In the year 1781, Mr. Morris was appointed by con gress " superintendant of finance," an office then for the first time established. This appointment was unanimous. Indeed, it is highly probable, that no other man in the country would have been competent to the task of manag ing such great concerns as it involved, or possessed, like himself, thc happy expedient of raising supplies, or deserv edly enjoyed more, if equal public confidence among his fellow citizens, for punctuality in the fulfilment of his en gagements. As the establishment of the office of finance, and the appointment of Mr. Morris to fill it, formed an epoch in the history of the United States, and in the life of that officer, it merits particular notice.
It is well known that the want of a sufficient quantity of the precious metals in the country, for a circulating medium, and the absolute necessity of some substitute to carry on the war, induced congress, from time to time, to issue paper bills of credit to an immense amount. For a time, the enthusiastic zeal and public spirit of the people induced them to receive these bills as equal to gold and silver ; but, as they were not convertible into solid cash at will, and no fund was provided for their re demption, depreciation naturally followed, as a necessary result, and with it public credit. " In the beginning of the year 1781, the treasury was more than two millions and a half in arrears, and the greater part of the debt was of such a nature, that the payment could not be avoided, nor even delayed : and therefore Dr. Franklin, then our minister in France, was under the necessity of ordering back from Amsterdam monies which had been sent thither for the purpose of being shipped to America. If he had not taken this step, the bills of exchange drawn by order of congress must have been protested," and a vital stab thereby given to the credit of the government in Europe. At home, the greatest public as well as private distress existed ; " public credit had gone to wreck, and the enemy built their most sanguine hopes of overcoming us upon this circumstance :"$ and " the treasury was so much in arrears to the servants in the public offices, that many of them could not, without pay ment, perform their duties, but must have gone to gaol for debts they had contracted to enable them to live." To so low an ebb was the public treasury reduced, that some of the members of the board of war declared to Mr. Morris, they had not the means of sending an ex press to the army.§ The pressing distress for provision among the troops at the time, has already been mentioned. The paper hills of credit were sunk so low in value, as to require a burthensome mass of them to pay for an article of clothing. But the face of things was soon changed. One of the first good effects perceived, was the apfireciationll of the paper money ; " this was raised from the low state of six for one, to that of two for one, and it would have been brought nearly, if not entirely to par, had not some measures intervened, which, though well meant, were not judicious." The plan he adopted was, " to make all his negotiations by selling bills of exchange for paper money, and afterwards paying it at a smaller rate of depreciation than that by which it was received ; and at each successive operation the rate was lowered, by accepting it on the same terms for new bills of exchange, at which it had been previously paid. It was never applied to the purchase of specific supplies, because it had been checked in the progress towards par, and therefore, if it had been paid out in any quantity front the treasury, those who received it would have suf fered by the consequent depreciation."
A minute's reflection will show the arduous,nature of the duties he undertook to discharge.
In old organized governments, where a regular rou tine of a department has been long established, and the details, as it were, brought to perfection, by gradual im provement, derived from the experience and talents of successive officers, little difficulty is experienced by the new incumbent in continuing the customary train of ope rations. Simple honesty, attention to duty, and a careful progress in the path previously pointed out, are all the requisites ; but the state of public affairs, and especially in the fiscal department of the United States at the time alluded to, furnished none of these helps. Every thing was in the greatest confusion ; and a new system of ac counts was not only required to be devised, but the means of supplying the numerous and pressing wants of the public service to be discovered, and those wants attended to. The task would have appalled any common man ; but the natural talents of Mr. Morris, together with his experience and habits of despatch, derived from his ex tensive commercial concerns for a long series of years, and an uncommon readiness, great assiduity and me thod in busim:ss, with decision of character, enabled him to surmount all the difficulties that lay in his way. An inspection of the official statement of his accounts, will at once show the serious nature of the multifarious duties attached to the office, and the pressure of his engage ments; but an opportunity of so doing, even if wished for, can be had by few. Some idea may be formed of them, when it is known, that he was required " to ex amine into the state of the public debts, expenditures, and revenue ; to digest and report plans for improving and regulating the finances ; and for establishing order and economy in the expenditure of public money." To him was likewise committed the disposition, management, and disbursement of all the loans received from the go vernment of France, and various private persons in that country and Holland ; the sums of money received from the different states ; and of the public funds for every possible source of expense for the support of govern ment, civil, military, and naval ; the procuring supplies of every description for the army and navy ; the entire management and direction of the public ships of war ; the payment of all foreign debts ; and the correspondence with our ministers at European courts, on subjects of finance. In short, the whole built= of the money ope rations of government was laid upon him. No man ever had more numerous concerns committed to his charge, and few to a greater amount ; and never did any one more faithfully discharge the various complicated trusts with greater despatch, economy, or credit, than the sub ject of this sketch. The details of his management of the office of finance, may be seen in the volume which he published in the year 1785.* It is well worth inspecting by every American. The preface,t in particular, should be read attentively, as he will from it form some idea of the state of public affairs, as to money, at the time ; of the difficulties attending the revolutionary struggle on that account, and the means by which our independence was secured, or greatly promoted, and for the enjoyment of which he ought never to cease to be thankful.