Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16) (part 6 of 8)

Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16) (part 6 of 8)

The progress which has been made in the manufacture of arms, leaves no doubt that the public patronage has already placed this country beyond all necessary dependence on foreign markets for an article so indispensable for defence; and gives us assurances that, under the encouragement which government will continue to extend to this important object, we shall soon rival foreign countries, not only in the number, but in the quality of arms completed from our own manufactories.

Few events could have been more pleasing to our constituents, than that great and rapid increase of revenue which has arisen from permanent taxes. Whilst this event explains the great and increasing resources of our country, it carries along with it a proof which cannot be resisted, that those measures of maritime defence which were calculated to meet our enemy upon the ocean, and which have produced such extensive protection to our commerce, were founded in wisdom and policy. The mind must, in our opinion, be insensible to the plainest truths, which cannot discern the elevated ground on which this policy has placed our country. That national spirit, which alone could vindicate our common rights, has been roused, and those latent energies, which had not been fully known, were unfolded and brought into view, and our fellow-citizens were prepared to meet every event which national honor or national security could render necessary. Nor have its effects been much less important in other respects.

Whilst many of the nations of the earth have been impoverished and depopulated by internal commotions and national contests, our internal peace has not been materially impaired; our commerce has extended, under the protection of our infant Navy, to every part of the globe; wealth has flowed without intermission into our seaports, and the labors of the husbandman have been rewarded by a ready market for the productions of the soil.

Be assured, sir, that the various, and important subjects recommended to our consideration, shall receive our early and deliberate attention; and, confident of your co-operation in every measure which may be calculated to promote the general interests, we shall endeavor, on our part, to testify, by our industry and despatch, the zeal and sincerity with which we regard the public good.

The report of the committee was immediately taken up, and, on the question to agree to the Address,

Mr. NICHOLAS rose and observed that he regretted the introduction of political matter, calculated to produce discord and division. He was averse to the House spending time in propounding political theories, as no good, but much mischief, might flow from such a procedure. Had no other topics or sentiments been alluded to than those contained in the President's Speech, there would have been much less division in the House than was to be expected from the insertion of extraneous ideas. He had no intention, however, to enter into a detail of the objections he entertained to the Address. For the reasons he had assigned, and others which he felt, he thought the style of the Address not only unnecessary, but worse than useless. He concluded by desiring the yeas and nays to be taken.

The question, being taken, was carried in the affirmative--yeas 36, nays 32, as follows:

YEAS.--Bailey Bartlett, William Cooper, Wm. Craik, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, Archibald Henderson, Benjamin Huger, Jas. H. Imlay, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, James Linn, Lewis R. Morris, Harrison G. Otis, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, Nathan Read, Wm. Shepard, John C. Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, George Thatcher, Richard Thomas, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, John Dawson, Lucas Elmendorph, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, and Jos. B. Varnum.

Resolved, That Mr. SPEAKER, attended by the House, do present the said Address; and that Mr. GRISWOLD, Mr. MACON, and Mr. CRAIK, be a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT to know when and where it will be convenient for him to receive the same.

Credentials of Members.

Mr. DENT, from the Committee of Elections, to whom were referred the certificates and other credentials of the members returned to serve in this House, made a report, in part, which was read as follows:

"That they have examined the credentials of several members, claiming seats in the House, in consequence of resignations which have taken place, and find that, by the certificate of the Governor of Massachusetts, dated the eleventh day of November, eighteen hundred, under the seal of the State, Nathan Read (of Danvers) is duly elected, in the place of Samuel Sewall; that by the certificate of the Governor of Connecticut, bearing date twentieth day of October, eighteen hundred, with the seal of the State annexed, John Cotton Smith is duly elected, in the place of Jonathan Brace; and that, by the certificate of the Deputy Sheriff of Henrico, the Sheriff of Hanover, the Sheriff of New Kent, the Deputy Sheriff of Charles City, and the Sheriff of James City Counties, composing one entire district in the Commonwealth of Virginia, under their respective seals, Lyttleton Waller Tazewell is duly elected, in the place of John Marshall.[58]

"The committee also find, by an authenticated certificate signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Legislative Council of the Territory north-west of the river Ohio, dated the seventh day of November, eighteen hundred, that Wm. McMillan is duly elected to represent the said Territory, in the place of William Henry Harrison.

"Whereupon, the committee are of opinion that Nathan Read, (of Danvers,) John Cotton Smith, and Lyttleton Waller Tazewell, are entitled to take their seats in the House in the place of Samuel Sewall, Jonathan Brace, and John Marshall, who have resigned; and that William McMillan is entitled to take his seat therein, with the right of debating, but not of voting, in the place of William Henry Harrison, who has resigned."

Ordered, That the said report do lie on the table.

THURSDAY, November 27.

Another member, to wit, JOHN BIRD, from New York, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

Answer to the Address.

The SPEAKER, attended by the House, then withdrew to the house of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and there presented to him the Address of this House in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress; to which the PRESIDENT made the following reply:

_Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

Compelled by the habits of a long life, as well as by all the principles of society and government which I could ever understand and believe, to consider the great body of the people as the source of all legitimate authority, no less than all efficient power, it is impossible for me to receive this Address from the immediate Representatives of the American people, at this time, and in this place, without emotions which it would be improper to express, if any language could convey them.

May the spirit which animated the great founder of this city descend to future generations; and may the wisdom, magnanimity, and steadiness, which marked the events of his public life, be imitated in all succeeding ages.

I thank you, gentlemen, for your assurance that the Judiciary System shall receive your deliberate attention.

With you, gentlemen, I sincerely hope that the final result of the negotiations now pending with France, may prove as fortunate to our country, as they have been commenced with sincerity, and prosecuted with deliberation and caution. With you, I cordially agree, that so long as a predatory war is carried on against our commerce, we should sacrifice the interests and disappoint the expectations of our constituents, should we for a moment relax that system of maritime defence, which has resulted in such beneficial effects. With you, I confidently believe that few persons can be found within the United States, who do not admit that a Navy, well organized, must constitute the natural and efficient defence of this country, against all foreign hostility.

Those who recollect the distress and danger to this country, in former periods, from the want of arms, must exult in the assurance, from their Representatives, that we shall soon rival foreign countries, not only in the number, but in the quality of arms, completed from our own manufactories.

With you, gentlemen, I fully agree, that the great increase of revenue is a proof that the measures of maritime defence were founded in wisdom. This policy has raised us in the esteem of foreign nations. That national spirit and those latent energies which had not been and are not yet fully known to any, were not entirely forgotten by those who had lived long enough to see, in former times, their operation, and some of their effects. Our fellow-citizens were undoubtedly prepared to meet every event which national honor or national security could render necessary. These, it is to be hoped, are secured at the cheapest and easiest rate: if not, they will be secured at more expense.

I thank you, gentlemen, for your assurance that the various subjects recommended to your consideration, shall receive your deliberate attention. No further evidence is wanting to convince me of the zeal and sincerity with which the House of Representatives regard the public good.

I pray you, gentlemen, to accept of my best wishes for your health and happiness.

JOHN ADAMS.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 1800.

The members then returned to their Chamber.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have proceeded to the appointment of a Chaplain to Congress, on their part, and the Right Reverend Bishop CLAGETT has been duly elected.

The House proceeded, by ballot, to the appointment of a Chaplain to Congress on the part of this House; and upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of the Reverend THOMAS LYELL.

FRIDAY, November 28.

Another member, to wit, ABRAHAM NOTT, from South Carolina, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, December 1.

Several other members, to wit: from Maryland, JOHN DENNIS; from Virginia, JOSEPH EGGLESTON; from North Carolina, WILLIAM H. HILL; and from Georgia, JAMES JONES, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

TUESDAY, December 2.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanying a report of the Commissioners of the fund for navy pensions and half-pay, pursuant to the act for the better government of the Navy of the United States; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. LEE, from the committee appointed for that purpose, reported a bill for erecting a Mausoleum to GEORGE WASHINGTON, which was read twice and referred to a Committee of the Whole to-morrow.

The bill directs that the mausoleum shall be of marble, to be erected in the City of Washington, under the superintendence of the four Secretaries.

Trade with the Indians.

Mr. CLAIBORNE stated that during the last session a committee was appointed to inquire into the state of the trade, authorized by law, with the Indian nations. That committee had reported unfavorably to the trade. But desirous of maturing with deliberation a new plan before the old one was supplanted, they had reported a bill for continuing the existing system for one year. The bill had passed the House of Representatives unanimously, but had been postponed by the Senate to this session.

For his own part, he was altogether unfavorable to the trade; for he believed that it answered no good purpose in relation to the Indians, while it was a loss to the United States.[59] It was, however, proper that some Legislative provision should be made immediately. The old law regulating the officers who had the superintendence of the trade, had expired, and they were of consequence under no legal control.

He, therefore, moved the appointment of a committee, to inquire into the expediency of carrying on any further trade on a capital furnished by the United States, to report by bill or otherwise; which motion being read a second time, was agreed to, and a committee of three appointed.

THURSDAY, December 4.

Another member, to wit, SAMUEL GOODE, from Virginia, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

The SPEAKER informed the House that the Chaplains had proposed, if agreeable to the House, to hold Divine service every Sunday in their Chamber.

Reporting the Debates.

Mr. HILL presented a memorial from Samuel Harrison Smith and Thomas Carpenter, representing that they had undertaken to report the debates of the House; that, contrary to their expectation--on the suggestion of inconvenience to the members--they had not received permission to occupy a situation within the bar, without which they were unable to state with fidelity the proceedings and debates; and praying the permission of the House to be admitted within the bar.

As soon as the memorial was read, the SPEAKER rose and observed, that feeling himself responsible to the House for the faithful discharge of the duties attached to his situation, he thought it proper to state the line of conduct he had pursued in this business. He stated that he was applied to by letter on the first day of the session, by Mr. Stewart, requesting permission to occupy a place within the bar; that he immediately took the request into consideration; that, in the mean time, similar requests were made by other individuals; that, on observing the structure of the room and the arrangement of the furniture, it at once appeared to him inconsistent with the dignity of the House or the convenience of the members to grant the permission asked; that the area was too small to afford the necessary accommodation; that the position considered as the least inconvenient to the House was within the window-frames; that, in his opinion, this position would not be agreeable to the stenographers, as the view of the members on the opposite side of the House from either window would be obstructed; that, if a position was assigned in any other part of the House, the stenographers would be between the chair and some of the members, which would render the preservation of order impossible; that he had stated these reasons, and informed the applicants that, if agreeable to them, he would assign a place in the gallery, which should be set apart for their exclusive use; and that he considered that to be the most eligible position. He concluded by repeating, that it was, in his opinion, absolutely impossible to preserve the dignity of the House and to maintain the convenience of the members, if the requested permission were given. Such was his first, his invariable opinion--it was unaltered--it was still the same.

Mr. NICHOLAS said, that the members of the House must feel a common interest in having the debates taken with fidelity. If the debates were taken, they ought to be taken with precision. Those who took them should not be debarred from the best means of hearing with accuracy. For his part he could not discern the inconvenience alleged to exist. The desk, which it was necessary to admit within the bar, would not project beyond the window-frame; and as to the remark of the Speaker respecting the inconvenience of such a position to the stenographers, it was easily obviated by the consideration, that any inaccuracy which might occur in the report of the individual who took them on one side of the chair, would be checked by the reporter situated on the other side.

He thought the desire of the memorialists ought not to be passed over lightly. They had a right to the best place the House could assign. He moved the reference of the memorial to a select committee.

Mr. HILL observed that as the memorial contained no facts that required the investigation of a committee, and as the House possessed all the information that could guide their decision, he did not discern the propriety of the proposed reference. He had prepared a resolution, which, if the motion for a reference were withdrawn, he would offer.

Mr. NICHOLAS immediately withdrew his motion. Mr. HILL then proposed a resolution substantially to this effect: that Mr. SPEAKER be requested to assign places within the bar for the stenographers.

Mr. OTIS was sorry the gentleman from Virginia had withdrawn his motion to refer the memorial to a select committee, as he thought the subject required examination before a decision was made. There appeared to him much weight in the ideas of the Speaker. Grant, for the sake of argument, that four persons may be accommodated at the windows. Might there not be other applications? Was any gentleman prepared to say how many would be made? If the permission were once granted to one, would it not be necessary to extend it to all? Would the House suffer any individual to have an exclusive benefit whereby a stamp of authenticity would be fixed on his statements.

This business, in one shape or other, had often been before the House, and all conversation respecting it had always issued in leaving it to the regulation of the Speaker. This appeared to him the best termination it could receive.

From the attention he had paid to the debates reported this session, he believed them to be better and more accurately taken, than they had been on former occasions. This to him was a proof that the present situation of the stenographers was a good one. He acknowledged, at the same time, that the ability with which the debates were taken entitled those who took them to the best accommodation the House could afford. He concluded with renewing the motion for a reference to a select committee.

Mr. NICHOLAS replied, that no debate had taken place which could test the accuracy of the stenographers. From his own experience he pronounced the situation at present occupied utterly inconvenient. What he had some days since remarked had been misstated. He well knew that this did not arise from the inability of the reporter to state correctly what occurred. He knew him to be intelligent, and fully capable of conceiving and conveying the meaning of any remarks which could be made in that House. But it arose from his situation, from which it was impossible to hear distinctly.

He declared the objections of Mr. OTIS, in relation to the number of applicants, perfectly chimerical. Did the gentleman suppose that the number would be so great as to make a demand on their seats? As well might he imagine this, as that they would swell to the ideal compass he had given them. It was known to the House, that at Philadelphia the number was small; seldom more than two, and often not more than one persevered during the session, though a greater number appeared on its earliest days. Fact and experience, therefore, demonstrated the fallacy of the danger apprehended from this source.

The question was then taken on the reference to a select committee, and carried--ayes 42, noes 34.

And a committee of five, viz: Messrs. OTIS, NICHOLAS, PLATT, MORRIS, and HILL, was appointed.

FRIDAY, December 5.

Several members, to wit: from North Carolina, WILLIAM BARRY GROVE; from Kentucky, THOMAS T. DAVIS; and from Rhode Island, CHRISTOPHER G. CHAMPLIN, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

Mausoleum to Washington.

Mr. H. LEE moved that the House do go into a Committee of the Whole on the bill "directing the erection of a mausoleum to GEORGE WASHINGTON."

On which motion the House divided--yeas 36, nays 34. Mr. MORRIS took the chair.

The Chairman, after reading the bill through, proceeded to read it by paragraphs. The first section is as follows:

"SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a mausoleum of American granite and marble, in a pyramidal form, one hundred feet square at the base, and of a proportionate height, shall be erected, in testimony of the love and gratitude of the citizens of the United States, to GEORGE WASHINGTON."

Mr. ALSTON moved an amendment to the first section, which was, in substance, "that a monument of marble be erected in the Capitol, at the city of Washington, commemorative of the great events of the military and political life of GEORGE WASHINGTON."

Mr. H. LEE said, that during the last session the House, after a long debate, had declared itself in favor of a mausoleum, and that as no reasons had been assigned for a change of opinion, he hoped they would persevere in the deliberate result of their judgment.

Mr. OTIS was ready to acknowledge himself unacquainted with many of the circumstances embraced by the subject. He therefore wished additional information to that which he had received. His present opinion was, that a mausoleum was preferable to a monument. He acknowledged that, in forming this opinion, he had felt great deference for the judgment of the committee which had recommended it. It was undoubtedly a subject but little understood. The formation of a proper decision depended upon a concurrence of several circumstances--upon a comparison of the expense with the value of the object to be accomplished. Besides this, it had many peculiar features not comprehended by every gentleman. He thought these considerations sufficient to induce the House to decline voting for the amendment, whereby the plan of the committee, who had maturely considered the subject in all its relations, would be frustrated, unless stronger reasons were assigned than he had yet heard.

Mr. NICHOLAS observed, that the bill directed the erection of a mausoleum of certain dimensions, to ascertain the expense of which an estimate had been made. But that estimate was not satisfactory. It was made without information. The sum to be expended was not fixed. It might vastly exceed any sum now contemplated. The mausoleum was to consist of a huge, ugly mass of stones heaped upon one another, to raise which a heavy and useless expense would be incurred. And what was the object? It was to perpetuate the memory of GEORGE WASHINGTON. Was the memory of that great man to be perpetuated by a heap of large inanimate objects? The best way in which his fame could be preserved would be by bringing his ashes from the place where they now lie, by depositing them in the Capitol at the will of the nation, in interring them in such a manner as had never before been done, in placing over them a plain tablet, on which every man could write what his heart dictated. This, and this only was the basis of his fame. It was not to be blazoned by figures or representations of any other sort. It consisted in the undecaying recollection of his virtues. It must live in the national feeling, and this called not for useless expense. Twenty thousand dollars was as competent to its expression as two hundred thousand. He hoped, therefore, the amendment would be adopted, and that the terms which related to military and political achievements would be omitted. He hoped a plain monument would be erected.

His preference of a monument to a mausoleum arose not from any indisposition to celebrate the memory of our American hero. He could say as much in his praise as any man. Neither a committee of Congress nor the four Secretaries, on whom the bill devolved the superintendence, felt more zeal for the character of this great man than he did.

Mr. NOTT did not rise to consume the time of the committee by going at large into an examination of the subject, but to explain the reasons for the vote he meant to give. He had, last session, co-operated most cheerfully in all those measures which had been pursued to express the national sensibility at the loss of that great and immortal character. In the feelings of gratitude which his services excited, no man could outdo him. Among other measures, he had been friendly to the erection of a mausoleum. But, on more reflection, he had changed his opinion. He did not believe that a huge mass of stones would add to the reputation of WASHINGTON, or be more expressive of national affection, than a marble monument. This being the case, he preferred the latter, because it was the least expensive.

Mr. GRISWOLD hoped the amendment would not prevail. It was the object of the bill to raise a monument which would last for ages, and which should be a perpetual memorial of the gratitude of America. Such would not be the case if the proposition made by the gentleman from North Carolina should be adopted. The monument proposed by him might be broken and destroyed by a lawless mob or by a set of schoolboys. For his part, he would not consent to raise such a monument to the memory of a man who had deserved so well of his country.

The bill proposed the erection of a monument that would stand unimpaired for ages. It is true that it will not perpetuate the fame of WASHINGTON: his fame required nothing which we could do to give it perpetuity; but it will perpetuate the gratitude of the country. It would be a structure that will command respect; it will be pointed out to our children; they will enter it with reverence, as the spot in which the ashes of this great man are deposited.

It was undoubtedly a subject of sentiment; and subjects of such a kind must be guided by feeling. Various opinions, therefore, may naturally be expected. His opinion was, that the national sentiment called for the erection of a structure correspondent in size to the character of the man to whom it was raised.

The general outlines of the bill might now be adopted; and if there existed a variance of opinion, the subordinate members of it might be modified.

Mr. H. LEE said, if it were the wish of gentlemen to avoid the adoption of measures commemorative of the talents of the great man we have lost, it would be candid to tell us so at once. For his part, he saw little difference between the adoption of the amendment and the rejection of every plan proposed that was adequate to the occasion. Sir, said Mr. L., there is not a rich man in Europe who loses his mistress that does not raise a trophy to her memory; and shall it be said that we, who have sustained the most irreparable loss in the death of our Chief--shall it be said that we refuse to pay him those honors which are lavished so liberally upon such inferior objects? If you do not mean to come forward on the occasion, say so. Then we shall understand the reasons of opposition to the ground taken by this House last session. As yet no reasons had been assigned for abandoning it. We then declared that we would act. We exhibited a spirit worthy of the immortal WASHINGTON--worthy of the distinguished character of this House.

But should this honorable spirit, kindled by an enthusiasm in the virtues and talents of our departed benefactor, subside and be chilled by the adoption of the proposed amendments, he would condole with the House, and would rather they would be silent for ever than disgrace themselves and their country by so subordinate an act.

It is true, sir, that the celebrity and the glory of WASHINGTON hang not on our plaudits. History will transmit to posterity the lustre of his fame, glittering with untarnished purity. It is not in our power either to increase or diminish it. But, sir, we may imitate his virtues and his great example. We are deeply interested in holding them forth as illustrious models to our sons. Is there, then, I ask you, any other mode for perpetuating the memory of such transcendent virtues so strong, so impressive as that which we propose? The grandeur of the pile we wish to raise will impress a sublime awe in all who behold it. It will survive the present generation. It will receive the homage of our children's children; and they will learn that the truest way to gain honor amidst a free people is to be useful, to be virtuous.

This will not be the act of an individual. It will be the act of a Government expressing the will of a great nation. Seize then, I pray you, seize with rapture, the occasion that is now presented, thankful to the Supreme Disposer of events for giving you an opportunity of rearing some future WASHINGTON. This is a great object; frown, then, upon all the little efforts made to defeat it.

It is certainly true, that if you erect a mausoleum, you must expend some public money. But are you not the guardians of the public treasure? Does not the selection of the best objects to which to appropriate it devolve on you? And can there be a greater, a more patriotic purpose than this? Is it not your great duty to promote the public good; and can that be more completely promoted in any other way? The sum asked is seventy thousand dollars. Who can show me in what other manner the same good can be effected by so small a sum?

But it is said that the bill vests a discretion in the Secretaries, and they may exceed the estimate. But, sir, are the Secretaries unworthy of confidence? Do not we know that we may safely rely upon them? Besides, if thought expedient, the expenditure may be limited. Thus, surely, without prodigality on the one hand or parsimony on the other, you may do honor to yourselves and your country.

Mr. MACON did not pretend to know much about that kind of things proposed by the bill; but he believed, from the little he did know, that such a thing had not been attempted for a thousand years. The expense attending the proposed measure had been treated lightly. For himself, he was not disposed to consider seventy thousand dollars a trifling sum. He thought it a great sum, and believed every man in the country thought as he did. In forming his idea of any particular sum, he was not carried away by the visionary notions of speculation; he looked at the labor it required to produce it; and he well knew how hardly earned was the money from which this enormous sum must proceed.

He further believed that no man could tell how much the mausoleum would cost. The seventy thousand dollars was only a beginning; and when the object was once begun, experience tells us that we must finish it at all events, let it cost what it might. The base was fixed at a hundred feet. Why not decide its other proportions? Did not the silence of the bill on this point show the ignorance of gentlemen? All was doubt. What strengthened his opinion of the total want of information, was the exhibition last session of two estimates: one of which was predicated on a base of sixty feet, and required sixty-seven thousand dollars; the other was predicated on a base of one hundred feet, making the structure nearly three times as large, and requiring only seventy thousand dollars. Could this be correct? Both estimates certainly could not be true. The probability was that neither could be depended upon.

For what purpose was this great mass to be raised? He saw no good purpose likely to be answered by it under the sun. Can stones show gratitude? If the nation wished to show its gratitude, let them do it by making a history of the life of WASHINGTON a school-book. Our children then will learn and imitate his virtues. This will be rendering the highest tribute to his fame, by making it the instrument of enlightening the mind and improving the heart.

While there are such rational modes of distinguishing the memory of WASHINGTON, can Congress so far forget the interest of the nation; can they so far forget their own duty, as to expend millions in acts of useless and pernicious ostentation? Since the invention of types, monuments are good for nothing. The records of history will remain long after their decay or destruction.

We are told that the best mode of perpetuating the memory of WASHINGTON is to erect a mausoleum. I have heard, said Mr. M., of Aristides, I have heard of Hampden, but I have never heard of monuments raised to their memories. Yet their virtues shine as bright now as they did while they lived. I have heard of a place called Westminster Abbey, full of the monuments of kings; yet, notwithstanding these grand memorials, I have heard very little of them after they left this world, and I question very much whether any man, let him have heard what he may, if he were to go there could tell one of them from the other.

But, it is said that the monument, proposed by the amendment, may be thrown down and destroyed by mobs or schoolboys. God forbid that this should ever be the case! I do not believe, said Mr. M., this to be possible. If it were made of glass, frail as it is, it would be safe; all would revere, all would respect it.

The House is told by one gentleman, who advocates the mausoleum, that a rich man in Europe cannot lose his mistress without raising a monument to her memory. Was the gentleman serious when he made this remark? Would he place the memory of WASHINGTON on a footing with that of a rich man's mistress? Better, sir, said Mr. M., far better would it be, more honorable to the Government, and more conformable to the wish of our deceased friend, to devote the seventy thousand dollars, designed for a mausoleum, to the education of the poor. Then, indeed, we might flatter ourselves with having extended the empire of his virtues, by making those understand and imitate them, who, uninstructed, could not comprehend them.

If he thought that by raising a magnificent monument to WASHINGTON, he could give duration to his fame, or carry his name into a single country which it had not yet reached, he would give the measure his support. But no such effect would be produced. It might indeed adorn this city; and that was the only plausible argument in favor of it.

Before gentlemen act in this business, let them look to Egypt; there they will behold precedents in profusion; men made gods, and statues and monuments and mausolea covering the whole face of the country; but where will they find the virtues or the talents of the men they were meant to commemorate? Now is the time to make a stand against this monument mania. WASHINGTON is admired and beloved by all. No one can be charged with a desire to diminish his fame by opposing a useless expenditure of money. The precedent we now establish will be auspicious to our future measures. If we decline raising a mausoleum to WASHINGTON, no man who succeeds him can expect one reared to his memory. On the other hand, if we now raise one to WASHINGTON, every pretender to greatness will aim at the same distinction.

Mr. MACON concluded by declaring himself hostile to the bill, and friendly to the amendment, because it proposed a plan that was more rational, more economical, and more conformable to the resolve of the old Congress, than that contained in the bill.

The committee then rose without coming to any decision, reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again.

MONDAY, December 8.

Several other members, to wit: from Connecticut, CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, and SAMUEL W. DANA; and from Rhode Island, JOHN BROWN, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A new member, to wit, SAMUEL TENNEY, returned to serve in this House as a member for New Hampshire, in the room of William Gordon, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

TUESDAY, December 9.

Another member, to wit, JOHN RUTLEDGE, Jr., from South Carolina, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

Reporting the Debates.

The House proceeded to consider the report of the committee to whom was referred the memorial of Samuel Harrison Smith and Thomas Carpenter, made yesterday, and which lay on the table; and, the same being again read, in the words following, to wit:

"The committee to whom was referred the memorial of Samuel Harrison Smith and Thomas Carpenter, report the following resolution, which they recommend to the House:

"Resolved, That it is not expedient for this House to make any order upon the subject of the memorial of Samuel Harrison Smith and Thomas Carpenter, presented on the fourth day of December instant."

Mr. CHRISTIE moved the reference of the report to a Committee of the Whole.

Mr. GRISWOLD opposed the reference.

The House divided--for the reference 43, against it, 46.

Mr. JACKSON made several remarks, and concluded by calling for the yeas and nays, which were ordered.

Mr. NICHOLAS said, in a Government like ours, the theory of which is republican, and the practice of which he hoped would always continue to be republican, he considered the representatives of the people responsible to the people, by whom they were created. It was necessary, to give efficacy to this responsibility, that the people, who were to judge, should possess the purest information, as to not only the acts, but the motives of the public agents. It was of little consequence to them to know what laws are enacted, compared with a knowledge of projects that were attempted or prevented, and the grounds on which they were supported or opposed. Nor could the merits of the acts themselves be understood, unless the reasons for them were stated. It was, therefore, of the highest consequence that the reasons for our conduct should be clearly understood, that our measures may be comprehended, and our motives also known, that our constituents may judge whether we have faithfully discharged our duty.

Under this view of the subject, he thought it extremely indelicate to resist the admission within the bar of those persons who thought themselves qualified to take the debates and proceedings of the House. But what rendered the attempt still more improper, was, its being an innovation on the practice of the House. For, since he had been a member of the Legislature, individuals of this description had been placed by the House at their ease, in a situation convenient for hearing what passed. Why is this practice, hitherto unopposed, now to be broken in upon? For such an innovation and departure from the established practice of the House, there ought to be the strongest reasons; particularly when the attempted innovation respected, and was made by, those whose conduct was to be scrutinized.

It was not without deliberation that the practice of the House had been instituted and adhered to. Some gentlemen had, some time since, contemplated the employment of a particular individual, whose services were to be paid for by the House. But the idea was abandoned, from the supposed sanction given by such an act to his statements; whereby the House might be made responsible for his accuracy and talents.

The difficulty attending the business he acknowledged to be great. But, for the reasons he had assigned, he thought the House had acted right in forbearing to interfere, further than by merely assigning a convenient place to the stenographers. It was deemed safest to confide the business to persons not known officially to the House, whose own individual interest would constitute the best pledge for their fidelity. Though no precise resolve had been passed to this effect, it was well understood that this was the course the House meant to pursue, after having given the subject a deliberate and solemn consideration.

Shall we now, said Mr. N., after this mature consideration, on the mere suggestion of personal inconvenience, on a subject of such importance as to invite a gentleman from a considerable distance, [referring to some old plan,] shall we, after the sanction of a uniform practice, fortified by the long period for which it has been observed, on the suggestion of a trifling inconvenience, which, he believed, on examination, would not be found to exist at all, adopt the innovation proposed by the report of the committee? For his part, he thought they were all deeply interested in having the debates well taken, as it was not in their power altogether to prohibit their being taken.

He had heard but two objections made to the old plan. The first was, that by passing a resolve admitting stenographers within the bar, the House gave a sanction to the reports published by them. The second was, that as the Speaker had heretofore had the management of the business, it would be wrong to take it out of his hands.

As to the first objection, he thought it altogether incorrect. The resolution, submitted by the gentleman from North Carolina, (Mr. HILL,) which he wished the House to adopt, does not propose the selection of any particular person. It admits, generally, those individuals who wish to take the debates. Can this admission make us responsible for the conduct of men we do not know, and over whom we have no control? Have we heretofore been considered as responsible? And wherein consists the difference between our past situation and the situation we shall be in, if the motion of the gentleman from North Carolina be adopted? We shall then only have done that which before had been done by the Speaker. Governed by a sense of duty, the Speaker had refused admission within the bar. It became, therefore, necessary, in order to admit, for the House to pass a resolution. But it did not follow that the least responsibility would arise from such an act.

Indeed, by admitting the stenographers within the bar, the responsibility of the House would be diminished; for, if the House admitted them, no one could then say that it had done any thing that interfered with a faithful report of the debates; whereas, by excluding the stenographers, the unavoidable inaccuracies committed, might be charged to the House.

The second objection made to the resolution of the gentleman from North Carolina, was that, as the Speaker had heretofore had the management of the business, it would be wrong to take it out of his hands.

Mr. N. in reply to this objection, observed, that the power, heretofore exercised by the Speaker on this subject, had not been expressly delegated to him by the House. It had often been thought of, but no decision had heretofore been made. As the object asked related to the convenience of the members, he thought they were the best judges of the propriety of granting it. The inconvenience alleged to exist was entirely a matter of opinion. He thought it either had no existence or a very limited one. As he had remarked before, the subject was extremely delicate. He would not consent to furnish room for being charged with a wish to suppress the means of making an inquiry into his conduct. He believed that the innovation contended for, would be so viewed; so far, therefore, from considering it as innocent, he viewed it as wrong in itself, and likely to be mischievous in its effects.

Mr. OTIS was one of those who was not disposed to make a strong stand against the resolution offered by the gentleman from North Carolina. He did not view the point in so interesting a light as did the gentleman who had preceded him. It appeared to him in the shape of a question of convenience; and as to his own situation, it could not be affected by any permission given to stenographers to come within the bar. Many of the arguments he had heard, implied that the situation at present occupied by the stenographers was exclusive of all others; whereas if that were inconvenient they might take any other, so that they did not come within the bar.

It is true that the stenographers have hitherto been admitted within the bar. They were admitted because there was room. But, in our present chamber, the room was less; nor could they occupy a part of that little, without materially interfering with the convenience of the members.

In his opinion, the proper question for the House to consider was, whether an admission should take place independent of the Speaker, or whether he should decide its propriety. It did not follow, if the Speaker retained the management, that the exclusion would apply to all occasions. It was true, that the places desired by the stenographers were generally assigned to the high Executive officers of the Government, and the foreign Ministers. But if, in consistence with their accommodation, the indulgence could be granted, during any important debate, he had no doubt of the Speaker's readiness to admit them, and they might thus obtain a temporary place within the bar.

Mr. O. thought the remarks of the gentleman from Virginia covered too much ground. They ascribed to the friends of the report an attempt to preclude the people from obtaining all information of what passed in the House. No such design existed. For his part, he wished the people to know every thing that occurred within these walls. There was no doubt of the debates, as heretofore given, being an inadequate organ of the ideas of the members; they had been taken for nearly twelve years, and sometimes they had been accurate, and at other times very inaccurate; and so complete had the distortion of sentiments often been, that had it not been for the name that was attached to a particular speech, the member, to whom it was ascribed, would not have known it to be his. Mr. O. would, notwithstanding, not deny the ability of a person who read the debates, to form a tolerable idea of the arguments used on a particular subject.

The charge of innovation, Mr. O. thought unjust. He proposed to leave the business as it had heretofore been left, free from any resolve of the House, to the control of the Speaker. By this conduct, no sanction would be given to the performances of any reporter; but, on the other hand, if the House passed a resolve, divesting the Speaker of his previous power, they would render themselves responsible, and would virtually give a sanction.

If it were resolved that the House should interfere, he would much rather select and pay an individual competent to the business, and appeal, for the faithful discharge of his trust, to his candor and impartiality.

If the House passed the resolution admitting the stenographers within the bar, Mr. O. asked whether they would not in fact be officers of the House. The only difference between them and the other officers would be that one would be paid and the others would not.

Mr. O. said that, in his opinion, the most inconvenient position in the House had been taken by the stenographers. It was near the Clerk's office, between which and the bar there was a perpetual passage of the members. If an experiment were made of a position on the other side, or in the upper gallery, he was persuaded it would be found very convenient. Are not, said Mr. O., the galleries constructed for the express purpose of hearing? Are they not intended for the good people of the United States? And if they can hear in them, cannot the stenographers also?

Mr. O. concluded by stating the extreme inconvenience that would arise from admitting the stenographers; the interference it would produce with the assignation of seats to the Secretaries of our Government and the foreign Ministers; and with declaring his opinion that it was most expedient to adopt the report of the committee.

Mr. NICHOLSON said, that if he understood the objections made by the gentleman from Massachusetts to granting an admission of the stenographers within the bar, they might be classed under three heads: 1. It will be against precedent; 2. It would prevent the members from having elbow room; 3. There is a possibility that the Speaker may indulge the stenographers.

As to the first objection, he would ask whether the House had not a right to exercise any power themselves that was exercised by the Speaker. Hitherto the Speaker has exercised the power, and admitted the stenographers within the bar; he now refuses to do it, and we are called upon to perform what he refuses. If we think it proper to admit them, we have a right to do it. The power heretofore exercised by the Speaker was derived from us, according to the well-known maxim, Qui facit per alium, facit per se.

But we are told that the admission would interfere with the accommodation of the four Secretaries and the foreign Ministers. Suppose it should, said Mr. N.; I ask whether the convenience and the interest of the people of the United States are to be prostrated by our complaisance to the Secretaries and foreign agents? It is our duty to enable the people to obtain the best information of what is doing here, that we can supply. Shall we abandon our duty? Shall we sacrifice the interests of our constituents to a sense of politeness to these gentlemen? It would be much better to submit to the inconvenience experienced by the Secretaries and the foreign Ministers, if there is not room for them within the bar, than to conceal from the people the knowledge they have a right to possess. Let, then, the foreign Ministers, if there be such a competition, retire into the galleries.

He considered the subject as of high importance both to the country and the members themselves. They all ought to desire their conduct to be rigidly inspected.

Gentlemen say that the debates have been heretofore imperfectly taken. Will they remedy the evil by excluding the stenographers from places within the bar? If, heretofore, notwithstanding the favorableness of their position, when stillness and silence reigned, they have been unable to take the debates with precision, can it be expected that, driven to a distance from most of the members, surrounded by a crowd in perpetual motion, they will be able more successfully to accomplish their object? Sir, said Mr. N., the expectation is absurd. It cannot be done. I have placed myself without the bar, and I declare it impossible to hear correctly. If, then, you are determined to exclude them from their usual places, you had infinitely better turn them out of the House altogether.

As to the convenience of the galleries for hearing, Mr. N. was not able, from a trial made by himself, to decide upon it. But he had heard but one uniform opinion, which was, that owing to the constant passage of persons, and the frequent crowd it would contain, it was impossible to hear there with any distinctness. With respect to the remarks made by the gentleman from Massachusetts on this point, he thought them altogether inapposite. The gallery was not constructed by us, and if it were a bad place for hearing, it arose not from any fault to be ascribed to us. All that we did was to open our doors to all citizens who conducted themselves with decorum.

The personal inconvenience to members alleged, did not, in the opinion of Mr. N., exist. He thought there was ample room. The chamber they occupied was similar to that in Philadelphia, and the positions desired by the stenographers were relatively the same as those in Philadelphia. By advancing the Clerk's table three feet, every difficulty would be removed.

Mr. RUTLEDGE said, that the members who had preceded him had talked much about the necessity of giving the people correct information of the transactions of that House. He believed there was not a single member who did not wish to impart to the people all the knowledge they could receive, and who did not highly prize the means of information furnished by the proceedings of that House. On this point there was no division. No one was desirous of excluding the stenographers, or prohibiting the publication of debates. The only question really before the House was, whether they should persevere in the old plan; whether they should confide in the integrity and the talents of the Speaker, who had hitherto merited their confidence, or whether, divesting him of his power, they should exercise a right themselves hitherto attached to his office.

Such a mode of procedure as had been pursued on this occasion was not conformable to that heretofore practised. An application somewhat similar had been, some time since, made to the Speaker. The Speaker decided, and the House, without debate, acquiesced in his decision. A stenographer had grossly misrepresented a member, and when required to correct his false statement, had insolently refused to do it, and added to the previous injury of misstatement insult of the most contumelious kind. The Speaker dismissed him from his place for this barefaced misconduct. Some of his friends made an appeal to the House. The House acted wisely, and, with becoming dignity, refused to interpose.

Now, said Mr. R., if any other stenographer, like the one I have alluded to, shall make it his systematic practice to misrepresent, and he continue as heretofore to hold his place at the tenure of the Speaker's permission, he may be dismissed by the Speaker without troubling the House. But should the motion made by the gentleman from North Carolina prevail, we shall be perpetually appealed to, and occupied in debate. For these reasons he trusted the report would be agreed to.

Mr. HILL said he considered the subject as simply involving an address to the sentiments of the members on the ground of personal convenience, and that on that ground he was ready to sacrifice any little inconvenience to the accommodation of the stenographers; stating at the same time his entire reliance upon the integrity and talents of the Speaker.

Mr. GRISWOLD said, this is nothing less than an appeal from the Chair. To the Speaker has heretofore been committed the regulation of the admission of all persons whatever within the bar. This is the only correct mode in which such an object can be accomplished. The Speaker must exercise the discretion hitherto vested in him, otherwise the order of the House cannot be preserved. The object now is to take this power from the Speaker, and to open the area of the House to the stenographers, without the Speaker's approbation. It is said that only two persons at present apply. But if the door be once opened to admission in this way, there may be no end to intrusion. The Speaker being divested of power to act, and the necessity of acting being evident, the House will be perpetually troubled with appeals.

In his opinion, the power confided to the Speaker had been exercised in this case with great propriety. It must be apparent to every body that the area was too small to justify the admission of the stenographers. He believed it to be an idle pretence that the stenographers could not hear. He believed it to be a mere matter of pride, which would be gratified by an appeal from the Chair, and a reversal of the decision of the Speaker by the House.

Mr. THATCHER, persuaded that all the information derived from the debates of this House was of little comparative importance when viewed in relation to the general mass of information possessed by the people, cared but little for the event of the resolution before the House. Upon this ground he felt no anxiety whatever. As a matter of order, it might perhaps be of some importance. As to the convenience of position, he doubted whether a more correct account of the debates could not be given from a situation without the bar than within it. His reasons were these: It was well known that for four or five sessions after the organization of the Federal Government stenographers never came within the bar, and their positions during that period were as remote from the members as at present. Yet if any man would appeal to the debates then taken, he would find them as correctly taken as they have been at any time since. It is true, there were complaints of inaccuracy, but the debate takers never assigned, as a justification of their errors, the inconvenience of their situations; on the contrary, they declared that they did as well as they could, and contended that their reports were as correct as the nature of the case permitted.

When the seat of Government was transferred to Philadelphia, and the stenographers occupied places within the bar, complaints increased, the debates were taken more incorrectly, and two or three of the stenographers were actually turned out of the area within the bar; one of whom, he believed, was sent into the upper gallery.

The incorrectness of the published debates did not arise so much from an inability to hear as from an inability to take down a rapid speech.

Mr. T. said he believed the debates as taken down by Mr. Lloyd, were as accurately taken as any taken before or since. The conclusion he drew from these facts was, that if the stenographers were admitted by the House within the bar, the public would gain nothing by it. He had, however, no objection to their admission, if the Speaker approved it. They might, as far as he cared, take any place in the House; even seats alongside of the Speaker.

Mr. DAVIS had expected to hear substantial reasons in support of the report of the committee. None such had been offered. It was said that the stenographers could hear very well from their present positions. He denied it. The reporter could not possibly hear. Though himself nearer the gentleman, he had not heard a word that fell from the gentleman from North Carolina.

He trusted the House would admit the stenographers within the bar. If not admitted, the conversation and passage of the members around them will at once prevent the debates from being well taken, and be a perpetual excuse for their errors. But if admitted, they will have no such apology, and they will be within the power of the House.

The great mass of our citizens are too remote to attend your debates. They rely on those who report them. Not more than forty or fifty persons transiently appear in the galleries, who are not equal to diffusing a knowledge of your proceedings. Exclude the stenographers, and you may as well shut your doors. It may be said that you print your journals; but who reads them? They are scarcely read by the members themselves. On great national questions the people ought to know, not only what you do, but also the principles that guide you.

The gentleman from South Carolina was willing to place the stenographers under the coercion of the Speaker, but was unwilling to place them under the coercion of the House. For his part, he thought differently. He did not wish to see them at the mercy of the Speaker.

Several allusions had been made to the treatment of a reporter at Philadelphia, who had been driven from the House by the Speaker. He recollected the affair, and, in his opinion, the Speaker had in this case been actuated more by personal enmity, than by any other motive.

Mr. H. LEE next rose. He said he put it upon the candor of his colleague from Virginia to declare whether, in his opinion, any gentleman in that House wished to suppress his sentiments, or was disposed to shrink from an avowal of them. If an individual were to judge from the debate of to-day he would infer that it was the desire of some members on that floor to conceal their sentiments from the people. No such thing was the case. We are as anxious as those who differ with us that the people should know what we think, say, and do.

The only question was, whether the Speaker shall exercise a certain power which he can conveniently, and which he has hitherto honorably exercised, or whether we shall assume it with all its inconveniences. He hoped we should not. He feared no inaccuracy so long as the debates published received no sanction from the House.

Have you, said Mr. L., no greater objects to engage your attention than whether this man or that man shall go out of your bar, or remain within it? He thought the House might be better employed.

Mr. MACON understood the subject before the House very much as his colleague did. The question was simply whether we will take upon ourselves inconveniences alleged to exist, or keep the stenographers without the bar. He was convinced that the situations occupied by the stenographers were badly calculated for hearing, as even within the bar the members could scarcely hear each other.

One reason had great weight with him. It was, that if the House made a rule in relation to the admission of the stenographers, it would be placing law in the room of discretion. He preferred a certain rule to a vague discretion.

The danger apprehended from a crowd of stenographers was farcical. Since he had been in Congress he had never seen more than three or four. And if the number admitted should prove inconvenient, it would be time enough, when the inconvenience was experienced, to remedy it.

Mr. S. SMITH said the question was entirely one of inconvenience. He would not ascribe to any member a desire to suppress his sentiments. The speeches never went forth as delivered. Yet it was desirable to assign to the stenographers the most convenient places. He had heard gentlemen on both sides of the chair declare they would experience no inconvenience from the admission of the stenographers. For himself, from his situation, he could experience none. He believed, indeed, that the members could be heard from any part of the House, and nearly as well in one place as in another. But as other gentlemen hold a different opinion, and the stenographers had hitherto been admitted within the bar, he had not the least objection, and would vote for their admission.

In this stage of the debate, the SPEAKER arose, not, he said, to inquire into the consequences of the House acting in the business, but again to repeat the line of conduct he had pursued, and the motives which had influenced his conduct; he did this for the information of members not in the House at the time he had before addressed the House. The SPEAKER then repeated what he had before stated, viz: that on being appealed to by Mr. Stewart, he had declared to him his decision before any other application had been made; that he had spoken to many members, all of whom, without a single exception, had approved his ideas, and concluded with again declaring, as he had before declared, that the stenographers could not be admitted within the bar without violating the order of the House and the convenience of the members. It was, he said, for the House to decide--to them only was he responsible.

