From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 26 October 1775
To Alexander McDougall
[Ph. 26 Octr 1775]
Dear Sir
I have recd. your Letter by Mr. Clough and you may rely on my paying due Attention to your Recommendation1
Mr. Fine has a Letter from us to your Convention inclosing a Resolve of Congress enabling them to ship on their Account Provisions &c. to the Foreign West Indies for the Purpose of purchasing Ammunition &c. Under this Resolve I apprehend you may avail yourself of Mr. Fine’s Contract by taking it upon yourselves & allowing him such Coms. as will be nearly adequate to the Proffits he expects from the Voyage—I have not informed him of the Purport of the Resolve, thinking it more prudent to refer him to the Convention—2 I am Sir your Frd. & hble Servt
John Jay
ALS, NHi: McDougall (EJ: 751). Addressed: “To/Colll. Alexr. McDougall/at/New York/By Mr. Fine.” Endorsed.
1. Letter not located. Clough has not been identified.
2. The congressional resolution of 26 Oct. 1775 “recommended to the several provincial Assemblies, or councils of safety, of the United Colonies, to export to the foreign West Indies . . . as much provision or any other produce . . . as they may deem necessary for the importation of arms, ammunition, sulphur, and salt petre.” In their letter to the New York Congress that covered this resolution, the New York delegates pointed out “the Propriety of keeping it [the proposed trade with the West Indies] as secret as the Nature of the Business will admit.” Upon receiving this letter and the resolve of 26 Oct., the provincial congress appointed a committee on 2 Nov. to negotiate with Fine and charged that “this letter and resolve to be kept secret.” The result of the negotiation has not been ascertained. Fine’s proposal may have been incorporated into the operations of a committee appointed on 9 Dec. to plan voyages to procure arms, ammunition, and other supplies. The delegates’ letter to the New York Congress also promised that “it will not be long before you will be made acquainted with the sentiments of the Congress respecting the general state of trade.” LS, in the hand of JJ, N (EJ: 4375); , 2: 260–61; , 3: 1315; 4: 398.
On 1 Nov., Congress adopted resolutions forbidding exports until 1 Mar. 1776 and decreeing that inhabitants of New York, Delaware, North Carolina, and Georgia “ought not to avail themselves of the benefit allowed to them by the late restraining act.” These resolutions carried a proviso that they were not to interfere with Congress’s resolves for the encouragement of the importation of arms and ammunition. , 3: 308, 314–15; , 1: 190.