spondence was appointed, and the
meeting closed with the adoption of the violent resolutions passed at
the Washington meeting of 1791:--

"Whereas, some men may be found among us so far lost to every sense
of virtue and feeling for the distresses of this country as to
accept offices for the collection of the duty.

"Resolved, therefore, that in future we will consider such persons
as unworthy of our friendship; have no intercourse or dealings with
them; withdraw from them every assistance, and withhold all the
comforts of life which depend upon those duties that as men and
fellow citizens we owe to each other; and upon all occasions treat
them with that contempt they deserve; and that it be, and it is
hereby, most earnestly recommended to the people at large, to
follow the same line of conduct towards them."

If such an excommunication were to be meted out to an offending
neighbor, what measure would the excise man receive if he came from
abroad on his unwelcome errand?

These resolutions were signed by Mr. Gallatin as clerk, and made public
through the press. Resolutions of this character, if not criminal, reach
the utmost limit of indiscretion, and political indiscretion is quite as
dangerous as crime. The petition to Congress, subscribed by the
inhabitants of western Pennsylvania, was drawn by Gallatin; while
explicit in terms, it was moderate in tone. It represented the unequal
operation of the act. "A duty laid on the common drink of a nation,
instead of taxing the citizens in proportion to their property, falls as
heavy on the poorest class as on the rich;" and it ingeniously pointed
out that the distance of the inhabitants of the western counties from
market prevented their bringing the produce of their lands to sale,
either in grain or meal. "We are therefore distillers through necessity,
not choice; that we may comprehend the greatest value in the smallest
size and weight."

Hamilton, indignant, reported the proceedings to the President on
September 9, 1792, and demanded instant punishment. Washington, who was
at Mount Vernon, was unwilling to go to extremes, but consented to issue
a proclamation, which, drafted by Hamilton, and countersigned by
Jefferson, was published September 15, 1792. It earnestly admonished all
persons to desist from unlawful combinations to obstruct the operations
of the laws, and charged all courts, magistrates, and officers wi