Mr. NICHOLAS understood it to be the object of those who supported the admission of the stenographers within the bar to place them upon the same footing they had heretofore held. This was his object. All the remarks, therefore, made respecting their independence of the Chair, were inapplicable. They would still be subject to his control, except as to the single point of situation. In short, the business would be restored to its old form.

His colleague had made an appeal to his candor. He wished to know whether he (Mr. N.) thought that he or any other gentleman in that House wished to suppress his sentiments, or was disposed to shrink from an avowal of them? He would answer the appeal made by his colleague, and would tell him that he did not feel himself at liberty to form conjectures respecting the opinions of others, but decided from facts. If he heard gentlemen make use of arguments so weak as those he had heard that day in defence of their sentiments, he would say that their feelings differed essentially from his. He would say that, judging them by their arguments, they do not wish publicity to be given to the debates of this House.

What do the gentlemen tell us? Does it not amount to this: that their complaisance for the Speaker suffers him to judge for them in a case where they are the best judges; and would not this complaisance go to this length, that if the Speaker should judge wrong, they will not interfere to correct his error?

We are told by a gentleman just up, that the application made proceeds from pride, and that it can proceed from nothing else. But the gentleman has not assigned his reasons for this extraordinary charge.

It is contended that any place without the bar will be convenient for the stenographers. Let the place be pointed out. Let the gentlemen who urge this show us a place without the bar inaccessible to the whispers of the members and the pressure of a crowd. Do they imagine that any particular place can be assigned to which they can ensure a profound silence, and from which every person can be withheld? Do they not know, have they not experienced, that when business presses, when subjects of importance are discussed, a crowd is produced, noise ensues, and interposing obstacles render it impossible either to hear or see the members? In such cases, by far the most interesting that can occur, a recess within the bar can be their only protection.

The gentleman from Massachusetts had put the business upon a very extraordinary footing--a footing that he did not expect from him. He represented that it would be safe to trust the reporters to the Speaker's indulgence. For his part, he did not think it would be safe in such hands. Shall the Speaker have the discretion of saying what debates shall be taken and what shall not? Shall he, and he only, have the public ear? Could the Speaker desire this? Surely he could not. He ought rather to desire the House to decide generally than thus impose upon him such an invidious task.

Mr. N. said, he considered those who report the debates as appearing in this House on behalf of the people of the United States, to whom they communicated what passed here. The people were entitled to this information; and if, as observed by the gentleman from Massachusetts, either foreign Ministers or Secretaries, or any other gentleman in long robes, interfered with such an object, they ought to give way. He knew not wherein consisted the propriety of assigning them particular seats. What right had they to exclusive seats? He knew no connection that subsisted between them and this House. Be the right as it may, he was not for sacrificing a solid benefit to mere complaisance.

But a gentleman has told us that one stenographer, for his misrepresentation and insolence, had been discharged by the Speaker. In the course of debate, Mr. N. said, he had studiously avoided any allusion to this circumstance. Nor would he now say any thing about it, as he thought it altogether foreign from the present question.

The respect which gentlemen expressed for the Speaker appeared to him to lead them from the object they professed to have in view. For, at present, the stenographers are not under the control of the Speaker. But admit them within the bar, and if they are guilty of misconduct, if they infringe any of the rules of the House, the Speaker has them within his power.

Some gentlemen apprehend the admission of a crowd of stenographers. The thing is morally impossible. When Congress met in a large populous city, where several daily papers were printed, we saw but two reporters. Here, removed from the busy world, where the demand for that description of labor which arose from publishing the debates was not nearly so great, and, of consequence, the profit less, it could not be expected that there could be more.

Mr. N. concluded by declaring that, in his opinion, it was the duty of the House to decide in this case. The Speaker had changed the established practice of the House. It became, therefore, the House to inquire whether he had done what he ought to have done; which, if he had omitted to do, it devolved on them to see effected.

Mr. WALN spoke in favor of the adoption of the report.

The question was then taken by yeas and nays, on agreeing to the report of the select committee, and carried by the casting vote of the Speaker. There being yeas 45, nays 45, as follows:

YEAS.--Theodore Sedgwick, (Speaker,) George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, John Bird, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, William Cooper, William Craik, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, Archibald Henderson, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, James Linn, Lewis R. Morris, Harrison G. Otis, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Jonas Platt, Levin Powell, John Read, Nathan Read, John Rutledge, jr., John C. Smith, Samuel Tenney, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, Theodorus Bailey, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, Samuel Goode, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, William H. Hill, David Holmes, George Jackson, James Jones, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Lyttleton W. Tazewell, Philip Van Cortlandt, and Joseph B. Varnum.

WEDNESDAY, December 10.

Another member, to wit, MATTHEW LYON, from Vermont, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

Mausoleum to Washington.

The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for erecting a Mausoleum to the memory of GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Mr. ALSTON was in hopes, when he first made the motion now under consideration, that a question would have been taken upon the amendment without debate; but, as his wish upon that subject had not been complied with, he held it to be his duty to give to the House the reasons which actuated him.

He said that he by no means wished to detract any thing from the merit of that illustrious character whose memory we were now about to perpetuate; that it was his wish that his character might be handed to the latest posterity unimpaired, and that he really thought the amendment equally calculated to effect that desirable purpose with the bill; that the difference of expense was a matter of importance to the people of this country; that the expense of a mausoleum, from the best information he had been able to collect, would amount to at least 150 or $200,000; that a monument, such as was contemplated by the amendment, would not cost more than one tenth as much as a mausoleum, as contemplated by the bill as it now stood. Indeed, he believed that the bare expense of interring the remains of General WASHINGTON in a mausoleum would cost as much as the proposed monument.

Mr. A. said he considered Congress pledged, as far as the resolution of the last session went; that the gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. OTIS,) who was up a few day ago upon this subject, had requested information; in answer to which he had only to observe that if that gentleman would have given himself the trouble to have examined the proceedings of the last session of Congress he would have been better informed than he appeared to be; that a committee equally respectable with that which had reported the bill at the present time, had then fully investigated the subject, and had made a report, which was to be found upon the journals of the last session of Congress, recommending a monument such as was contemplated by the proposed amendment, and that the request made by the President of the United States to Mrs. Washington, in conformity to the report of that committee, was for a monument; to which request she had consented; he, therefore, considered Congress as pledged thus far and no farther; that a motion was made in this House to change the monument to a mausoleum; that the recent death of General WASHINGTON at that time, prevented any person from opposing any measure which was offered, let the expense be what it would; but that the time which had elapsed since, had enabled the public mind the better to judge.

The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. LEE) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. GRISWOLD) had dwelt a great deal upon the subject of public gratitude. It was by no means his wish or intention to lessen that sentiment, but he said that he could not give his consent to an expensive measure like that contemplated in the bill, when a measure far less expensive, in his opinion, would answer every purpose as well.

Mr. ALSTON was followed by Mr. HUGER, who advocated the erection of a mausoleum.

Mr. SMILIE replied. He considered the erection of a mausoleum as productive of unnecessary expense, as a monument would answer every rational purpose contemplated in the bill.

Mr. H. LEE next spoke at some length in favor of a mausoleum, and read a letter received from Mr. King, our Ambassador at London enclosing a plan, presented to him by an eminent foreign artist, for a mausoleum of one hundred and fifty feet base, and the same height, the expense of which was estimated at $170,000.

Mr. CHAMPLIN, after some remarks, moved that the committee rise, report progress, and ask leave to sit again.

Which motion being carried without a division, the committee rose; and on the question to grant them leave to sit again, only three members rose in the affirmative.

Mr. CHAMPLIN then moved the recommitment of the bill to the same committee that reported it, with the addition of two members, which was carried, and Messrs. CLAIBORNE and CHAMPLIN appointed.

After Mr. CHAMPLIN'S motion for a recommitment of the bill to a select committee was carried,

Mr. CLAIBORNE said he had risen to move that the committee just appointed be instructed to inquire into the expediency of carrying into effect a resolution passed by the old Congress, on the 7th of August, 1783, directing an equestrian statue of General WASHINGTON to be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established.

Mr. C. said, that on a question which could not fail to excite the sensibility of every American heart, it was a subject of great regret that a division of sentiment should arise. The memory of our departed patriot lives in the affections of a grateful country, and will triumph over time. During a long life, so usefully and honorably employed, WASHINGTON had reared to himself a fabric of fame, the lustre of which can neither be diminished nor heightened by any measure that we can take. But, sir, from a respect for our own, as well as for the feelings of the nation, we should endeavor to unite in the last act of attention which we propose to show this venerable character.

Mr. C. said that the proposition for a mausoleum was calculated to create division. The expense of such a monument would be immense, and would be viewed by many as a profuse and useless expenditure of the public money. He believed that the statue recommended by the old Congress could be better justified upon principles of economy, and would meet with more general support. Here Mr. C. read from the journals of the old Congress the following resolutions:

"Resolved, (unanimously, ten States being present,) That an equestrian statue of General WASHINGTON be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established.

"Resolved, That the statue be of bronze--the General to be represented in a Roman dress, holding a truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled with a laurel wreath. The statue to be supported by a marble pedestal, on which are to be represented, in basso relievo, the following principal events of the war, in which General WASHINGTON commanded in person, viz: The evacuation of Boston--the capture of the Hessians at Trenton--the battle of Princeton--the action of Monmouth--and the surrender of York. On the upper part of the front of the pedestal, to be engraved as follows: 'The United States in Congress assembled ordered this statue to be erected, in the year of our Lord, 1783, in honor of GEORGE WASHINGTON, the illustrious Commander-in-chief of the Armies of the United States of America, during the war which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and independence."'

A monument thus designed, (continued Mr. C.,) would portray in lively colors the military achievements of our late illustrious Chief, and is calculated to impress upon our posterity a grateful recollection of his eminent services. Mr. C. was the more interested in support of a monument of this kind, because it had been sanctioned by a unanimous vote of those venerable philosophers and statesmen who presided in our councils, at a time of the greatest danger, directed the storm of war, and tamed the rage of tyranny.

It was true, that this equestrian statue would not express any of the great events of WASHINGTON's civil life, but, of these, we have already many honorable testimonials; the first in order, and which he hoped would be the last in durability, was the Constitution of the United States; to this instrument his name was annexed, and would be noticed with gratitude by the lovers of freedom in every age and every clime; this city is another memento of his civil life, and, if it should be the residence of all that piety, wisdom, and magnanimity, which was so devoutly prayed for by each branch of the Legislature, at the commencement of the present session, this city would remain an honorable testimonial of the civil virtues of its great founder.

There was no doubt, said Mr. C., but that many gentlemen were also solicitous that the body of General WASHINGTON should be deposited within the walls of the Capitol; of this number Mr. C. was one, and was desirous that a plain but neat apartment should be speedily prepared for its reception. But over his remains, instead of an expensive monument, Mr. C. thought it most advisable to place a plain but neat tomb-stone, of American marble, and prepared by an American artist. And in order to convey to posterity, in impressive language, the feelings of the American nation, when the loss of our patriot, sage, and hero, was first announced, Mr. C. wished to see engraved upon this tomb the addresses of each House of Congress upon this occasion to the President of the United States, together with the President's replies thereto.

Mr. C. concluded by moving the instructions stated in the commencement of his speech.

Mr. CLAIBORNE was followed by Messrs. CRAIK and NOTT.

The instruction to the committee, moved by Mr. CLAIBORNE, with a slight modification, was agreed to.

MONDAY, December 15.

Another member, to wit, THOMAS PINCKNEY, from South Carolina, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

THURSDAY, December 18.

Another member, to wit, JAMES SHEAFE, from New Hampshire, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

FRIDAY, December 19.

Mausoleum to Washington.

Mr. H. LEE, from the committee to whom was referred the several propositions made commemorative of the services of GEORGE WASHINGTON, reported a bill for the erection of a mausoleum, differing in no other respects from the former bill reported, except as to the materials of which the mausoleum is to be constructed; the present bill directing it to be made of stone, the former one directing it to be made of marble. He said that the committee, after maturely considering the relative merits of all the plans proposed, had preferred the mausoleum, as well from its superior durability as cheapness, to any other.

TUESDAY, December 23.

Mausoleum to Washington.

Mr. H. LEE moved the going into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for erecting a mausoleum to GEORGE WASHINGTON.

On this question the House divided--yeas 42, nays 34.

Mr. MORRIS took the chair, and read the bill by paragraphs.

Mr. H. LEE said the merits of the bill had been so often discussed, and the subject was so delicate, that he would not again offer his sentiments generally on it. As it was the opinion of several members, that the dimensions of the mausoleum should not be fixed in the law, but that they should be governed by the sum appropriated, he moved to strike out "100 feet at the base and of proportionate dimensions."

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. H. LEE then moved an amendment confining the ground on which the mausoleum should be erected to public property.

Mr. HARPER opposed the amendment, which was lost, only 31 members rising in favor of it.

Mr. H. LEE then moved to fill the blank, fixing the sum to be appropriated for erecting the mausoleum, with $200,000.

Mr. SMILIE said he hoped the House would not with its eyes open go into a measure that might involve incalculable expense. It was proposed to appropriate $200,000. This was probably but a small part of what would be ultimately required; and when the thing was once begun, it must be completed, cost what it would. If the architect would give security for accomplishing the work for $200,000 he would not be so much opposed to it. But, as it stood, he was opposed to it, as a useless expenditure of public money.

Mr. HARPER said the old story was again rung in their ears. An object, in itself highly important, was proposed, and, forsooth, because it cost some money, on the ground of economy it must be rejected.

He would ask the gentleman just up whether he knew any thing about the expense of a mausoleum? And yet not professing to be informed, professing indeed to know little, he had put his vague conjectures in the room of estimates formed with deliberation by artists of the first eminence. These clamorous objections were well understood. Their sole object was ad captandum vulgus; to create alarm about what was termed useless expense. They were intended for nothing else.

To satisfy the solicitude of gentlemen an artist of talents universally acknowledged had been desired to furnish an estimate; which estimate stated that a pyramid of 100 feet base would cost $67,000. This was the estimate of an artist of such accuracy that in the greatest work ever undertaken in America, and the greatest, perhaps, of its kind, ever undertaken in the world, (he alluded to the water works of Philadelphia,) the expense actually incurred had fallen short of the estimate. The same accuracy had characterized his plan and execution of the Bank of Pennsylvania, which was probably the greatest work of the kind executed in this country. And yet the gentleman from Pennsylvania will place his vague doubts, and (Mr. HARPER begged pardon for the expression) his total want of knowledge against the calculations of a man of practical science.

The gentleman had asked whether any one could be found, who would be responsible for the execution of the work for the proposed sum. Mr. HARPER said, if it were proper for a member of that House to say so, he would undertake himself to erect a mausoleum of 150 feet base, and 150 feet high, for $200,000; and for the performance of his engagement he could give the most unquestionable security, such as every member of that House would approve. He further believed that the artist before alluded to, if required, would give the necessary security. The accuracy of the estimate had been tested by every circumstance that the nature of the case admitted. The same course had been pursued, in this case, that every reasonable man was accustomed to take in his own private concerns. Every such individual, who designed building a house obtained first an estimate from a skilful workman, which satisfied him. If men acted not in this way, there could be no progress in human improvements.

After this information, furnished by such an artist, gentlemen ought to be satisfied without opposing to it their own crude conceptions; and Mr. HARPER said he hoped they would cease to talk on a subject on which they were so ignorant, until they became better informed.

Mr. MACON did not see the subject in the same light with the gentleman from South Carolina. He was disposed to pay the greatest respect to his talents, but he could not give up his own opinion. The estimates made by the artist amounted to $140,000; yet the gentleman from Virginia required $200,000. Does not this show that the gentlemen themselves have not confided in the estimate of the artist?

Mr. H. LEE explained, and said that he thought the most proper plan for adoption was that of Mr. West; pursuing that plan, $200,000 might be required, as there would be interior arrangements to make, additional to those contemplated by the estimate.

Mr. MACON said he thought $140,000 would be sufficient. He knew not how to reconcile the difference between the estimate made in Philadelphia and that made in Washington; the first was only $67,000; which was a sum much below any calculated here. He did not pretend to any information on this subject, and the various modifications the bill had undergone, convinced him that no member was well acquainted with it. The estimates differed materially from each other. They could not therefore all be correct. He could not, from these considerations, feel confidence in the estimates of the gentleman from South Carolina, or the other gentleman; for if they really possessed correct information, how came they so radically to differ; and the committee itself to propose so many alterations in the original bill?

Mr. SMILIE replied to Mr. HARPER. The object of his remarks was, to show that Mr. H. possessed as little information on the subject as himself.

Mr. RUTLEDGE.--The substance of what the gentleman says, is that he wants to do nothing. He had long thought so, and he was now confirmed in his opinion. When the man, whose loss the world deplored, departed from us, we were all shrouded with sorrow; the mournful event awakened our deepest regrets; and resolutions expressive of the national affliction at his death, and commemorative of his services, were unanimously passed by both Houses of Congress. Those resolutions were not carried into immediate effect, owing to the disagreement of the two branches of the Legislature. Now, when we propose to carry them into effect, objections are started to every measure offered; objections that rise eternally in our horizon; which, whenever we pursue, fly from our reach, and which, always moving in a circle, we can never overtake.

Gentlemen tell us they are unaccustomed to spend public money without estimates. To satisfy the vigilance of their economy we obtain them. They then tell us they are inaccurate; their objection arises from a want of detail; they wish a minute statement of each separate charge. Again, we consent to gratify their wishes, anxious for their sanction to our measures, that they may express the unanimous sentiment of Congress. We produce an estimate as minute as was ever furnished by an artist on any occasion. The total amount of estimated expense is $140,000, and to avoid the necessity of calling on Congress again, the gentleman from Virginia asks for $200,000.

Still, after all our trouble and solicitude to satisfy the scruples of gentlemen, they continue to urge objections. One gentleman says the estimate made at Philadelphia differs from that made here; another gentleman will not confide in any estimate, and another wants security.

Does it become the dignity of the House thus to be occupied with trifling objections on such a subject; and, in the spirit of bargaining, to waste its time in saving a few dollars?

Many gentlemen, anxious for this measure, had agreed to postpone the consideration of it, hoping thereby to accommodate other gentlemen in their views, and expecting ultimately a unanimous vote. But he now abandoned it. He saw no period to objections. Much time had already been idly wasted. They had delayed too long to do what ought to have been done at once. Let us then take the question at once, and get rid of it, though a veto should be passed upon the bill.

The question was then taken on filling up the blank with $200,000, and carried--yeas 41, nays 38.

Mr. DENT moved to amend the section appropriating the sum, by substituting the word "for," in the room of the word "towards," which would fix the whole sum to be appropriated, instead of leaving it uncertain. Agreed to.

The committee then rose and reported the bill as amended. On the question to agree to the $200,000 appropriated, the House divided--yeas 41, nays 38.

The SPEAKER then put the question on engrossing the bill for a third reading.

Mr. CLAIBORNE was opposed to the engrossing of the bill. He hoped no gentleman would ascribe his opposition to a want of respect to the memory of our great patriot. His respect for this illustrious character had been almost coeval with his life, and would follow him to his grave.

He was opposed to a mausoleum, because it would not be so respectful to the memory of WASHINGTON, as the equestrian statue directed by the old Congress, who had directed the battle during our Revolutionary struggle, and for whose character he felt the highest veneration. The present Government could not refuse to carry into effect this act of the old Congress, without a violation of moral principle. He preferred a statue to a mausoleum, because the former, from representing the form and the features, would inspire the beholder with more lively emotions than a mass of stones formed into a pyramid.

Were the expense of a statue greater than that of a mausoleum, he would, notwithstanding, prefer it; but he believed the reverse would be the fact. He not only wished a statue raised, but also was in favor of an immediate appropriation for depositing the remains of our departed friend within these very walls, in such a manner as would not disgrace them.

Mr. CHAMPLIN had heretofore voted from a spirit of conciliation. He was now not a little surprised to find the gentlemen from Tennessee and South Carolina (Mr. CLAIBORNE and Mr. ALSTON) opposed to a mausoleum, though their names appeared, from an inspection of the journals of last session, among those who were then in favor of it.

He considered a mausoleum as preferable to a statue, because the first was calculated to celebrate all the virtues of the statesman, as well as the hero, while the latter would be limited to his military exploits.

Great opposition had been made to the erection of a mausoleum, with the professed view of avoiding expense, and I admit generally that economy ought to be observed, in the expenditure of public money. But on an occasion highly interesting to the feelings, and deeply involving the character of the nation, even the appearance of parsimony should be carefully avoided. It is necessary to consider the nature and magnitude of the object for which money is required. It is not asked for, in the present instance, to commemorate a man distinguished only on the field of battle. It is not wanted to gratify family pride, or to raise a monument of despotic power and slavish submission. It is to be furnished by a great and free people, to record, in a manner worthy of themselves, their gratitude for the important services rendered to them by one of their fellow-citizens; the fruits of which I cannot but hope will be enjoyed and recognized by future generations. We are called upon by the public voice to erect a monument suited to the character of WASHINGTON, who has been emphatically styled, the man of the age, and whose virtues may, by the record we shall make of them, become the property of distant ages.

These virtues will doubtless be the theme of some able biographer, and it is wished that posterity may not search in vain for some striking evidence of our acknowledgment of them. It is indeed of infinite importance to civil society, that the memory of that great man should be perpetuated by every means in our power. We may thus sow the seeds of virtue, honor, and patriotism, in our country. He will be held up a model, to which the finger of wisdom will constantly point, to which the attention of youth will be irresistibly drawn, and the mind of every man aspiring to pre-eminence among a free people, will be riveted. The proposed mausoleum would be a structure well calculated to resist the ravages of time. As to the hand of man, at least of civilized man, we need not guard against it. The depository of the ashes of WASHINGTON will never be assailed by it. It may indeed be attacked by the ruthless hand of some invading barbarian. But its only security against such an attack must be derived from the courage and fortitude of the people of the United States. And I trust they will never tamely yield up the land of their forefathers.

Mr. BIRD was against the bill, because it proposed the erection of a mausoleum, which would not be equal to the object for which it was raised without the expenditure of a vast sum of money; whereas a statue could be made, somewhat correspondent to the occasion, for a moderate sum. It was in vain for gentlemen to talk about a structure commensurate to the object. Such a thing was impossible. He moved the recommitment of the bill to a Committee of the whole House.

The question being put, the House divided--ayes 39, noes 39; and it passed in the negative by the casting vote of the SPEAKER.

Mr. SHEPARD said, I will do as much as any man to honor the memory of WASHINGTON. I have fought and bled with him several times. I have always supported and will continue to support him. But on the score of expense, I think we are going too far. I will go so far as to have his remains placed decently within these walls. Further I will not go; for I do not think we have a right to throw away the public money.

Mr. MACON delivered his reasons against a mausoleum, and in favor of an equestrian statue; and among other remarks, said, the idea that a mausoleum would be equal to the character of WASHINGTON, was preposterous. Few individuals in the world were capable of drawing his character. In a few words, he would say that no character that had ever lived was equal to him, and it was his firm belief, that the world would never see his equal.

Mr. BROWN thought General WASHINGTON the best man that had ever lived; and he was surprised at the ideas of gentlemen on the ground of expense. If the mausoleum were agreed to, it would not cost each person in the United States four cents; and if the equestrian statue were also made, (which he hoped would also be done, for the sake of general accommodation,) it would not cost more than two cents. It seemed to him that some gentlemen were averse to doing any thing, though they did not wish the people to think so.

Mr. ALSTON would not have risen, had he not been marked by the gentleman from Rhode Island as an object of inconsistency.

Mr. CHAMPLIN explained by saying he did not mean to censure the gentleman for his change of opinion, for which he doubtless had good reasons.

Mr. ALSTON.--Let the measures of Congress be reviewed, and it would appear, that the House itself and the gentleman from Rhode Island had been as inconsistent as himself. He would appeal to the gentleman whether it was more honorable to desert his duty and fly a vote, than to act as he had done?

Mr. HUGER said it was unnecessary at this time to take into view the old arguments that had been urged. The proposition of the gentleman from Tennessee, for an equestrian statue, was the only one he should notice. So impressed was he with the inadequacy of a common statue to express the gratitude of America, that he would rather have nothing done, than to have what was done in this backhanded way.

He was disposed to treat with respect the acts of the old Congress. But the act, to which the gentleman from Tennessee had alluded, and which he wished this House exclusively to carry into effect, was passed in reference to the military exploits of Gen. WASHINGTON, because, at the time it was passed, his life had been most characterized by them. Since that period circumstances had changed. If we are bound by the acts of the old Congress, are we not equally bound by those of the last session? If you adopt the ideas of the gentleman, do you not hold out the Commander-in-chief of the American Army as deserving a splendid monument, and the father of the constitution and other great civil acts as deserving nothing?

Without any concert whatever, a remarkable concurrence had taken place between West, Trumbull, and other respectable artists, who all gave an unequivocal preference to a mausoleum; which, in his opinion, would be far less expensive than a statue. The expense of the latter, as would appear from an estimate in the office of the Secretary of State, could not be less than forty thousand guineas, deliverable at Paris; and when the additional charges of transportation, insurance, and other incidental expenses, were considered, he was persuaded it could not be completed for less than two or three hundred thousand dollars.

Mr. J. C. SMITH considered the Government as pledged to do that which they had promised, and which the national feeling required.

Mr. RANDOLPH must consider the present as a tedious and useless debate. The gentleman had declared the Government to be pledged. To whom were they pledged, and for what? It was to the relics of the deceased; to have them placed within these walls. For this, there were the strongest reasons, as such a measure would be agreeable to the venerable lady to whom he had been united. If then they were so pledged, why violate this pledge, by referring the business to the Secretary of State, of the Treasury, of War, and of the Navy; though what connection there was between the office of the Secretary of the Navy and the performance of the trust, he could not tell?

One consideration with him was insuperable. The departure from the original plan tended, unjustly, and most cruelly, (however pure the intention,) to violate the feelings of a lady, so much troubled already.

Mr. J. C. SMITH said it had been declared by some gentlemen that the reputation of WASHINGTON might be safely confided to the record of history. Was it the opinion of those gentlemen that the record was to be found in the charge of murder against that illustrious character? Was it to be found in the patriotic effusions of men who had pronounced all expressions of national gratitude a mockery of woe, and had declared that it was high time for those who were the sincere apostles of liberty to be done with such foolery; or was it to be found in the denunciations of a printer, supported by a State that perpetually boasted its regard to Republicanism?

Mr. HARPER could not but regret that a gentleman, who possessed so lively a regret for the venerable lady alluded to, should have exhibited in this discussion so glaring a contrast between his professions and his actions, by introducing that lady into the debate, and indelicately expressing her wishes, in reference to the place where the relics of her deceased partner should be deposited. Was it conceivable that to her the place could be of any importance? Or was it possible that this House could be enslaved by the trifling circumstance of the locus in quo, or that the paltry consideration attending an action of trespass could be gravely introduced into such a debate. All that this venerable lady says amounts to this, that, accustomed from the example of her deceased friend to obey the national wishes, she submitted to that disposition of his remains that Congress may make. Shall we, then, in violation of the plain meaning of her words, enter into whispers of hearsay respecting wishes, which, from his knowledge of her good sense, he was persuaded had never been uttered?

Mr. RANDOLPH rose to explain. He had neither said, nor intended to say, that he possessed any knowledge beside that which appeared on the journals; and from that knowledge he was justified in saying that Mrs. WASHINGTON'S compliance, as expressed by her, was not with any public will that might be expressed, but with that will which had been already expressed. Whatever insinuations the gentleman from South Carolina may mean to convey, his feelings of respect for every woman were sacred; nor were they limited to that sex alone. He was not disposed on this occasion to take the advice of the gentleman, who judging me by his own heart, said Mr. R., may imagine me capable of disrespect to the sex.

Mr. HARPER wished the gentleman would avoid any further interruption, and reserve his remarks until he was done. He did not know, nor was he concerned to inquire into the motives of the gentleman from Virginia. Such inquiry would, of all others, be the least profitable or interesting, either to the House or to himself. Neither had he any idea of giving advice which that gentleman would follow. He well knew that it was the most hopeless of all things to give advice to one whose own sense of propriety did not tell him what was right. Those, who were incapable of receiving lessons from their own minds or feelings, were not likely to receive them from any other quarter.

The feelings ascribed to Mrs. WASHINGTON were unfounded. The lady was incapable of entering into trifling disputes about place or time, such as the House had this day witnessed.

The arguments, by which the superiority of a statue to a mausoleum was attempted to be established, were fallacious. The form and features of our illustrious friend would be preserved without the erection of any statue by us. Pictures by celebrated artists were every where multiplied and caught at with avidity; and the sculptor and the painter will be employed unceasingly to keep pace with the increasing demand. Likenesses may be found every where, and as perfect on the other side of the Atlantic as on this.

A mausoleum would last for ages, and would present the same imperishable appearance two thousand years hence, that it would now. Whereas a statue would only remain until some civil convulsion, or foreign invasion, or flagitious conqueror, or lawless mob, should dash it into atoms; or till some invading barbarian should transport it as a trophy of his guilt to a foreign shore.

I have beheld, said Mr. H., a monument erected to a man, once considered as the patron of America, defaced, mutilated, its head broken off, prostrated with the ground. A statue, erected by the Legislature of Virginia to perpetuate the virtues of a man to future ages, had been destroyed.

Besides, a statue was minute, trivial, and perishable. It was a monument erected to all that crowd of estimable but subordinate personages, that soar in a region, elevated indeed above common character, but which was infinitely below that occupied by WASHINGTON.

The greatest honor which this country ever has received, the greatest honor which it ever could receive, was derived from numbering with its sons the immortal WASHINGTON.

Shall then a mistaken spirit of economy, and a still more mistaken jealousy arrest us? Honor him, it is true, we cannot. The world has charged itself with that task. Posterity, as long as the world shall endure, will celebrate his virtues and his talents; those virtues and talents of which every ingredient of their happiness will be a perpetual evidence. But though we cannot honor him, we may dishonor ourselves; though we cannot increase the lustre of his fame, we may show our own meanness, cowardice, spite, and malice; and show an astonished world that we are deplorably unworthy of the high honor conferred by Nature in giving us a WASHINGTON.

I am, said Mr. H., awfully impressed by the subject. I sink under the sublimity that surrounds it. No words can reach it; mine are totally inadequate; to the feelings of the House then it must be submitted: they, after anticipating all that genius or eloquence can say, will still far surpass their boldest effusions.

Mr. RANDOLPH was very unfortunately situated, as he was compelled to rise, not in his own defence, but in defence of the calumniated reputation of that State which he revered, since from it he derived his birth.

I will not, said Mr. R., enter into an elucidation of the motives of the gentleman from South Carolina, which have produced so much asperity, and such a virulence of rancor against the State of Virgina, but will confine myself to the question on engrossing the bill.

The gentleman has talked to us about his disregard for the locus in quo. Mr. R. said he cared as little for the quo modo, as the gentleman did for the locus in quo.

He had further told us that a statue might be overthrown by a licentious mob; and that this had actually been the case in the State of Virginia. But, why had it been so? Because that statue had been erected in the life-time of the person it celebrated; because it had been erected under the Colonial Government; and because, like every other fetter of tyranny, it was broken by the Revolutionary spirit that established our liberties.

But, says the gentleman, statues are raised for subordinate men, for this admiral or that general, who may deserve well of their country, but who do not merit the highest distinctions of national gratitude. If this measure of raising a mausoleum is to be only a cover for obtaining statues for temporary and secondary and trifling characters, it may have a very alarming influence upon us.

It is not easy, for a man of even less sensibility than myself, to hear in silence the State in which I was born, and one of whose Representatives I am, calumniated in the manner in which it had been that day, by the gentlemen from Connecticut and South Carolina. In defence of that State, actuated by a love to it, and not from any respect to its detractors; not to repel any imputation of meanness, of cowardice, of malice, which the gentleman from South Carolina has called ours, (meaning, I suppose, his own,) I will inform him, and the gentleman from Connecticut, that that State was the first to celebrate the fame of the Hero of America, by erecting a statue to him in the Capitol at Richmond.

The gentleman from Connecticut objects to a confidence in the record of the historian. Does the gentleman wish to suppress the history of the political events of 1776? Or does he believe that these events will be handed down in association with the bloody buoy, and Porcupine's works? Perhaps he has formed from his own mind a proper selection for our children, and is against the press handing down any thing else?

Mr. H. said, that the gentleman from Virginia had misstated what he had said. He had cast no reflection on the State of Virginia; but had barely stated two instances of statues overthrown and destroyed, to illustrate their frailty.

During the preceding debate, Mr. CLAIBORNE stated that the committee to whom this subject had been committed, had obtained several estimates; among which was one in writing, by Dr. Thornton, which states with confidence that the expense of an equestrian statue would not exceed from eight thousand to fifteen thousand pounds currency.

After some remarks from Mr. SHEPARD and Mr. LYON, the yeas and nays were taken on engrossing the bill, and were--yeas 44, nays 40, as follows:

YEAS.--George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, William Cooper, William Craik, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Samuel Goode, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, Robert Goodloe Harper, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Lewis R. Morris, Abraham Nott, Harrison G. Otis, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, Nathan Read, John Rutledge, jr., John C. Smith, Samuel Tenney, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, Peleg Wadsworth, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, Theodorus Bailey, John Bird, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, William Charles Cole Claiborne, John Condit, John Davenport, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, James Linn, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, John Randolph, William Shepard, John Smilie, John Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Lyttleton W. Tazewell, Philip Van Cortlandt, and Joseph B. Varnum.

The third reading of the bill was fixed for Thursday week; when the House adjourned to Tuesday, the thirtieth.

TUESDAY, December 30.

The Henderson claim to land guarantied by treaty to Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians.

Another member, to wit, ROBERT WILLIAMS, from North Carolina, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

A memorial of Pleasant Henderson and others, inhabitants of the State of North Carolina, was presented to the House and read, stating their claims to certain lands ceded by the State of North Carolina to the United States, with a reservation of the claims of the petitioners; the possession of which lands the United States have since guarantied by treaty to the Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians; and praying relief in the premises.

Ordered, That the said memorial do lie on the table.

WEDNESDAY, December 31.

The Territory of Columbia.

On motion of Mr. H. LEE, the House went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill in relation to the Territory of Columbia.

Mr. RANDOLPH moved to strike out the first section, which is in these words:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the laws of the State of Virginia, as they existed on the first Monday of December, in the year 1800, shall be and continue in force in that part of the District of Columbia which was ceded by the said State to the United States, and by them accepted for the permanent seat of Government; and that the laws of the State of Maryland as they existed on the said first Monday in December, shall be and continue in force in that part of the said District which was ceded by that State to the United States, and by them accepted, as aforesaid.

Mr. H. LEE said, that he was far from considering this bill as an act of supererogation. The constitution had prohibited the States of Virginia and Maryland from legislating for the Territory; and it now became a question, whether the existing laws of those States were in force, which question might come before the Judiciary. To obviate all doubts, this bill, in the shape of a declaratory one, was reported.

Mr. NICHOLAS said, this bill is not, in my opinion, merely an act of supererogation, but an act of immense mischief. I do not agree with my colleague in the construction he gives the constitution. He is of opinion, that the powers given to Congress on this subject must be exercised by them. I think differently. These powers are like many others conferred, which may or may not be exercised. It had never been contended that we are obliged to carry into execution all the powers with which we are invested. It is true, that we have nearly exhausted the letter of our charter, in the extent to which we have gone; but this fact furnished no reason for going still further.

A construction contrary to that contended for had been given by Congress in the exercise of their power. The act of acceptance passed by Congress, confirming the cessions made by Virginia and Maryland, expressly declares, "that the operation of the laws of the State within such District shall not be affected by this acceptance until the term fixed for the removal of the Government thereto, and until Congress shall otherwise by law provide."

Great force was attached to that part of the constitution which gave Congress exclusive legislation over the Territory. But the same clause of the constitution gave the same power over forts, magazines, arsenals, &c. Yet this power had never been assumed by Congress. The possession of the right had heretofore been considered as sufficient; the exercise of it was reserved until peculiar circumstances should occur, which rendered it necessary.

I believe the committee are not prepared to sanction this bill. To sanction it would be to place the inhabitants of the Territory in a situation for which they would not be thankful. It would impose upon them all the laws of Virginia and Maryland, as they existed on the first Monday of December, without those improvements which experience may suggest.

If this bill passed, it would leave a considerable portion of the inhabitants of the Territory without any judicial authorities to which they could appeal. There were parts of Fairfax, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties, which would have no courts to which they could apply.

Another consequence that would result from the construction attempted to be given to the constitution, was the deprivation of the inhabitants of all participation either in Federal or State legislation. As, by the construction, they would cease to be the subjects of State taxation, it could not be expected that the States would permit them, without being taxed, to be represented.

Could any man desire to place the citizens of the District in such a state? To deprive them of the common right of participating in the passage of laws which all the citizens enjoyed?

If the construction be sound, that we are bound to legislate, then all the judicial proceedings which had taken place since the first Monday in December, whatever affected either property or persons, were mere nullities. I do not, however, believe the construction to be sound. I believe it opposed both to the spirit of the constitution and to the construction hitherto given by Congress. But were the construction just, to adopt the proposed bill would be to act in a way inadequate to the importance of the subject, which, involving in it a system of government for a large portion of citizens, ought not to be acted upon with precipitation, but ought to be conducted by the collected wisdom of Congress derived from mature and deliberate reflection.

Mr. H. LEE said, my colleague is wrong in supposing this bill a part of a permanent system. It is only intended to cure an evil which some persons have supposed to exist, from the doubtful jurisdiction of the States of Virginia and Maryland.

Mr. OTIS said, though I respect the talents of the committee who brought in the bill, yet I cannot discover that it contains a single new view or provision. Though I am myself at a loss to account for the necessity of the bill, the committee were certainly right, if they entertained doubts, to attract the attention of the House to them.

By the first act of Congress accepting the cession, the United States have legislated in the very way the gentleman from Virginia now proposes. As it appeared at that time impossible to form a code of laws, those of Maryland and Virginia were confirmed till Congress should legislate.

If it were true that Congress were bound to legislate themselves, an equal obligation existed at that time with that which existed at present. Their not having done so was a strong argument against the construction now contended for.

To pass such a law as that now offered, instead of removing, would be the very means of exciting doubt. The time may arrive when Congress must go into the subject in detail, and make those provisions that were necessary for a great city. But at present such a step was not called for: the Territory had gone on very well for ten years without the interposition of Congress, and I have no doubt it will continue for some time to come to do well without it.

Mr. BIRD said, this question, in my opinion, is susceptible of a very clear and precise solution. Did the acts of cession by the States, and of acceptance by Congress, take away the jurisdiction of those States, and vest it in Congress? The acts of Maryland and Virginia make a complete cession of soil and jurisdiction to Congress. This cession has been accepted by Congress. What is the consequence of one sovereign transferring all jurisdiction to another sovereign? Does not the power that cedes give up all right whatever to that which accepts? The words of the constitution are that Congress shall exercise exclusive legislation. If Congress exercise exclusive legislation, does it not follow that no other body can exercise any legislation whatever?

The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. NICHOLAS) does not deny the power altogether, but limits it, as a power that may or may not be exercised by Congress; and, in illustration of his opinion, instances the power to naturalize and to pass bankrupt laws. But the cases are not analogous. These last are powers that Congress may or may not exercise. The constitution does not apply to them the term exclusive; nor are they shut out by the actual words of that instrument or by necessary inference.

Over some objects Congress have partial authority; but in this case their authority is absolute and exclusive of all other; from which irresistibly follows the absolute cessation of all power in the ceding body.

It was undoubtedly the intention of the framers of the constitution, that after this Territory became the actual seat of Government, no authority but that of Congress should be in force.

The act of cession by the States, after stating the terms of cession, contains a proviso, that the power of legislation thereby vested in Congress, shall not impair the force of the laws of Maryland and Virginia, till Congress shall otherwise by law provide. A proviso is to prevent something from being done that without it would be done. Congress declared the same thing when they accepted the cession with the same proviso. This proviso tends to supersede the cession. Having this effect it must fall, as conflicting with the act to which it is a proviso. It must be considered as absolutely void. A proviso is intended to prevent the operation of a particular thing, not to give an operation to it. It may prevent the enaction of a particular law, but it cannot re-enact that law.

A difference of opinion seemed to exist as to the period when the powers of the States were superseded. It was the opinion of some gentlemen that they ceased on the completion of the act of cession. The committee consider them as ceasing on the first Monday in December of the present year. It became the House solemnly to settle this point before they entered into the consideration of a complicated system of government. If the Legislative powers of the States had ceased, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that the Judicial powers had also ceased.

For these reasons I think it will be best to declare that things shall remain in statu quo. If the ordinary jurisdiction established be not competent, it may easily be made so.

Mr. RANDOLPH was not prepared to enter into a discussion of the important point before the committee. He would only state the dilemma in which the inhabitants of the District of Columbia would be placed by the construction given to the constitution by his colleague, who was of opinion that all Legislative and Judicial powers derived from Virginia and Maryland, ceased on the first Monday of December. If this construction were true, was it not equally true that the bill now proposed would be of the same validity, and of no more validity, than the act of acceptance passed by Congress.

From his being unprepared, what he offered was submitted more in the form of hints than of correct arguments. But it seemed to him that if the construction contended for should prevail, it would disfranchise the corporations of Georgetown and Alexandria, and all other corporations within the District. Would it not place the Territory in the situation of a conquered country? According to this construction, the Territory was in a state of anarchy, and murder, if committed, would be no crime.

Further, if the constitutional provision is obligatory upon us to assume exclusive legislation, are we not bound to establish uniform laws throughout the entire District? and of course are we not prohibited from establishing one system in one place, and a different system in another?

One other objection merited the gentleman's notice. The laws of Virginia precluded every officer under its Government from holding any Federal office.

From the impression made on his mind by these considerations, Mr. R. said, he would be wanting to himself and his country, if he agreed to the bill. He hoped, therefore, that the Committee would rise, and not precipitate a decision.

Mr. HARPER was in favor of the motion that the committee should rise, for the purpose of recommitting the bill to a select committee. He would state his reasons: The object of the first section was to assume the jurisdiction. That was his object. He wished the establishment of a Judiciary competent to the carrying into effect the laws now existing. He wished this object to be accomplished in a fair, open, direct way. At some future period Congress might find it necessary to enter on a system of legislation in detail, and to have established numerous police regulations. At this time, the present exigency would be provided for by confirming the laws of Virginia and Maryland, and by giving effect to them by the institution of a competent Judicial authority.

Mr. NICHOLAS said, that he should vote for the committee rising, from a different motive from that which actuated the gentleman from South Carolina. He hoped the business would be suffered for the present to sleep.

The construction given to the constitution by the gentleman from New York, did not render it merely expedient in Congress to assume jurisdiction, but rendered it an absolute duty. In reply to his remarks, the gentleman had alleged that the authority given by the constitution in relation to this Territory, differed from the other powers vested in Congress, inasmuch as the former investment of power had connected it with the word exclusive; whereas the latter had not. The meaning which Mr. N. affixed to that word, was altogether different from the one now contended for. The constitution does not say Congress shall possess exclusive power of legislation; but that they shall have power of exercising exclusive legislation.

The acts of cession and acceptance contained a construction directly opposed to that now made. They declare that the laws of Maryland and Virginia shall continue till Congress shall alter them. Their cessation is made to depend on an uncertain event, viz: whether Congress shall legislate or not. Not a tittle in the constitution or in our practice, under the constitution, infringed our liberty to act or not to act.

What would be the effect of this law on the inhabitants of the Territory? It would impose on them the laws of Maryland and Virginia, as they existed on a particular day, without any capability of improvement from the improved code of those States.

Mr. N. had heard of no inconveniences which had arisen from the non-assumption of power by Congress. The people in the Territory of Columbia had been a happy people for more than a hundred years under their State Governments; and, he had no doubt, would remain so without the interposition of Congress, who, at present, were unqualified to act.

After some further remarks by Messrs. HARPER and H. LEE, the question was taken on the committee rising, and carried without a division.

The committee rose; the Chairman requested leave to sit again, which was not granted.

