tates, the legislature passed the Trespass Act,
which permitted suits for the recovery of property that had passed into
the hands of the enemy upon the flight of the owners. The terms of the
act were in flat contradiction to the treaty of peace. Further to aid
claimants, it was provided that no military order could be pleaded in
court in justification of the seizure of property.

In a famous case brought before the Mayor's Court of New York by the
widow Rutgers to recover her property from Joshua Waddington, a wealthy
Tory, Alexander Hamilton appeared as counsel for the defendant. It was a
daring act which brought down upon him the unmitigated wrath of the
radical elements. Nevertheless, in an opinion which has considerable
interest for students of constitutional law, the court ruled that the
Trespass Act, "by a reasonable interpretation," must be construed in
harmony with the treaty of peace, which was obligatory upon every State.
It was not to be presumed that the legislature would intentionally
violate the law of nations. The judgment of the court therefore, was in
favor of the defendant. With chagrin and resentment the popular party
declared that the court had set aside a law of the State and had
presumed to set itself above the legislature. Wherever the radicals got
the upper hand, confiscation was the order of the day; and even where
the conservatives succeeded in restraining their radical brethren from
legislative reprisals, no Tory was safe from the assaults of
irresponsible mobs. Thousands took refuge in flight, to the infinite
delight of the wits in the coffee-houses who jested of the "Independence
Fever" which was carrying off so many worthy people.

Financially the Confederation was hopelessly embarrassed. Having sowed
the wind by its issues of bills of credit, it was now reaping the
whirlwind. By the end of the war this paper money had so far depreciated
that it ceased to pass as currency. "Not worth a continental" has passed
into our native idiom. Without power to levy taxes, Congress could only
make requisitions upon the States. The returns were pitifully inadequate
to the needs of government. All told, less than a million and a half of
dollars came into the treasury between 1781 and 1784, although Morris,
as Superintendent of Finance, had earnestly besought the governors of
the States for two millions for the year 1783 alone, in order to meet
outstanding obligations and current expenses. Without foreign