American citizens in captivity in Algiers

Secretary of State Randolph informs the rest of Washington's Cabinet that citizens in Boston and Norfolk have carried subscriptions for monies to be given for relief of the "Unhappy Citizens of the United States now in captivity in Algiers." Randolph states that the Executive Branch possesses no authority to appropriate private money to such objects, but that the citizens should do so themselves. The United States for many years struggled with the Algiers pirates in the Mediterranean Sea.