Mr. HARPER then moved to recommit the bill to the same committee that introduced it. He said, the objection made by the gentleman from Virginia to the assumption of power by Congress goes to say that the constitutional provision, the acts of cession of Maryland and Virginia, and the act of acceptance by Congress, shall be all a dead letter; and that the Territory shall continue, as heretofore, under its old jurisdiction. This was, to all intents and purposes, the amount of the gentleman's remarks. He asked, what necessity for the exercise of power by Congress? Had not the citizens lived happily for a hundred years under the State Governments? This Mr. H. did not dispute. It was probably true that they had lived as happily as other portions of citizens under the State Governments. But the provision of the constitution on this subject had not been made with this view. It was made to bestow dignity and independence on the government of the Union. It was to protect it from such outrages as had occurred when it was differently situated, when it was without competent Legislative, Executive, and Judicial power, to ensure to itself respect. While the government was under the guardianship of State laws, those laws might be inadequate to its protection, or there might exist a spirit hostile to the general government, or at any rate indisposed to give it proper protection. This was one reason, among others, for the provisions of the constitution, confirmed and carried into effect by the acts of Maryland and Virginia, and by the act of Congress.

The object of the gentleman was to defeat all these acts and all these arrangements, in subversion of that provision which the constitution had made, and of that necessity which it had foreseen.

The gentleman from Virginia requires more time. He thinks we are not prepared to legislate. But if his (Mr. H.'s) ideas were adopted, there would be no occasion for this. The Territory has laws; and Mr. H. believed these laws would answer very well for fifty years, without giving Congress much trouble to modify them.

The establishment of a Judiciary would be very easy, and would require little time. As to a police, it may be necessary hereafter. At present it was not necessary. With regard to a corporation, he was against it at present, and he did not think it would ever be necessary.

Mr. NICHOLAS did not consider the power imparted by the constitution as imperative. He, therefore, could not fairly be charged with a desire to deviate from the designs of its framers. The power was like a coat of armor, intended to protect the Government in periods of danger, and not to be worn at all times for parade and show.

Remarks had been made to show that the dignity and independence of the Government required the assumption. All such arguments, when set against the happiness of the people, were inconclusive; Mr. N. had always been taught to consider the true dignity of the Government as indissolubly connected with the happiness of the people; and was unable to unlearn all that he had heretofore acquired to this effect.

Mr. CRAIK agreed with the member from South Carolina, as far as his remarks went, but he did not think they went far enough. He was himself friendly to the institution of a local government for local purposes, leaving all Federal powers to Congress. If the bill should be recommitted, he would be prepared to offer a plan conformably to these ideas. He felt no alarm at the doubts suggested of the validity of the laws of Maryland and Virginia. He believed that they were still in force; and did not think there was any absolute necessity for Congress to act at all at present. Still, he thought that delay would only multiply the inconveniences already experienced in the formation of a plan of government. A plan might be framed, to protect the General Government as well as, in some degree, the inhabitants of the Territory, from any tyranny that some gentlemen supposed might be exercised by Congress.

He concluded, by expressing a hope that a completely organized system might be formed and adopted.

THURSDAY, January 1, 1801.

The House of Representatives having received information of the death of Major General THOMAS HARTLEY, one of its members, who has represented the State of Pennsylvania, in that branch of the National Legislature, from the commencement of the Government until his death, do, therefore, unanimously, Resolve, That the members testify their respect for the memory of the said THOMAS HARTLEY, by wearing a crape on the left arm, for one month.

Resolved, That the SPEAKER address a letter to the Executive of Pennsylvania, to inform him of the death of THOMAS HARTLEY, late a member of this House, in order that measures may be taken to supply the vacancy occasioned thereby.

Mausoleum to Washington.

An engrossed bill concerning GEORGE WASHINGTON was read the third time; and, on the question that the same do pass,

Mr. DAWSON moved to recommit it. Lost--ayes 39, noes 44.

Mr. RANDOLPH moved to refer the bill to a select committee. Lost--ayes 32.

Mr. SPAIGHT and Mr. DAVIS then assigned their reasons for voting against the bill.

The question was then taken on the passing of the bill, and it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 45, nays 37, as follows:

YEAS.--Bailey Bartlett, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, William Cooper, William Craik, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Samuel Goode, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, Robert Goodloe Harper, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Lewis R. Morris, Abraham Nott, Harrison G. Otis, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, Nathan Read, John Rutledge, jr., John C. Smith, James Sheafe, Samuel Tenney, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, Peleg Wadsworth, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, Theodorus Bailey, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, Thos. T. Davis, John Dawson, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, David Holmes, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, James Linn, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, Joseph B. Varnum, and Robert Williams.

Resolved, That the title of the said bill be "An act to erect a Mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON;" and that the Clerk of this House do carry the same to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

FRIDAY, January 2.

Another member, to wit, JAMES A. BAYARD, from Delaware, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

On motion of Mr. GRISWOLD the House went into a Committee of the Whole on the Judiciary bill; the House dividing--yeas 44, nays 33.

The bill was read through, when the committee reported progress, and asked and obtained leave to sit again.

Sedition Law.

The House proceeded to consider the report of the Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business, made the thirty-first ultimo, which lay on the table, and the same being again read, in the words following, to wit:

"The Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business further report, in part:

"That, on examining the statutes of the United States, they find that the act, entitled 'An act in addition to the act, entitled "An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,"' passed the fourteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, will expire on the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and one.

"And the said committee report their opinion, that the above-mentioned act ought to be continued; and, therefore, recommend the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business be authorized to report a bill for continuing the act, entitled 'An act in addition to the act, entitled "An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,"' passed the fourteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight."

It was moved and seconded that the said report be committed to a Committee of the whole House. And the question being taken thereupon, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 47, nays 33.

Ordered, That the said report be committed to a Committee of the whole House on Tuesday next.

MONDAY, January 26.

Several other members, to wit: from Kentucky, JOHN FOWLER; from Virginia, SAMUEL J. CABELL; and from New York, EDWARD LIVINGSTON, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

THURSDAY, January 29.

Rules for Electing President when no Election by Electors.

The following resolution, proposed by Mr. RUTLEDGE, was presented to the House, which, being read, was ordered to lie on the table.

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and report such rules as, in their opinion, are proper to be adopted by this House, to be observed in the election of a President of the United States, whose term is to commence on the fourth day of March next, provided the Electors appointed under the authority of the States have not elected a President for that term."

FRIDAY, January 30.

Election of President when the two highest on the List voted for have an equal number of Votes.

Mr. BAYARD submitted the following resolution, to wit:

Resolved, That, in the event of its appearing upon the counting and ascertaining of the votes given for President and Vice President, according to the mode prescribed by the constitution, that an equal number of votes have been given for two persons, that as soon as the same shall have been duly declared and entered on the journals of this House, that the Speaker, accompanied by the members of the House, shall return to this Chamber, and shall immediately proceed to choose one of the two candidates for President; and in case, upon the first ballot, there shall not appear to be a majority of the States in favor of one of the candidates, in such case the House shall continue to ballot for President, without interruption by other business, until it shall appear that a President is duly chosen; and, if no such choice should be made upon the first day, the House shall continue to ballot from day to day, till a choice shall be duly made.

Ordered, That the consideration of the said motion be postponed until Monday next.

MONDAY, February 2.

A new member, to wit, EBENEZER MATTOON, returned to serve as a member of this House for the State of Massachusetts, in the room of Samuel Lyman, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Election of President.

A motion being made and seconded that the House do come to the following resolution, to wit:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and report such rules, as, in their opinion, are proper to be adopted by this House, to be observed in the choice of a President of the United States, whose term is to commence on the fourth day of March next, if, when the votes which have been given by the electors appointed under the authority of the States shall have been counted, as prescribed by the constitution, it shall appear that no person for whom the electors shall have voted, has a majority, or that more than one person, having such majority, have an equal number of votes:

Ordered, That Mr. RUTLEDGE, Mr. NICHOLAS, Mr. GRISWOLD, Mr. MACON, Mr. BAYARD, Mr. TALIAFERRO, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. CLAIBORNE, Mr. OTIS, Mr. DAVIS, Mr. MORRIS, Mr. CHAMPLIN, Mr. BAER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LINN, and Mr. WOODS, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the said resolution.

Ordered, That the motion made on Friday last relative to the mode of commencing and continuing the ballot for the choice of a President of the United States, be referred to the committee last appointed.

District of Columbia.

The House then went into Committee of the Whole on the bill for the government of the District of Columbia. While the question was being taken for the House to resolve itself into a committee, Mr. SMILIE rose and moved the postponement of this order till the third day of March next. He made this motion, he said, in order to try the sense of the House, whether they were determined to assume the jurisdiction or not. He hoped it would not, and was proceeding to show his reasons, when

The SPEAKER reminded him of the order of the House. He could not be permitted to discuss the merits of the bill under this motion.

Mr. SMILIE conceived the question to affect the bill generally, and simply to be, whether the House would agree to disfranchise some thousands of persons of their political rights, which they now enjoyed. If this was not considered an object of importance enough to command attention, he must confess other gentlemen saw it in a very different light from that in which he viewed it. By the passage of this bill, the people of the district would be reduced to the state of subjects, and deprived of their political rights, and he very much doubted whether not of their civil rights also. If, indeed, there was such an imperious necessity of assuming the jurisdiction, of which he was by no means convinced, then it must be done; but, if that great and immediate necessity did not exist, why should this privation of rights take place? If it was necessary to reduce the City of Washington to a state of local government by an incorporation, he contended that act could be done by the State Legislature; as he did not conceive the local demands of the people called for it, as they could want no such assumption as the bill contemplated, and as he could perceive no advantage to be derived to the General Government thereby, and as the assumption would eventually injure the people, he trusted it would be postponed, at least.

Mr. RUTLEDGE said, he had always uniformly opposed any motion for postponing a bill, the consideration of which the House had not gone into. Although it might be in order, it could not be perfectly fair, from various considerations; if, however, it were only from its tendency to preclude the investigation of the bill, it were sufficient. The gentleman had stated it not to be necessary. Who are to judge? Most assuredly the people belonging to the Territory. And what have they said? Why, sir, they have prayed the House to assume the jurisdiction. From this petition the subject was referred to a committee, and this committee have reported a bill, and a bill well discussed and well matured in its detail. To refuse this bill from a diversity of sentiment, would be to insult the committee, and to insult the people of the Territory. If the gentleman wishes to please the people, why does he not suffer the consideration of the bill to proceed, and afford his aid in making it what he supposes their desires would concur in? Perhaps the gentleman has not read the bill. Mr. R. said, if he had not, how was he to know whether it was good or bad? Something must be done. He wished to get at that something, but was precluded by the motion. It certainly became the gentleman to show how this bill would operate injuriously upon the people, as a reason for his motion. Disfranchisement, to be sure, had been mentioned as the result of this bill; but how was the House to know that would be its tendency, except by going into its investigation?

Mr. CRAIK, also, considered this order of the House as the most unfair one among the rules of the House. However, it must be permitted while the order continued. The gentleman had said the people were in a state of vassalage; how was this declaration to be refuted, if the order of the House forbade the investigation into the application of this bill to the liberties of the people? The gentleman further said, that the people did not desire this assumption of jurisdiction. Were he, Mr. C. said, to give an opinion upon the subject, it would be drawn from the same source with that expressed by the gentleman, but of a very different import. He should say, as far as his knowledge of their sentiments extended, and he professed to be pretty well acquainted with their ideas upon this subject, that their feelings, their interests, and their desires conspired to encourage the assumption, and to prevent the postponement of the subject. As the immediate representative of a large proportion of them, he could say that much uncertainty and disquiet convulsed the minds of many good and wise men among them; that their present uncertainty was truly deplorable; that serious doubts existed with judicious men how far the grants and acceptance of lands, or of their papers, afforded them security for value received; doubts existed, in all their acts of negotiation, whether their respective State laws held any government over them? And this state of insecurity as to their property, could not fail to have an injurious effect. They doubted whether all other jurisdiction did not immediately cease, upon the removal of Congress to the District; and should Congress break up without assuming the jurisdiction, and taking other suitable measures to fix the Government, it would not fail to paralyze every exertion and effort toward a successful establishment. No man at present can assure himself of the right by which he holds his property, or remove his apprehensions. They now called loudly upon the National Government to remove from them this state of doubt and uncertainty; this is the object of the bill before the House; by this bill, a variety of inconveniences are removed, and the Government use their effort to make their situation at least more certain; and, he had no doubt, more safe and desirable. This it was incumbent on the Government to do; and this, he trusted, a majority of the House would be disposed to do soon. If the objects or provisions of the bill did not meet that gentleman's desires, he wished an opportunity to hear the objections, to enable him, as far as in his power, to remove them.

Mr. SMILIE was proceeding to show that, at any rate, such a bill as the present ought not to pass, when

The SPEAKER interrupted him, saying that any arguments that went to show that the third day of March was a more proper time than the present for this bill to pass would only be in order.

Mr. SMILIE continued to show the impropriety of the bill, and the inevitable injuries that must be sustained by it, when he was again reminded of the question of order.

Mr. S. proceeded: that it might be the wish of some of the people, he would not say; but he denied that such a wish had been expressed, and therefore it ought not to be considered as correct. As to the question of doubt on the minds of the people, whether or not they held their property secure, not being certain of the existence of their former State laws, he referred to the acts of cession, passed by the States of Maryland and Virginia respectively, the words of which were, that the laws remained in force "until Congress shall by law otherwise provide." Under this express provision, the cession was made by the two States; and by this provision the Government of the United States accepted the grant of the ten miles square. And, therefore, until Congress by law should accept of the jurisdiction and nullify the laws of those States over the District, there could be no doubt but they remained in full force, and property was held as secure under those laws as ever. As he had before observed, he contended that an act of incorporation could be obtained for the city of Washington without this bill. From all these grounds, he believed the bill to be at present unnecessary.

Mr. H. LEE did not wonder at this opposition, considering the quarter from whence it came; perhaps, he said, if he had come from Pennsylvania, the idea of losing the General Government might instigate him to wish to give the stabbing blow to every act which should go to the establishing of that Government in another place. But, he trusted, as these local reasons could not influence gentlemen from other States, they would not concur in his arguments. He trusted other gentlemen would lay to their hands and join to make this District a settled Government, and go into the examination of the principles proposed to accomplish that measure. He hoped not merely words of kindness escaping from the lips of gentlemen, would be deemed by them sufficient, but that their efforts would be used to produce a well-digested and valuable government, for the security of their civil and political rights.

With respect to the act of cession, he contended that the solemn injunctions of the constitution were detailed in words upon which the most critical could not find wherewith to hang a doubt. There the Congress of the United States were enjoined to "exercise exclusive jurisdiction." When was this jurisdiction to commence but at the period when the General Government should occupy it? Was not, then, this spot become the permanent seat of the Government of the Union? Were not the different departments, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, assembled, according to the constitution, in this District? How, then, could the respective States of Virginia and Maryland a moment longer possess the jurisdiction? It was completely done away, and nothing was now wanting to remove the miserable state of suspense the people now felt, but the declaration of the Government that this was the case; that moment would all their fears be appeased. As a friend to those people, then, as much as that gentleman could be, he hoped an opportunity would be given to examine the bill, not doubting but it would be made to meet the wishes, as he was assured it would be the interest of the people to be governed by it.

Mr. MACON said the motion was perfectly in order, and explained some of the cases for which it was established, as a rule of the House. As to the jurisdiction being assumed by the removal of Congress here, as the gentleman last up had said, were that the case, not only by this bill would it be assumed, but the acts of the two States must have ceased from the day Congress first sat here; a deduction by no means supported. The only evidence the House had of the desire of the people to come specially under the National Government, was a petition from Alexandria, except that the gentleman from the District had learned so among his friends. But did that express the will or wishes of the inhabitants of the surrounding country.

As he believed the laws of the States to be in full force; as he believed they would remain so until otherwise enacted by Congress, and as postponing the bill till the third of March would afford the people a large time to reflect on the subject, and express their will more generally, he hoped the postponement would take place. He would remind the House that this measure once taken, could not be undone; and, therefore, prudence would dictate that time should be taken to do it well. The act could not be repealed without amending the constitution. If the gentleman only calculated upon an opposition from Pennsylvania, he was mistaken. Mr. M. presumed that he could not be supposed to have local attachments, residing very far from the former, or the present seat of Government; he was, notwithstanding, opposed to taking up this subject at present, and even during the present session. The delay of acceptance could not displease the inhabitants, if they were satisfied as to the present jurisdiction, which did not, in his opinion, admit of a doubt. It was impossible that the postponement could be attended with any inconvenience; they had been in the same situation for ten years, and wherein could be the inconvenience of their remaining so? Nay, there must be advantages in their usages and customs being continued to them. He wished this matter to be postponed till another session.

Mr. BIRD never could suppose that the members of the Legislature would be satisfied with their removal from a place of accommodation to a wilderness, and with subjecting themselves to the inconveniences of this place, without exercising all the powers intrusted to them, and taking the jurisdiction to the Government, the members and subordinates of which were to subject themselves to the code of laws under which they should place themselves. A motion, therefore, to continue the jurisdiction out of the hands of the Government, much surprised him. All the arguments used by the gentleman in favor of a postponement, would operate fully to the entire abandonment of the subject; and did he suppose that all the expense attending the removal of the whole Government, all the inconvenience experienced, would be, or ought to be, borne without the enjoyment of that constitutional right, nay, injunction, of "exclusive legislation?" What could have been the reason why Congress was to assume this exclusive legislation? Did not the members of the convention know that a great quantity of public treasure would be drawn together into this place? Did they not suppose it of importance to secure the privileges and rights of foreign ministers, who would necessarily be brought to reside in this District? Did they not consider the number of persons attached to the Government worthy of the special regard of the national Legislature? Could any gentleman conceive that these were not too great powers to be intrusted to any State whatever? Else why was the provision for exclusive jurisdiction made? To avoid putting those powers into execution, he firmly believed, would be omitting a great and important duty. But, were it not for the words of the constitution, the words of the acts of cession made by the States were as ample upon the subject as one sovereign power in the act of granting, and another sovereign power in the act of receiving a cession, could make. This was precisely the case; the two States made a full and complete cession of the jurisdiction to the General Government, upon the terms of the constitution, which were to "exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatever, over such District," which had, by the cession of those particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States. How, he would ask gentlemen, could this be granted, and yet retained? It was absurd to suppose a man could grant a piece of land, and by the same instrument retain it.

But suppose this was a doubtful subject, whether or not the laws of the two States were in force in the District; would the gentleman still wish to leave it in doubt? Surely no new laws could be made by those States to affect this district, actually made the seat of Government, and he contended that none of the laws whatever did exist here, and that the power of the civil officers actually had ceased; it therefore required no painting to show that the state of the place was truly deplorable. Would the gentleman yet wish to leave the District without laws, and merely lest it should take away their suffrage? That the people could not be represented in the General Government, Mr. B. admitted. But where was the blame, if any could attach? Certainly not to the men who made the act of cession; not to those who accepted it. It was to the men who framed the constitutional provision, who peculiarly set apart this as a District under the national safeguard and Government. But, he contended, there was no injury sustained. What less compensation than the particular legislation of this District could be required for the removal of the Government, whereby in these almost uninhabited woods the beginnings of a rich and prosperous city was commenced, and made the capital of the United States?

The motion for postponement was withdrawn without a question being taken, and the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill. Mr. SMILIE moved to strike out the first section of the bill.

Mr. SMILIE said he would willingly give the reasons which prompted him to make the motion, and he hoped the gentleman would as freely make his reply. If it could be proved to him that the rights of these people could be reserved by the passage of the bill, it would give him pleasure, but, believing it to be impossible, he wished to destroy the bill. It could not be denied but that the people of this District were precisely in the same situation at present which they always had been, and subject to the same laws, but would it be so when the Government once accepted the cession? It would not. Not a man in the District would be represented in the Government, whereas every man who contributed to the support of a government ought to be represented in it, otherwise his natural rights were subverted, and he left, not a citizen, but a subject. This was one right the bill deprived these people of, and he had always been taught to believe it was a very serious and important one. It was a right which this country, when under subjection to Great Britain, thought worth making a resolute struggle for, and evinced a determination to perish rather than not enjoy.

Another, and an important right, of which those people were about to be deprived, was, that their Judges and their Governor were not to be the choice of themselves, but of the President. The privilege of a local Legislature might be given to the people, but of what avail could they be if the Governor appointed by the President could deprive them of every act they might make by his negative? Where was their security if the acts of these Representatives of the people could be to-morrow revoked by a power deriving authority from elsewhere? Much as gentlemen might talk about dignity of government, nothing, he thought, would more comport with true dignity than liberty, and without it dignity of government was not worth a name. It surely must be disagreeable for the Government to be in the midst of a people who are deprived of their rights, and what insecurity there ever had been, or ever would be, to the Government, from its residence under the laws of the States, he could not conceive. He had never known of any. If he could be convinced that the people would not be deprived of these rights, among others, he would agree to some such bill as this.

Mr. DENNIS acknowledged that had he the same impressions as the member who had just sat down, he would not hesitate for a moment to believe that liberty had been forced to yield to a reign of absolute slavery. But from a consideration of the interests of the people, of the dignity of the Government, and of the seat of the Congress, together with the reflections of the gentleman who had just resumed his seat, he felt himself called upon to make some observations by way of an answer.

As to the interests of the people, could it for a moment be doubted that a local government, a judiciary, and a legislature, would be highly advantageous? Could any man doubt but it would be more convenient and advantageous for the inhabitants to attend the courts in this place than to be taken away to Richmond or to Annapolis? It had been always an approved privilege that justice should be brought home to every man's door, and where could it be more so than by the establishment of a judiciary, especially for this District? Nor were the advantages less, he contended, in the legislative department. If a ready communication with their representatives was desirable to the people, by the residence and sitting of the representatives of this District being within itself, the communication was easy, and the rights of the people in their local concerns more attainable, surely, than though they had to go to Richmond or to Annapolis. But, taking a more comprehensive view of the subject, Mr. D. asked if the general interests of the District would not be more secured by persons immediately acquainted and concerned, than by persons of different States, and at a distance from the place? One or two representatives to each legislature would be the utmost that the District could send, and these placed among men of different interests, what could be expected compared to a body such as is prescribed by this bill, drawn from among the people themselves? In these legislatures, the numerous local circumstances which must call for attention in a newly planted and rapidly growing capital, never can receive due attention. Every person must know that a great proportion of business must arise from a commercial city. From observation he could say that about one-third of the business of the Legislature of Maryland usually arose from Baltimore alone. As this city, therefore, grew in population and in trade, the demand for legislative attention would increase, and either its interests must be neglected, or the sitting of the State legislatures must be protracted too far. Besides this, experience must have taught gentlemen that numerous bodies could not so well attend to the minute advantages of a place like this as small bodies, and particularly such as well knew its situation and circumstances.

It had been said that these people were happy. Mr. D. admitted it; but a change of circumstances made an inevitable difference, and required a different mode of legislating. This District of the General Government, being a part of two States, must require an alteration from its former government. Surely the organization of a local body must be more advantageous than any modifications which could be made by those two Legislatures. So far from a rule of despotism then being over these people, he thought the passing of this bill would much increase their prosperity. It was said that, by the assumption of the jurisdiction, these people would ask how much they were heretofore represented in the two Legislatures to which they sent delegates. They were so in name, but very little in essence, from the comparatively small number they could send to the Legislatures. But the arguments went as much against the assumption at any future time as at present. That it would be some time taken up there could be no doubt. It ought therefore to be recollected, that if it would ever be proper, a period more unfavorable to the interests of the people might be selected than the present, and therefore the present moment ought to be accepted, and especially so, as he believed the people were desirous of it, and were satisfied with the features of the bill. From their contiguity to, and residence among the members of the General Government, they knew, that though they might not be represented in the national body, their voice would be heard. But if it should be necessary, the constitution might be so altered as to give them a delegate to the General Legislature when their numbers should become sufficient. Upon the whole, he could see no measures which would more immediately promote the interests of the people of this district, and give stability to their minds, and to their concerns with each other, than the present bill and, therefore, he hoped the section would remain.

Mr. MACON said, he could see no such immediate necessity for this law. A gentleman had told the committee it was necessary because the States did not pay regard to it. Mr. M. supposed the same attention was paid to this district as usual, and the same as was paid to any other particular part. He believed their political and local rights were as perfectly secure without this bill as any other part of those States, and if the object of gentlemen was to make it better or worse, he should be opposed to it. Before the least change from their former situation, some inconveniences ought to be mentioned under which they labored, and this had not been done, more than mere conjecture and surmises had engendered. Most assuredly there ought to be some good ground for this assumption, because it was not merely a common act of the Legislature, which could be repealed or amended as soon as passed. It was an act of a nature that could not be essentially altered without an alteration in the constitution, because if the assumption was once accepted, it could not be parted with.

It would be so far from advantageous to the city of Washington, Mr. M. said, that it must essentially injure it. On one side of the water was Alexandria, a populous town; on the other side was Georgetown. Would not these two give to the legislature a majority? And if so, a more palpable evil could not be put upon the city than by putting it in with more numerous towns whose interests would ever be opposed to the growth of the city. There would inevitably be an Alexandria interest, a Georgetown interest, and a city interest, and those struggling with each other.

It was said to be inconvenient to be represented at a distance, from the want of an easy communication. How could this be? What was more easy than for letters and instructions to be sent by post? The communication was easy from all parts of the United States to Congress, and could be equally so to any place where the post goes. There could be no doubt but the States would pay as much attention to the interests of this District, if it continued under their jurisdiction, as ever had been done, and more: by not suffering it to endure any injury which it could prevent, Congress should immediately take the jurisdiction. The language and meaning of gentlemen could be well understood. Gentlemen were called to support the measure with energy, while they had strength. No doubt this was the principal ground of their endeavors to push the measure, although the Legislature had but just met here, and there had been scarce time to know what would be the proper regulations to adopt. But he wished to remind them, that although the law might be passed, the time would not be far off when his friends would be in the minority, and some considerable alterations might be made in it.

Mr. M. then proceeded to the details of the bill. He disliked the establishment of a government, the executive and judiciary of which were in the appointment of the President of the United States, the former for three years and the latter during good behavior: and these, both governor and judges of the superior and inferior courts, to be paid out of the Treasury of the United States. Could it be the wish of the gentleman, he asked, to establish in the very heart of the United States, and immediately under the eye of the Government, such a principle as that these rulers should be independent and entirely above the control of the people? He declared that if he should be in Congress again, and as long as he ever should be in the House, he should constantly make it his duty to exert himself for the repeal of so bad a principle, and leave the governor, the judges, and the Legislature, immediately amenable to the people. Another thing he should also be ever opposed to, was the manner of this House of Representatives and Senate being chosen, and the time of their continuance. Why should they be elected here for two years, when in all the State Legislatures, he believed they were chosen annually, except two, in one of which they were elected every six months, and in the other, every two years. A greater absurdity still was evinced in the time for which, and the manner how the Senators were chosen--six years, and by electors. Although in these things there was a similarity to the choice of the General Government, he would ask what similarity there could be in the two Governments? In the one there is a vast extent of country and a numerous population; in the other, a small population, a small tract of country, and an almost general knowledge by every one of every individual in it. He doubted whether the Legislature of the Union could at all delegate powers to this local government; but whether or not, he could see no kind of necessity during the present session to assume them. The Government would go on as well as before, and he had no doubt the city would continue in that rapid state of prosperity gentlemen had witnessed since they arrived here.

The committee rose without taking a question, and had leave to sit again.

TUESDAY, February 3.

A new member, to wit, JOHN STEWART, returned to serve as a member of this House for the State of Pennsylvania, in the room of Thomas Hartley, deceased, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

District of Columbia.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for the government of the District of Columbia, when the question was taken on the motion made yesterday, for striking out the first section, and negatived, ten members only rising for it.

Mr. GREGG then proposed an amendment to the first section, the object of which was to make the election of representatives annual, instead of biennial as contemplated by the bill. This motion brought on a lengthy discussion, being supported by Messrs. J. SMITH, CLAIBORNE, NICHOLAS, GALLATIN, and MACON; and opposed by Messrs. CRAIK, HARPER, BAYARD, H. LEE, THOMAS, and DENNIS. On the question for agreeing to the motion, it was determined in the negative--48 voting for it and 50 against it.

A motion was then made by Mr. CLAIBORNE, so to amend the first section as to extend the privilege of voting to persons who are not freeholders; that privilege being confined by the bill to freeholders exclusively. This motion brought on a short debate, in which Messrs. KITCHELL, NICHOLSON, SMITH, MACON, TAZEWELL, and NICHOLAS supported the motion, and Messrs. HARPER, CRAIK, DENNIS, and GALLATIN, opposed it. On the question that the House do agree to the motion, it was determined in the negative, there being 48 votes for, and 50 against it.

WEDNESDAY, February 4.

District of Columbia.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for the government of the District of Columbia.

A motion was made by Mr. GALLATIN to amend the first section of the bill, so as to extend the privilege of voting for representatives to persons other than freeholders, who are possessed of property in the District to the value of eighty dollars.

Mr. HARPER proposed an amendment to the foregoing amendment, that a citizen, not being a freeholder, in order to qualify him as an elector, must be a housekeeper, and possessed of property of the value of one hundred dollars, to be ascertained by the record of the last assessment next preceding the period of offering his vote.

Mr. GALLATIN'S amendment was withdrawn, and Mr. HARPER'S, which, though offered as an amendment, was a complete substitute for it, was adopted.

Mr. CLAIBORNE proposed as an amendment to this same section, to reduce the term of a Senator continuing in office from six to three years.

The motion was negatived.

Mr. TAZEWELL moved to strike out the Senate altogether, on the ground that Congress, having the revision of all laws that may be passed for the territory, and the power of rejecting such as they did not approve, would be a sufficient check on the Representatives without a Senate.

This motion was negatived.

Mr. MACON moved as an amendment, that the Senators should be elected immediately by the people, and not by electors, as proposed by the bill.

This motion was also lost.

A motion was made by Mr. NICHOLSON, that the electors should not be permitted to choose themselves as Senators.

This motion was adopted.

The committee rose, reported progress, and asked leave to sit again.

FRIDAY, February 6.

A new member, to wit, LEVI LINCOLN, returned to serve in this House as a member from Massachusetts, in the room of Dwight Foster, elected a Senator of the United States, appeared, produced his credentials, and took his seat in the House.

Rules for Election of President.

Mr. RUTLEDGE, from the committee appointed, on the second instant, to prepare and report such rules as, in their opinion, are proper to be adopted by this House to be observed in the choice of a President of the United States, made a report; which was read.

[See post, Monday 9th, as amended.]

MONDAY, February 9.

Ordered, That the Committee of Claims, to whom was referred, on the thirtieth ultimo, the memorial of sundry clerks employed in the different departments, be discharged from the further consideration thereof, and that the same be referred to the Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business.

Mr. RUTLEDGE, from the committee appointed on the part of this House, jointly, with the committee on the part of the Senate, to ascertain and report a mode of examining the votes given for President and Vice President of the United States; of notifying the persons elected of their election, and the time, place, and manner of administering the oath of office to the President, reported that the committee had taken the subject referred to them under consideration, but had come to no agreement thereupon.

A message from the Senate, informed the House that the Senate would be ready to receive the House in the Senate Chamber, on Wednesday next, at twelve o'clock, for the purpose of being present at the opening and counting of the votes for President of the United States; and that the Senate have appointed a teller on their part, to make a list of the votes for President of the United States as they shall be declared.

Rules for Election of President.

The House proceeded to consider the report made on Friday last, from the committee appointed to prepare and report rules proper to be observed in the choice of a President of the United States: Whereupon,

Ordered, That the said report be committed to a Committee of the whole House immediately.

The House, accordingly, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the said report; and, after some time spent therein, the Chairman reported that the committee had had the said report under consideration, and directed him to report to the House their agreement to the same, with an amendment; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same was read. The House then proceeded to consider the report: Whereupon, the amendment reported from the Committee of the whole House to the said report, was, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House.

A motion was then made and seconded that the House do disagree with the Committee of the whole House in their agreement to the fourth rule contained in the said report, in the words following, to wit:

"4th. After commencing the balloting for President, the House shall not adjourn until a choice is made:"

And, the question being taken thereupon, it passed in the negative--yeas 47, nays 53.

A motion was then made and seconded that the House do disagree with the Committee of the whole House in their agreement to the fifth rule contained in the said report, in the words following, to wit:

"5th. The doors of the House shall be closed during the balloting, except against the officers of the House:"

And, the question being taken thereupon, it passed in the negative--yeas 45, nays 54.

Resolved, That this House doth agree with the Committee of the whole House in their agreement to the said report, as amended, in the words following, to wit:

"That the following rules be observed in the choice by the House of Representatives of a President of the United States, whose term is to commence on the fourth day of March next.

"1st. In the event of its appearing, upon the counting and ascertaining of the votes given for President and Vice President, according to the mode prescribed by the constitution, that no person has a constitutional majority, and the same shall have been duly declared and entered on the journals of this House, the Speaker, accompanied by the members of the House, shall return to their Chamber.

"2d. Seats shall be provided in this House for the President and members of the Senate; and notification of the same shall be made to the Senate.

"3d. The House, on their return from the Senate Chamber, it being ascertained that the constitutional number of States were present, shall immediately proceed to choose one of the persons from whom the choice is to be made for President; and in case upon the first ballot there shall not appear to be a majority of the States in favor of one of them, in such case the House shall continue to ballot for a President, without interruption by other business, until it shall appear that a President is duly chosen.

"4th. After commencing the balloting for President, the House shall not adjourn until a choice be made.

"5th. The doors of the House shall be closed during the balloting, except against the officers of the House.

"6th. In balloting, the following mode shall be observed, to wit: The representatives of the respective States shall be so seated that the delegation of each State shall be together. The representatives of each State shall, in the first instance, ballot among themselves, in order to ascertain the votes of the State; and it shall be allowed, where deemed necessary by the delegation, to name one or more persons of the representation, to be tellers of the ballots. After the vote of each State is ascertained, duplicates thereof shall be made; and in case the vote of the State be for one person, then the name of that person shall be written on each of the duplicates; and in case the ballots of the State be equally divided, then the word "divided" shall be written on each duplicate, and the said duplicates shall be deposited in manner hereafter prescribed, in boxes to be provided. That, for the conveniently taking the ballots of the several representatives of the respective States, there be sixteen ballot boxes provided; and that there be, additionally, two boxes provided for the purpose of receiving the votes of the States; that after the delegation of each State shall have ascertained the vote of the State, the Sergeant-at-Arms shall carry to the respective delegations the two ballot boxes, and the delegation of each State, in the presence and subject to the examination of all the members of the delegation, shall deposit a duplicate of the vote of the State in each ballot box; and where there is more than one representative of a State, the duplicates shall not both be deposited by the same person. When the votes of the States are all thus taken in, the Sergeant-at-Arms shall carry one of the general ballot boxes to one table, and the other to a second and separate table. Sixteen members shall then be appointed as tellers of the ballots; one of whom shall be taken from each State, and be nominated by the delegation of the State from which he was taken. The said tellers shall be divided into two equal sets, according to such agreement as shall be made among themselves; and one of the said sets of tellers shall proceed to count the votes in one of the said boxes, and the other set the votes in the other box; and in the event of no appointment of teller by any delegation, the Speaker shall in such case appoint. When the votes of the States are counted by the respective sets of tellers, the result shall be reported to the House; and if the reports agree, the same shall be accepted as the true votes of the States; but if the reports disagree, the States shall immediately proceed to a new ballot, in manner aforesaid.

"7th. If either of the persons voted for, shall have a majority of the votes of all the States, the Speaker shall declare the same; and official notice thereof shall be immediately given to the President of the United States, and to the Senate.

"8th. All questions which shall arise after the balloting commences, and which shall be decided by the House voting per capita to be incidental to the power of choosing the President, and which shall require the decision of the House, shall be decided by States, and without debate; and in case of an equal division of the votes of States, the question shall be lost."

TUESDAY, February 10.

Credentials of Members.

Mr. DENT, from the standing Committee of Elections, made a report, which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same was read, and is as follows:

"The Committee of Elections having examined the credentials of several members claiming seats in this House, report:

"That, by two certificates of the Governor of Massachusetts, under seal of the State, and dated the ninth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and one, it appears by one of the said certificates that Ebenezer Mattoon is duly elected to serve as a member of the House of Representatives of the United States, in the room of Samuel Lyman, stated therein to have resigned; and by the other certificate, that Levi Lincoln is duly elected as aforesaid, in the place of Dwight Foster, appointed a Senator of the United States.

"It appears, also, by a letter under the signature of the Governor of Pennsylvania, dated the twenty-first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and one, and addressed to the Speaker, accompanied by authenticated documents, that John Stewart is duly chosen, in the place of Thomas Hartley, deceased.

"The committee are of opinion that Ebenezer Mattoon is entitled to a seat, in the place of Samuel Lyman, resigned; Levi Lincoln, in the place of Dwight Foster, appointed a Senator of the United States; and John Stewart, in the place of Thomas Hartley, deceased."

Election of President.

Resolved, That this House will attend in the Chamber of the Senate on Wednesday next at twelve o'clock, for the purpose of being present at the opening and counting of the votes for President and Vice President of the United States; that Mr. RUTLEDGE and Mr. NICHOLAS be appointed tellers, to act jointly with the teller appointed on the part of the Senate, to make a list of the votes for President and Vice President of the United States, as they shall be declared; that the result shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce the state of the vote, which shall be entered on the journals; and if it shall appear that a choice hath been made agreeably to the constitution, such entry on the journals shall be deemed a sufficient declaration thereof.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

WEDNESDAY, February 11.

On motion, it was

Resolved, That all letters and packets to JOHN ADAMS, now President of the United States, after the expiration of his term of office, and during his life, may be transmitted by post, free of postage.

Ordered, That a bill or bills be brought in pursuant to the said resolution; and that Mr. OTIS, Mr. THATCHER, and Mr. SHEPARD, be appointed a committee to prepare and bring in the same.

Election of President.

On this day, being the day by law appointed for counting the votes of the Electors of President and Vice President, there were present the following Representatives, respectively, that is to say:

From New Hampshire.--Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, James Sheafe, and Samuel Tenney.

From Massachusetts.--Theodore Sedgwick (Speaker), John Read, Joseph P. Varnum, William Shepard, Peleg Wadsworth, Silas Lee, Lemuel Williams, George Thatcher, Bailey Bartlett, Phanuel Bishop, Harrison G. Otis, Nathan Read, Levi Lincoln, and Ebenezer Mattoon.

From Connecticut.--John Davenport, Roger Griswold, Samuel W. Dana, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, William Edmond, and John C. Smith.

From Vermont.--Matthew Lyon, and Lewis R. Morris.

From Rhode Island.--Christopher G. Champlin, and John Brown.

From New York.--John Smith, Philip Van Cortlandt, Jonas Platt, Henry Glenn, John Thompson, Theodorus Bailey, John Bird, William Cooper, Lucas Elmendorph, and Edward Livingston.

From New Jersey.--James Linn, Aaron Kitchell, John Condit, James H. Imlay, and Franklin Davenport.

From Pennsylvania.--Robert Brown, Albert Gallatin, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, John Wilkes Kittera, Michael Leib, Peter Muhlenberg, John Smilie, John Stewart, Richard Thomas, Robert Waln, and Henry Woods.

From Delaware.--James A. Bayard.

From Maryland.--John Chew Thomas, Samuel Smith, Gabriel Christie, William Craik, Joseph H. Nicholson, George Dent, George Baer, and John Dennis.

From Virginia.--Samuel J. Cabell, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, Joseph Eggleston, Thomas Evans, Samuel Goode, Edwin Gray, David Holmes, George Jackson, Henry Lee, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Robert Page, Josiah Parker, Leven Powell, John Randolph, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, and Lyttleton W. Tazewell.

From North Carolina.--Willis Alston, Joseph Dickson, William Barry Grove, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, Nathaniel Macon, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, David Stone, and Robert Williams.

From South Carolina.--Robert Goodloe Harper, Benjamin Huger, Abraham Nott, Thomas Pinckney, and John Rutledge.

From Georgia.--Benjamin Taliaferro.

From Kentucky.--John Fowler, and Thomas T. Davis.

From Tennessee.--William Charles Cole Claiborne.

Mr. SPEAKER, attended by the House, then went into the Senate Chamber, and took seats therein, when both Houses being assembled, Mr. RUTLEDGE and Mr. NICHOLAS, the tellers on the part of this House, together with Mr. WELLS, the teller on the part of the Senate, took seats at a table provided for them, in the front of the President of the Senate.

The PRESIDENT of the Senate, in the presence of both Houses, proceeded to open the certificates of the Electors of the several States, beginning with the State of New Hampshire; and as the votes were read, the tellers on the part of each House, counted and took lists of the same, which being compared, were delivered to the President of the Senate, and are as follows:

---------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+---------+ STATES. |Thomas | Aaron | John |Charles C.| John | |Jefferson| Burr | Adams |Pinckney | Jay. | ---------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+---------+ New Hampshire | - | - | 6 | 6 | | Massachusetts | - | - | 16 | 16 | | Rhode Island | - | - | 4 | 3 | 1 | Connecticut | - | - | 9 | 9 | | Vermont | - | - | 4 | 4 | | New York | 12 | 12 | | | | New Jersey | - | - | 7 | 7 | | Pennsylvania | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | | Delaware | - | - | 3 | 3 | | Maryland | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | Virginia | 21 | 21 | | | | Kentucky | 4 | 4 | | | | North Carolina | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | | Tennessee | 3 | 3 | | | | South Carolina | 8 | 8 | | | | Georgia | 4 | 4 | | | | | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | 73 | 73 | 65 | 64 | 1 | ---------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+---------+

Recapitulation of the Votes of the Electors.

Thomas Jefferson, 73 Aaron Burr, 73 John Adams, 65 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 64 John Jay, 1

The PRESIDENT of the Senate, in pursuance of the duty enjoined upon him, announced the state of the votes to both Houses, and declared that THOMAS JEFFERSON of Virginia, and AARON BURR of New York, having the greatest number, and a majority of the votes of all the Electors appointed, and being equal, it remained for the House of Representatives to determine the choice.

The two Houses then separated; and the House of Representatives being returned to their Chamber, proceeded, in the manner prescribed by the constitution, to the choice of a President of the United States, and the following members were appointed tellers of the respective States, to examine ballots of each State, pursuant to the sixth rule adopted by the House on the ninth instant, to wit:

For the State of New Hampshire, Abiel Foster; Massachusetts, Harrison G. Otis; Rhode Island, Christopher G. Champlin; Connecticut, Roger Griswold; Vermont, Lewis R. Morris; New York, Theodorus Bailey; New Jersey, James Linn; Pennsylvania, Albert Gallatin; Delaware, James A. Bayard; Maryland, George Dent; Virginia, Lyttleton W. Tazewell; North Carolina, Nathaniel Macon; South Carolina, Thomas Pinckney; Georgia, Benjamin Taliaferro; Kentucky, John Fowler; Tennessee, William Charles Cole Claiborne.

The members of the respective States then proceeded to ballot, in the manner prescribed by the rule aforesaid, and the tellers appointed by the States, respectively, having put duplicates of their votes into the general ballot boxes prepared for the purpose, the votes contained therein were taken out and counted, and the result being reported to the SPEAKER, he declared to the House that the votes of eight States had been given for THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia; the votes of six States for AARON BURR, of New York; and that the votes of two States were divided.

The constitution of the United States requiring that the votes of nine States should be necessary to constitute a choice of President of the United States, a motion was made and seconded, that the ballot for the President be repeated in one hour; and, the question being taken by States, it passed in the negative.

The States then proceeded, in the manner aforesaid, to a second ballot; and, upon examination of the ballot boxes, it appeared that the votes of eight States had been given for THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia; and the votes of six States for AARON BURR, of New York; and that the votes of two States were divided.

The States then proceeded in like manner to a third ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

The States then proceeded in like manner to a fourth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

The States then proceeded in like manner to a fifth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

The States then proceeded in like manner to a sixth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

The States then proceeded in like manner to a seventh ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

A motion was then made and seconded, that the States proceed again to ballot in one hour; and, the question being taken thereupon, it was resolved in the affirmative--the votes of the States being ayes 12, noes 4.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded, in manner aforesaid, to the eighth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same, to wit:

The votes of eight States for THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia; the votes of six States for AARON BURR, of New York; and the votes of two States were divided.

The States then proceeded to a ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth ballots; and, upon examination of the ballots, respectively, the result was declared to be the same.

A motion was then made and seconded, that the States proceed again to ballot at ten o'clock; and the question being taken thereupon, it passed in the negative--the votes of the States being ayes 7, noes 9.

Ordered, That the next ballot be repeated at nine o'clock, and not before.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the sixteenth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated in one hour.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the seventeenth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at eleven o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the eighteenth ballot; and upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

A motion was then made and seconded, that the ballot be repeated to-morrow at eleven o'clock and not before.

