John Jay Papers
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To John Jay from Robert Morris, 12 May 1783

From Robert Morris

Office of Finance [Philadelphia] 12. May 1783

Sir,

The Bills drawn by Congress in their Necessities, press very heavily upon me; and one of the greatest among many Evils attending them is the Confusion in which they have involved the Affairs of my Department. I have never yet been able to learn how many of these Bills have been paid nor how many remain due neither am I without my fears that some of them have received double Payment.

To bring at length some little Degree of Order into this Chaos after waiting till now for fuller Light and Information I write on the Subject to Mr. Barclay who will have the honor to deliver this Letter and I send him a Copy of the enclosed Account. I have directed him to consult with your Excellency and obtain an Account of the Bills which have been paid and to transmit me an Account both of those and of such as remain due and to take Measures with you for Payment of the latter so as to prevent double Payments which I seriously apprehend The enclosed will inform you that the Bills which are gone forward drawn on you amount to three hundred and eighty four thousand four hundred and forty four Dollars—1

Let me intreat you Sir to forward these Views as much as possible for you will I am sure be Sensible how necessary it is for me to know the exact State of our pecuniary Affairs lest on the one Hand I should risque the public Credit by an Excess of Drafts or on the other leave their Monies unemployed while they experience severe Distress from the Want.2 I am Sir with perfect Respect your Excellency’s Most obedient and humble Servant,

RM

LbkC, DLC: Robert Morris (EJ: 10237).

1Thomas Barclay, American consul in France, had recently been named commissioner to settle the accounts of American agents abroad. In his letter to Barclay of 12 May, Morris authorized Barclay to consult with the four American commissioners (JJ, JA, BF, and Henry Laurens) and forwarded accounts of bills drawn on each based on information in his possession. He requested Barclay to obtain “an Account of the Payment made on them as well as those still due” and thereafter to arrange payment of outstanding obligations with Ferdinand Grand, unofficial American banker in France. No copy of the account sent to Barclay with this letter has been located. See PRM description begins E. James Ferguson et al., eds., The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781–1784 (9 vols.; Pittsburgh, Pa., 1973–99) description ends , 7: 168–75, 421–22; 8: 20–22, 25–33. A copy of the accounts that Barclay later prepared of the bills drawn on JJ in Spain is found in DNA: RG 39, Foreign Ledgers: Public Agents in Europe, 1: 196 (EJ: 11828).

2For JJ’s efforts to obtain his secretary’s cooperation in the settlement of his accounts, see JJ to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1 June, and to Carmichael, 14 Aug. 1783, below; and “Settling the Spanish Accounts” (editorial note), on pp. 550–54.

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