not yet ascertained. When the building at Portland is completed, the expense of maintaining it, and the allowance of the commissary superintend |