The question being taken thereupon, it passed in the negative.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at twelve o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the nineteenth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated in one hour.

FEBRUARY 12, 1 o'clock, A.M.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twentieth ballot; and, upon the examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at two o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-first ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at half after two o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-second ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at four o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-third ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at five o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-fourth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at six o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-fifth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at seven o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-sixth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at eight o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-seventh ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at twelve o'clock, and not before.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-eighth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated to-morrow at eleven o'clock, and not before.

FEBRUARY 13.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the twenty-ninth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated to-morrow at twelve o'clock, and not before.

FEBRUARY 14.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirtieth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at one o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirty-first ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at two o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirty-second ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at three o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirty-third ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated on Monday next at twelve o'clock, and not before.

FEBRUARY 16.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirty-fourth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated to-morrow at twelve o'clock, and not before.

FEBRUARY 17.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirty-fifth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, the result was declared to be the same.

Ordered, That the ballot be repeated at one o'clock.

The time agreed upon by the last-mentioned vote being expired, the States proceeded in manner aforesaid to the thirty-sixth ballot; and, upon examination thereof, and the result being reported by the tellers to the SPEAKER, the SPEAKER declared to the House that the votes of ten States had been given for THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia; the votes of four States for AARON BURR, of New York; and that the votes of two States had been given in blank; and, that, consequently, THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia, had been, agreeably to the constitution, elected President of the United States, for the term of four years, commencing on the fourth day of March next.[60]

Ordered, That Mr. PINCKNEY, Mr. TAZEWELL, and Mr. BAYARD, be appointed a committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that THOMAS JEFFERSON is elected President of the United States, for the term commencing on the fourth day of March next.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that THOMAS JEFFERSON has been duly elected President of the United States, for the term of four years commencing on the fourth day of March next; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

THURSDAY, February 19.

State Balances.

Mr. HILL, from the committee appointed to inquire into the expediency of extinguishing the claims of the United States for certain balances which, by the Commissioners appointed to settle the accounts between the United States and the several States, were reported to be due from several of the States to the United States, now made a report, accompanied by a bill to extinguish the claims of the United States, for certain balances reported to be due from several of the States to the United States; which was read, and the consideration of the said report and bill postponed until the third day of March next.

The report is as follows:

The committee appointed to inquire into the expediency of extinguishing the claims of the United States for certain balances which, by the Commissioners appointed to settle the accounts between the United States and the several States, were reported to be due from several of the States to the United States, report--

That the Commissioners aforesaid, on the liquidation of the accounts, reported that there were due from several of the States certain balances, that is to say:

New York $2,074,846 Pennsylvania 76,709 Delaware 612,428 Maryland 151,430 Virginia 100,879 North Carolina 501,082

That Congress by an act passed the 15th February, 1799, engaged that any State so reported against might discharge itself from the claim, by an engagement in the form of a legislative act, to be passed before the first of April, 1800, to pay at the Treasury of the United States, within five years, the amount of the sum assumed by the United States in the debt of such State; or by expending moneys to the like amount within the time aforesaid in the erection of fortifications. And the said act of Congress provides further, that any payment or expenditure aforesaid shall be credited at the Treasury to the amount of stock which said payment or expenditure is equal to the purchase of at the market prices of stock. That the State of New York passed, within the time limited, the Legislative act required by the act of Congress aforesaid, and has already received credit at the Treasury for the sum of $222,810 06, for having previously expended in fortifications the sum of $136,533 82. That no other State has acceded to the terms offered by the said act of Congress.

The committee further report, that, by the immediate operation of the said act of Congress, and of the Legislature of the State of New York, that State was exonerated and released from a very considerable part of the balance reported, to wit, the sum of $891,129 31, the balance reported against the State being to that amount more than the sum subscribed on the assumption of the United States in the debt of that State, the sum so subscribed amounts to $1,183,716 69; that the sum of $891,129 31, exceeds the whole amount of the balance reported to be due from any one of the States, and the aggregate amount of the whole of the balances, with the exception of the balance reported to be due from the State of Delaware.

The committee, without entering into a discussion of the principles whereon the settlement of the accounts by the Commissioners was founded, remark, that as none of the States but the State of New York have manifested any disposition to pay the balances reported against them, whether the terms offered by the said act of Congress operate favorably or not, and none of them have assented to the justice or equity of the claim of the United States, and no means exist of exacting payment, it seems unwise to keep alive a claim which cannot be enforced, and may have the effect of producing irritation and exciting discontent; and as the act of Congress has already released the State of New York from so large an amount and enabled that State, with ease and advantage, to discharge the residue of the balance reported to be due from that State, the committee are of opinion that a release of the balances due from the other States is expedient, and for this purpose report a bill, which is submitted.

SATURDAY, February 21.

President Elect.

Mr. PINCKNEY, from the committee instructed on the eighteenth instant to wait on the PRESIDENT elect, to notify him of his election, reported that the committee had performed that service, and addressed the PRESIDENT elect in the following words, to wit:

"The committee beg leave to express their wishes for the prosperity of your Administration; and their sincere desire that it may promote your own happiness and the welfare of our country."

To which the PRESIDENT elect was pleased to make the following reply:

"I receive, gentlemen, with profound thankfulness, this testimony of confidence from the great Representative Council of our nation: it fills up the measure of that grateful satisfaction which had already been derived from the suffrages of my fellow-citizens themselves, designating me as one of those to whom they were willing to commit this charge, the most important of all others to them. In deciding between the candidates, whom their equal vote presented to your choice, I am sensible that age has been respected rather than more active and useful qualifications.

"I know the difficulties of the station to which I am called, and feel, and acknowledge, my incompetence to them: But, whatsoever of understanding, whatsoever of diligence, whatsoever of justice, or of affectionate concern for the happiness of man, it has pleased Providence to place within the compass of my faculties, shall be called forth for the discharge of the duties confided to me, and for procuring to my fellow-citizens all the benefits which our constitution has placed under the guardianship of the General Government.

"Guided by the wisdom and patriotism of those to whom it belongs to express the Legislative will of the nation, I will give to that will a faithful execution.

"I pray you, gentlemen, to convey to the honorable body from which you are deputed, the homage of my humble acknowledgments, and the sentiments of zeal and fidelity by which I shall endeavor to merit these proofs of confidence from the nation, and its representatives; and accept, yourselves, my particular thanks for the obliging terms in which you have been pleased to communicate their will.

"THOMAS JEFFERSON.

"FEBRUARY 20, 1801."

Sedition Act.

The House then went into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill to repeal part of an act, entitled "An act in addition to the act, entitled 'An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,'" and to continue in force the residue of the same.

On the question that the said bill be engrossed for a third reading--

Mr. DAWSON said, when the law which this bill was intended to continue was first passed, I gave to it my dissent; I did it from a conviction on my mind that it does violate that constitution which I have sworn to support, and from a persuasion that the then state of things did not require it: that while it begat an unjust suspicion of the American character, it was a stain on our code of legislation.

If these were my impressions at that time, some reflection since, aided by the productions of men whose names and talents will be long remembered, and a knowledge of the sentiments of the State from which I come, and of the people whom I represent, have confirmed those impressions, and have resolved me to vote against that bill in every shape and in every stage, and I hope that it will not be suffered to be engrossed. Sir, it is well remembered by me, nor can it be forgotten by any gentleman, on what grounds this law was advocated and first passed; it was then supported and pressed upon us as a necessary link in a chain of measures which a majority of the two Houses of Congress thought proper to adopt to meet a particular crisis--to guard against the supposed intrigues of a foreign nation--to give respectability and energy to our Executive--to prevent its falling into disrepute with the people, and to punish factious individuals. The history of the last two years has, I am persuaded, convinced gentlemen how mistaken were their opinions of the American character. With me they must now believe that whatever difference there may be in our political principles, when the safety, freedom, or honor of our country is threatened by a foreign nation, like a band of brothers we will rally round our government, and support it by means which the constitution of our country authorizes, and which the energy of the case may require. How far this law has given respectability or energy to our administration I will not pretend to say; the events of the present day are an ample comment on that point; but, after the experience which we have had, since some of the objects for which it was formed do not exist, and others have not been answered, I did hope that no attempt would have been made to continue it, and that it would have been suffered to expire like its twin-brother, the Alien law. In this hope, however, I have been disappointed; gentlemen have come forward and supported it with a zeal, not uncommon to them on other occasions, and unexpected in the present, when we were taught to believe that they were at least indifferent about it, and new reasons have been assigned for its continuance--formerly it was thought necessary to protect the administration against the people; and now, sir, it is wanted to guard individuals against an administration which may be weak or wicked. Experience has, I am persuaded, convinced gentlemen that it has not answered the first purpose, and I hope they will find it unnecessary for the latter. Into whatever hands the administration of our country may fall, its acts ought to be examined with that freedom which becomes freemen, and with that decency which becomes gentlemen; so long as they are guided by justice and wisdom, they will be supported with decision and firmness by the friends to the administration; whenever they shall descend from these great principles, the voice of the people will again sweep the actors from the political theatre.

This law, sir, has been advocated, because it is said to ameliorate the common law of England, and on this argument much dependence has been placed; however, admitting it to be true, on a moment's reflection it will not be found to merit any consideration; for, sir, let it be remembered that the opponents to this law are also the opponents to the adoption of that law as the law of the United States, and do not think it authorized by the constitution; this is the doctrine which they have uniformly contended for, and which, pardon me if I say, has been established as fully as one point possibly can be; it is not therefore probable, nay, I think it impossible, that they ever should appeal to it to shield them. No, sir, supported by the justice and policy of their measures, I trust they will need the aid of neither the Alien, Sedition, nor Common law.

Sir, it will be unnecessary for me to touch on the unconstitutionality of this law; it has been proven over and over again in this House, and in every part of the continent, and if what has been said and written has not convinced gentlemen, no effect would be produced by any thing which I could say. But, sir, as some of the objects for which the law was first enacted have passed by, and others have not been answered--as the friends to the approaching administration do not wish it for their protection, and the opponents will not need it for theirs, I do hope that those gentlemen who doubt about the constitutionality will vote with us, and that the bill will not be permitted to be engrossed.

The question was then taken, and the engrossment refused, 49 to 53, as follows:

YEAS.--George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, William Cooper, William Craik, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, Robert Goodloe Harper, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, James H. Imlay, John Wilkes Kittera, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Ebenezer Mattoon, Lewis R. Morris, Harrison G. Otis, Robert Page, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, Nathan Read, John Rutledge, William Shepard, John C. Smith, James Sheafe, Samuel Tenney, Geo. Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Richard Thomas, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, Theodorus Bailey, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Gabriel Christie, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, John Condit, Thomas T. Davis, John Dawson, George Dent, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, John Fowler, Albert Gallatin, Samuel Goode, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, Benjamin Huger, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, Levi Lincoln, Matthew Lyon, James Linn, Edward Livingston, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, Josiah Parker, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, John Stewart, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Lyttleton W. Tazewell, Philip Van Cortlandt, Joseph B. Varnum, and Robert Williams.

WEDNESDAY, February 25.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill providing for a Naval Peace Establishment, and for other purposes; and, after some time spent therein, the Committee rose and reported several amendments thereto; which were read, but, an adjournment being called for, the House adjourned.

FRIDAY, February 27.

Uniform System of Bankruptcy.

The House proceeded to consider the amendments reported yesterday, from the Committee of the whole House, to the bill to amend and continue in force the act, entitled "An act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States;" whereupon the amendments reported from the Committee of the whole House were, on the question severally put thereon, agreed to by the House.

The said bill was then further amended at the Clerk's table; and, on the question that the same be engrossed and read the third time, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 49, nays 42, as follows:

YEAS.--George Baer, Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, John Bird, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, William Cooper, William Craik, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, George Dent, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Roger Griswold, Robert Goodloe Harper, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, John Wilkes Kittera, Silas Lee, Edward Livingston, Lewis R. Morris, Harrison G. Otis, Josiah Parker, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, Leven Powell, John Read, Nathan Read, William Shepard, Samuel Smith, John C. Smith, James Sheafe, Samuel Tenney, George Thatcher, John Chew Thomas, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, Theodorus Bailey, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Matthew Clay, William Charles Cole Claiborne, John Condit, John Dawson, Joseph Eggleston, John Fowler, Albert Gallatin, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, George Jackson, Aaron Kitchell, Michael Leib, Levi Lincoln, Matthew Lyon, James Linn, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Joseph H. Nicholson, John Randolph, John Smilie, John Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Stanford, David Stone, Thomas Sumter, John Stewart, Benjamin Taliaferro, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Lyttleton W. Tazewell, and Joseph B. Varnum.

Ordered, That the said bill, with the amendments, be engrossed and read the third time to-morrow.

Naval Peace Establishment.

An engrossed bill providing for a Naval Peace Establishment, and for other purposes, was read the third time; and, on the question that the same do pass, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 69, nays 18.

SATURDAY, February 28.

An engrossed bill to augment the salaries of the District Judges in the districts of Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, and Maryland, respectively, was read the third time, and passed.

Mr. GREGG, from the committee to whom was this day referred the memorial of Thomas Claxton and others, made a report; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same was twice read and considered; whereupon,

Resolved, That Thomas Claxton, James Mathers, and Thomas Dunn, be permitted to occupy, free of rent, until otherwise directed by Congress, the houses now in their respective possession, the property of the United States, in the public square in the City of Washington, on which the Capitol stands; together with a small piece of ground contiguous to each, for a garden, to be enclosed in such manner as not to interfere with any of the public streets or avenues running through the said square.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do carry the said resolution to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

Mr. GRISWOLD, from the committee appointed, presented a bill further to amend the act, entitled "An act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States;" which was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the whole House on Monday next.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill concerning the Mint; and, after some time spent therein, the committee rose and reported one amendment thereto; which was twice read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the said bill, with the amendment, be engrossed, and read the third time to-day.

Remonstrance of Georgia.

Mr. DANA, from the committee to whom was referred, on the seventh ultimo, the memorial and remonstrance of the Legislature of the State of Georgia, made a report; which was read, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the whole House on Monday next.

The report is as follows:

The Committee to whom was referred the Address and Remonstrance of the Legislature of the State of Georgia, submit the following Report:

The remonstrance complains of two acts of Congress respecting the Mississippi Territory; one passed in April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, the other in May, one thousand eight hundred; and prays for their repeal.

The tract of country called the Mississippi Territory, is bounded on the west by the River Mississippi, on the east by the river Appalachicola, or Chatahoochee, on the south by the Southern boundary of the United States, and on the north by a line drawn from the confluence of the river Yazoo with the Mississippi, due east to the before mentioned river Chatahoochee.

For a view of the claim of the United States to the territory in question, the committee, in the present instance, deem it sufficient to refer to a report of the Attorney General, made to the Senate, at the first session of the fourth Congress, and to the report of a committee of the House of Representatives, made at the first session of the sixth Congress. The last-mentioned report also contains a summary statement of a variety of individual claims to land within the territory.

The claim of Georgia is particularly stated in the remonstrance referred to your committee.

The two acts of Congress, of which the remonstrance complains, have provided for an adjustment of those claims, through the agency of Commissioners; and also for the establishment of a government over the Mississippi Territory, similar to that established by the ordinance of Congress, of July one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, for the Territory north-west of the river Ohio; saving and reserving to the State of Georgia all her right or claim to the said territory.

Commissioners have accordingly been appointed on the part of the United States, and also on the part of Georgia, for negotiating an adjustment of their respective claims. No report has yet been laid before Congress from the Commissioners of the United States; but the business of their commission is understood to be yet pending.

Considering this state of things, the committee deem it proper for them to abstain from any particular discussion of the several claims to the Mississippi Territory, while a hope is cherished that an amicable adjustment may be ultimately effected. Nor do they think it expedient to adopt any measure which may be prejudicial to an object so desirable.

The committee therefore submit the following resolution:

"Resolved, That it would not be proper at this time for the House to take any further order on the Address and Remonstrance of the Legislature of the State of Georgia."

MONDAY, March 2.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the President of the United States elect, which was read, and is as follows:

WASHINGTON, March 2, 1801.

SIR: I beg leave through you to inform the Honorable the House of Representatives of the United States, that I shall take the oath which the constitution prescribes to the President of the United States before he enters on the execution of his office, on Wednesday, the fourth instant, at twelve o'clock, in the Senate Chamber.

I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant,

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

HON. THEODORE SEDGWICK, _Speaker of the House of Representatives_.

Ordered, That said letter do lie on the table.

Mausoleum to Washington.

The House proceeded to consider the amendments proposed by the Senate to the bill entitled "An act to erect a mausoleum for GEORGE WASHINGTON:" Whereupon,

A motion was made and seconded to amend the amendment of the Senate to the first section of the said bill, by striking out, from the tenth line thereof, the word "fifty," for the purpose of inserting, in lieu thereof, the word "one hundred;"

And the question being taken thereupon, it passed in the negative--yeas 34, nays 49.

The said amendments of the Senate were then further amended at the Clerk's table, and, on the question that the House do agree to the said amendments as amended, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 46, nays 33, as follows:

YEAS.--Theodorus Bailey, Bailey Bartlett, John Bird, Phanuel Bishop, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Matthew Clay, William C. C. Claiborne, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, John Dawson, Joseph Eggleston, John Fowler, Albert Gallatin, Chauncey Goodrich, Andrew Gregg, William Barry Grove, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, John Wilkes Kittera, Michael Leib, Levi Lincoln, Matthew Lyon, James Linn, Edward Livingston, Nathaniel Macon, Peter Muhlenberg, Anthony New, John Nicholas, John Read, Nathan Read, Wm. Shepard, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Richard Dobbs Spaight, David Stone, Benjamin Taliaferro, Samuel Tenney, John Chew Thomas, John Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Joseph B. Varnum, and Peleg Wadsworth.

NAYS.--James A. Bayard, John Brown, Christopher G. Champlin, Gabriel Christie, William Craik, Franklin Davenport, John Dennis, Joseph Dickson, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Henry Glenn, Roger Griswold, Robert Goodloe Harper, Archibald Henderson, Benjamin Huger, James H. Imlay, George Jackson, Henry Lee, Silas Lee, Ebenezer Mattoon, Robert Page, Thomas Pinckney, Jonas Platt, John Randolph, John C. Smith, Richard Stanford, Thomas Sumter, James Sheafe, John Stewart, George Thatcher, Lemuel Williams, and Henry Woods.

TUESDAY, 6 o'clock P. M., March 3.

Thanks to the Speaker.

Mr. PAGE moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That the thanks of the House be presented to Theodore Sedgwick for his conduct while in the chair of this House.

The question was taken whether this motion was in order. It was decided to be in order.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. CHRISTIE said he should not point out the improprieties in the conduct of the Speaker while in the chair, otherwise than by his vote, though he possessed the right to call up to the recollection of the House the many inconsistencies his presidency had been marked with. In doing that, Mr. SPEAKER, I shall behave better to you than you have ever done to me.

The cry of "order!" "order!" prevented any more being said, and Mr. C. sat down.

The yeas and nays were then taken, and resulted--yeas 40, nays 35.

Whereupon Mr. SPEAKER made his acknowledgments to the House in the manner following:

Accept, gentlemen, my thanks, I pray you, for the respectful terms in which you have been pleased to express the opinion you entertain of the manner in which I have discharged the arduous duties of the station to which I was raised by your kind regard.

Although I am conscious of having intended faithfully to execute the trust confided to this chair, yet I am sensible that, whatever success may have attended my endeavors, is justly attributable to the candid, honorable, and firm support which you have constantly afforded. I cannot lay the least claim to merit for any thing that I have done; because the generous confidence which you had reposed in me, demanded that I should devote all my feeble talents to your service.

Being now about to retire from this House, and, as I hope, from the public councils for ever, permit me, gentlemen, to bid you, collectively and individually, an affectionate farewell. It is true that I have long wished to indulge repose in the shade of private life; but the moment of separation inflicts an anguish inexpressible by language. It is a separation from men of dignity of character, of honorable sentiments, and of disinterested patriotism; an association with whom has been my pride and solace amidst all the fatigue and vexation of public life. Of the friendship of such men, long, uninterrupted and cordial as it has been, I shall always cherish a grateful remembrance. May you receive the reward most grateful to generous spirits, the reward of witnessing, as the effects of your labors, the increasing prosperity, and happiness, and glory, of your country.

As the last words which I shall utter, as a public man, allow me to declare, that those with whom I have had the honor, here, to act and think, whose confidence I have enjoyed, whose bosoms have been opened to my inspection, in my cool and reflected opinion, deserve all of esteem, affection, and gratitude, which their countrymen can bestow. On this occasion I deem myself authorized, from the present circumstances, to make this declaration; and I do it in the most solemn manner, in the presence of the assembled Representatives of America; and not only so, but in the awful presence of that heart-searching Being to whom I feel myself responsible for all my conduct. May the Almighty keep you in his holy protection. Farewell.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have appointed a committee on their part, jointly, with such committee as may be appointed on the part of this House, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and to inform him that Congress is ready to adjourn without day, unless he may have any further communications to make to them.

The House proceeded to consider the foregoing resolution of the Senate, agreed to the same, and appointed Mr. PINCKNEY and Mr. GROVE the committee on the part of this House.

Mr. PINCKNEY, from the joint committee of the two Houses, appointed to notify the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES of the proposed recess of Congress, reported that the committee had, according to order, performed that service, and that the PRESIDENT signified to them that he had no further communication to make, but the expression of his wishes for the health and happiness of the members, and a pleasant journey on their return to their homes and families.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that this House, having completed the business before them, are now ready to adjourn without day; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The Clerk accordingly went with the said message; and being returned, Mr. SPEAKER adjourned the House, sine die.[61]

SEVENTH CONGRESS.--FIRST SESSION.

BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 7, 1801.

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,--THOMAS JEFFERSON.

LIST OF MEMBERS

SENATORS.

New Hampshire.--Simeon Olcott, James Sheafe.

Vermont.--S. R. Bradley, Nathaniel Chipman.

Massachusetts.--Jonathan Mason.

Rhode Island.--Christopher Ellery, Theodore Foster.

Connecticut.--James Hillhouse, Uriah Tracy.

New York.--John Armstrong, G. Morris.

New Jersey.--Aaron Ogden, Jonathan Dayton.

Pennsylvania.--George Logan, Peter Muhlenberg.

Delaware.--William H. Willes, Samuel White.

Maryland.--John E. Howard, Robert Wright.

Virginia.--Stevens T. Mason, Wilson C. Nicholas.

North Carolina.--Jesse Franklin, David Stone.

South Carolina.--John C. Calhoun, Jacob Read.

Georgia.--A. Baldwin, James Jackson.

Tennessee.--William Cocke, Joseph Anderson.

Kentucky.--John Breckenridge, John Browne.

REPRESENTATIVES.

New Hampshire.--Abiel Foster, Joseph Pearce, George B. Upham.

Vermont.--Lewis R. Morris, Israel Smith.

Massachusetts.--John Bacon, Phanuel Bishop, Manasseh Cutler, Richard Cutts, William Eustis, Seth Hastings, Silas Lee, Eben Mattoon, Nathan Read, William Shepard, Josiah Smith, Joseph B. Varnum, P. Wadsworth, Lemuel Williams.

Rhode Island.--Joseph Stanton, Thomas Tillinghast.

Connecticut.--Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Calvin Goddard, Roger Griswold, Elias Perkins, John C. Smith, Benjamin Talmadge.

New York.--Theodore Bailey, Lucas Elmendorph, E. Livingston, Samuel L. Mitchill, Thomas Morris, John Smith, David Thomas, Philip Van Cortlandt, John P. Van Ness, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Benjamin Walker.

New Jersey.--John Condit, Ebenezer Elmer, William Helms, James Mott, Henry Southard.

Pennsylvania.--Thomas Boude, Robert Brown, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Joseph Heister, Joseph Hemphill, William Hoge, William Jones, Michael Leib, John Smilie, John Stewart, Isaac Van Horne, Henry Woods.

Delaware.--James A. Bayard.

Maryland.--John Archer, John Campbell, John Dennis, Daniel Heister, Joseph H. Nicholson, Thomas Plater, Samuel Smith, Richard Sprigg.

Virginia.--Richard Brent, Samuel J. Cabell, Thomas Claiborne, John Clopton, John Dawson, William B. Giles, Edwin Gray, David Holmes, John Geo. Jackson, Anthony New, Thomas Newton, John Randolph, John Smith, John Stratton, John Taliaferro, Philip E. Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Trigg.

North Carolina.--Willis Alston, William B. Grove, Archibald Henderson, William H. Hill, James Holland, Charles Johnston, Nathaniel Macon, Richard Stanford, John Stanley, Robert Williams.

South Carolina.--William Butler, Benj. Huger, Thomas Lowndes, Thomas Moore, John Rutledge, Thomas Sumter.

Georgia.--John Milledge, Benjamin Taliaferro.

Mississippi.--Narsworthy Hunter.

Tennessee.--William Dickson.

Kentucky.--Thomas T. Davis, John Fowler.

Ohio.--Paul Fearing.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.

MONDAY, December 7, 1801.

The first session of the Seventh Congress of the United States commenced this day, conformably to the constitution, and the Senate assembled at the Capitol in the City of Washington.

PRESENT:

THEODORE FOSTER, from Rhode Island.

NATHANIEL CHIPMAN, from Vermont.

WILLIAM HILL WELLS and SAMUEL WHITE, from Delaware.

JOHN E. HOWARD, from Maryland.

STEVENS THOMPSON MASON and WILSON CARY NICHOLAS, from Virginia.

ABRAHAM BALDWIN, from Georgia.

JOSEPH ANDERSON and WILLIAM COOKE, from Tennessee.

STEPHEN R. BRADLEY, appointed a Senator by the State of Vermont, for the remainder of the term for which their late Senator, Elijah Paine, was appointed; JOHN BRECKENRIDGE, appointed a Senator by the State of Kentucky; CHRISTOPHER ELLERY, appointed a Senator by the State of Rhode Island, for the remainder of the term for which their late Senator, Ray Greene, was appointed; JAMES JACKSON, appointed a Senator by the State of Georgia; GEORGE LOGAN, appointed a Senator by the Executive of the State of Pennsylvania, in the place of their late Senator, Peter Muhlenberg, resigned; SIMEON OLCOTT, appointed a Senator by the State of New Hampshire, for the remainder of the term for which their late Senator, Samuel Livermore, was appointed; URIAH TRACY, appointed a Senator by the State of Connecticut; and ROBERT WRIGHT, appointed a Senator by the State of Maryland, severally produced their credentials, and took their seats in the Senate.

The VICE PRESIDENT being absent, the Senate proceeded to the election of a President, pro tempore, as the constitution provides; and ABRAHAM BALDWIN was chosen.

The PRESIDENT administered the oath, as the law prescribes, to Mr. BRADLEY, Mr. BRECKENRIDGE, Mr. ELLERY, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. OLCOTT, Mr. TRACY, and Mr. WRIGHT, and the affirmation to Mr. LOGAN.

Ordered, That the Secretary wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and acquaint him that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and that, in the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, they have elected ABRAHAM BALDWIN, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business, and that, in the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, they have elected ABRAHAM BALDWIN, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House is assembled, and have elected NATHANIEL MACON their Speaker, and are ready to proceed to business.

Ordered, That Messrs. ANDERSON and JACKSON be a committee on the part of the Senate, together with such committee as the House of Representatives may appoint on their part, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make to them.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House agree to the resolution of the Senate for the appointment of a joint committee to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and have appointed a committee on their part.

Mr. ANDERSON reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and acquainted him that a quorum of both Houses is assembled, and that the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES informed the committee that he would make a communication to them by message to-morrow.

TUESDAY, December 8.

JONATHAN DAYTON and AARON OGDEN, from the State of New Jersey, and JESSE FRANKLIN, from the State of North Carolina, severally attended.

Resolved, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress for the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly.

Presidents Message.

The following letter and Message were received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, by Mr. Lewis, his Secretary:

DECEMBER 8, 1801.

SIR: The circumstances under which we find ourselves at this place rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore practised, of making by personal address the first communications between the Legislative and Executive branches, I have adopted that by Message, as used on all subsequent occasions through the session. In doing this I have had principal regard to the convenience of the Legislature, to the economy of their time, to their relief from the embarrassment of immediate answers, on subjects not yet fully before them, and to the benefits thence resulting to the public affairs. Trusting that a procedure founded in these motives will meet their approbation, I beg leave, through you, sir, to communicate the enclosed Message, with the documents accompanying it, to the honorable the Senate, and pray you to accept, for yourself and them, the homage of my high respect and consideration.[62]

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

The Hon. the PRESIDENT of the Senate.

_Fellow-citizens of the Senate, and House of Representatives_:

It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that, on meeting the great council of our nation, I am able to announce to them, on grounds of reasonable certainty, that the wars and troubles which for so many years afflicted our sister nations, have at length come to an end; and that the communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. Whilst we devoutly return thanks to the beneficent Being who has been pleased to breathe into them the spirit of conciliation and forgiveness, we are bound with peculiar gratitude, to be thankful to him that our own peace has been preserved through so perilous a season, and ourselves permitted quietly to cultivate the earth, and to practise and improve those arts which tend to increase our comforts. The assurances, indeed, of friendly disposition, received from all the powers with whom we have principal relations, had inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have been disturbed. But a cessation of irregularities which had affected the commerce of neutral nations, and of the irritations and injuries produced by them, cannot but add to this confidence, and strengthens, at the same time, the hope that wrongs committed on unoffending friends, under a pressure of circumstances, will now be reviewed with candor, and will be considered as founding just claims of restitution for the past, and new assurances for the future.

Among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace and friendship generally prevails; and I am happy to inform you that the continued efforts to introduce among them the implements and the practice of husbandry, and of the household arts, have not been without success; that they are becoming more and more sensible of the superiority of this dependence for clothing and subsistence, over the precarious resources of hunting and fishing; and already we are able to announce that, instead of that constant diminution of their numbers, produced by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to experience an increase of population.

To this state of general peace with which we have been blessed, one only exception exists. Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary States, had come forward with demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had permitted itself to denounce war, on our failure to comply before a given day. The style of the demands admitted but one answer. I sent a small squadron of frigates into the Mediterranean, with assurances to that power of our sincere desire to remain in peace; but with orders to protect our commerce against the threatened attack. The measure was seasonable and salutary. The Bey had already declared war. His cruisers were out. Two had arrived at Gibraltar. Our commerce in the Mediterranean was blockaded, and that of the Atlantic in peril. The arrival of our squadron dispelled the danger. One of the Tripolitan cruisers, having fallen in with and engaged the small schooner Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Sterret, which had gone as a tender to our larger vessels, was captured, after a heavy slaughter of her men, without the loss of a single one on our part. The bravery exhibited by our citizens on that element will, I trust, be a testimony to the world that it is not the want of that virtue which makes us seek their peace, but a conscientious desire to direct the energies of our nation to the multiplication of the human race, and not to its destruction. Unauthorized by the constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defence, the vessel, being disabled from committing further hostilities, was liberated with its crew. The Legislature will doubtless consider whether, by authorizing measures of offence also, they will place our force on an equal footing with that of its adversaries. I communicate all material information on this subject, that, in the exercise of this important function confided by the constitution to the Legislature exclusively, their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstance of weight.

I wish I could say that our situation with all the other Barbary States was entirely satisfactory. Discovering that some delays had taken place in the performance of certain articles stipulated by us, I thought it my duty, by immediate measures for fulfilling them, to vindicate to ourselves the right of considering the effect of departure from stipulation on their side. From the papers which will be laid before you, you will be enabled to judge whether our treaties are regarded by them as fixing at all the measure of their demands, or, as guarding from the exercise of force our vessels within their power; and to consider how far it will be safe and expedient to leave our affairs with them in their present posture.

I lay before you the result of the census lately taken of our inhabitants, to a conformity with which we are now to reduce the ensuing ratio of representation and taxation. You will perceive that the increase of numbers, during the last ten years, proceeding in geometrical ratio, promises a duplication in little more than twenty-two years. We contemplate this rapid growth, and the prospect it holds up to us, not with a view to the injuries it may enable us to do to others in some future day, but to the settlement of the extensive country still remaining vacant within our limits, to the multiplication of men susceptible of happiness, educated in the love of order, habituated to self-government, and valuing its blessings above all price.

Other circumstances, combined with the increase of numbers, have produced an augmentation of revenue arising from consumption, in a ratio far beyond that of population alone; and, though the changes in foreign relations now taking place, so desirably for the whole world, may for a season affect this branch of revenue, yet, weighing all probabilities of expense, as well as of income, there is reasonable ground of confidence that we may now safely dispense with all the internal taxes--comprehending excise, stamps, auctions, licenses, carriages, and refined sugars; to which the postage on newspapers may be added, to facilitate the progress of information; and that the remaining sources of revenue will be sufficient to provide for the support of Government, to pay the interest of the public debts, and to discharge the principals within shorter periods than the laws or the general expectation had contemplated. War, indeed, and untoward events, may change this prospect of things, and call for expenses which the imposts could not meet. But sound principles will not justify our taxing the industry of our fellow-citizens to accumulate treasure for wars to happen we know not when, and which might not, perhaps, happen, but from the temptations offered by that treasure.

These views, however, of reducing our burdens, are formed on the expectation that a sensible, and at the same time a salutary, reduction may take place in our habitual expenditures. For this purpose those of the civil Government, the army, and navy, will need revisal. When we consider that this Government is charged with the external and mutual relations only of these States; that the States themselves have principal care of our persons, our property, and our reputation, constituting the great field of human concerns, we may well doubt whether our organization is not too complicated, too expensive; whether offices and officers have not been multiplied unnecessarily, and sometimes injuriously to the service they were meant to promote. I will cause to be laid before you an essay towards a statement of those who, under public employment of various kinds, draw money from the Treasury, or from our citizens. Time has not permitted a perfect enumeration, the ramifications of office being too multiplied and remote to be completely traced in a first trial. Among those who are dependent on Executive discretion, I have begun the reduction of what was deemed unnecessary. The expenses of diplomatic agency have been considerably diminished. The inspectors of internal revenue, who were found to obstruct the accountability of the institution, have been discontinued. Several agencies, created by Executive authority, on salaries fixed by that also, have been suppressed, and should suggest the expediency of regulating that power by law, so as to subject its exercise to Legislative inspection and sanction. Other reformations of the same kind will be pursued with that caution which is requisite, in removing useless things, not to injure what is retained. But the great mass of public offices is established by law, and therefore by law alone can be abolished. Should the Legislature think it expedient to pass this roll in review, and try all its parts by the test of public utility, they may be assured of every aid and light which Executive information can yield. Considering the general tendency to multiply offices and dependencies, and to increase expenses to the ultimate term of burden which the citizens can bear, it behooves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which presents itself for taking off the surcharge; that it never may be seen here that, after leaving to labor the smallest portion of its earnings on which it can subsist, Government shall itself consume the whole residue of what it was instituted to guard.

In our care, too, of the public contributions intrusted to our direction, it would be prudent to multiply barriers against their dissipation, by appropriating specific sums to every specific purpose susceptible of definition; by disallowing all applications of money varying from the appropriation in object, or transcending it in amount; by reducing the undefined field of contingencies, and thereby circumscribing discretionary powers over money; and by bringing back to a single department all accountabilities for money, where the examinations may be prompt, efficacious, and uniform.

An account of the receipts and expenditures of the last year, as prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury, will, as usual, be laid before you. The success which has attended the late sales of the public lands shows that, with attention, they may be made an important source of receipt. Among the payments those made in discharge of the principal and interest of the national debt, will show that the public faith has been exactly maintained. To these will be added an estimate of appropriations necessary for the ensuing year. This last will, of course, be affected by such modifications of the system of expense as you shall think proper to adopt.

A statement has been formed by the Secretary of War, on mature consideration, of all the posts and stations where garrisons will be expedient, and of the number of men requisite for each garrison. The whole amount is considerably short of the present Military Establishment. For the surplus no particular use can be pointed out. For defence against invasion their number is as nothing; nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace, for that purpose. Uncertain as we must ever be of the particular point in our circumference where an enemy may choose to invade us, the only force which can be ready at every point, and competent to oppose them, is the body of neighboring citizens, as formed into a militia. On these, collected from the parts most convenient, in numbers proportioned to the invading force, it is best to rely, not only to meet the first attack, but if it threatens to be permanent, to maintain the defence until regulars may be engaged to relieve them. These considerations render it important that we should, at every session, continue to amend the defects which from time to time show themselves in the laws for regulating the militia, until they are sufficiently perfect: nor should we now, or at any time, separate, until we can say that we have done every thing for the militia which we could do were an enemy at our door.

The provision of military stores on hand will be laid before you, that you may judge of the additions still requisite.

With respect to the extent to which our naval preparations should be carried, some difference of opinion may be expected to appear; but just attention to the circumstances of every part of the Union will doubtless reconcile all. A small force will probably continue to be wanted for actual service in the Mediterranean. Whatever annual sum beyond that you may think proper to appropriate to naval preparations, would perhaps be better employed in providing those articles which may be kept without waste or consumption, and be in readiness when any exigence calls them into use. Progress has been made, as will appear by papers now communicated, in providing materials for seventy-four gun ships, as directed by law.

How far the authority given by the Legislature for procuring and establishing sites for naval purposes, has been perfectly understood and pursued in the execution, admits of some doubt. A statement of the expenses already incurred on that subject is now laid before you. I have, in certain cases, suspended or slackened these expenditures, that the Legislature might determine whether so many yards are necessary as have been contemplated. The works at this place are among those permitted to go on; and five of the seven frigates directed to be laid up, have been brought and laid up here, where, besides the safety of their position, they are under the eye of the Executive Administration, as well as of its agents; and where yourselves also will be guided by your own view in the legislative provisions respecting them, which may, from time to time, be necessary. They are preserved in such condition, as well the vessels as whatever belongs to them, as to be at all times ready for sea at a short warning. Two others are yet to be laid up, as soon as they shall receive the repairs requisite to put them also into sound condition. As a superintending officer will be necessary at each yard, his duties and emoluments, hitherto fixed by the Executive, will be a more proper subject for legislation. A communication will also be made of our progress in the execution of the law respecting the vessels directed to be sold.

The fortifications of our harbors, more or less advanced, present considerations of great difficulty. While some of them are on a scale sufficiently proportioned to the advantages of their position, to the efficacy of their protection, and the importance of the points within it, others are so extensive, will cost so much in their first erection, so much in their maintenance, and require such a force to garrison them, as to make it questionable what is best now to be done. A statement of those commenced or projected; of the expenses already incurred; and estimates of their future cost, as far as can be foreseen, shall be laid before you, that you may be enabled to judge whether any alteration is necessary in the laws respecting this subject.

Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise. Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be seasonably interposed. If, in the course of your observations or inquiries, they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient assurance they will occupy your attention. We cannot, indeed, but all feel an anxious solicitude for the difficulties under which our carrying trade will soon be placed. How far it can be relieved, otherwise than by time, is a subject of important consideration.

The Judiciary system of the United States, and especially that portion of it recently erected, will, of course, present itself to the contemplation of Congress; and that they may be able to judge of the proportion which the institution bears to the business it has to perform, I have caused to be procured from the several States, and now lay before Congress, an exact statement of all the causes decided since the first establishment of the courts, and of those which were depending when additional courts and judges were brought in to their aid.

And while on the Judiciary organization, it will be worthy of your consideration whether the protection of the inestimable institution of juries has been extended to all the cases involving the security of our persons and property. Their impartial selection also being essential to their value, we ought further to consider whether that is sufficiently secured in those States where they are named by a marshal depending on Executive will, or designated by the court, or by officers dependent on them.

I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on the subject of naturalization. Considering the ordinary chances of human life, a denial of citizenship under a residence of fourteen years, is a denial to a great proportion of those who ask it; and controls a policy pursued, from their first settlement, by many of these States, and still believed of consequence to their prosperity. And shall we refuse to the unhappy fugitives from distress that hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our fathers arriving in this land? Shall oppressed humanity find no asylum on this globe? The constitution, indeed, has wisely provided that, for admission to certain offices of important trust, a residence shall be required sufficient to develope character and design. But might not the general character and capabilities of a citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a bona fide purpose of embarking his life and fortunes permanently with us? with restrictions, perhaps, to guard against the fraudulent usurpation of our flag? an abuse which brings so much embarrassment and loss on the genuine citizen, and so much danger to the nation of being involved in war, that no endeavor should be spared to detect and suppress it.

These, fellow-citizens, are the matters respecting the state of the nation which I have thought of importance to be submitted to your consideration at this time. Some others of less moment, or not yet ready for communication, will be the subject of separate Messages. I am happy in this opportunity of committing the arduous affairs of our Government to the collected wisdom of the Union. Nothing shall be wanting on my part to inform, as far as in my power, the legislative judgment, nor to carry that judgment into faithful execution. The prudence and temperance of your discussions will promote, within your own walls, that conciliation which so much befriends rational conclusion; and by its example will encourage among our constituents that progress of opinion which is tending to unite them in object and in will. That all should be satisfied with any one order of things, is not to be expected; but I indulge the pleasing persuasion that the great body of our citizens will cordially concur in honest and disinterested efforts, which have for their object to preserve the General and State Governments in their constitutional form and equilibrium; to maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at home; to establish principles and practices of administration favorable to the security of liberty and property, and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of Government.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

DECEMBER 8, 1801.

The Letter and Message were read, and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

The papers referred to in the Message were in part read, and the Senate adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, December 9.

The Senate proceeded to the appointment of a Chaplain to Congress on their part, and the Rev. Mr. GANTT was elected.

THURSDAY, December 10.

Resolved, That James Mathers, Sergeant-at-Arms and Doorkeeper to the Senate, be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ one additional assistant, and two horses, for the purpose of performing such services as are usually required of the Doorkeeper to the Senate; and that the sum of twenty-eight dollars be allowed him weekly for the purpose during the session, and for twenty days after.

FRIDAY, December 11.

JOHNATHAN MASON, from the State of Massachusetts, and JAMES SHEAFE, from the State of New Hampshire, severally attended.

MONDAY, December 14.

JAMES HILLHOUSE, from the State of Connecticut, and DWIGHT FOSTER, from the State of Massachusetts, severally attended.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have elected the Reverend WILLIAM PARKINSON a Chaplain to Congress on their part.

SATURDAY, December 19.

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, from the State of New York, attended.

THOMAS SUMTER, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of South Carolina, in the place of their late Senator, Charles Pinckney, resigned, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

MONDAY, December 21.

The credentials of GEORGE LOGAN, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, were presented and read; and the affirmation prescribed by law was administered by the President.

TUESDAY, December 22.

DAVID STONE, from the State of North Carolina, attended.

MONDAY, December 28.

JOHN EWING COLHOUN, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of South Carolina, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the Senate.

THURSDAY, December 31.

Mr. BRECKENRIDGE presented the petition of Isaac Zane, stating that he was made a prisoner at the age of nine years by the Wyandot Indians, with whom he remained until he became of age; had a family by a woman of that nation, and a tract of land was assigned him by the said nation, on a branch of the Great Miami, and which tract of land was ceded to the United States by a recent treaty with the said Wyandot Indians, and praying such relief as may be deemed equitable; and the petition was read, and committed to Messrs. BRECKENRIDGE, TRACY, and OGDEN, to consider and report thereon.

TUESDAY, January 5, 1802.

Mr. BROWN, from the State of Kentucky, attended.

Reporting the Debates.

The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a letter signed Samuel H. Smith, stating that he was desirous of taking notes of the proceedings of the Senate, in such manner as to render them correct: Whereupon,

Resolved, That any stenographer desirous to take the debates of the Senate on Legislative business, may be admitted for that purpose, at such place within the area of the Senate Chamber as the President may allot:

And, on motion to reconsider the above resolution, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 17, nays 9.

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Breckenridge, Cocke, Dayton, Ellery, Dwight Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Logan, Jonathan Mason, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, Sumter, Tracy, White, and Wright.

NAYS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Brown, Chipman, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Nicholas, Sheafe, and Stone.

On motion, to amend the resolution, by adding, after the word stenographer, "He having given bond in the sum of ----, with two sufficient sureties, in the sum of ---- each, for his good conduct," it passed in the negative--yeas 10, nays 18, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Chipman, Dayton, Dwight Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, Sheafe, and Tracy.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Breckenridge, Brown, Cocke, Colhoun, Ellery, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, White, and Wright.

On motion, to agree to the original resolution, amended by adding the words "or note-taker," after the words stenographer, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Breckenridge, Brown, Cocke, Colhoun, Ellery, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

NAYS.--Messrs. Chipman, Dayton, Dwight Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, Sheafe, Tracy, and White.

