Report of the Oversight Committee on the Department of Foreign Affairs, 14 August 1788
Report of the Oversight Committee on the Department of Foreign Affairs
[New York, 14 August 1788]
The Committee appointed to enquire fully into the
Proceedings of the Department of Foreign Affairs Report.—1
That two Rooms are occupied by this Department, one of which the Secretary reserves for himself and the Reception of such Persons as may have Business with him, and the other for his Deputy and Clerks.
That the Records and Papers belonging to the Department are kept in a proper Manner, and so arranged as that Recourse may be had to any of them without Delay or Difficulty.—
That they find his Method of doing Business is as follows—the daily Transactions are entered in a minute Book as they occur, and from thence are neatly copied into a Journal at Seasons of Leisure. This Journal contains a Note of the Dates, Receipt and contents of all Letters received and written by him, with References to the Books in which they are recorded— of all Matters referred to him, and the Time when, and of his Reports thereupon; and in general of all the Transactions in the Department. It is very minute and at present occupies 2 Folio Vols.2
His official Letters to the Ministers and Servants of Congress and others abroad, are recorded in a Book entitled Book of foreign Letters, and such Parts as required Secrecy are in Cyphers.—3
His official Correspondence with foreign Ministers here, and with the Officers of Congress and others in the United States, including the Letters received and written by him, are recorded at large in a Book entitled American Letter book. They already fill 3 folio Vols.—4
His Reports to Congress are recorded in a Book entitled Book of Reports, the 3 Vol: of which is now in Hand. The Papers on which the Reports are made are subjoined to the Report, unless in Cases where according to the ordinary Course of the Office, they are recorded in other Books.—5
His Correspondence and the Proceedings with the Encargado de Negocios of Spain, are recorded in a Book kept for that Purpose.—6
The Passports for Vessels issued by the Secretary under the Act of Congress of 12th. February 1788, together with the Evidence accompanying the several Applications, are recorded in a Book kept for that Purpose.—7
The Letters of Credence and Commissions of foreign Ministers, Chargé des Affaires and Consuls to the United States, are recorded in a Book entitled Book of foreign Commissions.—8
There is also a Book kept and regularly sent to the Secretary of Congress, to receive such Acts of Congress as respect the Department.—9
A Book of Accounts is kept in which are entered the contingent Expences of the Office.—10
The Business of the Office is done by his Deputy and two Clerks, and whatever Time can be spared from the ordinary and daily Business, is employed in recording the Letters received from the american Ministers abroad. In this Work considerable Progress has been made— We find already recorded one Vol: containing the Letters of Mr. Dana during his Mission to Russia, commencing 18th. February 1780 and ending 17th. December 1783— of Mr. H. Laurens commencing 24th. January 1780 and ending 30th. April 1784, and of Mr. John Laurens during his special Mission to Versailles, commencing 3d. January 1781 and ending 6th. September following.11 Five Vols. containing the Letters from Mr. Adams commencing 23d. Decemr. 1777 and brought up to 10th. April 1787, the 6th. Vol: is now in Hand.12 Two Vols. containing the Letters from Mr. Jay commencing the 20th. December 1779 and ending 25th. July 1784.13 The Letters from Mr. Deane commencing the 17th. Septemr. 1776 and ending 17th. March 1782 are recorded, and those from Mr. Arthur ^Lee^ commencing 13th. February 1776 and brought up to 15th. February 1778, are now in Hand.—14
Those from Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jefferson, the first joint Commissioners, the joint Commissioners for negociating a Treaty of Peace, and those for negociating Treaties of Commerce, Mr. William Lee, Mr. Dumas and others are numerous, & are yet to be recorded.15
The Letter Book of the late Committee for foreign Affairs composed of Sheets stitched together and much torn, has been fairly copied in a bound Book and indexed.16
The Books used for these Records are of demy Paper, and each Vol: contains from 5 to 6 Quires of Paper, being all of a Size, except the two Vols. of the Secretary’s Reports which are somewhat less.—
There is an Index to the Paper Cases, and to the Boxes in each Case, and to the Papers in each Box. In these Cases and Boxes are filed the original Letters and Papers belonging to the Office.—17
The Office is constantly open from 9 in the Morning to 6 O’Clock in the Evening; and either his Deputy or one of the Clerks remains in the Office while the others are absent at Dinner.—
By inspection of the book of foreign Letters your Committee find that several timely efforts have been made to furnish Mr. Carmichael with a Cypher; ^the^ last ^of which^ they have reason to hope is Successful—18 And upon the whole they find, neatness, method and perspicuity throughout the Department.—
D, in the hand of Henry Remsen Jr. with last paragraph in the hand of Benjamin Bankson, DNA: PCC, item 25, 2: 495–98. Endorsed: “Read August 14, 1788.” LbkC, DNA: PCC, item 122, 139–40; , 34: 425–28.