So it was Resolved, That any stenographer, or note-taker, desirous of taking the debates of the Senate on Legislative business, may be admitted for that purpose at such place, within the area of the Senate Chamber, as the President shall allot.[63]

WEDNESDAY, January 6.

Judiciary System.

Mr. MASON called for the reading of the Message, which was in part read; when the further reading of the whole document was suspended, and that part only read, which relates to the Judiciary System.

Upon which Mr. BRECKENRIDGE, from Kentucky, rose, and stated that two days ago he had given notice that on this day he would submit to the consideration of the Senate two resolutions respecting the Judiciary Establishment of the United States. As, however, those resolutions were not necessarily connected, and as they might be distinctly discussed, he would at present confine himself to moving the first resolution; without however foreclosing to himself the right of submitting the second after the disposition of the first. He, therefore, moved that the act passed last session respecting the Judiciary Establishment of the United States be repealed.

[This is the act which created sixteen new circuit judges.]

FRIDAY, January 8.

Judiciary System.

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of the motion made on the 6th instant, to wit:

"That the act of Congress passed on the 13th day of February, 1801, entitled 'An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States,' ought to be repealed."[64]

Mr. BRECKENRIDGE then rose and addressed the PRESIDENT, as follows:

It will be expected of me, I presume, sir, as I introduced the resolution now under consideration, to assign my reasons for wishing a repeal of this law. This I shall do; and shall endeavor to show:

1. That the law is unnecessary and improper, and was so at its passage; and

2. That the courts and judges created by it, can and ought to be abolished.

1st. That the act under consideration was unnecessary and improper, is, to my mind, no difficult task to prove. No increase of courts or judges could be necessary or justifiable, unless the existing courts and judges were incompetent to the prompt and proper discharge of the duties consigned to them. To hold out a show of litigation, when in fact little exists, must be impolitic; and to multiply expensive systems, and create hosts of expensive officers, without having experienced an actual necessity for them, must be a wanton waste of the public treasure.

The document before us shows that, at the passage of this act, the existing courts, not only from their number, but from the suits depending before them, were fully competent to a speedy decision of those suits. It shows, that on the 15th day of June last, there were depending in all the circuit courts, (that of Maryland only excepted, whose docket we have not been furnished with,) one thousand five hundred and thirty-nine suits. It shows that eight thousand two hundred and seventy-six suits of every description have come before those courts, in ten years and upwards. From this it appears, that the annual average amount of suits has been about eight hundred.

But sundry contingent things have conspired to swell the circuit court dockets. In Maryland, Virginia, and in all the Southern and South-western States, a great number of suits have been brought by British creditors; this species of controversy is nearly at an end.

In Pennsylvania, the docket has been swelled by prosecutions in consequence of the Western insurrection, by the disturbances in Bucks and Northampton Counties: and by the sedition act. These I find amount in that State to two hundred and forty suits.

In Kentucky, non-resident land claimants have gone into the federal court from a temporary convenience: because, until within a year or two past, there existed no court of general jurisdiction co-extensive with the whole State. I find, too, that of the six hundred and odd suits which have been commenced there, one hundred and ninety-six of them have been prosecutions under the laws of the United States.

In most of the States there have been prosecutions under the sedition act. This source of litigation is, I trust, for ever dried up. And, lastly, in all the States a number of suits have arisen under the excise law; which source of controversy will, I hope, before this session terminates, be also dried up.

But this same document discloses another important fact; which is, that notwithstanding all these untoward and temporary sources of federal adjudication, the suits in those courts are decreasing; for, from the dockets exhibited (except Kentucky and Tennessee, whose suits are summed up in the aggregate) it appears, that in 1799 there were one thousand two hundred and seventy-four, and in 1800 there were six hundred and eighty-seven suits commenced; showing a decrease of five hundred and eighty-seven suits.

Could it be necessary then to increase courts when suits were decreasing? Could it be necessary to multiply judges, when their duties were diminishing? And will I not be justified, therefore, in affirming, that the law was unnecessary, and that Congress acted under a mistaken impression, when they multiplied courts and judges at a time when litigation was actually decreasing?

But, sir, the decrease of business goes a small way in fixing my opinion on this subject. I am inclined to think, that so far from there having been a necessity at this time for an increase of courts and judges, that the time never will arrive when America will stand in need of thirty-eight federal judges. Look, sir, at your constitution, and see the judicial power there consigned to federal courts, and seriously ask yourself can there be fairly extracted from those powers subjects of litigation sufficient for six supreme and thirty-two inferior court judges? To me it appears impossible.

The judicial powers given to the federal courts were never intended by the constitution to embrace, exclusively, subjects of litigation, which could, with propriety, be left with the State courts. Their jurisdiction was intended principally to extend to great national and foreign concerns. Except cases arising under the laws of the United States, I do not at present recollect but three or four kinds in which their power extends to subjects of litigation, in which private persons only are concerned. And can it be possible, that with a jurisdiction embracing so small a portion of private litigation, in a great part of which the State courts might, and ought to participate, that we can stand in need of thirty-eight judges, and expend in judiciary regulations the annual sum of $137,000?

No other country, whose regulations I have any knowledge of, furnishes an example of a system so prodigal and extensive. In England, whose courts are the boast, and said to be the security of the rights of the nation, every man knows there are but twelve judges and three principal courts. These courts embrace, in their original or appellate jurisdiction, almost the whole circle of human concerns.

The King's Bench and Common Pleas, which consist of four judges each, entertain all the common law suits of 40_s._ and upwards, originating among nine millions of the most commercial people in the world. They moreover revise the proceedings of not only all the petty courts of record in the kingdom, even down to the courts of piepoudre, but also of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland; and these supreme courts, after centuries of experiment, are found to be fully competent to all the business of the kingdom.

I will now inquire into the power of Congress to put down these additional courts and judges.

First, as to the courts, Congress are empowered by the constitution "from time to time, to ordain and establish inferior courts." The act now under consideration, is a legislative construction of this clause in the constitution, that Congress may abolish as well as create these judicial officers; because it does expressly, in the twenty-seventh section of the act, abolish the then existing inferior courts, for the purpose of making way for the present. This construction, I contend, is correct; but it is equally pertinent to my object, whether it be or be not. If it be correct, then the present inferior courts may be abolished as constitutionally as the last; if it be not, then the law for abolishing the former courts, and, establishing the present, was unconstitutional, and consequently repealable.

But independent of this legislative construction, on which I do not found my opinion, nor mean to rely my argument, there is little doubt indeed, in my mind, as to the power of Congress on this law. The first section of the third article vests the judicial power of the United States in one Supreme Court and such inferior courts as Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. By this clause Congress may, from time to time, establish inferior courts; but it is clearly a discretionary power, and they may not establish them. The language of the constitution is very different when regulations are not left discretional. For example, "The trial," says the constitution, "of all crimes '(except in cases of impeachment) shall be by jury: representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned according to numbers. All revenue bills shall originate in the House of Representatives,'" &c. It would, therefore, in my opinion, be a perversion, not only of language, but of intellect, to say, that although Congress may, from time to time, establish inferior courts, yet, when established, that they shall not be abolished by a subsequent Congress possessing equal powers. It would be a paradox in legislation.

2d. As to the judges. The Judiciary Department is so constructed as to be sufficiently secured against the improper influence of either the Executive or Legislative Departments. The courts were organized and established by the Legislature, and the Executive creates the judges. Being thus organized, the constitution affords the proper checks to secure their honesty and independence in office. It declares they shall not be removed from office during good behavior; nor their salaries diminished during their continuance in office. From this it results, that a judge, after his appointment, is totally out of the power of the President, and his salary secured against legislative diminution, during his continuance in office. The first of these checks, which protects a judge in his office during good behavior, applies to the President only, who would otherwise have possessed the power of removing him, like all other officers, at pleasure; and the other check, forbidding a diminution of their salaries, applies to the Legislature only. They are two separate and distinct checks, furnished by the constitution against two distinct departments of the Government; and they are the only ones which are or ought to have been furnished on the subject.

But because the constitution declares that a judge shall hold his office during good behavior, can it be tortured to mean, that he shall hold his office after it is abolished? Can it mean, that his tenure should be limited by behaving well in an office which did not exist? Can it mean that an office may exist, although its duties are extinct? Can it mean, in short, that the shadow, to wit, the judge, can remain, when the substance, to wit, the office, is removed? It must have intended all these absurdities, or it must admit a construction which will avoid them.

The construction obviously is, that a judge should hold an existing office, so long as he did his duty in that office; and not that he should hold an office that did not exist, and perform duties not provided by law. Had the construction which I contend against been contemplated by those who framed the constitution, it would have been necessary to have declared, explicitly, that the judges should hold their offices and their salaries during good behavior.

Let me not be told, sir, that the salaries in the present case are inconsiderable, and ought not to be withheld; and that the doctrine is not a dangerous one. I answer, it is the principle I contend against; and if it is heterodox for one dollar, it is equally so for a million. But I contend the principle, if once admitted, may be extended to destructive lengths. Suppose it should hereafter happen, that those in power should combine to provide handsomely for their friends, could any way so plain, easy, and effectual, present itself, as by creating courts, and filling them with those friends? Might not sixty as well as sixteen, with salaries of twenty thousand, instead of two thousand dollars, be provided for in this way?

There is another difficulty under this construction still to encounter, and which also grows out of the constitution: By the constitution, a new State may be formed by the junction of two or more States, with their assent and that of Congress. If this doctrine, once a judge and always a judge, be correct, what would you do in such an event, with the district judges of the States who formed that junction? Both would be unnecessary, and you would have, in a single State, two judges of equal and concurrent jurisdiction; or one a real judge, with an office, and another a quasi judge, without an office. The States also forming such junction, would be equally embarrassed with their State judges; for the same construction would be equally applicable to them.

Upon this construction, also, an infallibility is predicated, which it would be arrogance in any human institution to assume, and which goes to cut up legislation by the roots. We would be debarred from that which is indulged to us from a higher source, and on subjects of higher concern than legislation; I mean a retraction from and correction of our errors. On all other subjects of legislation we are allowed, it seems, to change our minds, except on judiciary subjects, which, of all others, are the most complex and difficult. I appeal to our own statute book to prove this difficulty: for in ten years Congress have passed no less than twenty-six laws on this subject.

Mr. J. MASON, of Massachusetts, said, it would be agreed on all hands that this was one of the most important questions that ever came before a Legislature. Were he not of this opinion he would not have risen to offer his sentiments. But he felt so deep an interest in the question, and from the respect which he entertained for the district of country he represented, he deemed it his duty to meet the subject, and not be satisfied with giving to it his silent negative.

The constitution, in the construction of the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary Departments, had assigned to each a different tenure. The President was chosen for four years; the Senate for six years, subject to a prescribed rotation biennially; the House of Representatives for two years; and the Judiciary during good behavior. It says to the President, at the expiration of every four years, you shall revert to the character of a private citizen, however splendid your talents or conspicuous your virtue. Why? Because you have assigned to you powers which it is dangerous to exercise. You have the power of creating offices and officers. You have prerogatives. The temptation to an abuse of your power is great. Such has been the uniform experience of ages. The constitution holds the same language to the Senate and House of Representatives: It says, it is necessary for the good of society that you also should revert at short periods to the mass of the people, because to you are consigned the most important duties of Government, and because you hold the purse-strings of the nation.

To the Judiciary: What is the language applied to them? The judges are not appointed for two, four, or any given number of years; but they hold their appointments for life, unless they misbehave themselves. Why? For this reason: They are not the depositaries of the high prerogatives of Government. They neither appoint to office, nor hold the purse-strings of the country, nor legislate for it. They depend entirely upon their talents, which is all they have to recommend them. They cannot, therefore, be disposed to pervert their power to improper purposes. What are their duties? To expound and apply the laws. To do this with fidelity and skill, requires a length of time. The requisite knowledge is not to be procured in a day. These are the plain and strong reasons which must strike every mind, for the different tenure by which the judges hold their offices, and they are such as will eternally endure wherever liberty exists.

On examination, it will be found that the people, in forming their constitution, meant to make the judges as independent of the Legislature as of the Executive. Because the duties which they have to perform, call upon them to expound not only the laws, but the constitution also; in which is involved the power of checking the Legislature in case it should pass any laws in violation of the constitution. For this reason it was more important that the judges in this country should be placed beyond the control of the Legislature, than in other countries where no such power attaches to them.

The constitution says: "The Judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office."

Thus it says, "the judges shall hold their offices during good behavior." How can this direction of the constitution be complied with, if the Legislature shall, from session to session, repeal the law under which the office is held, and remove the office? He did not conceive that any words, which human ingenuity could devise, could more completely get over the remarks that had been made by the gentleman from Kentucky. But that gentleman says, that this provision of the constitution applies exclusively to the President. He considers it as made to supersede the powers of the President to remove the judges. But could this have been the contemplation of the framers of the constitution, when even the right of the President to remove officers at pleasure, was a matter of great doubt, and had divided in opinion our most enlightened citizens. Not that he stated this circumstance because he had doubts. He thought the President ought to have the right; but it did not emanate from the constitution; was not expressly found in the constitution, but sprang from Legislative construction.

Besides, if Congress have the right to repeal the whole of the law, they must possess the right to repeal a section of it. If so, they may repeal the law so far as it applies to a particular district, and thus get rid of an obnoxious judge. They may remove his office from him. Would it not be absurd still to say, that the removed judge held his office during good behavior?

The constitution says: "The judges shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office." Why this provision? Why guard against the power to deprive the judges of their pay in a diminution of it, and not provide against what was more important, their existence?

Still, if the gentlemen would not agree with him as to the unconstitutionality of the measure proposed, he would ask, was it expedient? Were there not great doubts existing throughout the United States? Ought not each gentleman to say, though I may have no doubts or hesitancy, are not a large portion of our citizens of opinion that it would violate the constitution? If this diversity of sentiment exists, ought not the evils under the judiciary law to be very great before we touch it? Ought we not to aim at harmonizing, instead of dividing our citizens? Was not the constitution a sacred instrument; an instrument ever to be approached with reverence; an instrument which ought not lightly to be drawn from its hallowed retreat, and subjected to the flux and reflux of passion? But where is the evil complained of? This system was established only last session; scarcely had it been yet originated; scarcely had we tried it on its very threshold; where then the necessity of being so pointed, as to destroy a system scarcely formed three days ago? Does not this manifest precipitation? Will it not manifest more magnanimity, more rationality, to abide by it until we try it; instead of taking up a pen and dashing it out of existence?

Mr. MORRIS, of New York.--Mr. President, I am so very unfortunate, that the arguments in favor of the motion have confirmed my opinion that the law to which it refers ought not to be repealed. The honorable mover has rested his proposition on two grounds:

1st. That the judiciary law passed last session is unnecessary; and,

2dly. That we have a right to repeal it, and ought to exercise that right.

Gentlemen say, recur to the ancient system. What is the ancient system? Six judges of the Supreme Court to ride the circuit of America twice a year, and sit twice a year at the seat of Government. Without inquiring into the accuracy of a statement made by the gentleman respecting the courts of England, in which, I apprehend, he will find himself deceived, let me ask what would be the effects of the old system here? Cast an eye over the extent of our country, and a moment's consideration will show that the First Magistrate, in selecting a character for the bench, must seek less the learning of a judge than the agility of a post-boy. Can it be possible that men advanced in years, (for such alone can have the maturity of judgment fitting for the office;) that men educated in the closet--men who, from their habits of life, must have more strength of mind than of body; is it, I say, possible that such men can be running from one end of the continent to the other? Or, if they could, can they find time to hear and decide causes? I have been told by men of eminence on the bench, that they could not hold their offices under the old arrangement.

What is the present system? You have added to the old judges seven district and sixteen circuit judges. What will be the effect of the desired repeal? Will it not be a declaration to the remaining judges that they hold their offices subject to your will and pleasure? And what will be the result of this? It will be, that the check established by the constitution, wished for by the people, and necessary in every contemplation of common sense, is destroyed. It had been said, and truly, too, that Governments are made to provide against the follies and vices of men. For to suppose that Governments rest upon reason is a pitiful solecism. If mankind were reasonable, they would want no Government. Hence, checks are required in the distribution of the power among those who are to exercise it for the benefit of the people. Did the people of America vest all power in the Legislature? No; they had vested in the judges a check intended to be efficient--a check of the first necessity, to prevent an invasion of the constitution by unconstitutional laws--a check which might prevent any faction from intimidating or annihilating the tribunals themselves.

On this ground, said Mr. MORRIS, I stand to arrest the victory meditated over the constitution of my country; a victory meditated by those who wish to prostrate that constitution for the furtherance of their own ambitious views. Not of him who had recommended this measure, nor of those who now urge it; for, on his uprightness and their uprightness, I have the fullest reliance; but of those in the background who have further and higher objects. These troops that protect the outworks are to be first dismissed. Those posts which present the strongest barriers are first to be taken, and then the constitution becomes an easy prey.

Let us then, secondly, consider whether we have constitutionally a power to repeal this law. [Here Mr. MORRIS quoted the third article and first section of the constitution.] I have heard a verbal criticism about the words shall and may, which appeared the more unnecessary to me, as the same word, shall, is applied to both members of the section. For it says: "the judicial power, &c. shall be vested in one Supreme Court and such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish." The Legislature, therefore, had, without doubt, the right of determining, in the first instance, what inferior courts should be established; but when established, the words are imperative, a part of the judicial power shall vest in them. And "the judges shall hold their offices during good behavior." They shall receive a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Therefore, whether the remarks be applied to the tenure of office, or the quantum of compensation, the constitution is equally imperative. After this exposition, gentlemen are welcome to any advantage to be derived from the criticism on shall and may.

MONDAY, January 11.

Apportionment Bill.

The Apportionment bill, as received from the House of Representatives, was taken up. This bill fixes the ratio of representation at one member for every 33,000 persons in each State.

Mr. WELLS moved to strike out 33,000, his object being to introduce 30,000, for which he assigned his reasons at some length.

On this motion a debate of some length ensued, in which the provisions of the bill as they stood were supported by Messrs. JACKSON, MASON, WRIGHT, and COCKE; and opposed by Messrs. WELLS and HILLHOUSE.

Mr. WHITE, of Delaware.--Believing as I do, sir, that the minds of gentlemen on this floor are thoroughly made up as to the present subject, and that any observations now to be offered will not influence a single vote, but merely occupy the time of the Senate to no useful purpose, I shall ask your indulgence but a few moments. I cannot, sir, sit quietly and see this bill reported by your committee, meditating as it certainly does a manifest injury to the State I have the honor in part to represent, pass into a law, without doing more than oppose to it a silent negative; without holding up my voice and protesting most solemnly against the extreme injustice of the measure. If, sir, this bill passes in its present shape, there will be left in the State of Delaware twenty-eight thousand eight hundred and eleven people unrepresented in the popular branch of their Legislature. Gentlemen may say, that this is only a fraction, and that in a general apportionment of representation, fractional numbers are unavoidable. Sir, I acknowledge it is only a fraction, but it is a fraction that includes one-half the population of that State, and amounts, even upon the present contemplated plan, to within four thousand of the number sufficient to gain another Representative. Sir, twenty-eight or thirty thousand would, to one of the large States, be an inconsiderable fraction. Apportion that number, for instance, among the twenty-one Representatives from Virginia, and you give to each member but a fraction of about thirteen hundred; whereas from Delaware, there will be but one representative, and over and above his legal number a fraction of near twenty-nine thousand people unrepresented. Is this fair, sir? Is this equitable? I ask, gentlemen, is it not unfriendly and wrongful? And can it be possible, sir, that the transcendent omnipotence of a majority have fated, if I may use the expression, this injustice upon a sister State? Suppose, sir, Delaware to have but one Representative and Virginia twenty, a fraction of five thousand to the former is equal to a redundant number of one hundred thousand to the latter; or take, sir, the present case, and you will find that the fraction of twenty-nine thousand in the State of Delaware, apportioned upon the representation, is at least equal to a redundant number in the State of Virginia of three hundred thousand. If, sir, the divisor is fixed at thirty thousand, Delaware will have two Representatives; her weight, then, in the other House, will, in relation to Virginia, be as one to twelve, but if she is compelled to submit to the divisor of thirty-three thousand, you allow her but one Representative; you deny her nearly one-half her rightful influence, and place her on the floor of the House of Representatives in a relative situation toward Virginia, as one to twenty-one. Sir, an additional Representative to any of the larger States is not of the same consequence as another would be to Delaware. To Virginia, for instance, one is but the twentieth part of her force, to Delaware it would be one-half her force. Gentlemen may say that Delaware is the smallest State; but let it be remembered, sir, that her rights are equally sacred with those of the largest States; and although her citizens are not so numerous, yet, sir, their State sovereignty and other constitutional rights are quite as dear and valuable to them, as the blessing can be to any other people; and, let me add, sir, she is among the oldest States; her history travels back through the bloody scenes of your Revolution; she dates her era at your Declaration of Independence, and I am proud to say, and can do so without detracting from her neighbors, in proportion to her population, her resources, and extent, during the severe contest for American liberty, she contributed, in blood and treasure, as freely to its support and permanent establishment, as any State in the Union.

Sir, the doctrine urged by some gentlemen that the divisor of thirty thousand will increase the House of Representatives to a body too large and unwieldy for the convenient and ordinary purposes of business, seems to me totally without foundation. The observation and experience of every man must be sufficient at once to satisfy him that this cannot be the consequence; we have before our eyes, sir, examples that prove directly the reverse. This divisor will give to your House of Representatives but one hundred and fifty-seven members; the State of Virginia has in the popular branch of her Legislature one hundred and eighty members, and we have not been told that it is too numerous. The British House of Commons, before the union with Ireland, consisted of about five hundred and fifty members, and we heard no complaint of the numbers; on the contrary, sir, the nation wished a fuller representation; and it is from that House, too, sir, that, according to this logic, must be so extremely riotous and disorderly, we have drawn most of the rules that govern the proceedings of this honorable body.

Again, sir, the nature and spirit of your Government requires a full representation in the Legislature. It is a Government that must depend alone for its support upon the affections of the people; and the best security for their affections is to extend to them, upon as large a scale as comports with the public safety, the freedom of choice, and right of representation. In so extensive a country as this, many parts of which are thinly inhabited, and the election districts consequently including vast tracts of territory, it must often happen that the electors are entirely unacquainted with the person for whom they vote; but if you increase the representation, you reduce the size of the election districts; you bring the candidate within the very neighborhood of the electors; they see him, they know him; they are better enabled to estimate truly his character, and judge of his capacity and disposition to serve them. This, sir, will secure in a great degree, the constituent from imposition, and attach to the Representative a higher and more immediate responsibility; it will inspire the people with confidence in your Government, and induce them more cheerfully to acquiesce in your laws. But, above all, sir, the divisor of thirty thousand leaves throughout the United States a less aggregate of unrepresented fractions than any divisor you can take; less, permit me to say, sir, by one hundred and sixteen thousand, than the one contemplated in the bill; and I am sure gentlemen on all sides of the House wish the country as fairly represented as possible. To my mind this is a most conclusive argument in favor of the divisor of thirty thousand.

The question was now taken on the motion to strike out 33,000, and lost--ayes 11, noes 15.

Mr. MORRIS then moved, and Mr. TRACY seconded the motion to add, after "one representative for every 33,000," the words "and one representative for every fractional number of 27,000 persons." The number 27,000 was used to avoid a violation of the constitution, which prohibits the allotting to each State more representatives than one for every 30,000. Thus, in the case of Delaware, the ratio being 33,000, Delaware would be entitled to one member for 33,000, and one for the fraction of 27,000: both which numbers would amount to 60,000; which last number entitled a State to two members without violating the constitution. This motion was opposed by Messrs. WRIGHT and ANDERSON, and was lost--ayes 10, noes 15.

On the question to agree to the final passage of this bill, it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 23, nays 5, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Breckenridge, Brown, Chipman, Cocke, Colhoun, Dayton, Ellery, T. Foster, Dwight Foster, Franklin, Howard, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Sheafe, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

NAYS.--Messrs. Hillhouse, Olcott, Tracy, Wells, and White.

The bill was then read a third time, and passed.

TUESDAY, January 12

Judiciary System.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion made on the 6th instant, "That the act of Congress passed on the 13th day of February, 1801, entitled 'An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States,' ought to be repealed."

Mr. JACKSON, of Georgia.--I rise with an impression of awe on the present question; for we must tread on constitutional ground, which should not be lightly touched on, nor too hastily decided. Every step we take ought to be well examined, and our minds convinced before we give that vote which cannot be recalled, and which will fix a principle on Legislative construction, which, perhaps, will prevail as long as we remain a nation.

In the early stage of this discussion, I had almost determined to say nothing, and am at present determined not to say much; but a justification of the vote I shall give, has impelled me to offer my reasons for it to the State I represent; and I have made up my mind, decidedly, to vote for the resolution before you, if I cannot be otherwise convinced.

We have been asked, if we are afraid of having an army of judges? For myself, I am more afraid of an army of judges, under the patronage of the President, than of an army of soldiers. The former can do us more harm. They may deprive us of our liberties, if attached to the Executive, from their decisions; and from the tenure of office contended for, we cannot remove them; while the soldier, however he may act, is enlisted, or if not enlisted, only subsisted for two years; whilst the judge is enlisted for life, for his salary cannot be taken from him. [See 12th division, 8th Section, 1st Art. Constitution.] Sir, it is said these evils will not happen. But what security have we for the truth of the declaration? Have we not seen sedition laws? Have we not heard judges crying out through the land sedition! and asking those whose duty it was to inquire, is there no sedition here? It is true, the sedition law had expired with the last Administration, and he trusted it would not exist, or at least be acted on, under the virtuous Jefferson. But hereafter, if it should exist, your judges, under the cry of sedition and political heresy, may place half your citizens in irons. I thank God, that no such law now exists, or is likely to exist. I thank God, that we are not now under the influence of an intolerant clergy, as is evident from their abuse of the President; and that we are not under dread of the patronage of judges, is manifest, from their attack on the Secretary of State. And I trust, that we shall long keep this patronage off, by not sanctioning the religious persecution of the clergy on the one hand, nor the political violence of the judges on the other.

But, upon the principles of gentlemen, the law which creates a judge cannot be touched. The moment it is passed, it exists to the end of time. What is the implication of this doctrine? To alter or amend what may greatly require alteration or amendment, it is necessary to return to the creator, and to inquire what this creator is. My principle is, that the creator is the people themselves; that very people of the United States whom the gentleman from New York had declared ourselves to be the guardians of, to save the people themselves from their greatest enemies; and to save whom from destroying themselves he had invoked this House. Good God! is it possible that I have heard such a sentiment in this body? Rather should I have expected to have heard it sounded from the despots of Turkey, or the deserts of Siberia, than to have heard it uttered by an enlightened legislator of a free country, and on this floor.

I am clearly, therefore, of opinion, that if the power to alter the Judiciary system vests not here, it vests nowhere. It follows, from the ideas of gentlemen, that we must submit to all the evils of the present system, though it should exhibit all the horrors of the Inquisition.

But, said Mr. J., gentlemen say the United States embrace a vast extent of territory, from fifteen to seventeen thousand miles in length. What is the inevitable deduction to be drawn from this fact? Why, that a system which is to apply to this extent of country, embracing different laws and different habits, will require frequent alterations: whereas, if we are tied down to a system of inferior tribunals once formed, we cannot even touch the plan of the Judicial system of the little District of Columbia. Nor can we touch the inferior jurisdictions in the North-western Territory, nor in the Mississippi Territory, in both of which the systems were acknowledged to be adapted only to present circumstances, and in the last of which the rights of Georgia were implicated. It follows, that whatever these rights may be, the system is sacred; and, as to the Mississippi Territory, if grounded on this doctrine, notwithstanding the claim of Georgia, her jurisdiction is totally lost. To revert to the sedition law. If the doctrine supported now were true, then, had the sedition law been incorporated as a system by itself, an inferior tribunal, and officers been attached to it, would it have been perpetually tacked to the constitution? That law under which so many of our citizens have been imprisoned for writings and speakings; and one, among others, for wishing that the wadding of a gun had been lodged in a certain Presidential part.

The gentleman had dwelt on the inconveniences and evils of the old system, and had particularly condemned that part of it, which, as he termed it, had converted the judges into post-boys. But I will appeal to the gentleman, if in England, where so much more business is done, there are more than twelve judges, and whether those judges do not ride the circuit? And why shall our judges not ride the circuits? Shall we have six judges sitting here to decide cases which require a knowledge of the laws, the morals, the habits, the state of the property of the several States? Would not this knowledge be much better obtained by their riding the circuits, and in the States themselves, making themselves acquainted with whatever relates to them, and the cases of appeals to come before them? It has been remarked by a celebrated writer on the English Constitution, that one of the greatest political evils that could befall a people, was the existence of large judiciary bodies. To illustrate his ideas, he had instanced the Parliaments of France. If the spirit which last session gave existence to sixteen new judges continued, who could say by what number they would be limited? They might indeed soon become, what they had been likened to, an army of judges.

I do not wish to be severe in my remarks on the conduct of the late Administration. I admire the private character of Mr. Adams. But I do believe the succession of his political acts tended ultimately to accumulate in, and attach all powers to, a particular person or favorite family.

If I wished to bestow on Mr. Jefferson this mass of patronage, which I contend this horde of officers bestows, I should be in favor of the bill that it is now moved to repeal; but, as a political person, I am no more for Thomas Jefferson than for John Adams. When he acts, according to my opinion, right, I will support him; when wrong, oppose him; and I trust a majority on this floor will act in the same way.

Mr. TRACY, of Connecticut.--Feeble as I am, I have thought it my duty to offer my sentiments on this subject. Owing to severity of indisposition, I have not been in my place, nor have I heard any of the discussion. This circumstance will be my apology, if, in the remarks I shall make, repetitions shall occur on the one hand, and apparent inattention to arguments on the other.

Having been a member of this Government during several years, and being impressed with the difficulties attending the formation of a judiciary system, I have thought proper to give a concise history of Legislative proceedings on this important subject. Permit me to say, sir, that the first institution of such a system must be an experiment. It is impossible to ascertain, until tried, the effects of a system co-extensive with the vast territory of the United States, and which ought to be adapted to the different laws and habits of the different States.

Soon after the first law was enacted, as early as the year 1793, and I believe sooner, complaints were made of the system of circuit courts. The Union then being divided into three circuits, and two of the six judges were obliged to attend each court, if one judge failed, all the business of course was continued to the next term. Judges complained of the distance they had to travel, and suitors and lawyers complained of delays. In 1793, if my memory is correct, the law passed allowing one judge to attend with the district judge in each district, with some other modifications not important in the present view of the subject. If, by reason of distance, badness of roads, sickness, or any other accident, this one judge failed of attendance, or if he and the district judge differed on any point, a delay was occasioned. If the same judge attended the same circuit at the next term, another delay, and so on, till experience taught us, that some alteration in the system was requisite. It will be recollected, that the judges had to travel over this extensive country twice in each year, and to encounter the extremes of both heat and cold. Of this they complained; but this was not all; the business was not done.

Although this subject had been recommended before, and committees had contemplated a revision and alteration of the system, I do not remember that a bill had ever been presented to either House of Congress until 1799. In that session, a bill was reported similar in its features to the act which passed last session. It might have been acted upon in the House of Representatives; of this, however, I am not confident; but I recollect it was printed, and the members of both Houses had it before them; and at the last session, with some alterations and amendments, it was enacted into a law. I believe all parties wished for a revision and amendment of the system, in respect to circuit courts; the difference of opinion was principally this: some supposed an increase of the Judges of the Supreme Court to such a number as would render the duties of the circuit practicable for them, and provide for the completion of business, would be the best amendment; the others thought the law, as it passed, was preferable.

I acknowledge, that in deliberating upon this subject, we always assumed the principle, that the establishment of courts was important to protect the rights of the people; we did not fear an army of judges, as has been hinted by the gentleman last up, (Mr. JACKSON.) In this opinion we might be mistaken, but we were honest in our professions. Although some believed, that more of the business of the United States might be confided to the State courts; yet it is not within my recollection, that the question was considered, in any measure; a party question. I am confident, that at the session of 1799, and for a long time before that, the friends of this law, which eventually passed last winter, could not, nor did not, contemplate any change of administration. A revision of the system was long a subject of deliberation; we believed an increase of circuit judges, to the number requisite to perform the duties, would be an inconvenient increase of the Supreme Court; and though it was desirable for the Judges of the Supreme Court to see the people and be seen of them, yet the preference was given to the system now proposed to be repealed. We supposed it would be an evil to increase the number of Judges of the Supreme Court to thirteen, fifteen, or seventeen. A court which is to act together, should not be numerous; on this subject, all men have agreed; here may be danger of an "army of judges," as the gentleman says; for although in Great Britain the twelve judges are sometimes called to give an opinion, yet no man will feel equal confidence in a tribunal of judges for the business of a court, consisting of many as of few; from three to five, the good sense and experience of all nations, has declared to be about the proper number; and we thought it conducive to the general good, to establish tribunals in such manner as to carry justice to the door of every man.

Is this system so very vicious, that it deserves nothing but abhorrence and destruction? It costs us a little more than thirty thousand dollars, and by it the number of circuit judges is increased to sixteen; and by it likewise is contemplated reducing the number of supreme judges to five, when it can constitutionally be done. Is the expense an object, when by that expense, we extend the jurisdiction of a court over this vastly extensive, growing country, and carry law and protection to every man? This country is in a singular condition; a great tract of unsettled lands is peopling with rapidity, and numerous emigrations increase our population far beyond its natural increase; is it not of importance that courts should be located among them, early, to correct the restless spirit which is frequent in new and scattered settlements? And are not the emigrations composed of such as require the prompt assistance of the law, to preserve among them regularity? Punishment, to us, and to all good men, should be a strange work; but to prevent crimes, is the work of a God. I speak to gentlemen, who have many of them graced the judge's bench, and adorned the professional robe they have worn, and am therefore not obliged to be particular that I may be understood; a word to the wise will be sufficient. A judiciary, in a national point of view, is absolutely necessary, and an extension of it to every national purpose, is equally necessary. To depend upon State courts, not under obligations, nor amenable to you, besides having as much business allotted to them by the respective States as they can accomplish, and depending, upon them, and not on us, for existence--will require only to be mentioned, to be exploded. Locating your judges in various parts of the country, by them promulgating the national laws, which it is well known has been a subject of great difficulty, and giving them daily opportunity of mixing with people, not well disposed to order and law; may prevent disorders and insurrections, and save millions of expense, which pecuniary saving will be the least of the important events arising from such a system.

But there is another objection to the repeal of the judiciary law, which in my mind is conclusive: I mean the letter and spirit of the constitution.

In the formation of every Government, in which the people have a share in its administration, some established and indisputable principles must be adopted. In our Government, the formation of a Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary power, is one of the incontrovertible principles; and that each should be independent of the other, so far as human frailty will permit, is equally incontrovertible. Will it be expected, that I should quote Sidney, De Lolme, Montesquieu, and a host of elementary writers, to prove this assertion? There is, probably, no conflict of opinion upon this subject. When we look into our constitution of Government, we shall find, in every part of it, a close and undeviating attention to this principle. Our particular form is singular in its requirements; that full force and operation be given to this all-important principle. Our powers are limited, many acts of sovereignty are prohibited to the National Government, and retained by the States; and many restraints are imposed upon State sovereignty. If either, by accident or design, should exceed its powers, there is the utmost necessity that some timely checks, equal to every exigency, should be interposed. The Judiciary is established by the constitution for that valuable purpose.

In the British Government, the Legislature is omnipotent to every legislative effect, and is a perpetual convention for almost every constitutional purpose. Hence it is easy to discern the different parts which must be assigned to the Judiciary in the two kinds of government. In England, the Executive has the most extensive powers; the sword or the military force; the right of making war, and in effect the command of all the wealth of the nation, with an unqualified veto to every legislative act. It is, therefore, rational for that nation to preserve their judiciary completely independent of their Sovereign. In the United States, the caution must be applied to the existing danger; the Judiciary are to be a check on the Executive, but most emphatically to the Legislature of the Union, and those of the several States. What security is there to an individual, if the Legislature of the Union, or any particular State, should pass a law, making any of his transactions criminal which took place anterior to the date of the law? None in the world, but by an appeal to the Judiciary of the United States, where he will obtain a decision that the law itself is unconstitutional and void, or by a resort to revolutionary principles, and exciting a civil war. With a view to those principles, and knowing that the framers of our constitution were fully possessed of them, let us examine the instrument itself. Article third, section first: "The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior; and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office." Are there words in the English language more explicit? Is there any condition annexed to the judge's tenure of office, other than good behavior? Of whom shall your judges be independent? We are led to an erroneous decision on this, as well as many other governmental subjects, by constantly recurring to Great Britain. That their courts should be independent of their Sovereign, is an important object; he is the fountain of honor and power, and can do no wrong; our President, at least for several years past, has been considered as the fountain of dishonor and weakness, and if there was any maxim upon the subject, it was that he could do no right. Of course the great object of the independence of the Judiciary must here have reference not only to our Executive, but our Legislature. The Legislature with us is the fountain of power. No person will say that the Judges of the Supreme Court can be removed, unless by impeachment and conviction of misbehavior; but the judges of the inferior courts, as soon as ordained and established, are placed upon precisely the same grounds of independence with the Judges of the Supreme Court. Congress may take their own time to ordain and establish, but the instant that is done, all the rights of independence attach to them.

If this reasoning is correct, can you repeal a law establishing an inferior court, under the constitution? Will it be said, that although you cannot remove the judge from office, yet you can remove his office from him? Is murder prohibited, and may you shut a man up, and deprive him of sustenance, till he dies, and this not be denominated murder? The danger in our Government is, and always will be, that the Legislative body will become restive, and, perhaps, unintentionally break down the barriers of our constitution. It is incidental to man, and a part of our imperfections, to believe that power may be safely lodged in our hands. We have the wealth of the nation at command, and are invested with almost irresistible strength; the Judiciary has neither force nor wealth to protect itself. That we can, with propriety, modify our judiciary system, so that we always leave the Judges independent, is a correct and reasonable position; but if we can, by repealing a law, remove them, they are in the worst state of dependence.

WEDNESDAY, January 13.

The Judiciary System.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion made on the 6th inst. that the act of Congress passed on the 13th day of February, 1801, entitled "An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States," ought to be repealed.

Mr. MASON, of Virginia.--I feel some degree of embarrassment in offering my sentiments on a subject so fully and so ably discussed. I believe that the ground taken by my friend from Kentucky has not been shaken by any arguments urged in opposition to the resolution on the table. Yet as some observations have been made, calculated to excite sensibility, not here, but abroad; as they appear to have been made with a view to that end; and as an alarm has been attempted to be excited on constitutional ground, I think the observations ought not to go unnoticed.

I agree with gentlemen, that it is important, in a well-regulated government, that the judicial department should be independent. But I have never been among those who have carried this idea to the extent which seems at this day to be fashionable. Though of opinion that each department ought to discharge its proper duties free from the fear of the others, yet I have never believed that they ought to be independent of the nation itself. Much less have I believed it proper, or that our constitution authorizes our courts of justice to control the other departments of the Government.

All the departments of a popular government must depend, in some degree, on popular opinion. None can exist without the affections of the people, and if either be placed in such a situation as to be independent of the nation, it will soon lose that affection which is essential to its durable existence.

Without, however, going into an inquiry of what kind of organization is most fit for our tribunals; without inquiring into the fitness of making the judges independent for life, I am willing to enter into a consideration, not of what ought to be, but of what is. Whatever opinion I may individually entertain of the provisions of the constitution relative to the Judiciary, sitting here under that constitution, I am bound to observe it as the charter under which we are assembled.

When I view the provisions of the constitution on this subject, I observe a clear distinction between the Supreme Court and other courts. I am sensible that when we come to make verbal criticisms, any gentleman of a sportive imagination may amuse our fancies by a play upon words. But this is not the way to get rid of a genuine construction of the constitution. With regard to the institution of the Supreme Court, the words are imperative; while, with regard to inferior tribunals, they are discretionary. The first shall, the last may be established. And surely we are to infer from the wise sages that formed that constitution, that nothing was introduced into it in vain. Not only sentences, but words, and even points, elucidate its meaning. When, therefore, the constitution, using this language, says a Supreme Court shall be established, are we not justified in considering it as of constitutional creation? And on the other hand, from the language applied to inferior courts, are we not justified in considering their establishment as dependent upon the Legislature, who may, from time to time, ordain them, as the public good requires? Can any other meaning be applied to the words "from time to time?" And nothing can be more important on this subject than that the Legislature should have power, from time to time, to create, to annul, or to modify the courts, as the public good may require, not merely to-day, but for ever; and whenever a change of circumstances may suggest the propriety of a different organization. On this point, there is great force in the remark of the gentleman from Georgia, that among the enumerated powers given to Congress, while there is no mention made of the Supreme Court, the power of establishing inferior courts is expressly given. Why this difference, but that the Supreme Court was considered by the framers of the constitution, as established by the constitution, while they considered the inferior courts as dependent upon the will of the Legislature.

If the arguments now urged be correct, that a court once established cannot be vacated, we are led into the greatest absurdities. Congress might deem it expedient to establish a court for particular purposes, limited as to its objects or duration. For instance: the United States has taken possession of the Mississippi Territory, rightfully or not, I will not pretend to say. This territory has been heretofore in the hands of various masters, viz: France, England, Spain, and Georgia; and it is now possessed by the United States. All these Governments, except the United States, made certain grants of lands in the territory, and certain settlers spread their conflicting patents over the country. These different titles will open a wide field for litigation, which will require able tribunals to decide upon. Suppose, then, Congress should establish special tribunals to continue for three, four, or five years, to settle these claims. Judges would be appointed. They would be the judges of an inferior court. If the construction of the constitution now contended for be established, what would the judges say, when the period for which they were appointed expired? Would they not say, we belong to inferior courts? Would they not laugh at you when you told them their term of office was out? Would they not say, in the language of the gentleman from New York, though the law that creates us is temporary, we are in by the constitution? Have we not heard this doctrine supported in the memorable case of the mandamus, lately before the Supreme Court? Was it not there said that, though the law had a right to establish the office of a justice of the peace, yet it had not a right to abridge its duration to five years; that it was right in making the justices, but unconstitutional in limiting their periods of office; that, being a judicial officer, he had a right to hold his office during life--or, what is the same thing--during good behavior, in despite of the law which created him, and, in the very act of creation, limiting his official life to five years.

I may notice another case, more likely to happen, to show the absurdity of this construction. Congress have assumed jurisdiction over the Mississippi Territory, and have established a court, composed of three judges, which court is as much an inferior court as the circuit or district courts. Of this jurisdiction Georgia denies the validity. The contest is in a train of settlement. Suppose it shall turn out that the United States are convinced of the injustice of their claim, relinquish it, and restore the territory to Georgia, what becomes of the judges? Their offices, their duties, are gone! Yet they will tell you, we are vested with certain constitutional rights, of which you cannot deprive us. It is true the territory is no longer yours. You have no jurisdiction, we have no power, yet we are judges by the constitution. We hold our offices during good behavior, and we will behave well as long as you will let us. Is not this a strange situation? You have judges in a territory over which you have no jurisdiction; and you have officers which are perfect sinecures, pensioners for life. Such an absurdity I am sure the constitution never meant to justify. It is an absurdity equally repugnant to the letter and genius of the constitution.

But it would seem that the argument urged on this occasion, and the general course of our legislation, had been grounded more on the convenience and emoluments of those appointed to office, than on grounds of public utility. First, we appointed six judges of the Supreme Court, divided the United States into three circuits, two judges to ride each circuit, in which, with the district judge, to form a court. The law fixed the duties and the compensation, and gentlemen of the first character were ready to accept the places. The salaries indeed had been thought high; in some parts of the Union they were thought enormous. But a little time passed before they complained of the hardships of their duties; and the law was altered, not so much for the public good as for their personal convenience. Where two judges were required to hold a court, one was now declared sufficient. Thus you continued their full salaries, while you lopped off half their duties. Shortly after you assigned them, under the pension law, inconsiderable duties; and they refused to perform them. Thus, while they showed themselves ready to abate of their duties, they adhered to their salaries. Next came the law of last session, which takes away all their duties. It leaves them simply a court of appeals. And what have they got to do? To try ten suits; for such is the number now on their docket, as appears from a certificate just put into my hands; and the average number on their docket amounts to from eight to ten. Thus, for the trial of the immense number of eight or ten suits, you have six judges, one with a salary of four thousand, and five others with salaries of three thousand five hundred dollars each.

I fear, said Mr. M., that if you take away from these judges that which they ought officially to do, they will be induced, from the want of employment, to do that which they ought not to do; they may do harm. They may be induced, perhaps, to set about that work gentlemen seem so fond of. They may, as gentlemen have told us, hold the constitution in one hand, and the law in the other, and say to the departments of Government, so far you shall go and no farther. This independence of the Judiciary, so much desired, will, I fear, sir, if encouraged or tolerated, soon become something like supremacy. They will, indeed, form the main pillar of this goodly fabric; they will soon become the only remaining pillar, and they will presently become so strong as to crush and absorb all the others into their solid mass.

We, have been told, that no State in the Union has presumed to touch the Judiciary establishment, except the State of Maryland. I will not answer for others; but, with respect to Virginia, I will answer that she has touched it. Her constitutional provision for the independence of the judges is nearly similar to that of the United States, and yet she has established, modified, and entirely put down particular departments of her system.

Notwithstanding the remarks of gentlemen, I am inclined to think these ideas of the extreme independence of the judges, and the limited powers of the Legislature, are not very old, but that they are of modern origin, and have grown up since the last session of Congress. For, in the law passed last session, that very law which it is now proposed to repeal, is to be found a practical exposition in direct hostility with the principle now contended for, which does not betray that sacred regard for the office of a judge, that is, on this occasion, professed: in that very law will be found a clause which abolishes two district courts. The words of the twenty-fourth section say, expressly, "the district courts of Kentucky and Tennessee shall be and hereby are abolished." Will gentlemen tell this House how this express provision came into the act of the last session; and will they say, that though they voted for this law, yet no power exists in the Legislature to abolish a court? It is true, that it has been said that, though you put down two district courts, you promoted the officers, by increasing their salaries and making them judges of the circuit courts; but the fact is, you have abolished their offices; they are judges no longer of the districts of Kentucky and Tennessee; and they are to every purpose, whatever may be their name, in reality circuit judges. Though you have not lessened their salaries, you have deprived them of their offices. However, therefore, gentlemen may calculate as to the benefit or injury done these two judges, the principle is not affected by any result; their offices are gone. It is not enough to say, that though you destroyed their offices, you offered them others with higher salaries. You took away from them, in express terms, their offices, by abolishing the offices. You had stripped them of their offices, you had robbed them of their vested right, and then, to make friends, offered them a compensation; but whether the compensation thus offered for the deprivation they had suffered, was really equivalent to their loss, is a mere matter of calculation, and does not affect the constitutional principle. It is proper, however, to observe, that they were no parties to the proposed compromise, and that indeed they had no choice left them. They were obliged to accept of what you offered them, or have nothing. If they did not agree to become judges of the newly organized circuit courts, they could not remain judges of the district courts, for these courts were absolutely and completely abolished.

By the seventh section of the law of the last session, which transforms the district into circuit courts, which melts down the judges and recoins them, it is enacted, that there shall be a circuit court, composed of one new circuit judge and two old district judges, to be called the Sixth Circuit. Have you not then established a new office by the destruction of the old one? Have you not done more? Have you not violated the constitution, by declaring, by law, who shall fill this new office, though the constitution declares, article second, section two, "That the President shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint all officers which shall be established by law."

Where were these guardians of the constitution--these vigilant sentinels of our rights and liberties, when this law passed? Were they asleep on their post? Where was the gentleman from New York, who has, on this debate, made such a noble stand in favor of a violated constitution? Where was the Ajax Telamon of his party, or, to use his own more correct expression, the faction to which he belonged? Where was the hero with his seven-fold shield--not of bull's hide, but of brass--prepared to prevent or to punish this Trojan rape, which he now sees meditated upon the constitution of his country by a wicked faction? Where was Hercules, that he did not crush this den of robbers that broke into the sanctuary of the constitution? Was he forgetful of his duty? Were his nerves unstrung? Or was he the very leader of the band that broke down these constitutional ramparts?

I shall now, sir, trouble you with a few remarks on the expediency of repealing this law. It has been said, that there is nothing peculiarly disgustful in this law; that there has been no public clamor excited against it; that it was enacted with solemnity, on calm and deliberate reflection; and that time has not yet been given to test it by experience.

As no member, who has taken part in debate, was a member of this body when the law passed, I will say something of its history. I am not disposed to excite the sensibility of gentlemen, by any remarks which I shall make, or to call up unpleasant recollections of past scenes. But when I hear it said that this law was passed with calmness, after mature reflection, and that we are now, in a fit of passion, going to undo what was thus wisely done, I think it necessary that the public should have a correct statement.

It is true, that under the last Administration, when there existed (what I trust will never, in an equal degree, exist again,) an immoderate thirst for Executive patronage, a proposition was made to establish a new judiciary system; a system worse than the present; as it proposed, according to my recollection, thirty-eight judges instead of sixteen. This law was very near passing. It was, however, rejected in the House of Representatives by a very small majority. But it was circulated as a project of a law among the people. It was illy received. It was thought too rank a thing, and met with general disapprobation throughout the United States, so far as I have been able to learn. After this reception, it was softened down to the plan introduced at the last session. What temper accompanied the progress of the bill in the other House I know not, or, if I did know, would it be proper for me here to say? But with respect to the acts of this body, I am not of opinion they added any dignity to our common course of procedure. The bill was referred to a committee, who, although it was very long, reported it without any amendment. Various amendments were offered, some of which were admitted to be proper. But they were not received. One, indeed, proposed by a member from Connecticut, who was chairman of the committee, and was then hostile to the plan, did pass in the early stages of the bill, but on the third reading it was expunged. All amendments proposed by the minority were uniformly rejected by a steady, inflexible, and undeviating majority. I confess that I saw no passion, but I certainly did see great pertinacity; something like what the gentleman from Connecticut had termed a holding fast. No amendments were admitted; when offered, we were told, no; you may get them introduced by a rider or supplementary bill, or in any way you please; but down this bill must go; it must be crammed down your throats. This was not the precise phrase, but such was the amount of what was said.

I will say that not an argument was urged in favor of the bill, not a word to show the necessity or propriety of the change. Yet we are told that there was great dignity, great solemnity in its progress and passage!

But there is something undignified in thus hastily repealing this law! in thus yielding ourselves to the fluctuations of public opinion! So we are told!--But if there be blame, on whom does it fall? Not on us, who respected the public opinion when this law was passed, and who still respect it; but on those who, in defiance of public opinion, passed this law, after that public opinion had been decisively expressed. The revolution in public opinion had taken place before the introduction of this project; the people of the United States had determined to commit their affairs to new agents; already had the confidence of the people been transferred from their then rulers into other hands. After this exposition of the national will, and this new deposit of the national confidence, the gentlemen should have left untouched this important and delicate subject--a subject on which the people could not be reconciled to their views, even in the flood-tide of their power and influence; they should have forborne, till agents, better acquainted with the national will, because more recently constituted its organs, had come into the Government. This would have been more dignified than to seize the critical moment when power was passing from them, to pass such a law as this. If there is error, it is our duty to correct it; and the truth was, no law was ever more execrated by the public.

Let it not be said, postpone the repeal till the next session. No--let us restore those gentlemen to private life, who have accepted appointments under this law. This will be doing them greater justice, than by keeping them in office another year, till the professional business, which once attached to them, is gone into other channels.

Mr. STONE, of North Carolina.--Before entering into an examination of the expediency of the repeal, it may be proper to remark, that gentlemen who have spoken against the repeal, whose talents and eloquence I highly admire, have not correctly stated the question. The true question is, not whether we shall deprive the people of the United States of all their courts of justice, but whether we shall restore to them their former courts. Shall we, or shall we not, continue an experiment made, or attempted to be made, I will not say improperly, because my respect for this body and for my country, forbid the imputation; but I will say that the length of time we remained without this system, and the repeated ineffectual attempts made to establish it, present strong reasons for inferring that there are not those great apparent reasons in favor of it, that have been stated. A system somewhat similar to the present had been rejected by the Legislature, because they preferred the former system. Another evidence to the same purport is, that during the last session, when the subject was again revived, and the present plan adopted, an amendment was offered, to amend by extending and enlarging the former establishment.

[Here Mr. S. read the amendment proposed, which augmented the number of judges of the Supreme Court, and assigned their circuits.]

This amendment was rejected, and from the vote entered on the journal of that day, it appears that the difference of votes against the amendment was formed of those gentlemen who were nominated to appointments made vacant by the promotions under the new law. I do not state this circumstance as an evidence that these gentlemen were influenced by improper motives; but to show that the manner in which the new system was formed, was not calculated to establish, in the public mind, a decided preference of it over the old system. Having made these remarks on the great deliberation said to have been manifested in the adoption of this plan, I hope I may be permitted to express my perfect coincidence with the gentleman from Connecticut, that courts are necessary for the administration of justice, and that, without them, our laws would be a dead letter.

But it appears to me essential to the due administration of justice, that those who preside in our courts should be well acquainted with the laws which are to guide their decisions. And, I apprehend, that no way is so much calculated to impart this knowledge, as a practical acquaintance with them, by attending courts in the several States, and hearing gentlemen who are particularly acquainted with them, explain and discuss them. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary, in my mind, that the Judges of the Supreme Court, whose power controls all the other tribunals, and on whose decisions rest the property, the reputation, the liberty, and the lives of our citizens, should, by riding the circuit, render themselves practically acquainted with their duties. It is well known, that the knowledge of the laws of a State, is not to be suddenly acquired, and it is reasonable to conclude, that that knowledge is most correctly possessed by men whose whole lives have been devoted to the acquisition. It is also perfectly well known, that the knowledge of the modes and principles of practice in the different States, or of any State, is most effectually to be acquired in courts, where gentlemen of skill and experience apply those principles to use upon existing points.

This defect, then, of the present plan, is, in my opinion, so radical, that, of itself, it would decide, with me, the question of expediency.

To what source, then, shall we resort for a knowledge of what constitutes this thing, called misbehavior in office? The constitution, surely, did not intend that a circumstance so important as the tenure by which the judges hold their offices, should be incapable of being ascertained. Their misbehavior, certainly, is not an impeachable offence; still it is the ground upon which the judges are to be removed from office. The process of impeachment, therefore, cannot be the only one by which the judges may be removed from office, under, and according to the constitution. I take it, therefore, to be a thing undeniable, that there resides somewhere in the Government, a power to declare what shall amount to misbehavior in office, by the judges, and to remove them from office for the same, without impeachment. The constitution does not prohibit their removal by the Legislature, who have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the constitution in the Government of the United States. But, says the gentleman from New York, the judges are officers instituted by the constitution, to save the people from their greatest enemies, themselves; and therefore, they should be entirely independent of, and beyond the control of the Legislature. If such was the design of the wise men who framed and adopted the constitution, can it be presumed they would have provided so ineffectual a barrier, as these judges can readily be shown to be? It is allowed, on all hands, the Legislature may modify the courts; they may add judges, they may fix the times at which the courts shall sit, &c. Suppose the Legislature to have interests distinct from the people, and the judges to stand in the way of executing any favorite measure--can any thing be more easy than for the Legislature to declare that the courts, instead of being held semi-annually, or oftener, shall be held only once in six, eight, ten, or twenty years? Or, in order to free themselves from the opposition of the present Supreme Court, to declare, that court shall hereafter be held by thirteen judges. An understanding between the President and the Senate, would make it practicable to fill the new offices with men of different views and opinions from those now in office. And what, in either case, would become of this boasted protection of the people against themselves? I cannot conceive the constitution intended so feeble a barrier; a barrier so easily evaded.

It is not alone the sixteen rank and file, which the gentleman from New York has so ludicrously depicted, that I apprehend immediate danger from, but it is the principle which converts the office of judge into a hospital of incurables, and declares, that an expiring faction, after having lost the public confidence, may add to those sixteen, until they become sixteen hundred or sixteen thousand; and that the restored good sense of the Legislature, the whole Government and constitution, retains no means of casting them off, but by destroying itself, and resorting to revolutionary principles. The Legislature may repeal unnecessary taxes, may disband useless and expensive armies, may declare they will no longer be bound by the stipulations of an oppressive treaty; and if war should follow, the constitution is still safe. But if the construction which gentlemen contend for, be correct, a band of drones, to any amount in number, under the denomination of judges, may prey upon the substance of the people, and the Government retains not the power to remove them but by destroying the constitution itself.

THURSDAY, January 14.

Judiciary System.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion made on the 6th instant, that the act of Congress passed on the 13th day of February, 1801, entitled "An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States," ought to be repealed.

Mr. OLCOTT, of New Hampshire, said this subject was of the most important kind, and though many able arguments had been already offered, he could not pass it over with a silent vote.

It has been suggested that the act now proposed to be repealed, came in on the influx of passion, and that the influx of reason should sweep it away. He did not know that this was the case. Some gentlemen contend that it was adopted with great deliberation.

He thought the reasons for a repeal of this law insufficient. It is not said, that if the constitution vests a right to office in the judges, that we can affect them. He thought the constitution did vest the right, and he held it to be sacred.

The provisions of the constitution appeared to him so plain, that they scarcely admitted of illustration. He who undertakes to explain the text, must find more explicit terms than those contained in it. He could not find any.

After dwelling upon the different provisions of the constitution, Mr. O. went upon the question of expediency, at some length, and concluded that a repeal was as inexpedient as unconstitutional.

Mr. COCKE, of Tennessee, followed Mr. OLCOTT. He said he was sorry gentlemen attempted to make quack doctors of them, by saying we may give a wound, but cannot heal it. He wished the Senate to inquire whether the law now proposed to be repealed was constitutional or not. If it was not, we should act like honest men, acknowledge that we have violated the constitution, and restore it to its purity by repealing the law. Let us recur to the journals of 1799, and see what was the understanding of these champions of our liberties, and whether they have not since changed. The journals would prove that the judges were to mix with the Legislature, were to be locked up in a closet, and to declare who was to be our Executive Magistrate.

[Mr. COCKE here went into an examination of the arguments on the constitutional point.]

We have been told that the nation is to look up to these immaculate judges to protect their liberties; to protect the people against themselves. This was novel, and what result did it lead to? He shuddered to think of it. Were there none of these judges ready to plunge their swords in the American heart? He did not think it proper to be alarmed by the terrors held out. He wished to know no man; to take things as they are. But if gentlemen will attack, they must expect a reply.

Mr. COCKE then dilated upon the several points of the discussion, and concluded with the expression of the hope that the Legislature would repeal the law, and that they would not give way to the ideas of gentlemen, that the Government was made for a chosen few, for the judges, to whom we are to look up for every thing.

Mr. MORRIS.--Mr. President, I had fostered the hope that some gentleman, who thinks with me, would have taken upon himself the task of replying to the observations made yesterday and this morning, in favor of the motion on your table. But since no gentleman has gone so fully into the subject, as it seems to require, I am compelled to request your attention.

After these preliminary remarks, I hope I shall be indulged while I consider the subject in reference to the two points which have been taken, the expediency and the constitutionality of the repeal.

In considering the expediency, I hope I shall be pardoned for asking your attention to some parts of the constitution, which have not yet been dwelt upon, and which tend to elucidate this part of our inquiry. I agree fully with the gentleman, that every section, every sentence, and every word of the constitution, ought to be deliberately weighed and examined; nay, I am content to go along with him, and give its due value and importance to every stop and comma. In the beginning, we find a declaration of the motives which induced the American people to bind themselves by this compact. And in the fore-ground of that declaration, we find these objects specified, "to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, and to ensure domestic tranquillity." But how are these objects effected? The people intended to establish justice. What provision have they made to fulfil that intention? After pointing out the courts which should be established, the second section of the third article informs us:

"The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.

"In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make."

Thus then we find that the judicial power shall extend to a great variety of cases, but that the Supreme Court shall have only appellate jurisdiction in all admiralty and maritime causes, in all controversies between the United States and private citizens, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under different States, and between a citizen of the United States and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. The honorable gentleman from Kentucky, who made the motion on your table, has told us that the constitution, in its judiciary provisions, contemplated only those cases which could not be tried in the State courts. But he will, I hope, pardon me when I contend that the constitution did not merely contemplate, but did, by express words, reserve to the national tribunals a right to decide, and did secure to the citizens of America, a right to demand their decision, in many cases evidently cognizable in the State courts. And what are these cases? They are those in respect to which it is by the constitution presumed that the State courts would not always make a cool and calm investigation, a fair and just decision. To form, therefore, a more perfect union, and to ensure domestic tranquillity, the constitution has said there shall be courts of the Union to try causes, by the wrongful decision of which the Union might be endangered or domestic tranquillity be disturbed. And what courts? Look again at the cases designated. The Supreme Court has no original jurisdiction. The constitution has said that the judicial powers shall be vested in the supreme and inferior courts. It has declared that the judicial power so vested shall extend to the cases mentioned, and that the Supreme Court shall not have original jurisdiction in those cases. Evidently, therefore, it has declared that they shall (in the first instance) be tried by inferior courts, with appeal to the Supreme Court. This, therefore, amounts to a declaration, that the inferior courts shall exist. Since, without them, the citizen is deprived of those rights for which he stipulated, or rather those rights verbally granted, would be actually withheld; and that great security of our Union, that necessary guard of our tranquillity, be completely paralyzed, if not destroyed. In declaring, then, that these tribunals shall exist, it equally declares that the Congress shall ordain and establish them. I say they shall; this is the evident intention, if not the express words, of the constitution. The convention in framing, the American people in adopting, that compact, did not, could not presume, that the Congress would omit to do what they were thus bound to do. They could not presume, that the Legislature would hesitate one moment, in establishing the organs necessary to carry into effect those wholesome, those important provisions.

The honorable member from Virginia has given us a history of the judicial system, and in the course of it has told us, that the Judges of the Supreme Court knew, when they accepted their offices, the duties they had to perform, and the salaries they were to receive. He thence infers, that if again called on to do the same duties, they have no right to complain. Agreed: but that is not the question between us. Admitting that they have made a hard bargain, and that we may hold them to a strict performance, is it wise to exact their compliance to the injury of our constituents? We are urged to go back to the old system; but let us first examine the effects of that system. The Judges of the Supreme Court rode the circuits, and two of them, with the assistance of a district judge, held circuit courts and tried causes. As a Supreme Court, they have in most cases only appellate jurisdiction. In the first instance, therefore, they tried a cause, sitting as an inferior court, and then on appeal tried it over again, as a Supreme Court. Thus, then, the appeal was from the sentence of the judges to the judges themselves. But say, that to avoid this impropriety, you will incapacitate the two judges who sat on the circuit, from sitting in the Supreme Court to review their own decrees. Strike them off; and suppose either the same or a contrary decision to have been made on another circuit, by two of their brethren, in a similar case. For the same reason you strike them off, and then you have no court left. Is this wise? Is it safe? You place yourselves in the situation where your citizens must be deprived of the advantage given to them of a court of appeals, or else run the greatest risk that the decision of the first court will carry with it that of the other.

The same honorable member has given us a history of the law passed the last session, which he wishes now to repeal. That history is accurate, at least in one important part of it. I believe that all amendments were rejected, pertinaciously rejected; and I acknowledge that I joined heartily in that rejection. It was for the clearest reason on earth. We all perfectly understood, that to amend the bill was to destroy it; that if ever it got back to the other House, it would perish. Those, therefore, who approved of the general provisions of that bill, were determined to adopt it. We sought the practicable good, and would not, in pursuit of unattainable perfection, sacrifice that good to the pride of opinion. We took the bill, therefore, with its imperfections, convinced that when it was once passed into a law, it might be easily amended.

We are now told, that this procedure was improper; nay, that it was indecent. That public opinion had declared itself against us. That a majority (holding different opinions) was already chosen to the other House; and that a similar majority was expected from that in which we sit. Mr. President, are we then to understand that opposition to the majority in the two Houses of Congress, is improper, is indecent? If so, what are we to think of those gentlemen, who, not only with proper and decent, but with laudable motives, (for such is their claim,) so long, so perseveringly, so pertinaciously opposed that voice of the people, which had so repeatedly, and for so many years, declared itself against them, through the organ of their representatives? Was this indecent in them? If not, how could it be improper for us to seize the only moment which was left for the then majority to do what they deemed a necessary act? Let me again refer to those imperious demands of the constitution, which called on us to establish inferior courts. Let me remind gentlemen of their assertion on this floor, that centuries might elapse before any judicial system could be established with general consent. And then let me ask, being thus impressed with the sense of the duty and the difficulty of performing that arduous task, was it not wise to seize the auspicious moment?

Among the many stigmas affixed to this law, we have been told that the President, in selecting men to fill the offices which it created, made vacancies and filled them from the floor of this House; and that but for the influence of this circumstance, a majority in favor of it could not have been found. Let us examine this suggestion. It is grounded on a supposition of corrupt influence derived from a hope, founded on two remote and successive contingencies. First, the vacancy might or might not exist; for it depended as well on the acceptance of another, as on the President's grant; and secondly, the President might or might not fill it with a member of this House. Yet, on this vague conjecture, on this unstable ground, it is inferred that men in high confidence violated their duty. It is hard to determine the influence of self-interest on the heart of man. I shall not, therefore, make the attempt. In the present case, it is possible that the imputation may be just, but I hope not, I believe not. At any rate gentlemen will agree with me, that the calculation is uncertain, and the conjecture vague.

But let it now, for argument sake, be admitted, saving always the reputation of honorable men, who are not here to defend themselves. Let it, I say, for argument sake be admitted, that the gentlemen alluded to acted under the influence of improper motives. What then? Is a law that has received the varied assent required by the constitution, and is clothed with all the needful formalities, thereby invalidated? Can you impair its force by impeaching the motives of any member who voted for it? Does it follow, that a law is bad because all those who concurred in it cannot give good reasons for their votes? Is it not before us? Must we not judge of it by its intrinsic merit? Is it a fair argument, addressed to our understanding, to say, we must repeal a law, even a good one, if the enacting of it may have been effected in any degree by improper motives? Or is the judgment of this House so feeble, that it may not be trusted?

Let us, however, examine the clause objected to on the ground of the constitution. It is said, that by this law the district judges in Tennessee and Kentucky are removed from office, by making them circuit judges. And again, that you have by law appointed two new offices, those of circuit judges, and filled them by law, instead of pursuing the mode of appointment prescribed by the constitution. To prove all this, the gentleman from Virginia did us the favor to read those parts of the law which he condemns, and if I can trust to my memory, it is clear, from what he read, that the law does not remove these district judges, neither does it appoint them to the office of circuit judges. It does indeed put down the district courts; but it is so far from destroying the offices of district judge, that it declares the persons filling those offices shall perform the duty of holding the circuit courts. And so far is it from appointing circuit judges, that it declares the circuit courts shall be held by the district judges. But gentlemen contend, that to discontinue the district courts, was in effect to remove the district judge. This, sir, is so far from being a just inference from the law, that the direct contrary follows as a necessary result; for it is on the principle that these judges continue in office after their courts are discontinued, that the new duty of holding other courts is assigned to them. But, gentlemen say, this doctrine militates with the principles we contend for. Surely not. It must be recollected, sir, that we have repeatedly admitted the right of the Legislature to change, alter, modify, and amend the judiciary system, so as best to promote the interests of the people. We only contend that you shall not exceed or contravene the authority by which you act. But, say gentlemen, you forced this new office on the district judges, and this is in effect a new appointment. I answer, that the question can only arise on the refusal of those judges to act. But is it unconstitutional to assign new duties to officers already existing? I fear that if this construction be adopted, our labors will speedily end; for we shall be so shackled, that we cannot move. What is the practice? Do we not every day call upon particular officers to perform duties not previously assigned to, or required of them? And must the Executive in every such case make a new appointment?

But as a further reason to restore, by repealing this law, the old system, an honorable member from North Carolina has told us, the judges of the Supreme Court should attend in the States, to acquire a competent knowledge of local institutions, and for this purpose should continue to ride the circuits. I believe there is great use in sending young men to travel; it tends to enlarge their views and give them more liberal ideas than they might otherwise possess. Nay, if they reside long enough in foreign countries they may become acquainted with the manners of the people and acquire some knowledge of their civil institutions. But I am not quite convinced that riding rapidly from one end of this country to the other is the best way to study law. I am inclined to believe that knowledge may be more conveniently acquired in the closet than in the high road. It is moreover to be presumed that the first Magistrate would, in selecting persons to fill these offices, take the best characters from the different parts of the country, who already possess the needful acquirements. But admitting that the President should not duly exercise, in this respect, his discretionary powers, and admitting that the ideas of the gentleman are correct, how wretched must be our condition! These, our judges, when called on to exercise their functions, would but begin to learn their trade, and that too at a period of life when the intellectual powers with no great facility can acquire new ideas. We must, therefore, have a double set of judges. One set of apprentice-judges to ride circuits and learn; the other set of master-judges, to hold courts and decide controversies.

We are told, sir, that the repeal asked for is important, in that it may establish a precedent, for that it is not merely a question on the propriety of disbanding a corps of sixteen rank and file; but that provision may hereafter be made, not for sixteen but for sixteen hundred or sixteen thousand judges, and that it may become necessary to turn them to the right about. Mr. President, I will not, I cannot presume, that any such provision will ever be made, and therefore I cannot conceive any such necessity; I will not suppose, for I cannot suppose, that any party or faction will ever do any thing so wild, so extravagant. But I will ask, how does this strange supposition consist with the doctrine of gentlemen, that public opinion is a sufficient check on the Legislature, and a sufficient safeguard to the people? Put the case to its consequences, and what becomes of the check? Will gentlemen say it is to be found in the force of this wise precedent? Is this to control succeeding rulers in their wild, their mad career? But how? Is the creation of judicial officers the only thing committed to their discretion? Have they not, according to the doctrine contended for, our all at their disposition, with no other check than public opinion, which, according to the supposition, will not prevent them from committing the greatest follies and absurdities? Take then all the gentleman's ideas, and compare them together, it will result that here is an inestimable treasure put into the hands of drunkards, madmen, and fools.

But away with all these derogatory suppositions. The Legislature may be trusted. Our Government is a system of salutary checks: one Legislative branch is a check on the other. And should the violence of party spirit bear both of them away, the President, an officer high in honor, high in the public confidence, charged with weighty concerns, responsible to his own reputation and to the world, stands ready to arrest their too impetuous course. This is our system. It makes no mad appeal to every mob in the country. It appeals to the sober sense of men selected from their fellow-citizens for their talents, for their virtue; of men advanced in life, and of mature judgment. It appeals to their understanding, to their integrity, to their honor, to their love of fame, to their sense of shame. If all these checks should prove insufficient, and alas! such is the condition of human nature, that I fear they will not always be sufficient, the constitution has given us one more: it has given us an independent judiciary. We have been told that the Executive authority carries your laws into execution. But let us not be the dupes of sound. The Executive Magistrate commands indeed your fleets and armies; and duties, imposts, excises, and other taxes are collected, and all expenditures are made by officers whom he has appointed. So far indeed he executes your laws. But these, his acts, apply not often to individual concerns. In those cases so important to the peace and happiness of society, the execution of your laws is confided to your judges; and therefore are they rendered independent. Before then that you violate that independence, pause. There are State sovereignties, as well as the sovereignty of the General Government. There are cases, too many cases, in which the interest of one is not considered as the interest of the other. Should these conflict, if the Judiciary be gone, the question is no longer of law, but of force. This is a state of things which no honest and wise man can view without horror.

Suppose, in the omnipotence of your Legislative authority, you trench upon the rights of your fellow-citizens, by passing an unconstitutional law. If the Judiciary Department preserve its vigor, it will stop you short. Instead of a resort to arms, there will be a happier appeal to argument. Suppose a case still more impressive. The President is at the head of your armies. Let one of his generals, flushed with victory and proud in command, presume to trample on the rights of your most insignificant citizen: indignant of the wrong, he will demand the protection of your tribunals, and, safe in the shadow of their wings, will laugh his oppressor to scorn.

This, sir, leads me to the second object I had proposed. I shall therefore pray your indulgence, while I consider how far this measure is constitutional. I have not been able to discover the expediency, but will now, for argument's sake, admit it; and here, I cannot but express my deep regret for the situation of an honorable member from North Carolina. Tied fast, as he is, by his instructions, arguments, however forcible, can never be effectual. I ought, therefore, to wish, for his sake, that his mind may not be convinced by any thing I shall say; for hard indeed would be his condition, to be bound by the contrarient obligations of an order and an oath. I cannot, however, but express my profound respect for the talents of those who gave him his instructions, and who, sitting at a distance, without hearing the arguments, could better understand the subject than their Senator on this floor, after full discussion.

The honorable member from Virginia has repeated the distinction before taken between the supreme and the inferior tribunals; he has insisted on the distinction between the words shall and may; has inferred from that distinction, that the judges of the inferior courts are subjects of Legislative discretion; and has contended that the word may includes all power respecting the subject to which it is applied, consequently to raise up and to pull down, to create and to destroy. I must entreat your patience, sir, while I go more into this subject than ever I supposed would be necessary. By the articles so often quoted, it is declared, "that the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time establish." I beg leave to call your attention to what I have already said of these inferior courts. That the original jurisdiction of various subjects being given exclusively to them, it became the bounden duty of Congress to establish such courts. I will not repeat the argument already used on that subject. But I will ask those who urged the distinction between the Supreme Court and the inferior tribunals, whether a law was not previously necessary before the Supreme Court could be organized. They reply, that the constitution says, there shall be a Supreme Court, and therefore the Congress are commanded to organize it, while the rest is left to their discretion. This, sir, is not the fact. The constitution says, the judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in inferior courts. The Legislature can therefore only organize one Supreme Court, but they may establish as many inferior courts as they shall think proper. The designation made of them by the constitution is, such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. But why, say gentlemen, fix precisely one Supreme Court, and leave the rest to Legislative discretion? The answer is simple: it results from the nature of things from the existent and probable state of our country. There was no difficulty in deciding that one and only one Supreme Court would be proper or necessary, to which should lie appeals from inferior tribunals. Not so as to these. The United States were advancing in rapid progression. Their population of three millions was soon to become five, then ten, afterwards twenty millions. This was well known, as far as the future can become an object of human comprehension. In this increase of numbers, with a still greater increase of wealth, with the extension of our commerce and the progress of the arts, it was evident that although a great many tribunals would become necessary, it was impossible to determine either on the precise number or the most convenient form. The convention did not pretend to this prescience; but had they possessed it, would it have been proper to have established, then, all the tribunals necessary for all future times? Would it have been wise to have planted courts among the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, the Cherokees, the Tuscaroras, and God knows how many more, because at some future day the regions over which they roam might be cultivated by polished men! Was it not proper, wise and necessary, to leave in the discretion of Congress the number and the kind of courts which they might find it proper to establish for the purpose designated by the constitution? This simple statement of facts--facts of public notoriety--is alone a sufficient comment on, and explanation of, the word on which gentlemen have so much relied. The convention in framing, the people in adopting, this compact say the judicial power shall extend to many cases, the original cognizance whereof shall be by the inferior courts; but it is neither necessary, nor even possible now to determine their number or their form; that essential power, therefore, shall vest in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time, in the progression of time, and according to the indication of circumstances, establish; not provide, or determine, but establish. Not a mere temporary provision, but an establishment. If, after this, it had said in general terms, that judges should hold their offices during good behavior, could a doubt have existed on the interpretation of this act, under all its attending circumstances, that the judges of the inferior courts were intended as well as those of the Supreme Court? But did the framers of the constitution stop here? Is there then nothing more? Did they risk on these grammatical niceties the fate of America? Did they rest here the most important branch of our Government? Little important, indeed, as to foreign danger; but infinitely valuable to our domestic peace, and to personal protection against the oppression of our rulers. No; lest a doubt should be raised, they have carefully connected the judges of both courts in the same sentence; they have said, "the judges both of the supreme and inferior courts," thus coupling them inseparably together. You may cut the bands, but you can never untie them. With salutary caution they devised this clause to arrest the over-bearing temper which they knew belonged to Legislative bodies. They do not say the judges, simply, but the judges of the supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices during good behavior. They say, therefore, to the Legislature, you may judge of the propriety, the utility, the necessity, of organizing these courts; but when established, you have done your duty. Anticipating the course of passion in future times, they say to the Legislature, you shall not disgrace yourselves by exhibiting the indecent spectacle of judges established by one Legislature removed by another. We will save you also from yourselves. We say these judges shall hold their offices; and surely, sir, to pretend that they can hold their office after the office is destroyed, is contemptible.

The framers of this constitution had seen much, read much, and deeply reflected. They knew by experience the violence of popular bodies, and let it be remembered, that since that day many of the States, taught by experience, have found it necessary to change their forms of government to avoid the effects of that violence. The convention contemplated the very act you now attempt. They knew also the jealousy and the power of the States; and they established for your and for their protection this most important department. I beg gentlemen to hear and remember what I say: it is this department alone, and it is the independence of this department, which can save you from civil war. Yes, sir, adopt the language of gentlemen, say with them, by the act to which you are urged, "if we cannot remove the judges we can destroy them." Establish thus the dependence of the Judiciary Department, who will resort to them for protection against you? Who will confide in, who will be bound by their decrees? Are we then to resort to the ultimate reason of kings? Are our arguments to fly from the mouths of our cannon?

Is there a member of this House, who can lay his hand on his heart, and say that, consistently with the plain words of our constitution, we have a right to repeal this law? I believe not. And if we undertake to construe this constitution to our purposes, and say that public opinion is to be our judge, there is an end to all constitutions. To what will not this dangerous doctrine lead? Should it to-day be the popular wish to destroy the First Magistrate, you can destroy him; and should he to-morrow be able to conciliate to him the popular will, and lead them to wish for your destruction, it is easily effected. Adopt this principle and the whim of the moment will not only be the law, but the constitution of our country.

The gentleman from Virginia has mentioned a great nation brought to the feet of one of her servants. But why is she in that situation? Is it not because popular opinion was called on to decide every thing, until those who wore bayonets decided for all the rest? Our situation is peculiar. At present our national compact can prevent a State from acting hostilely towards the general interest. But let this compact be destroyed, and each State becomes instantaneously vested with absolute sovereignty. Is there no instance of a similar situation to be found in history? Look at the States of Greece. They were once in a condition not unlike to that in which we should then stand. They treated the recommendations of their Amphictyonic Council (which was more a meeting of Ambassadors than a Legislative assembly) as we did the resolutions of the old Congress. Are we wise? So they were. Are we valiant? They also were brave. Have we one common language, and are we united under one head? In this, also, there was a strong resemblance. But, by their divisions, they became at first victims to the ambition of Philip, and were at length swallowed up in the Roman empire. Are we to form an exception to the general principles of nature, and to all the examples of history? And are the maxims of experience to become false, when applied to our fate?

Some, indeed, flatter themselves that our destiny will be like that of Rome. Such, indeed, it might be, if we had the same wise but vile aristocracy, under whose guidance they became the masters of the world. But we have not that strong aristocratic arm, which can seize a wretched citizen, scourged almost to death by a remorseless creditor, turn him into the ranks, and bid him, as a soldier bear our eagle in triumph round the globe! I hope to God we shall never have such an abominable institution. But what, I ask, will be the situation of these States (organized as they now are) if, by the dissolution of our national compact, they be left to themselves? What is the probable result? We shall either be the victims of foreign intrigue, and split into factions, fall under the domination of a foreign power, or else, after the misery and torment of civil war, become the subjects of a usurping military despot. What but this compact--what but this specific part of it, can save us from ruin? The judicial power, that fortress of the constitution, is now to be overturned. Yes, with honest Ajax, I would not only throw a shield before it, I would build around it a wall of brass. But I am too weak to defend the rampart against the host of assailants. I must call to my assistance their good sense, their patriotism and their virtue. Do not, gentlemen, suffer the rage of passion to drive reason from her seat. If this law be indeed bad, let us join to remedy the defects. Has it been passed in a manner which wounded your pride, or aroused your resentment? Have, I conjure you, the magnanimity to pardon that offence. I entreat, I implore you to sacrifice those angry passions to the interests of our country. Pour out this pride of opinion on the altar of patriotism. Let it be an expiatory libation for the weal of America. Do not, for God's sake, do not suffer that pride to plunge us all into the abyss of ruin. Indeed, indeed, it will be but of little, very little avail, whether one opinion or the other be right or wrong; it will heal no wounds, it will pay no debts, it will rebuild no ravaged towns. Do not rely on that popular will, which has brought us frail beings into political existence. That opinion is but a changeable thing. It will soon change. This very measure will change it. You will be deceived. Do not, I beseech you, in reliance on a foundation so frail, commit the dignity, the harmony, the existence of our nation to the wild wind. Trust not your treasure to the waves. Throw not your compass and your charts into the ocean. Do not believe that its billows will waft you into port. Indeed, indeed, you will be deceived. Cast not away this only anchor of our safety. I have seen its progress. I know the difficulties through which it was obtained. I stand in the presence of Almighty God, and of the world: and I declare to you, that if you lose this charter, never, no, never will you get another! We are now, perhaps, arrived at the parting point. Here, even here, we stand on the brink of fate. Pause--pause! For Heaven's sake, pause!

WEDNESDAY, February 3.

The question was then taken on the final passage of the bill and determined in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 15, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bradley, Breckenridge, Brown, Cocke, Ellery, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

NAYS.--Messrs. Chipman, Colhoun, Dayton, D. Foster, Hillhouse, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, Ross, Sheafe, Tracy, Wells, and White.[65]

So it was Resolved, That this bill pass, that it be engrossed, and that the title thereof be "An act to repeal certain acts respecting the organization of the courts of the United States, and for other purposes."

SATURDAY, April 17.

The VICE PRESIDENT being absent, the Senate proceeded to the election of a President pro tempore, as the constitution so provides; and the honorable ABRAHAM BALDWIN was chosen.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives of this election.

On motion, it was

Ordered, That the Secretary wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and acquaint him that the Senate have, in the absence of the VICE PRESIDENT, elected the honorable ABRAHAM BALDWIN their President pro tempore.

MONDAY, April 26.

Relief to Widows and Orphans of Naval and Marine Officers.

The Senate resumed the third reading of the bill, entitled "An act for the relief of the widows and orphans of certain persons who have died, or may hereafter die, in the naval service of the United States."

On motion to strike out the second section of the bill, to wit:

"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any commissioned or warrant officer of the Navy, or commissioned officer of Marines, have died, or shall hereafter die, by reason of wounds received while in the actual service of the United States, or have been lost at sea, or drowned, or shall hereafter be lost at sea, or drowned, while in the service as aforesaid, and in the actual line of his duty, and shall leave a widow, or if not, leave a child or children, under age, such widow, or such child, or children, as the case may be, shall be entitled to, and receive, the half of the monthly pay to which the deceased was entitled at the time of his death, and for and during the term of five years. And in case of the death or intermarriage of such widow, before the expiration of the said term of five years, the half pay for the residue of the term shall go to the child or children of such deceased officer under the age of sixteen years; and, in like manner, the allowance to the child or children of such deceased, in case there be no widow, shall be paid no longer than during the time there is a child or children under the age of sixteen years."

It passed in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 8, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bradley, Brown, Clinton, Cocke, Dayton, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, S. T. Mason, Ogden, Olcott, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

NAYS.--Messrs. Ellery, Dwight Foster, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Nicholas, Wells, and White.

Georgia Limits.

The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

_Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives_:

In pursuance of the act, entitled "An act supplemental to the act, entitled 'An act for an amicable settlement of limits with the State of Georgia, and authorizing the establishment of a government in the Mississippi Territory,'" James Madison, Secretary of State, Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, and Levi Lincoln, Attorney General of the United States, were appointed Commissioners, to settle by compromise, with the Commissioners appointed by the State of Georgia, the claims and cession to which the said act has relation.

Articles of agreement and cession have accordingly been entered into and signed by the said Commissioners of the United States and of Georgia, which, as they leave a right to Congress to act upon them legislatively, at any time within six months after their date, I have thought it my duty immediately to communicate to the Legislature.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 26, 1802.

The Message and documents therein referred to were read, and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

TUESDAY, April 27.

State Government for Ohio.

The Senate resumed the second reading of the bill to enable the people of the Eastern division of the territory north-west of the river Ohio to form a constitution and State government.

On motion, section sixth, to strike out the following words, reported by the committee to be struck out, and which report was amended, as follows:

"Provided, That the convention of the said State shall, on its part, assent that each and every tract of land sold by Congress, from and after the 30th day of June next, shall be and remain exempt from any tax laid by order or under authority of the State, whether for State, county, township, or any other purpose whatever, for the term of five years from and after the day of sale:"

It passed in the negative--yeas 12, nays 14, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bradley, Brown, Dayton, Dwight, Foster, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, Tracy, Wells, and White.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Breckenridge, Clinton, Ellery, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

On motion to strike out the words reported by the committee to be struck out of section sixth, and amended as follows:

"Third. That one-twentieth part of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said State, sold by Congress, from and after the thirtieth day of June next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying out and making public roads, leading from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, or to the navigable waters thereof, and continued through the said State: such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress with the consent of the several States through which the road shall pass:"

It passed in the negative--yeas 12, nays 14, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bradley, Brown, Dayton, Dwight, Foster, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, Tracy, Wells, and White.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Breckenridge, Clinton, Ellery, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, and Wright.

On motion to strike out these words, reported by the committee to be struck out of the sixth section:

"Second. That the six miles reservation, including the salt springs, commonly called the Scioto Salt Springs, the salt springs near the Muskingum River, and in the military tract, with the sections of land which include the same, shall be granted to the said State, for the use of the people thereof, the same to be used under such terms, and conditions, and regulations, as the Legislature of the said State shall direct, provided the said Legislature shall never sell nor lease the same for a longer period than ten years:"

It passed in the negative--yeas 8, nays 18, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Brown, Dwight Foster, Howard, J. Mason, Morris, Ogden, Olcott, and Tracy.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bradley, Breckenridge, Clinton, Dayton, Ellery, T. Foster, Franklin, Jackson, Logan, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Stone, Sumter, Wells, White, and Wright.

And the bill being further amended, it was ordered to the third reading as amended.

THURSDAY, April 29.

Mr. S. T. MASON presented the petition of David Brown, of Massachusetts, praying compensation for his sufferings while imprisoned under sentence of the judicial court, for seditious practices; and the petition was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

FRIDAY, April 30.

Mr. TRACY, from the committee to whom was referred, on the 29th instant, the bill to carry into effect a resolution of Congress for erecting a monument to the memory of the late General David Wooster, reported amendments; which were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

Case of John Cleves Symmes and his land purchase in Ohio.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the committee on the petition of John Cleves Symmes, which was adopted, as follows:

1. That, in the year 1788, the petitioner entered into a contract with the United States, upon a fair consideration, for the purchase of one million of acres of land in the North-western Territory.

2. That, in consequence of such contract, the petitioner made a settlement upon the tract, and sold many parcels thereof to adventurers, who went together with him into that new country, and located themselves there.

3. That, in the year 1794, the petitioner obtained a patent, under the authority of a law which enabled the President of the United States to make the same, for such proportion of the one million of acres, which had at that time been paid for, pursuant to the said contract, amounting to 311,682 acres of the said million of acres of land.

4. That the petitioner, after the said in part fulfilment of the contract on the side of both the parties to the same, proceeded to make sales (as he before had done in respect to the lands for which he had lately received the patent, as above mentioned) in the residue of the one million of acres, expecting to make the title when he should receive his patent thereof, agreeably to his contract, as he had before practised.

5. That no authority has been given by law, or otherwise, that can be found by your committee, whereby the said contract can be carried into execution on behalf of the United States, upon the payment of the sums further stipulated to be paid by the petitioner, agreeably to his contract, whereby he is entitled to a patent, upon payment of such stipulated sums; which payments the petitioner avers he always has been, and still is, ready to pay and perform, as thereunto required by his contract.

6. That your committee, from the papers and documents laid before them by the petitioner, or from the statement which he has made, do not perceive that the petitioner has done any one act, or omitted to do any act whereby he has forfeited any right to the full benefit of his contract before stated.

7. That no authority exists, by law, enabling any person to carry into execution the said contract on behalf of the United States; but, on the contrary, that two laws have been passed predicated upon the idea that the obligations of the United States, under the said contract, have ceased and determined; under the operation of which laws the said petitioner states, and your committee believe, that the said petitioner is suffering very great hardships, tending to the utter destruction and total waste of his whole property.

8. Your committee, the premises considered, beg leave to recommend the adoption of the resolution accompanying this report:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to direct the Attorney General to examine into the contract entered into between the United States and John Cleves Symmes, Esq., and others, bearing date on the 15th of October, 1788, and all the contracts and laws relative thereto; and all the transactions which may legally or equitably affect the same, as far as they may come to his knowledge; and to make a report of the same to the Senate at their next session, together with his opinion whether the said John Cleves Symmes has any claims, and what, upon the United States, in virtue of the said contract, or any other contract, or law predicated upon the same: and that the further consideration of the petition of said John Cleves Symmes, Esq., of and concerning the premises, be postponed to the first day of the next session of Congress.