1. The authority of the oversight committee for the office of foreign affairs was based on the 17 June 1782 resolution that on the first Monday in July and January of each year five-member committees be appointed to “enquire fully… into the proceedings” of the five departments (finance, foreign affairs, marine, post office, and war) and report to Congress (, 22: 334; D in JM’s hand, DNA: PCC, item 28, 321). No such committees appear to have been appointed after 14 Mar. 1785 (, 28: 158n) until 7 July 1788 when committees were appointed for each of the departments (, 34: 300n). On 7 July 1788 Congress appointed to the oversight committee on the Department for Foreign Affairs John Brown, Ezra L’Hommedieu, Samuel Allyne Otis, James R. Reid, and Thomas Tudor Tucker. For background on the role of such committees and the application to the investigation of the Office of Finance, see , 5: 386–89.
2. The two volumes of the Daily Journal, Office of Foreign Affairs, 1784–1790, are now in DNA: PCC, item 127. They are cited in this volume under .
3. These letter books are now entitled Foreign Letters of the Continental Congress and Department of State, 1785–1790, RG 59, item 121, DNA (M61). Some of the records begun in the Office for Foreign Affairs are continued for a time by the State Department formed under the new U.S. government, and are cited under Foreign Letters. In addition to the materials cited below, other records, both originals and transcriptions, assembled by the Office for Foreign Affairs are to be found either in the PCC, or the Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress, RG 360 (M332).
4. The four volumes originally entitled “American Letters,” are now within the Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784–1906, RG 59, item 120, DNA (M40), and are cited under Domestic Letters.
5. Draft reports are in Reports of John Jay, 1785–88, DNA: PCC, item 81; the transcripts are in Transcripts of the Reports of John Jay, 1785–89, DNA: PCC, item 124; a copy is in NNC: JJ Lbk. 3.
6. For the records of the Jay-Gardoqui negotiation, see Transcripts of the Correspondence between John Jay and Don Diego de Gardoqui, and Sundry Acts and Proceedings of Congress Pertaining to the Negotiations, DNA: PCC, item 125; a copy is in NNC: JJ Lbk. 7. See also Letters from Don Diego de Gardoqui, Encargado de Negocios from Spain, 1785–89, and Other Letters pertaining to Relations with Spain, 1780–87, DNA: PCC, item 97.
7. See Copies of Applications for Passports and Sea Letters, 1788–93, DNA: PCC, item 130.
8. Probably Copies of Commissions and Letters of Credence of Foreign Ministers and Consuls, 1778–1821, DNA: PCC, item 129; but see also Copies of the Commissions of Foreign Consuls, 1778–87, DNA: PCC, item 128.
9. Probably Resolve Book of the Office of Foreign Affairs, 1785–89, DNA: PCC, item 122.
10. The Department of Foreign Affairs accounts have not been found.
11. The transcripts of the Letters of Francis Dana, Henry Laurens, and John Laurens are in DNA: PCC, item 109.
12. See Transcripts of Letters from John Adams, 1777–88, 6 volumes, DNA: PCC, item 104.
13. See Transcripts of Letters of John Jay, 1779–84, DNA: PCC, item 110; and, for copies, see NNC: JJ Lbks. 1 and 2; and CSmH: JJ Lbk.
14. See Transcripts of Letters from Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, 1776–79, DNA: PCC, item 103.
15. See Transcripts of Letters from Benjamin Franklin, 1776–85, and 1788, DNA: PCC, item 100; Transcripts of the Letters from Thomas Jefferson, 1785–87, DNA: PCC, item 107; Transcripts of Letters from the Joint Commissioners of the United States to France, from William Lee and from Ralph Izard, DNA: PCC, item 105; Transcripts of Letters from the Joint Commissioners for Negotiating a Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, 1782–83, DNA: PCC, item 106; Transcripts of Letters from Arthur Lee, William Lee, Ralph Izard, and the Joint Commissioners of the United States to France, 1776–80, DNA: PCC, item 109; and The Transcripts and Duplicates of Letters from Charles W. F. Dumas, PCC, items 115–115B. A Letter book of the Joint Commissioners for the Formation of Treaties of Amity and Commerce, 1783–85, is in PCC, item 116. Among the records assembled by the Department for Foreign Affairs not mentioned are the two volumes of letters of William Carmichael, 1776–91, DNA: PCC, item 88, the transcripts of which are in DNA: PCC, item 108.
16. The Letters of the Committee for Foreign Affairs are in PCC, item 79. No volume of transcriptions has been found.
17. For an undated list prepared by Henry Remsen Jr. at about this time of the books and papers in the Office of Foreign Affairs, including the originals kept in boxes, see Descriptive Lists of Letters and Papers in the Office for Foreign Affairs …, 6–7, DNA: Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress, RG 360 (M332), r5, 629–30.
18. For Carmichael’s complaints about lack of a viable code and JJ’s response, see Carmichael to JJ, 29 Apr. 1788, above, and JJ to Carmichael, 23 Sept. 1788, and notes, below. Carmichael’s letter of 29 Apr. complaining he was not being kept informed was read in Congress on 7 July, the same day that the oversight committee was appointed (, 34: 300n). JJ forwarded a new code (not found) to Carmichael through TJ. See JJ to TJ, 25 Nov. 1788 (first letter), below. Neither this code nor another sent by TJ on 6 Aug. 1790 appears ever to have been used. On the interception and inspection of mail in Spain and France and its impact on communications with JJ and Carmichael, see , 2: xxii–xxiii. On JJ’s use of codes and ciphers, see , 2: 7–13.