And the report was adopted.

Ordered, That the Secretary lay this resolution before the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The resolution of the House of Representatives, authorizing the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to adjourn their respective Houses on Saturday the first day of May, was read.

The bill, entitled "An act making appropriations for the Military Establishment of the United States in the year one thousand eight hundred and two," was read the third time and passed.

The bill, entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of Government for the year one thousand eight hundred and two," was read the third time.

Resolved, That this bill do pass as amended.

The bill making an appropriation for the support of the Navy of the United States, for the year one thousand eight hundred and two, was read the third time as amended.

On motion to strike out the third section, agreed to yesterday, it passed in the affirmative--yeas 12, nays 11, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bradley, Brown, Dwight Foster, Howard, Morris, Nicholas, Ogden, Olcott, Tracy, Wells, White, and Wright.

NAYS.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Breckenridge, Clinton, Cocke, Ellery, Franklin, Logan, S. T. Mason, Stone, and Sumter.

Resolved, That this bill do pass with the amendments.

The bill, entitled "An act to provide for the establishment of certain districts, and therein to amend an act, entitled 'An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage, and for other purposes,'" was read the third time, and passed with an amendment.

Mr. BRADLEY, from the committee to whom was referred, on the 6th and 7th instant, the petition of Elijah Brainard, also the petition of Jonathan Snowden, reported that the consideration of said petitions be severally postponed to the next session of Congress, and that the committee to whom the same were referred be discharged, and the report was adopted.

Mr. S. T. MASON, from the committee to whom was referred, on the 29th instant, the bill to incorporate the inhabitants of the City of Washington in the District of Columbia, reported amendments; which were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

On motion, it was

Ordered, That the bill for the better security of public money and property in the hands of public officers and agents, as amended by the House of Representatives, be postponed to the next session of Congress.

Mr. S. T. MASON, from the committee to whom was referred, on the 29th instant, the bill additional to, and amendatory of, an act, entitled "An act concerning the District of Columbia;" reported amendments which were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.

MONDAY EVENING, 7-1/2 o'clock, May 3.

Adjournment.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have appointed a committee on their part, with such as the Senate may appoint, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that, unless he hath any further communications to make to the two Houses of Congress, they are ready to adjourn, and they desire the appointment of a committee on the part of the Senate.

The Senate took into consideration the resolution of the House of Representatives appointing a committee, jointly, with such as the Senate may appoint, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and notify him of the proposed adjournment of the two Houses of Congress; and

Resolved, That they do concur therein, and that Messrs. ELLERY and CLINTON be the committee on the part of the Senate.

Mr. ELLERY, from the joint committee, reported that they had waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, agreeably to the vote of the two Houses, and that he informed them he had no further business to communicate.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify to the House of Representatives that the Senate, having completed the business of the session, are ready to adjourn.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House of Representatives having completed the business before them are about to adjourn.

Whereupon, the Senate adjourned to the first Monday in December next.

SEVENTH CONGRESS.--FIRST SESSION.

PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES

IN

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MONDAY, December 7, 1801.

This being the day appointed by the constitution for the annual meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats in the House, to wit:

From New Hampshire.--Abiel Foster, George P. Upham, and Samuel Tenney.

From Massachusetts.--William Eustis, John Bacon, Phanuel Bishop, Joseph B. Varnum, Richard Cutts, Lemuel Williams, William Shepard, Ebenezer Mattoon, Nathan Read, Josiah Smith, and Manasseh Cutler.

From Rhode Island.--Thomas Tillinghast, and Joseph Stanton, jr.

From Connecticut.--Roger Griswold, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, Calvin Goddard, Benjamin Tallmadge, Elias Perkins, and John C. Smith.

From Vermont.--Israel Smith.

From New York.--Samuel L. Mitchill, Philip Van Cortlandt, Theodorus Bailey, John Smith, Benjamin Walker, Thomas Morris, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Lucas Elmendorph, David Thomas, and John P. Van Ness.

From New Jersey.--John Condit, James Mott, William Helms, Henry Southard, and Ebenezer Elmer.

From Pennsylvania.--William Jones, Michael Leib, John Smilie, William Hoge, Isaac Vanhorne, Joseph Heister, Robert Brown, Henry Woods, John A. Hanna, John Stewart, Thomas Boude, and Joseph Hemphill.

From Delaware.--James A. Bayard.

From Maryland.--John Archer, Joseph H. Nicholson, Samuel Smith, Richard Sprigg, John Dennis, and Thomas Plater.

From Virginia.--Thomas Newton, jr., John Randolph, jr., George Jackson, Philip R. Thompson, John Taliaferro, John Stratton, William B. Giles, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Anthony New, John Smith, David Holmes, Richard Brent, Edwin Gray, and Matthew Clay.

From Kentucky.--Thomas T. Davis, and John Fowler.

From North Carolina.--Nathaniel Macon, Willis Alston, Richard Stanford, Charles Johnson, Archibald Henderson, and John Stanley.

From Tennessee.--William Dickson.

From South Carolina.--Thomas Sumter, Thomas Moore, and Thomas Lowndes.

From Georgia.--John Milledge.

From the North-west Territory.--Paul Fearing.

From Mississippi Territory.--Narsworthy Hunter.

A quorum, consisting of a majority, being present, the House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Speaker; and, upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of NATHANIEL MACON, one of the Representatives for the State of North Carolina: Whereupon, Mr. MACON was conducted to the chair, and he made his acknowledgments to the House as follows:

"GENTLEMEN: Accept my sincere thanks for the honor you have conferred on me, in the choice just made. The duties of the chair will be undertaken with great diffidence indeed; but it shall be my constant endeavor to discharge them with fidelity and impartiality."

The House proceeded, in the same manner, to the appointment of a Clerk; and, upon examining the ballots, a majority of the whole House was found in favor of JOHN BECKLEY.

The oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed by law, was then administered by Mr. GRISWOLD, one of the Representatives for the State of Connecticut, to the SPEAKER; and then the same oath, or affirmation, was administered, by Mr. SPEAKER, to each of the members present.

A message from the Senate informed the House that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; and that, in the absence of the Vice President, they have elected the honorable ABRAHAM BALDWIN, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that a quorum of this House is assembled, and have elected NATHANIEL MACON, one of the Representatives of the State of North Carolina, their Speaker, and are ready to proceed to business; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, and Assistant Doorkeeper; and upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of JOSEPH WHEATON, as Sergeant-at-Arms, and, also, a unanimous vote in favor of THOMAS CLAXTON, and THOMAS DUNN, severally, the former as Doorkeeper, and the latter as Assistant Doorkeeper.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have appointed a committee on their part, jointly, with such committee as may be appointed on the part of this House, to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them.

Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled and ready to receive any communication he may think proper to make to them, reported that the committee had performed that service, and that the PRESIDENT signified to them that he would make a communication to this House, to-morrow, by message.

TUESDAY, December 8.

Several other members, to wit: from Pennsylvania, ANDREW GREGG; from Virginia, SAMUEL J. CABELL; from North Carolina, JAMES HOLLAND; and from South Carolina, WILLIAM BUTLER; appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats in the House; the oath to support the Constitution of the United States being first administered to them by Mr. SPEAKER, according to law.

A petition of John McDonald, late of the city of Philadelphia, was presented to the House and read, praying that he may be employed to superintend the arrangement and safe-keeping of the books intended for the library of the two Houses of Congress; and that he may receive such compensation for his services, in that capacity, as to the wisdom of Congress shall seem meet.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee appointed yesterday, on the part of this House, jointly with the committee appointed by the Senate, to take into consideration a statement made by the Secretary of the Senate, respecting books and maps purchased pursuant to a late act of Congress, and to make report respecting the future arrangement of the same.

The following committees were appointed pursuant to the standing rules and orders of the House, viz:

Committee of Elections.--Mr. MILLEDGE, Mr. TENNEY, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. DENNIS, Mr. HANNA, Mr. STANLEY, and Mr. JOHN TALIAFERRO.

Committee of Revised and Unfinished Business.--Mr. DAVENPORT, Mr. CLAY, and Mr. ALSTON.

Committee of Claims.--JOHN COTTON SMITH, Mr. GREGG, Mr. HOLMES, Mr. MATTOON, Mr. JOHN SMITH, of New York, Mr. PLATER, and Mr. MOORE.

Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.--Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, Mr. EUSTIS, Mr. DANA, Mr. MITCHILL, Mr. JONES, Mr. NEWTON, and Mr. LOWNDES.

Resolved, That a standing Committee of Ways and Means be appointed, whose duty it shall be to take into consideration all such reports of the Treasury Department, and all such propositions, relative to the revenue, as may be referred to them by the House; to inquire into the state of the public debt, of the revenue, and of the expenditures; and to report, from time to time, their opinion thereon.

Ordered, That Mr. RANDOLPH, Mr. GRISWOLD, Mr. ISRAEL SMITH, Mr. BAYARD, Mr. SMILIE, Mr. READ, Mr. NICHOLSON, Mr. VAN RENSSELAER, and Mr. DICKSON, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the said resolution.

WEDNESDAY, December 9.

Another member, to wit, JOHN CAMPBELL, from Maryland, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

THURSDAY, December 10.

Mr. ELMENDORPH, from the committee to whom was referred, on the eighth instant, a letter from THOMAS CLAXTON, the Doorkeeper of this House, relative to certain expenditures, and further assistance necessary to be allowed for enabling him to execute the duties of his station, made a report; which was read and considered: Whereupon,

Resolved, That THOMAS CLAXTON be, and is hereby, authorized to employ, under his immediate direction, one additional assistant, two servants, and two horses, for the purpose of performing such services and duties as are usually required by the House of Representatives, during the present session, and for four days thereafter; and the sum of five dollars and seventy-five cents per day be allowed to him for that purpose; and that he be paid therefor out of the fund appropriated for the contingent expenses of the House.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have proceeded to the appointment of a Chaplain to Congress, on their part, and the Rev. Mr. GANTT has been duly elected.

FRIDAY, December 11.

Several other members, to wit: from New Hampshire, JOSEPH PEIRCE; from Massachusetts, PELEG WADSWORTH; from Virginia, THOMAS CLAIBORNE and JOHN CLOPTON; and, from North Carolina, WILLIAM H. HILL, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the House.

MONDAY, December 14.

Another member, to wit, LEWIS R. MORRIS, from the State of Vermont, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

TUESDAY, December 15.

Barbary Powers.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, the following resolution being under consideration:

"Resolved, That it is expedient that the President be authorized by law, further and more effectually to protect the commerce of the United States against the Barbary Powers."

Mr. NICHOLSON said, that when this resolution was yesterday laid on the table, he had moved, for reasons that he had assigned, to strike out the words "further and more." He was, on reflection, more and more persuaded of the accuracy of his objections to the unqualified terms of the original motion. If we adopt it, we pledge ourselves to increase the naval force at present at the disposition of the President. But if his modification were agreed to, every gentleman would remain at liberty to put his own construction on the words "effectual force." Uninformed as we were as to the necessity of increasing the force, it would be highly improper to commit ourselves by any precipitate decision. He, therefore, moved to strike out the words "further and more."

Mr. GILES opposed the striking out the words, which, in his opinion, did not relate to the quantum of force placed under Executive disposition, but to the measures proposed to be taken by the Executive. He should vote for the motion unamended, though he had been, and still was, as averse as any gentleman in that House to an improper augmentation of the Army or Navy. With respect to the Navy, he was friendly to it as it now stood, or to an augmentation of it to meet any particular emergency.

Mr. S. SMITH said that as he understood the resolution, it went not to pledge any man to augment the Navy, but to authorize the President, with the present force, to take measures for the defence of our trade. We were at war with Tripoli. Against that power, therefore, the President felt himself at liberty to act efficiently. But gentlemen should advert to our situation with regard to Algiers and Tunis. Those powers may become hostile. They may become so in the recess of Congress. It may be necessary without delay to protect our trade against them. Will you then confine the President, in relation to these powers, to a Peace Establishment? Certainly, when these circumstances were duly weighed, no gentleman will refuse the power which this resolution is intended to confer.

Mr. SMILIE was in favor of the amendment for one reason. He was ready at all times to grant commerce every necessary protection. But by adopting this resolution, we pledge ourselves, without inquiring into the necessity, to extend further protection. No doubt further protection will be required. But he thought it premature to make any pledge until all the documents connected with the subject were before the House.

Mr. MITCHILL suggested the propriety of amending the original resolution by inserting after the word "law," "if necessary." This would render the resolution conditional. To the resolution he was a friend. For when the aspect and extent of the United States were considered, it must be evident to every man that we were a commercial people. The bulk and extensiveness of our produce required vessels to carry it to foreign countries. The carriage required protection. The Government must of course give protection. With respect to the Mediterranean expedition, no plan under the Government had been better devised; and he had no hesitation to say, that if the Mediterranean trade required further protection, he would be for making further appropriations of the public moneys.

Mr. NICHOLSON said he could not agree to the suggestion of the gentleman from New York, as by adopting it we should do nothing. How does the matter now stand? Congress has put into the hands of the President six frigates, which he had used for the public service in the Mediterranean. This was not a fit time to express his opinion on the propriety of the measures of the Executive. But when a fit occasion did offer, he would have no hesitation to say the President had done right.

To return to the point--The President had now six frigates. If we agree to the resolution, do we not pledge ourselves to increase this force?

One squadron had been sent to the Mediterranean; another was in operation to go there, he understood. This was all right. But there followed no necessity from these circumstances to pledge ourselves to increase the force.

We were not even acquainted with the sentiments of the President on this point. His communications did not inform us that he desired a larger force. If he did desire it, he would say so. He had, on the contrary, recommended a reduction of the Army and Navy; and to desire an augmentation of the latter, would be, in the same breath, to say one thing and mean another.

Mr. EUSTIS.--The President, in his communications, has informed us that he has hitherto acted on the defensive. The simple question now is, whether he shall be empowered to take offensive steps. This has no relation, therefore, to an increase of the force; nor shall we, by adopting it, pledge ourselves to such effect.

Mr. GILES was happy that the discussion was one more of words than of principles. He perfectly coincided with the gentleman from Maryland, who had moved the amendment, in his general sentiments. It would be wrong in this House prematurely to pledge itself for an increase of naval force. But the words of the resolution do not relate to the quantum of force, but entirely to the measures to be taken with any force. When the President is authorized further and more effectually to protect our trade, it was not said that we will give him four or six additional frigates; but merely that he is to have means, more or less, which shall be adequate to make offensive operations against those who shall make offensive operations against us.

It was well understood that he was for keeping the Navy within proper bounds; but if ever there was a case where it was required, this was the case, and he acknowledged that he was for empowering the President to authorize not merely a dismantlement of a vessel, but her capture.

The question was then taken on Mr. NICHOLSON'S amendment and lost.

When the original motion of Mr. SMITH was carried.

Ordered, That a bill or bills be brought in, pursuant to the said resolution; and that Mr. EUSTIS, Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, Mr. DANA, Mr. MITCHILL, and Mr. JONES, do prepare and bring in the same.

WEDNESDAY, December 16.

Another member, to wit, BENJAMIN HUGER, from South Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Ratio of Representation.

The House, according to the order of the day, proceeded to consider the first resolution reported yesterday from the Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union, in the words following, to wit:

"Resolved, That the apportionment of Representatives amongst the several States, according to the second enumeration of the people, ought to be in a ratio of one Representative for every thirty-three thousand persons in each State."

Mr. GRISWOLD remarked, that the effect of adopting this resolution would be an increase of members in that House; that the number would amount to nearly one hundred and fifty. He was of opinion that the present House was sufficiently numerous for every correct purpose, as well of legislation, as for obtaining all desirable information from the people. Should an augmentation be made, the consequences would be an increase of expense, and business would inevitably be protracted. He moved, therefore, to strike out the words "thirty-three," meaning, if they were stricken out, to propose the substitution of a larger number.

On this motion a desultory debate ensued, in which Messrs. GRISWOLD, S. SMITH, NICHOLSON, GILES, BAYARD, ALSTON, ELMER, EUSTIS, SPRIGG, and other gentlemen, took part.

Mr. GRISWOLD stood alone in advocating an apportionment of one member to every 40,000 persons.

Messrs. GILES and BAYARD were for one member for every 30,000.

Messrs. S. SMITH, NICHOLSON, and EUSTIS, were for one member for 33,000.

Mr. ALSTON was in favor of one representative for every 31,000.

The preferences avowed by the several speakers, appeared to arise from the application of that divisor to the State from which each member came, which left the least fraction.

Some gentlemen, however, declared, and particularly Mr. GILES, that he had made no calculation, and that his preference of the smallest ratio proposed was the preference of principle.

Those in favor of a small ratio argued that, though the expense attending the compensation of the members might be somewhat increased, yet that it would be trifling compared with the great advantages that would result from a larger representation; that such a representation would be productive of true economy, as it would oppose all extravagant expenditure of money; that the weight of expense incurred by the Government, did not arise from the expense of the civil list, which formed but a speck in the mass of expenditure; that it was important to this Government to adopt those measures which would ensure the respect and the confidence of the people; that this end would be best attained by each Representative being familiarly acquainted with the interests of his constituents; and that this could only be the case when the number of his constituents were limited within certain bounds. It was true that it had been said that a body of more than one hundred, even though it be composed of philosophers, was a mob; but it was replied that the long experience of this country had proved the reverse, for that many of the State Legislatures consisted of more members.

These ideas were but feebly opposed. The diversity of opinion expressed chiefly arose from a division of the House on the ratios of thirty thousand and thirty-three thousand. The former was advocated principally from a regard to Delaware and Rhode Island, which, by its adoption, would have each two Representatives instead of one, if a higher ratio were preferred.

During the discussion, it was moved to strike out the word "three;" leaving thirty thousand as the ratio. This motion was lost--yeas 43, nays 46.

Mr. BAYARD then moved to strike out "thirty-three," leaving the resolution blank, in order that it might be filled up with such number as should be agreeable to the House.

This motion was opposed chiefly by Mr. NICHOLSON and Mr. EUSTIS, who were of opinion that the progressive increase of the members would be sufficiently large on the ratio of thirty-three thousand persons to a member. They were also further in favor of this number as it left the fewest fractions. The only two States much injured by it would be Delaware and North Carolina; whereas, if the ratio was increased to thirty-five thousand, New Jersey would have a fraction of 31,000; Delaware of 26,000; Maryland of 30,000; Georgia of 23,000; and Kentucky of 29,000.

On the question being taken for striking out "thirty-three," there rose only thirty-one members. It was therefore declared to be lost.

The question was then taken on the original motion, and carried without a division, and a committee of three members appointed to bring in a bill conformably thereto.

THURSDAY, December 17.

Another member, to wit, DANIEL HEISTER, from Maryland, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat.

FRIDAY, December 18.

Public Printing.

Mr. RANDOLPH, chairman of the committee appointed to see what alterations were necessary to expedite the printing business of the House, reported that the committee thought it expedient to request the Heads of the Departments to attend and inspect the printing of all such documents, reports, and statements, as are directed by law to be annually laid before the House; and that it was necessary that a printer to the House be appointed, who shall be responsible for the faithful and prompt execution of all business confided to him by order of the House.

Mr. GRISWOLD wished the report altered to a resolution; to the first part of it he should agree, but doubted whether the latter part would be concurred in. He did not think it sufficient or expedient to appoint but one; the business would require more, particularly at the close of the session. He could see no reason for altering the mode in which the printing business was now and had ever been done; it now lies with the Clerk, who is empowered to employ as many persons as he pleases or deems expedient. If such printer should be appointed, he will become an officer of the House; he will not be responsible to the Speaker. We have officers enough already; it is needless to multiply.

Mr. RANDOLPH said, the committee had considered these objections; but, he believed, sufficient reasons might be offered to convince the House of the expediency of this measure. If one be appointed, he will know his duty and be prepared; he will employ as many hands as he wishes. Had there been one appointed by the House last session, he would have been on the spot now, fully prepared promptly to execute the orders of the House; nor should we have such delay as that by which we are now unfortunately troubled.

Mr. NICHOLSON.--We have but few printers in this vicinity, nor is it probable their number will be soon increased. The printing for the House is said to be worth $4,000 per annum; if one be appointed for that purpose, he will have every thing in readiness, and be responsible for his faithful duty.

Mr. S. SMITH thought a printer thus appointed might perform a considerable part of his duty previous to each session; to many documents he might attend. Mr. S. wished such printer appointed as a permanent officer.

Mr. LOWNDES.--If he thought such officer necessary he should not oppose the measure, but at present he did not think such appointment necessary. He conceived the Clerk to be responsible to the House; that it was his duty to attend to the printing; that he could employ whom and as many as he pleased. Whence, then, the necessity of such appointment? Besides, such printer will become an officer of this House, must have a salary, and will be called the printer of the House: and, if printer of a paper, whatever sentiments might be advanced in such paper would perhaps be considered as the sentiments of the House.

Mr. EUSTIS considered it altogether unnecessary, disadvantageous, and troublesome.

The first was carried: that relating to the appointment of a printer not carried; about twenty only rising in favor of it.

Apportionment Bill.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for the apportionment of Representatives among the several States, according to the second enumeration.

Mr. MACON (Speaker) moved to strike out "thirty-three," the ratio fixed by the bill, for the purpose of inserting "thirty."

Mr. M. observed that it did not appear, from the different ideas expressed by different gentlemen, that any material inconvenience would result from the increased number of members that would be created by the ratio of thirty thousand being adopted. Whereas on the ground of principle a great benefit would flow from it. In his opinion, to secure the confidence of the people in the Government, it was essential to lessen the districts as much as possible, that the elector might know the elected. At present, particularly in North Carolina, they were so large that a voter depended more upon the opinions of others than upon his own information. The ratio of thirty thousand would not introduce into the House more than one hundred and sixty members, which number did not equal that of the members in several of the State Legislatures, of which no complaints had been made, and from which no inconvenience had arisen. He felt particularly for Delaware, which would be severely affected by the ratio in the bill.

Mr. GILES hoped the motion would obtain. As far as respected the State of Virginia, he felt little or no anxiety. But he, on general principles, preferred the smallest ratio. It was an essential principle of a Republican Government that the people voting should know whom they vote for; that the elector should be well acquainted with the elected. To ensure this effect the districts should be small. He was aware of the impossibility of reaching this point precisely: but it was our duty to approach it as nearly as possible. Though, in relation to the situation of Delaware, he did not subscribe fully to the ideas of some gentlemen, as the case was an extreme one, and he knew the impropriety of relying upon such cases, as the reasoning from an extreme generally led to an extreme, yet he thought the relative circumstances of Delaware and Virginia, as stated, to be correct; for it was a fact that Virginia, entitled to twenty-two Representatives, was not so much affected by any given fraction, as Delaware, entitled to but one Representative.

But the reply to the inequality of her representation here is, that she has two Representatives in the Senate; and it is inferred that she will hence derive a larger weight in the Union. Such was the theory of the thing. But what was the result of experience? Mr. G. said, he had once supposed that the small States would have an undue advantage over the large States. His opinion had since altered. All the small States were surrounded and compressed by large States, and derived their political sympathies from them. It was true, the small States had each two votes in the Senate. Yet, what superior advantage have they in the Government generally? He was, therefore, clearly of opinion that the claims of the small States to the largest representation that could be constitutionally given them, ought not to be affected by their representation in the Senate. The fact was that this House was the basis of confidence in the Government. We had heard much about an alarm, about disorganization, and the disposition of large States to swallow up the rights of all the other States. He would ask, whether the adoption of a large ratio would lessen this clamor, promote the general confidence, and increase the stability of the Government?

Mr. JONES hoped the amendment would prevail. There was not a doubt but that the small States would be materially affected by the ratio in the bill. It was true, that, according to the theory of our Government, the members of that House did not represent the States. But, what was the fact? In truth, our representation was that of absolute locality. Can I, said Mr. J., represent as effectually Massachusetts, or Vermont, as Pennsylvania?

Mr. VAN NESS declared himself to be uninfluenced by local considerations, or particular inconveniences. If we attempted to avoid them by the adoption of any ratio, we should be mistaken. The inequality of States could not be remedied. If a remedy was sought, it must be found in the Senate. The large States had not that exclusive weight which had been stated. If the number of the large States in this House should overbear the smaller States, they would find their protection in the Senate. The fractional loss, so much dwelt on, was not a loss to the State, it was only a loss to that part of the State which was unrepresented, and the loss would be the same to a larger State, if its unrepresented fraction was equally great.

Mr. V. N. said, it had always been his desire to consult the wishes of the people and to conform to them. He considered those wishes as solemnly expressed in the constitution, which had decided that the ratio should not be less than thirty thousand, and in the law passed immediately after the adoption of the constitution, fixing the ratio at thirty-three thousand.

As to the experience of the State, so often appealed to, he would state that of his own. The constitution of New York originally fixed the representation in one branch at three hundred, and in the other at one hundred and fifty. After suffering the inconveniences of so large a legislative body, a convention had been called, which reduced the one branch to one hundred and fifty, and the other to thirty-two members.

It was the opinion of some gentlemen that the essential principle of our Government was the equal representation of the States in the Senate. This was a mistaken opinion. The federalism of the Government might have been as well preserved by an unequal representation in the Senate. The feature was not the offspring of principle, but of concession. If we looked to antiquity, we would observe the smaller States of a Confederation always inferior to the larger; and he recollected one case of a Confederation, in which one State was entitled to three, another to two, and the third to one representative.

Mr. SMILIE heartily concurred in opinion with the gentleman from New York, that we ought not to respect local feelings, but that we ought to go upon general grounds. Possessing these principles, we still know how difficult it is to do complete justice. For himself he would be satisfied with the ratio of thirty-three, if he could not obtain that of thirty thousand. He was in favor of a large representation, because he relied on that for safety and economy. For, when he considered the great powers of the other branches of the Government, (powers, in the opinion of some men, too great,) he thought it was their duty to impart to that House all the constitutional power that could be conferred. This would enable the House to resist all encroachments attempted to be made upon it.

Mr. BACON said that, for himself, he was satisfied with the present ratio, as it stood in the bill. This was the ratio which had been adopted when our numbers were much less than they now are; that it did not appear but that it had given general satisfaction; and that no other inconveniences had accrued than such as might be expected to follow from the adoption of any other ratio whatever. It would seem to be rather unnatural, and the reverse of what was contemplated by those who enacted the constitution, as our numbers increase, to lessen the ratio of representation. He was, therefore, against striking out the number thirty-three, with a view to insert a lower number.

A divisor of thirty-three thousand would now give a House consisting of at least one hundred and forty members, which, even on the present ratio, must soon become not only too expensive, but unwieldy. It had been repeatedly urged that the present ratio leaves a very large fraction to the State of Delaware. This, it was admitted, was matter of regret; but that, let what ratio might be adopted, such fractional parts must be expected to fall somewhere; that such fractions would be likely to vary, from time to time, and shift from State to State, as the population may increase and vary in the several States. And Mr. B. did not conceive that the particular case of Delaware, hard as it might seem, furnished a sufficient reason for altering an entire system.

As to what had been urged of the disadvantage to which Electors were subjected in large districts, of not knowing the characters of their Representatives and candidates, Mr. B. observed that this was a disadvantage which was lessening with rapidity from year to year, and from one election to another; that to whatever inconvenience electors may heretofore have been subjected by the want of a knowledge of their candidate, from this inconvenience they are already in a great measure relieved; and it must, in a very short time, entirely cease to exist. If any inconvenience of this kind still remains, by an election or two more, it would be entirely removed. It had been urged that Delaware had but one Representative, and every State ought to have two. But, why two, Mr. B. queried, rather than three? It is true, that two are better than one; and three are better than either one or two; for, as we have long since been told, "a three-fold cord is not easily broken."

Mr. B. concluded by saying that, as thirty-three thousand was the ratio which had been adopted when our population was much less than it now is; and as it has been practised upon without any inconvenience or general dissatisfaction, he was unwilling to risk the uncertain consequences of an innovation at this particular time.

Mr. T. MORRIS was of opinion that the arguments drawn from the representation in the Senate had nothing to do with this question. The House had a constitutional duty to perform, that was highly interesting. The only question is, How it shall be performed? The people ought to be fully represented; that is, the number of their representatives should be increased until that number became inconvenient for the transaction of business. He had never been a friend to an enormous Legislature; such as that in France, a mob convention. He thought the idea incorrect that this House should acquire a weight that might cause it to bear down the other branch of the Legislature. He hoped, if any such attempt should be made, that body would have sufficient spirit to resist it; and he trusted there would always be firmness enough here to resist any encroachment attempted.

As to the present ratio guiding, he did not think that the House should be governed by any uniform rule. They ought, on the contrary, to be governed by the existing circumstances. Not believing that any inconvenience would arise from the augmented representation on the ratio of thirty thousand, he would be in favor of it from the reasons he had assigned.

Mr. DENNIS did not rise to say any thing new on the subject; but merely, as he had altered his mind since the business was before the House, to assign some of the reasons which had influenced him. He was now in favor of the ratio of thirty thousand. His first impressions were against it from an apprehension that the increased numbers of the House would increase expense, and produce disorder. But he acknowledged himself convinced by the arguments which had fallen from the gentleman from Virginia, which he thought counterbalanced his previous apprehension. Mr. D. thought it all-important to preserve an equilibrium between the different departments of the Government, and he was convinced that this would be best effected by making the representation in this House as large as the constitution permitted, and convenience justified. If we expected to retain the confidence of the people, it was necessary to increase the Representative branch; for it would be in vain to look for that confidence necessary to give it a proper portion of energy, unless there existed a sympathy between the elector and the elected.

Mr. RANDOLPH hoped the amendment would not obtain. The difference between the effects of the two ratios was not very important; but it was highly important that a doctrine so heretical and improper as that which had been avowed, should be exploded on its first annunciation. He meant that doctrine which considered this House as the Representatives of the people. When the constitution was formed, two great difficulties presented themselves. The large States refused to confer on the Government greater powers than those it enjoyed, which deeply affected their wealth and their numbers, unless, according to the ratio of their numbers, they should participate in the administration of it; while the smaller States withheld their concurrence, unless their sovereignties were guarantied and protected. These two difficulties were surmounted by the plan of the present constitution; according to which the members of this House were the Representatives, not of the people, but of the States in proportion to their numbers. This was the theory of the Government for which he must contend.

Mr. R. believed that the strongest objection urged against the adoption of the constitution, was, that it tended to a consolidation of the States. But when he looked into it with a Federal eye, (and with no other eye could he ever look at it,) he saw the State sovereignties in all its parts acknowledged and protected. Of this, the very bill was itself a proof. For the apportionment was not among the people, but among the States, according to the numbers of each. Believing that this House is the representative of States, it was his opinion that so long as the relative weight of States could be preserved, it was immaterial that each State should be represented by a large number of members.

It was with extreme regret, and some diffidence, Mr. R. said, that he differed from his colleague on this subject. His colleague wished to increase the House to such an extent as to make it the depository of the whole confidence of the people. Mr. R. wished it to possess that confidence so far as related to Federal objects, but no further. Increase it, according to the theory of gentlemen, make it in point of numbers, a British Parliament, or a French convention, and you will proportionably diminish the confidence of the people in the State governments. They will become feeble barriers against the powers of the General Government; and the people will inquire for what purpose they elect their State Legislatures. Mr. R. believed it to be of infinite importance that the poises of the Government should be preserved; that it should confine itself to Federal objects. His object, therefore, was to preserve on that floor the proportionate weight between the several States which the constitution had fixed.

Had any objection been made to the old Congress under the Confederation, that was federally organized, for the want of talents or integrity? No. The only objection was, that they wanted power. Had the public affairs been conducted with less ability than they are at present? He had neither heard, nor did he believe that they had.

Mr. R. concluded, by making some remarks on the score of convenience, similar to those already stated.

Mr. MITCHILL, in a speech of some length, supported the ratio of thirty thousand.

Mr. S. SMITH felt indifferent whether the ratio of thirty-three, or that of thirty thousand, were adopted; but felt anxious that justice should be done to the State of Maryland. He understood that radical errors existed in the numbers given to that State; that in Harford County there were returned only three thousand slaves, whereas there ought to have been returned eighteen thousand; and that in Cecil there had been returned nine thousand, instead of fifteen thousand. He hoped, in order to have these errors corrected, the committee would rise, that the original returns in the office of State might be examined.

This motion gave rise to a conversation of some length, in which on one side the impropriety and injustice of making an apportionment under the existing errors, and without the return from Tennessee, were argued; and, on the other side, the great inconvenience of delay, and the inability of the House to obtain a correction of errors, which, if attempted in one instance, might be attempted in many.

Mr. VAN NESS informed the committee that the return from Tennessee was received at the office of State, and that it made the population of that State amount to ninety-two thousand free inhabitants, and thirteen thousand slaves.

It was ultimately agreed that the committee rise, report progress, and ask leave to sit again; which was granted.

MONDAY, December 21.

Georgia Limits, and Delegate from Mississippi.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the report of the Committee of Elections, to whom were referred the credentials of Narsworthy Hunter, who has appeared as a Delegate from the Territory of the United States known by the name of the Mississippi Territory.

Mr. MILLEDGE spoke forcibly, and with considerable eloquence against agreeing to the report of the committee; he said it was not a matter of private but of general concern--that Georgia had jurisdiction over that territory; to prove this, he called for the reading of the memorial of Georgia to the Legislature of the Union.

[The memorial was extremely long, and was read but in part.]

Mr. M. insisted on the right of Georgia to the soil; he would assert to that body and to the world that she had never given up that right; and that therefore the laws that had been passed by Congress for the government of that territory were void, and the gentleman elected as a delegate to Congress by the Legislature of that territory had no right to a seat in the House. Gentlemen might say what they please of the expediency of Congress making laws for the government of that territory, yet that expediency must yield to justice and to just claims; depriving Georgia of her command over that soil and over the people of that soil, was a glaring violation of right. Commissioners had been appointed to settle the dispute between the United States and Georgia; those commissioners are here, and probably it will not be long before those claims are adjusted; he hoped and trusted no farther proceedings would take place till the dispute was completely settled.

Mr. BAYARD.--The gentleman from Georgia appeared to mistake the object of the report of the select committee; that committee was appointed to examine the credentials of Mr. Hunter, and to see whether the Legislature of the Mississippi territory had a right, by the law of Congress regulating that government, to send a delegate, to exercise here the right of debating, but not of voting; it was not to admit into the Union a new State, or to erect a new State within the bounds of another. The law of Congress, establishing the government of that territory, declares that when in that territory there shall be such a number of inhabitants, they shall have a House of Representatives and a Legislature; and that when their inhabitants shall have increased to such a number, the Legislature may appoint a delegate to Congress, with the right of debating, but not of voting. It is not now a question whether a new State shall be erected, but whether this member be duly chosen. Nor are the interests of Georgia at all affected: the fifth section of the law establishing this Government expressly declares that nothing in the law for establishing a temporary government there, shall in any manner affect any claims of the State of Georgia to that soil. Commissioners are appointed on the part of the United States and Georgia to settle the dispute between the two Governments; but till those disputes shall be settled, shall the inhabitants of that territory be without a government? No, sir, it is not a matter of discretion with us; we are bound by a positive law of Congress. If the gentleman was urgent against Mr. HUNTER'S taking his seat, the only way to effect it is, by repealing the law of Congress establishing the Government of the Mississippi Territory.

Mr. DAVIS.--The House have no business to meddle, in this case, with the claims of the United States, or of Georgia, to that territory; we have only to examine the credentials of the member, and to see whether the Legislature, in conformity to the act of Congress, were authorized, or not, to send a delegate. If that act of Congress be unconstitutional, it must be repealed by the Senate and House; yet, as it now is, we are bound to but one decision on this subject.

Mr. RANDOLPH.--He thought gentlemen did not treat the member from Georgia with due candor and respect. It should be remembered that Georgia had ever protested against the laws relative to the Mississippi Territory. It was the duty of that gentleman, as a member from the State of Georgia, to dissent; constructions might be put on silence. The United States had arrogated the power of governing that territory, at the same time saying that such assumption of power should not affect any claims of Georgia; but did not this very assumption of a right to govern, prejudge claims? We are told the commissioners are on the eve of settling the dispute; let us wait till this be accomplished. Mr. R. motioned that the committee rise.

Mr. CLAIBORNE.--He thought it right in the gentleman from Georgia to dissent; it was to be expected; he did not rise to censure him. He did not conceive that any gentleman in the House wished, in this matter, to do any thing that would prejudice the interest or claims of Georgia. The assumption of a power to give laws to the Mississippi Territory arose from the necessity of the thing, and from benevolence to the inhabitants; he would not suffer an infraction of the constitution for the world; no, not to save a world. [The Chairman called him to order: the question was now on the committee's rising.] Mr. C. said he did not know but he might be out of order, but if he was, he believed others had been in the same situation. He wished to express his opinions on the subject in common with others. It should be considered that the delegate from the Mississippi territory would have no right to vote, but only to debate; he would be only a sting, but without poison. We ought, moreover, to oblige our brethren of that Southern hemisphere; we ought to hear their statements, attend to their wants, &c.

Mr. DANA.--He was for the committee's rising. It had been usual to suffer the reports of the Committee of Elections to lie on the table, and if no protest or complaint were entered, nothing further was done with them, and the members kept their seats. In the case of the North-western and Indiana Territories, they were obliged to inquire, if it was the first time, whether there was a right to send a delegate; such is the situation now of the member from the Mississippi Territory; the records show their right to send, the report states that this delegate is duly chosen. Let the report lie on the table, and the member keep his seat.

Mr. GRISWOLD.--He was not in favor of the committee's rising. It was extremely unpleasant to the delegate from the Mississippi Territory to remain in this situation; he himself claimed a seat in that House, not as a matter of favor but of right; and this House had not the power of depriving him of this right, without repealing the act of Congress establishing a government over that Territory. Some gentlemen have said that the rights of Georgia will be affected by the admittance of this member to a seat; such certainly could not be the case; if the claims of Georgia are at all affected, it is done already by act of Congress; yet, for his part, he did not consider the claims of Georgia as affected or injured. Nor ought we to wait the decision of the commissioners: that decision may take place in a month, and perhaps will not these six months.

Mr. MACON.--There ought to be some petition or statement of facts presented by the member from Georgia, or some other person, to justify a discussion at this time, or to prevent the delegate from taking his seat. He wished his right and his credentials treated as those of any other member. He agreed with the gentleman from Connecticut, (Mr. DANA,) that it were better for the committee to rise, without leave to sit again; the member would then be entitled to his seat and his pay, till it should be shown that he has no claim to them.

Mr. BAYARD.--He did not agree with the Speaker; the face of the report of the select committee gives sufficient cause for a decision of the Committee of the Whole. The gentleman from Georgia opposes the decision of the select committee; and it is due to the member from Georgia, and to the delegate, to have the opinion of the House--to have a prompt decision. The mere question is, whether he has been duly elected; not whether the Legislature of the Mississippi Territory had a right to elect him. Gentlemen have said we are prejudicing the claims of Georgia, that their rights are implicated in this step; they have said that the act of Congress establishing a government was an assumption of power; not so: by the Spanish treaty that territory was ceded to the United States; the inhabitants were without a government; they petitioned Congress for some form of government. What was to be done? The interposition of Congress arose ex necessitate rei. It was no assumption of power or assertion of claims. It was a necessary establishment of a temporary government, to continue while there was necessity. He was for an immediate decision.

Messrs. RANDOLPH, DAVIS, BAYARD, S. SMITH, MACON, and GRISWOLD, continued the debate.

The report of the select committee was agreed to. Mr. MILLEDGE wished the yeas and nays, even if he stood alone. They were taken, and stood, yeas 77, nays 8.

TUESDAY, December 22.

Another member, to wit, JOHN RUTLEDGE, from South Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

TUESDAY, December 29.

Library of Congress.

Mr. RANDOLPH reported a "bill concerning the library for the use of both Houses of Congress;" which, after being twice read, was committed to a Committee of the whole House: Mr. RUTLEDGE in the chair.

The bill provided that the members of both Houses, the President and Vice President of the United States, and the Judges of the Supreme Court, should have liberty to take any book from the library to read.

Mr. SPRIGG moved, to add the Judges of the District of Columbia. He was supported in argument by Mr. DENNIS, upon the ground of the importance of the causes which this especial district would present, and the great expense and extreme scarcity of some most valuable and necessary law books.

Mr. BAYARD objected to the motion, because he could discover no reason for distinguishing the judges of the district from others; but Judges of the Supreme Court being far from their libraries, required such references. He hoped the Congressional Library would never be subjected to the abuse which books used in courts of justice were too liable to.

The motion was not agreed to.

Some observations were made as to the time which the library was to remain open.

Mr. GRISWOLD moved to confine it to the time of the session of Congress.

It was carried, with an exception moved by Mr. SOUTHARD, in favor of the Judges of the Supreme Court, whose sessions do not accord with those of Congress.

A blank was left as to the sum to be appropriated, in addition to the remaining part of the five thousand dollars heretofore appropriated, for the purchase of books.

On the Chairman's asking the sum with which to fill the blank, Mr. RANDOLPH moved to strike out the sections, observing that, of that sum, not more than $2,200 had been used, and $2,800 remained unexpended. He entertained no doubt but Congress would aid the institution by every timely grant.

WEDNESDAY, December 30.

Internal Taxes.

Mr. DAVIS moved the appointment of a committee to inquire into the expediency of repealing the acts imposing duties on stills and distilled spirits, on refined sugars, on sales at auction, and on pleasure carriages.

Mr. DAVIS said his object, in making this motion, was, that the House should accomplish that directly, which had been this session attempted in so circuitous a way as to embarrass and delay its proceedings. He saw no reason for going into a Committee of the Whole, in order to arrive at decisions that might better be made directly by the House itself.

On this motion a debate of considerable length ensued, in which, on the one side, the reference to a select committee, and on the other a reference to a Committee of the whole House was advocated. No decision was had, and of course the motion of Mr. D. was ordered to lie on the table.

Army Reduction.

Mr. BAYARD, during the course of the debate--in allusion to the adoption yesterday of the resolution of Mr. RANDOLPH for reducing the Military Establishment, which he thought premature, not considering the House as sufficiently acquainted with the details of the subject, to act upon it--said, that if gentlemen were for reducing the Army in whatever degree, or for abandoning it altogether, he should go with them. He would, on such occasion, be governed by the same principles which had hitherto guided him. He had heretofore been disposed to repose a liberal confidence in the Executive of the United States; and when an increase of our military force had been recommended by the President, he had invariably been for it; much more would he be disposed, when a reduction was recommended from the same quarter, to sanction it by his vote. With the Executive rested the responsibility of the exterior defence of the nation; and if the Executive was of opinion that the nation was secure with a force of three, two, or one thousand, or without even a single man, he would concur with him in giving effect to such a conviction.

Mr. RANDOLPH was called up by these remarks. He had little thought that his motion, agreed to yesterday sub silentio, and without the least hesitation, would have been made the topic of such animated animadversion as he had heard to-day. He would tell the gentleman from Delaware, that his motion had neither been immature in substance, nor premature as to time. It would be recollected, that previous to its adoption, the Secretary of War had been called upon to furnish information to the House. He had furnished information, to his mind completely satisfactory. He had stated the establishment to be five thousand men; and his opinion that all the garrisons required only three thousand men. Could it, then, with any reason be called premature to act upon such information? If the gentleman from Delaware, or other gentlemen thought so, why not combat a decision at the time? Did they imagine that, without the expression of a murmur by them, the mover would himself rise and oppose his own motion?

As to the delay which had been noticed, as having taken place in the transaction of business, it was not to be ascribed to any particular mode of procedure; but to the unusual languor of the season; to the absence of several members of great weight; to the augmentation of new members not yet fully acquainted with the forms of business, and to the unusual mass of information presented to the House, which enlarged the field of action, and to the delays of printing arising from the unusual quantity of matter submitted.

Internal Taxes.

Mr. BAYARD moved that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, for the purpose of enabling him to offer a resolution to the following effect:

"Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed to inquire into the expediency of repealing the laws laying duties on stills and distilled spirits, on refined sugar, on sales at auction, on pleasurable carriages, on stamps, and on postage of letters."

Mr. BAYARD made this motion for the purpose of placing the important subject contemplated by it in a train for decision. He thought it full time to commence our proceedings upon it; and in his opinion, it was fit that the consideration of the subject, generally, should go before the Committee of Ways and Means. The subject was so important as to strike at the vital principles of our revenue. The repeal of the internal taxes involved a reduction of six hundred thousand dollars in our receipts. The propriety of such a reduction did not constitute a distinct subject for consideration, but depended upon the deductions made on a comprehensive view of our finances, which could only be taken by the Committee of Ways and Means, to whom was committed generally whatever regarded revenue.

If the minds of gentlemen, said Mr. B., were made up to abolish all the internal taxes, it must be to them perfectly immaterial to what committee a reference was made. He knew the flattering prospects held out by the President, and he hoped they would all be verified. But his own mind was not made up, nor did he know that the minds of other gentlemen were made up on the propriety of dispensing with these taxes. He was led to this inference by observing no official notice to such effect in the communications made by the Secretary of the Treasury. On the contrary, the Secretary had so made his calculations, predicated as they were upon the continuance of these taxes, that his calculations would be greatly deranged by dispensing with them. Mr. B. knew not that we were prepared to leap this precipice. If the public burdens could be reduced, he would be delighted with the act of reduction. Yet still, if the sum of six hundred thousand dollars, derived from these taxes, could be dispensed with, doubts might be entertained whether the internal taxes were those which should be first either reduced or abolished. He held it to be a correct principle, that taxation should be equal, and that no one class of citizens should be burdened to the exemption of all other classes. From a slight consideration of the subject, he had found no other way of enabling our brethren to the westward to participate in the public burdens than by affording them an opportunity of paying their portion of internal revenue. It might appear, on investigation, that more substantial relief would be afforded to the various descriptions of our citizens, by continuing the internal taxes, and reducing those on imports; and if it should be thought proper to diminish the burden imposed on our western citizens, he would ask whether that effect would not be more substantially accomplished by reducing the tax upon salt? It would be recollected that great opposition had been made to the imposition of this tax, which had been denominated oppressive, as it fell upon an article of necessity.

Attention ought, also, to be paid to the liability of several articles to be smuggled, the only mode of preventing which was well known to be a reduction of the duties.

Mr. B. stated these circumstances, not as evidences of having matured his own ideas; but to show the necessity of referring the subject to a committee, whose special duty it was to take a general view of the resources and expenses of the nation, and who, therefore, in the present stage of the session, were alone in a situation to make the requisite inquiry.

Mr. EUSTIS said that the reasons offered by the gentleman from Delaware were with him conclusive that this was not the proper time for considering the subject. Until we know the reductions in the expenditures of the Government that are to be made, it is impossible that we can say how far it will be expedient to reduce or abolish our taxes. We had not determined to what extent the Army or the Navy should be reduced, nor had we come to any ultimate decision on any reduction whatever. For these reasons he must oppose a decision at this time upon the subject, whether that decision was in this or any other shape.

Mr. BACON concurred with Mr. EUSTIS in considering any decision as at present premature.

Mr. RUTLEDGE viewed the subject as of great importance. He could not figure to his imagination one likely to occur this session of equal importance. The President contemplated a repeal of all the internal revenues, and the imposition of all taxes upon imported articles. The Secretary of the Treasury appears, by implication, to be of a different opinion, and contemplates a continuance of these duties. What is the object of the gentleman from Delaware? Why, delay; time for consideration, by reference of the subject to a committee most competent to inquire. As to the public burdens, every member on the floor had a common feeling. We do not wish to lay unnecessary taxes. But when taxes are laid, when they are uncomplained of, it was indeed deeply interesting without consideration to decide on their abolition. Mr. R. said, for himself, he should be embarrassed by being forced into an immediate decision. We want information before we are called upon to decide. The motion seeks that information. It sends the business to the Committee of Ways and Means, to whom it belongs of right. It is their duty to consider it, for whatever relates to revenue must go to them. Gentlemen cannot say that they are surprised. By the resolution, they are not called upon to decide upon the subject; they are only called upon to place it in a train for decision.

Mr. MACON hoped the business would be taken up, and the sooner it was done, the better. It was certainly of great importance, and the earlier the House proceeded to consider it, the sooner would they be prepared for deciding upon it. If the vote of reference was final, the arguments of the gentleman from Massachusetts would apply. But this was not the case.

It had been said that the President had declared his opinion that we can dispense with these taxes. The statement was not correct. His opinion was contingent. He had said, we may dispense with these taxes in case we proportionably reduce the expenses.

As to the remarks made respecting the different opinions of the President and Secretary of the Treasury, they likewise were erroneous. Distinct views were taken by each. The President, contemplating a reduction in the expenses, intimates the expediency of repealing the internal taxes; whereas the Secretary of the Treasury, taking things as they are, states the effects of their continuance. From these circumstances, no diversity of opinion could be inferred.

Mr. M. concluded by expressing a hope that the expenses of the Government would be reduced, that the internal taxes would be taken off, and that immediate measures would be pursued for preparing the House for a final decision.

Mr. EUSTIS was alike hostile to the present motion and to that which had been made by the gentleman from Kentucky, who had yesterday introduced the subject. He had heard the motion with a sensation of uncommon surprise; for he was of opinion that the public attention should not be attracted, or the public sensation excited, till we should be able to determine the course proper to be pursued. He felt himself unprepared to decide, and believed other gentlemen were equally unprepared. He hoped that he cherished a suitable respect for the President of the United States, though he did not know that he would go so far as the gentleman from Delaware, and disband a whole army at his word.

The wisest course was to wait until information was obtained. This would in fact be gaining time. If the Committee of Ways and Means were to consider the subject, it must be under the present state of things. They could not take for granted what might or might not be done by Congress; and before Congress could decide, they must have information which they do not yet possess. He who, under present circumstance, attempted to say to what length our retrenchments would go, and what taxes we could spare, might indeed be called a prophet.

We ought not, said Mr. E., to stir the public sensibility improperly or prematurely. By exciting that sensibility before we had determined how to act in future, impressions may be raised which we shall not be able to satisfy.

Mr. SMILIE concurred in opinion with Mr. E., and moved, as the best mode of disposing of the subject, that the committee rise.

Mr. GRISWOLD declared himself against delay. He knew not why the House were not prepared to decide immediately. The President had introduced the subject, and if any sensibility had been excited, it must be ascribed to him, and not to us. Nor did he think that any ill effects would flow from attracting the public attention. The President did not know, when he addressed us, that we would be for a reduction of the expenses; yet, thinking as he did, it was highly proper in him to give his opinion to the House. So proposed to us, it would exhibit a want of respect to that Magistrate not to take it up immediately. Not to act upon it promptly would be subversive of the national tranquillity after the attention of the public had been directed to it.

Mr. SMILIE had thought the gentleman from Connecticut was too well acquainted with the proceedings of that House to say that the Committee of Ways and Means were prepared to act upon this subject. Did they know how far we would reduce the Army, the Navy, or the Judiciary?

Mr. VARNUM hoped the committee would rise. Any disposition of the subject was at present premature. As to the calculations of the Secretary alluded to, they were made from the existing revenue, and all his deductions were made therefrom. The President had taken another view of the subject. Contemplating the probability of a reduction in our expenses, he had stated that, in such event, we could dispense with the internal taxes. But whether the contemplated reduction could be made, the House were not prepared to say. Of one thing he was sure, that not a single necessary tax would be abandoned.

Mr. DANA said, that more than three weeks have elapsed since the President's communication has been laid before us, and, during that time, a sense of decorum has not induced us to take up one of the most important parts of it. He certainly agreed with gentlemen that we ought to take up the subject and decide for ourselves. If we concur with the President, we shall repeal the laws; if we do not concur, we may, it is true, risk our popularity by opposing so favorite a measure with the people. But placed as we shall be between popularity on the one hand, and duty on the other, as honest men we should do our duty. But certainly it is our duty now to examine the subject. Grant that the reduction in our expenses may extend to a million, though scarcely half that sum could be hoped for; still the question remains what taxes shall be diminished. He could not, for his part, feel all that horror of public sensibility that had been portrayed by the gentleman from Massachusetts. What have we to fear, suppose we interfere with that sensibility? If we do so in the discharge of our duty, he was perfectly willing it should be excited; nay, it would be useful to the people themselves.

Mr. EUSTIS was perfectly ready to meet the public sensibility, whether for or against us. We had already tried it both ways. He was much pleased with the respect professed by gentlemen for the public sensibility, and also for the communications of the President. But there were parts of those communications, which, notwithstanding the impatience of gentlemen, they would not be displeased at laying unacted upon, not merely three weeks, but three months.

Mr. BAYARD did not expect an opposition to his motion from the quarter from which it came; for he had a right to expect as much deference to the President from the opposite, as from his own side. For his part he felt no terrors at meeting the whole, or any part of the President's communications. Whatever he recommended that was right, he would vote for, and whatever was wrong, he would oppose. Though his former habits had led him to cherish a respect for the President, of which he did not repent, yet he felt no servility that would lead him to repress an expression of his sentiments.

A gentleman from Pennsylvania had talked about reducing the Army, the Navy, and the Judiciary. But there were other expenses which the gentleman might have dwelt on. Why silent on the Legislature? Let us reduce the length of our sessions. It did not appear consistent in that gentleman to strike at the Judiciary, and other departments, and leave untouched whatever affected himself.

Mr. RANDOLPH did not desire to occupy much of the time of the committee, as he thought it immaterial whether the committee rise or not. But he wished, for the information, and perhaps for the satisfaction, of the gentleman from Massachusetts, to state that, among other members, he was one who had not decided whether Government could dispense with the internal taxes. He hoped, and was inclined to believe, that they might be dispensed with. The Secretary of the Treasury had expressly stated that part of his report was speculative, viz: that part which inferred the effects of peace. The correctness of the opinion of the Secretary on this point must decide the House as to the propriety of giving up these taxes. He was one who, though he did not think a state of peace would materially affect the revenue, had not decided whether a reduction of the public impositions in this or that species of revenue should be made. He noticed these things, to prevent an impression being made on the public mind that the House were for precipitating a decision. As to the public sensation, he felt no alarm. He knew that our measures must depend upon the reductions we shall make.

Mr. R., for these reasons, was against any decision now; and had the gentleman from Kentucky pressed his motion yesterday, he was prepared to move a postponement of it. In the mean time, there were other important topics involved in the Message that might be referred and acted upon.

Mr. DANA presumed that the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts had done him the honor of alluding to him in his remarks. He was not very solicitous that the subject should be inquired into, but since it was brought up, he must say that nothing short of the talents of the honorable gentleman could furnish a semblance of reason for not going immediately into the inquiry. That gentleman errs egregiously, if he imagines that I can dread an investigation of any point involved in the President's Message. He would add, that whatever his particular opinion might be of the person to whom had been confided the Government of the nation, it became him only to see in him the First Magistrate of the country, and to treat him with correspondent respect, and to see in what he did, not the man, but the measure.

The question was then taken on the committee rising, and lost--yeas 29, nays 48.

The reference to the Committee of Ways and Means was then carried, both in committee and in the House, without a division.

The House adjourned till Monday.

MONDAY, January 4, 1802.

WILLIAM BARRY GROVE, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, and took his seat in the House.

Ordered, That Mr. MILLEDGE be appointed to the Committee of Ways and Means, in the room of Mr. DICKSON, who is sick and unable to attend.

Judiciary System.

Mr. RANDOLPH moved that the House should go into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, with the view of submitting three resolutions to the committee, viz:

"Resolved, That it is expedient to inquire whether any, and what, alterations should be made in the Judicial Establishment of the United States.

"Resolved, That provision ought to be made for the impartial selection of juries.

"Resolved, That it is expedient to inquire whether any, and what, reductions can be made in the civil expenses of the Government of the United States."

The House accordingly went into committee.

Mr. BAYARD presumed an agreement to these resolutions would, in their present shape, meet with no opposition. It was impossible to determine what shape they would ultimately assume. The Judiciary system was doubtless susceptible of amendment, and if any proper amendments should be proposed, he would concur in their adoption. With respect to the second resolution, though he did not know that there was any necessity for altering the mode at present practised of selecting juries, not having heard of any complaints under it, yet, as the resolution only led to an inquiry into the subject, he would not object.

With regard to the last resolution, it was one in which we must all concur. The object, if attainable, would be extremely grateful to all of us.

The three resolutions were agreed to without a division. The committee then rose, and reported them to the House.

On the report being taken up, Mr. RANDOLPH moved that the consideration of the two first resolutions be postponed till the third Monday of January.

Mr. BAYARD hoped the motion for postponement would not prevail. The propositions were abstract ones, leading to inquiry, and the sooner they were acted upon, the better. The mode pursued by the gentleman from Virginia, if his simple object was to give notice, was the least happy that he could have devised, for it gave to gentlemen no opportunity to prepare themselves, as they were totally unacquainted, in the present stage of the business, as to what would be the alterations proposed. If a committee were now appointed, they would have time to deliberate on a subject of the utmost importance--one so complicated as to require great attention. When their report was made, he would be one of those who would ask from the candor of the House time to consider it.

Mr. RANDOLPH said, he was at all times willing to accommodate gentlemen of every political description on proper occasions. Apprehending that his resolutions, if taken up in the House, would give rise to discussion, he had moved for their postponement, from a wish not to interfere with the desire of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and other gentlemen, to act on the apportionment bill. As his motion for postponement appeared likely to be itself productive of discussion, by which the time of the House would be exhausted, and the means he used defeat the end he had in view, he would withdraw his motion.

The House then agreed to the resolutions without a division.

Mr. RANDOLPH moved the reference of the two first resolutions to the same committee.

He said, in reply to the gentleman from Delaware, that he made the motion respecting juries not because any complaint did at present exist of the exercise of the powers under which jurors were selected, but because they had not long since existed, and because in similar circumstances they might again exist. He was glad the gentleman from Delaware had no reason to complain of their present abuse. But this was no security against the future.

Mr. BAYARD said, that he had spoken as he had done, not for the purpose of expressing any opinion that any abuse respecting juries had been recently removed under the present state of things; but to state that he had never heard of any complaints on this subject in the part of the Union from which he came; and he had particularly alluded to the mode of designating jurors in his State, which was by ballot. But if there were complaints in other parts of the Union, he would co-operate in any means that could be devised for removing them.

Mr. SMILIE said, that since the gentleman from Delaware had introduced the subject, and had declared that no complaints existed, he would say that complaints had existed, that just grounds for them existed, and that they had been expressed in the loudest tone. And he would appeal to the gentleman from Delaware whether any man could be safe who was at the mercy of a marshal, who was the mere creature of the President.

Mr. BAYARD.--While man continues as he is, there will be complaints on this subject. We are divided into parties. The people, as well as the President, must belong to one side or the other; and whether we have sheriffs chosen by the people, or marshals appointed by the President, the evil will still exist. He had no objection, if it were the wish of gentlemen, that the marshals should be appointed by the people; though we know that the people are as apt, nay more apt, to be infected with violent political feelings, than an Executive officer.

Mr. RANDOLPH said, that without desiring to exhaust the time of the House on a point where there was no difference of opinion, he could not permit the observation of the gentleman from Delaware to pass unnoticed; that an officer, holding a lucrative office, appointed by the President, and dependent upon his will, is as independent as a sheriff, elected in some States annually by the people, and in other States appointed in a manner calculated to ensure his independence. He would instance the State of Virginia, in which the sheriffs were nominated by the justices of the county courts, who, it was understood, were to hold the office of sheriff in rotation. Will the gentleman say that these men, who are independent of the pleasure of any man, are liable to be made the same tools, with officers who hold their appointments at the absolute will of one man?

Mr. R. would further say, that the remark of the gentleman from Delaware, that the existence of no complaints had ever come to his ears, had excited his extreme astonishment. In North Carolina, he believed, no legal jury had been selected since the establishment of the Federal Government. In that State, in the State courts, all juries are first selected in the inferior courts, and then sent to the superior courts. He would ask, how, under these circumstances, a jury could be struck in a federal court in that State agreeably to law? In Virginia and Pennsylvania, the independence of sheriffs is secured; therefore, no restrictions are imposed upon them in selecting juries; whereas, in the federal courts the marshal is the abject creature of the Executive--and yet we are told the security is the same! Mr. R. did not wish to consume the time of the House; but when views are taken by gentlemen calculated, either as to fact or sentiment, to lead the public mind astray, if other gentlemen did not, he would invariably notice them.

Mr. BAYARD desired to explain. He had not meant to contend that sheriffs chosen for three years by the people were as dependent as similar officers appointed by the President. He had alluded to the effects which flowed from a marked division of parties. We were in all events subject to that evil. It was a truth that men deeply infected with party were more apt to be chosen by the people than by an Executive magistrate; because the people felt more strongly a degree of political fanaticism.

After some further debate, it was determined to refer the two first resolutions to a committee of seven, and the last to a committee of five members.

Ordered, That Mr. NICHOLSON, Mr. JOHN TALIAFERRO, Jr., Mr. GODDARD, Mr. RUTLEDGE, Mr. ISRAEL SMITH, Mr. HENDERSON, and Mr. BAILEY, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the first and second resolutions.

Ordered, That Mr. BACON, Mr. GROVE, Mr. ELMENDORPH, Mr. HEMPHILL, and Mr. ABRAM TRIGG, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the third resolution.

TUESDAY, January 5.

Apportionment Bill.

On the question being taken for striking out thirty-three, it was lost--yeas 42, nays 48.

Mr. DENNIS moved to strike out eight, the number of Representatives allotted to Maryland, and insert nine; which amendment had been rendered necessary by the supplementary return received from Maryland.

On this motion a very desultory debate took place, which was twice interrupted by motions for the committee to rise, which were both lost.

Much personal recrimination, chiefly on the charge of delay on the one side, and precipitation on the other, was exchanged.

The amendment was at last agreed to--yeas 57.

The committee then rose and reported the bill as amended.

The House immediately took up the report of the committee, agreed to the amendments, and ordered the bill to be engrossed for a third reading to-morrow.

THURSDAY, January 7.

Stenographers.

The House went into Committee of the Whole on the standing rules of the House.

Mr. LEIB moved the addition of the following rule:

"The Speaker shall assign such places to the stenographers on the floor, as shall not interfere with the convenience of the House."

Mr. LEIB prefaced his motion, by observing that, in the standing rules proposed, no provision appeared to be made for the admission of stenographers. They had heretofore been subject to the will of the Speaker. However great his respect for the present Speaker, he was of opinion, that they should not depend for their accommodation upon the will of any man; and he thought it became the House, on this occasion, to establish a precedent which would place those who took the debates above the caprice of any individual.

Mr. HUGER moved to amend the motion so as to read as follows;

"Stenographers shall be admitted, and the Speaker shall assign to them such places on the floor as shall not interfere with the convenience of the House."

Mr. LEIB agreed to this modification.

The motion was opposed by Mr. GRISWOLD, Mr. RUTLEDGE, Mr. VARNUM, Mr. HEMPHILL, Mr. T. MORRIS, Mr. EUSTIS, Mr. DANA, Mr. ELMER, and Mr. GODDARD; and supported by Mr. LEIB, Mr. S. SMITH, Mr. NICHOLSON, Mr. CLAIBORNE, Mr. SMILIE, Mr. HOLLAND, and Mr. SPRIGG.

Mr. HUGER opposed the original motion of Mr. LEIB, but supported the motion, as amended by himself.

The opponents of the motion declared, that it did not relate to substance, but merely to form; that it was allowed on all hands, that the debates should be taken, and that stenographers should, consequently, be admitted. But the single question was, how, and under what authority, they should be admitted. They remarked, that they had heretofore been admitted by the Speaker, under whose direction they had remained; that the Speaker was the only proper authority under whose direction they ought still to remain; that, as the preservation of order and decorum rested with him, the stenographers, as well as other persons, should be permitted by him to enter the House, and be by him excluded, whenever, in his opinion, the order and a respect for the House required it. That, in case stenographers deported themselves in a disrespectful manner, or grossly misrepresented the ideas of members, the Speaker was the only person who could effectually cure the evil; that there had been, and might again be, instances of such misconduct; that, in one case, a stenographer had entered the House in a state of intoxication; another case, a speech of a gentleman from South Carolina, had been perversely misrepresented, and the stenographer had refused to correct his errors, for which he had been expelled the House; and that, in another case, the Speaker, considering himself as misrepresented, had expelled the stenographer.

Among the opponents of the motion, a great diversity of opinion prevailed. Mr. EUSTIS, Mr. VARNUM, and Mr. ELMER, objected to it, merely on the ground that it was improper to come to any solemn decision, which was the less necessary, as the stenographers already occupied convenient seats, from which there was no probability of their being extruded by the Speaker.

Those who supported the motion, considered its decision as involving an important point; a point no less important, than, whether the debates of that House should be taken with accuracy, and published without fear or partiality. They averred it as a fact, that, owing to the unwarrantable conduct of the Speaker, this had heretofore, at many periods, not been the case. The public had sought information without being able to get it. It was true, that a stenographer had been expelled for publishing a speech of a gentleman from South Carolina; but it was not for misrepresenting that speech, but for faithfully publishing it; and in the other case alluded to, a stenographer had been expelled by the Speaker, for stating, with correctness, what the Speaker had himself said. These were alarming facts, not to be forgotten, and which claimed the interposition of the House. If stenographers should be guilty of indecorum, they could still (this rule notwithstanding) be expelled the House. It was acknowledged that the gentleman who at present filled the chair, was entitled to the full confidence of the House, but it was dangerous to vest arbitrary power in the hands of any man, and it was peculiarly proper to provide in fair, for foul weather; and it was added, that though the proposed rule would not be obligatory upon a future House, yet it would form a precedent, which they might see fit to respect.

The motion, as modified by Mr. HUGER, was then agreed to--yeas 47, nays 32.

The committee then rose, and reported the rules with the above amendment.

The amendment was immediately taken up; when

Mr. RUTLEDGE moved to amend the report of the committee, by making it read as follows:

"Stenographers may be admitted under the direction of the Speaker, who shall assign to them such places on the floor, as shall not interfere with the convenience of the House."

On this amendment a further debate ensued; after which, the yeas and nays were called, and were--yeas 27, nays 51.

Another motion was then made and seconded to amend the said amendment, by inserting after the words, "stenographers shall," the following words, "until otherwise ordered by the House;"

And, the question being thereupon taken, it passed in the negative.

And the main question being put, that the House do agree to the amendment for an additional rule, as reported from the Committee of the whole House, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas, 47, nays 28.

Resolved, That this House doth agree to the said standing rules and orders, as amended.

MONDAY, January 11.

Another member, to wit, SETH HASTINGS, from Massachusetts, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Mediterranean Trade.

Mr. RANDOLPH moved a resolution directing the Secretary of the Treasury to lay before the House an estimate of the value of the exports of the United States, for the last five years, to ports situated within the Straits of Gibraltar, discriminating articles of American growth from other productions.

Mr. RANDOLPH observed that he was aware of the inability of the Secretary to distinguish precisely the exports of the United States, carried to the Mediterranean ports of France and Spain, from those carried to their other ports. But still he thought it probable that the Secretary might be able to furnish information that would be valuable.

Mr. S. SMITH said, that when the report was made by the Secretary, it would be a report of deception. A great part of our trade to the Mediterranean had been lopped off in consequence of the war.

Mr. SMITH afterwards remarked that, on the report being made, he feared the inquiry would be, whether we should give up the protection of the Mediterranean trade, or not. Gentlemen would probably go into a calculation of figures; and if the expense of protection appeared to be greater than the benefit of the trade, they might be for withholding protection. There was one description of trade to the Mediterranean, which we could obtain no estimate of, which was however very important--the tonnage of American shipping employed in going from European ports to the Mediterranean, and from the Mediterranean to European ports, and American shipping employed between the East Indies and the Mediterranean. This trade the Government was as much bound to protect, as it was bound to protect the landed interest of the country. Still, Mr. S. knew not that it would be proper to oppose the passage of a resolution that asked for information.

Mr. SMILIE knew not what information we could receive; but he knew that whatever it should be, it could do no harm.

Mr. NICHOLSON remarked, that the House would not be in a worse situation after the report, than it was now. For himself, he was in a state of total ignorance, and he believed a large part of the House was also ignorant of the extent of our Mediterranean trade. It was impossible that the House could be deceived by the report; as, if any part of it should be calculated to deceive us, his colleague would be able to detect its errors. He had heard, and that too from commercial men, that our Mediterranean trade was not valuable, and not worth the expense of the squadron fitted out to protect it. He was at a loss to decide between these opinions and those of his colleague.

Mr. MITCHILL spoke in favor of the resolution.

Mr. GRISWOLD had no objection to obtaining the estimate, if desired by gentlemen; not that he supposed the report could present the information that was desired. With regard to our Mediterranean trade, it was well known, that lately, owing to our contest with Algiers, our fish and oil went in European bottoms, which could not be noticed in the Treasury statements, as they went first to other ports.

Mr. EUSTIS was perfectly willing to obtain the report, that the great increase in our trade to the Mediterranean should be seen; from which its great value would fully appear, and its claim to encouragement.

Mr. VARNUM suggested the propriety of a reference to a select committee, which, from the documents before the House, could select the desired information.

Mr. RUTLEDGE feared, that the call for this information would delay the passage of an important bill before the House for the protection of our Mediterranean commerce. He hoped, in order as promptly as possible to obtain information, the Secretary of the Treasury would be called upon for it. With respect to the protection of our trade in the Mediterranean, it was, in his opinion, unimportant what its extent was. We were bound to protect the commerce of our citizens in all its ramifications, whether great or small.

The resolution was then agreed to.

THURSDAY, January 14.

Another member, to wit, JOHN DAWSON, from Virginia, appeared, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

WEDNESDAY, January 20.

Military Peace Establishment.

The House then took up the amendment to the bill fixing the Military Peace Establishment.

Mr. BAYARD moved to strike out the office of Brigadier General. He said there could not be any occasion for such an officer, as the men were scattered over the whole extent of our frontiers and Atlantic coast, and placed in small divisions.

This brought on a debate which was continued until after three o'clock.

The question was taken by yeas and nays for striking out--36 against it, 54 for it.

Mr. BAYARD moved to strike out the office of colonel, and add one to the number of majors; but it was not agreed to.

The bill proposed to give those officers who should be deranged, three months' pay when they were dismissed from the service.

Mr. GRISWOLD moved to strike out "three months," that a greater compensation might be given to those who have grown gray in the service of their country. He thought more was due to them than what the bill proposed to allow.

Mr. VARNUM said, his own opinion was in favor of a greater compensation; but he owed it to a majority of that House, to yield his opinion to what they had fixed it at. He said there was nothing due to those officers, as nothing had been promised them.

Mr. MITCHILL was in favor of striking out, for the purpose of inserting a compensation proportionate to the length of time the officers had been in service.

Mr. BACON differed as to the principle laid down by gentlemen. When officers were wanted, there was great competition for the appointments. They were desirous to receive the pay and emoluments. He did not think there was any thing due to them.

Mr. S. SMITH was for pursuing some system in this business, and keeping to a uniform principle. When a reduction was made in 1796, six months' pay and subsistence was granted. He would be in favor of that at this time.

Mr. DANA believed those officers accepted their appointments under an idea of its being the permanent Peace Establishment, and therefore something was due to them when dismissed from the public service.

Mr. SMILIE said, they knew the terms on which they entered the service, and they entered voluntarily. How could any thing, then, be due to them? It would be more proper to give the men something when disbanded than to provide for the officers. It was not long since that about forty were wanted, and there were thirteen hundred applications. Men could not always be obtained. When the ten regiments were ordered to be raised, the officers were soon obtained; but, after recruiting a long time, the proper number of men could not be procured.

The question for striking out was taken by yeas and nays--for it 26, against it 56.

Mr. S. SMITH made a motion to raise it to the same as was granted in 1796.

Mr. EUSTIS advocated it, but it was not carried, there being 26 for it, and 45 against it.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading to-morrow.

THURSDAY, January 21.

Military Peace Establishment.

An engrossed bill fixing the Military Peace Establishment of the United States was read the third time.

Mr. BAYARD observed that he should vote for the bill, because he thought it better than the former system, and it would be of much saving as to expense. He was, however, very far from being pleased with a part of that bill, that part relating to the Brigadier General and his aide-de-camp. This office he knew to be a perfect sinecure; no such officer was necessary; he could have no duties to perform. He would not, however, vote against the whole bill on account of this.

Mr. RUTLEDGE.--The first section was very disagreeable to him, as it went to the establishment of a perfect sinecure. He was willing to do homage to the merit of the officer who was to benefit; but he rather thought it would be more consonant with justice, if money must be needlessly sported with, to suffer such money to be given to those who have been long in service--some fifteen or twenty years--and who are now by this bill suddenly forced to quit their present, to seek some new way of obtaining a livelihood, in circumstances, many of them perhaps, not enviable.

Mr. R. was not pleased with the so great reduction of the artillery; he thought the retention of the artillery of more importance than that of the infantry. He had hoped the artillery would have been retained to keep in order the forts already built in different parts of the United States; the small number remaining was quite incompetent to preserving them in order, or preserving them from decay. The Secretary of War mentions one fort in South Carolina. There are, sir, four forts in the harbor of Charleston alone, some of which must go to decay. He should vote for the bill because it went to make great reductions of expense, which reductions circumstances now allow us to afford; but the sinecure was obnoxious to him, and he was not pleased with the reduction of the artillery.

On the question that the bill do pass, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 77, nays 12.

Mediterranean Trade.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the bill for the protection of the commerce and seamen of the United States in the Mediterranean and adjoining seas.

Mr. BAYARD offered an amendment, the purport of which, was to give to the President the power of granting letters of marque and reprisal, to affect Algiers and Tunis as well as Tripoli. Mr. B. thought that it would be unsafe to neglect a cautionary step like this, because there was great danger, from the similarity of religion and manners, of a union taking place between Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli; they may be brought into the war with Tripoli against us. It would be a matter of prudence to be prepared.

Mr. DANA thought it very probable that further information would be received from the Barbary powers, when we shall be the better enabled to judge what will be expedient. He did not like the appearance of the amendment; it seemed to invite war.

Mr. BAYARD considered there was a great difference between the Barbary powers and civilized nations; it was on account of the perfidiousness of those powers, that he wished it left to the direction of the President to exercise the power vested in him when he should think proper; there was no trusting to them. He wished the President to do this by the authority of law; this would prevent those doubts that have been expressed by some, of the constitutionality of his measures the last spring and summer; though for his part he was disposed to approbate the proceedings of the Executive on that occasion. As to its having the appearance of threatening, he did not think so; nor did he believe it would have any effect on those powers; he hardly believed that the Dey of Algiers ever read the acts of Congress.

Mr. DANA was opposed to considering the subject at present; he was for postponing till further information should be received.

Mr. GILES was against the amendment; he thought it had the appearance of inviting them to an attack, of challenging them to combat, of irritating and provoking them: he believed there would be ample time to act on this matter hereafter, when they would have a better knowledge of circumstances, and of what to expect.

Mr. BAYARD said he was by no means disposed to withdraw his motion. You are at war with one of these nations; the others are connected with them by their religion and habits, by their government some, and by their interest more. I have been told that there is no connection between my amendment and the bill; but I am confident there is the same connection that there is between Tripoli and the other powers; and it is proper to extend the bill so as to embrace Tunis and Algiers, as well as Tripoli. The gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. DANA) says there are no doubts on his mind but that the President has a constitutional right, as the Commander-in-chief of the army and navy, to do as he has done; but it should be remembered that many have doubts; and why should the gentleman be opposed to this amendment, which will preclude all doubt on the subject.

The amendment was not carried.

Direct Taxes.

The House then went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for amending the act for laying and collecting a direct tax.

The first section repeals the thirteenth section of the act of 1798, which prescribes that lands on which taxes remain unpaid for one year, shall be sold subject to the right of redemption within two years after sale.

Mr. RANDOLPH stated that the provisions proposed to be repealed were unsusceptible of execution, inasmuch as the expenses of advertising required, exceeded in many cases by four or five times, the amount of the tax, and which exceeded the per centage allowed; and inasmuch as no person would buy the land offered for sale, when he might be deprived of it by a redemption within two years.

Documents were read which substantiated this statement.

Mr. S. SMITH opposed the repeal, as going to deprive the owners of lands of the right of redemption; which he deemed a valuable provision; without which the owners of land, particularly non-residents, would be deprived of their property, without a knowledge of the tax imposed, or being able, however desirous, to pay it.

Mr. RUTLEDGE also opposed the repeal, as imposing hardships upon those who have not paid the tax, which were not imposed upon those who have paid. He further stated that the non-payment in the Southern States had arisen, not from indisposition to pay, but from want of collectors to carry the law into execution; the compensation allowed having been so inadequate as in many districts to have disabled the Government from obtaining officers.

Messrs. GRISWOLD, MILLEDGE, STANLEY, and MORRIS, delivered their sentiments against the first section; when, on motion of Mr. MACON, the committee rose, and asked leave to sit again, which was granted.

FRIDAY, January 22.

Another member, to wit, ROBERT WILLIAMS, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, January 25.

Import Duties.

Mr. NICHOLSON called up the resolution he laid on the table on Friday, for instructing the Committee of Ways and Means to report generally on the subject of impost duties.

Mr. LOWNDES wished to amend it so as to direct the attention of that committee particularly to the articles of salt, brown sugar, coffee, and Bohea tea.

This the SPEAKER considered out of order, as resolutions on those subjects were then before the House.

Mr. RUTLEDGE and Mr. BAYARD wished to withdraw the resolutions they had offered on the articles of salt, brown sugar, &c.

Mr. SPEAKER considered the resolutions in possession of the House, as they had been debated, and the previous question taken on them, and no motion could be made while another motion was pending.

Mr. BAYARD asked for information whether it was in order for him to state that he withdrew his resolution?

Some conversation took place as to points of order.

The question on the resolution was called for.

Mr. DANA said there was no instruction given to the committee by the resolution of December 13, to make a report on the subject of imposts and tonnage. He was pleased to see this resolution moved by the gentleman from Maryland, as it showed his belief to be that the subject was not referred to the committee.

Mr. DANA expressed his wish that two things should be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means: First, a general view of the duties of imposts and excise that they might be contrasted; and, secondly, that certain articles should be specifically referred to them.

Mr. NICHOLSON said the gentleman from Connecticut was very much mistaken as to the object of his resolution. It was not that he did not think the subject before the committee, but as so much had been said about the former general reference, he wished to prevent the gentleman from Connecticut from quibbling respecting the reference.

[Here Mr. N. was called to order by Mr. GRISWOLD. The SPEAKER declared it as his opinion that the gentleman was in order. Mr. BAYARD appealed to the House, and called the yeas and nays, which were agreed to be taken.]

Internal Revenues--Expenses of collection compared with Custom House Duties.

Mr. BAYARD called up the following resolution, which he had some days previously laid upon the table, viz:

"Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be required to lay before this House an account, in detail, of the expenses incurred in the collection of the internal revenues of the United States; distinguishing, where the same may be practicable, the expenses attending the collection in each branch of the said revenue, and, also, an estimate of reduction of said expenses which may conveniently be made."

The resolution having been read, Mr. B. said: As it is extremely possible, Mr. SPEAKER, that it is designed that this resolution shall share the same fate with that which the resolution of the gentleman from New York experienced this morning, I shall be allowed at least by publicly stating, to justify to the world, the motive which induced me to bring it forward. [Mr. B. alluded to a resolution offered by Mr. T. MORRIS, the object of which was, to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to state to the House the amount of stamp duties collected in each State, distinguishing what part was paid by the commercial cities. When the resolution was taken up there was a call for the question. Nothing was said against the propriety of it. It being merely a call for information, and considered so much a matter of course to agree to such resolutions when no opposition was made to them, it was not supposed necessary to say any thing on the propriety and reasonableness of the resolution. Yet, to the astonishment of its friends, when the question was put, there were for it 34, against it 54.]

Gentlemen are infinitely deceived, said Mr. B., if they think our object is, by any particular mode of proceeding, to gain an unfair advantage of public opinion. If such a suspicion be entertained, our conduct has been viewed with a jaundiced eye. It is a motive which never has, and I hope never will direct our measures. If popularity is to be gained only by a prostitution of principle to ignorant and unthinking prejudice, we are content to forego it. I am far from being indifferent to public opinion; the approbation of our fellow-citizens is the only reward we can expect for our services; but it is a reward no honest man will seek, if it is to be acquired only by artifice and deception.

I have avowed and avowed sincerely, that I am disposed to go hand and hand with gentlemen in the reduction of public burdens. When it was necessary I assisted in imposing them--now that circumstances permit I more cheerfully co-operate in taking them off. My true object is to make the most of our situation; not to be deluded by empty theories, or speculative systems, but, by an enlarged view of the various interests of the country, to discover by the reduction of what taxes the society would be the most substantially benefited.

The reduction of the Military Establishment creates considerable savings; other retrenchments are contemplated in the Navy and civil administration. These savings enable us to dispense with certain taxes; but is it not wise to examine diligently the operation of the several taxes which exist, and, after being informed by the various views which belong to the subject, to exonerate the community from those which, with the least benefit, are the most burdensome?

One great objection to the internal taxes is the expense of collection. I wish to know the particulars of this expense in order to see whether it may not be curtailed. I wish also to be informed of the expenses attending each branch of the revenue, for the purpose of judging whether it may not be expedient to retain some branches, while it may be wise to part with others. These are my objects; do they not entitle us to the information asked?

We know in one instance, that the expense in collecting the stamp duty is less than five per cent. This appears by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury; but we are not informed of the particular expenses belonging to the other branches of the revenue.

Sir, said Mr. B., I must rely that the resolution will be agreed to; there is not a precedent in our annals or opposition to such a resolution; if, however, one is now to be introduced, I think it proper that the names of those gentlemen should hereafter appear by whom it was resisted, and by whom it was established. He therefore hoped the question would be taken by yeas and nays.

The Clerk, at the request of Mr. RANDOLPH, read an extract from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, as follows:

"It will appear by the same statement, [M,] that while the expenses of collection on merchandise and tonnage, which are defrayed out of the revenue, do not exceed four per cent., those on permanent internal duties amount to almost twenty per cent. This, however, is an inconvenience which, on account of the great number of the individuals on whom the duties are raised, and of their dispersed situation throughout the whole extent of the United States, must, more or less, attach to the system of internal taxation so long as the wants of Government shall not require any considerable extension, and the total amount of revenue shall remain inconsiderable."

Mr. T. MORRIS.--If the honorable gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) thinks that the extract of the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, the reading of which he has called for, furnishes the information demanded by my honorable friend from Delaware, he is mistaken. The Secretary's report gives you a general estimate of the expense of collecting the aggregate of the internal taxes, but does not specify the charge falling on each separate tax. From the statement exhibited by the Secretary, it appears that it costs twenty per cent. to collect the whole of the internal taxes; but if the detailed statement asked for by the gentleman from Delaware is furnished, it will appear that the collection of some of those taxes does not cost more than five or six per cent. To show how unfair it is to connect together the expense attending the collection of all the internal taxes, I need only refer gentlemen to an authority which I believe they will not dispute. If my memory, sir, is not very incorrect, it will appear by a publication of the present Secretary of the Treasury, written in the year 1796, that the tax on country distilleries cost in its collection near thirty per cent.; that on city distilleries about nineteen. These, sir, and other reasons, may evince the propriety of repealing the tax on country distilleries; but because this tax is expensive in its collection, because it may be liable to objections, does it follow that other taxes, such as the tax on carriages, on refined sugars, &c., which fall on the rich, and which are not expensive in the collection, does it follow, I say, that because it may be proper to repeal the first, that these are to fall too? It is, sir, in order to be enabled to make proper discrimination, to be enabled to know which of these taxes ought to be repealed, and which retained, that the gentleman from Delaware has moved his resolution. And here, sir, let me be permitted to express a hope, that the resolution now before you may not meet with the silent negative which was the fate of one intended also to procure information, and which I had the honor of laying on your table. I did and do still believe, sir, that the majority of this House could not have been actuated by proper motives in refusing that information. [Here Mr. RANDOLPH called Mr. MORRIS to order, saying that he had no right to impeach the motives of members. Mr. M. observed that for his part he was at a loss to know what was considered disorderly in that House, but that he would submit to the correction of the Chair. The SPEAKER determined him to be in order, and Mr. M. proceeded.] With regard, sir, to the course of proceeding which gentlemen have lately adopted, persevering in an inflexible silence, rejecting every proposition made by a member in the minority, without deigning to show its fallacy, refusing public documents for our information and that of our fellow-citizens, without showing, or even pretending to show, that they are unnecessary, I can only say that it militates against all my ideas of propriety. I have always hitherto supposed that every Representative on this floor had a right to be heard; that he had a right to call on the majority for their reasons both when they supported and opposed public measures. Gentlemen may, if they please, meet in what they have denominated caucuses when power was in other hands; they may then confer together about the measures in which they may think proper to unite; but, sir, if their debates are to take place there, and there alone, if we are not to be furnished here by them with the reasons which induce them to adopt public measures, they ought at least to open their doors to the minority, in order that, if they cannot hear their arguments in the proper place, they may not close them altogether. I trust, sir, that gentlemen themselves will see the impropriety of persevering in this line of conduct, and that they will consent to pay, if not to gentlemen in the minority, at least to their propositions, the attention and respect which they may deserve.

Mr. GRISWOLD said, that he presumed the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) had requested that the extract from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury might be read, and which the House had just heard, for the purpose of proving that the resolution under consideration ought to pass. Indeed that report, and the statement to which it referred, evinced in the most satisfactory manner that the information required by the resolution was absolutely necessary for the purpose of enabling the House to decide understandingly on the proposition, which it was expected would soon be brought forward, for abolishing the internal taxes. The Secretary in his report had declared that the expense of collecting the internal taxes amounted nearly to twenty per cent. on the amount collected. It appeared, however, from the statements to which the Secretary had alluded, that the tax on stills, the carriage tax, the tax on licenses, on sales at auction, and the tax on refined sugar, had been included in one class, and the expense of collecting all those taxes, without distinguishing the charges on each branch, had been stated to be nearly twenty per cent., whilst the expense of collecting the stamp duty, another branch of the internal taxes, was short of five per cent., varying only a fraction from the charges on the revenue from impost and tonnage. These statements might be satisfactory as far as they went, but it was obvious that in examining the branches of a revenue, with a view to the expense of collection, it became necessary to ascertain the precise charge which had fallen on each branch, and to obtain this necessary information, and which the report and statements had left defective, the resolution had been principally brought forward. And what had rendered this information peculiarly necessary at this time was the ground which had been taken in opposition to the internal taxes. The only argument which he had heard against those taxes, and which did not equally apply to the impost, was drawn from the great expense which had arisen in the collection. To enable the House, therefore, to decide whether the fact existed on which that argument had been founded, it became necessary to inquire in the manner proposed by the resolution whether the extraordinary expense with which those taxes had been charged might not be diminished, and whether the expense really existed in relation to each description of them.

Mr. G. said that he presumed no gentleman was prepared to say that the general expense of collection might not be diminished, and so far was he from believing that every branch of the internal taxes was subjected to the charge of nineteen or twenty per cent., he was perfectly confident that if gentlemen would agree to the resolution, the detailed statements, which the Secretary would furnish in obedience to it, would prove that the expense of collecting certain branches of those taxes would fall much short of the sum at which the same has been estimated.

The consent of the House, said Mr. G., to every call for information, had formerly been so much a matter of course, that he should not have troubled the House with any remarks upon so plain a question as the present, had not the experience of this day proved, that gentlemen were not always to be indulged by the House with the information which they required; and the profound silence which had at this time been observed by those gentlemen who could either admit or reject the resolution, appeared to indicate a determination on their part to refuse the important and necessary information required by the resolution. He did presume, however, that upon this occasion the House would consent to the resolution, and more particularly, as the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which had been read at the request of the gentleman from Virginia, proved so clearly the necessity of passing it.

Mr. HUGER could not reconcile it with his sense of duty, to give a silent vote on the present occasion, nor could he but lament the strange and novel course of proceeding which gentlemen had thought proper to adopt. The intention, it would seem, was to repeal the internal taxes, right or wrong, and at all events; and so determined were gentlemen on carrying this favorite project into execution, that every thing like previous investigation, or even a wish to gain information on the subject, was hooted at and treated with the most sovereign contempt. Every, the smallest, reduction on taxes of any other description, was avowedly to be excluded, nor was any proposition to this effect deemed worthy of even a moment's consideration. The measure proposed, however, interested in a very particular manner that part of the community he had the honor to represent. They paid, it was true, a small portion of the internal taxes, but the various other taxes upon salt, brown sugar, coffee, &c., and the duties on imposts generally, fell more immediately and far more heavily on them. Was it not natural, therefore, that he should have some hesitation on the subject; that he should feel anxious to see this project thoroughly and completely investigated; that he should wish to receive every possible information which might either tend to satisfy his mind as to the expediency of repealing the internal taxes only, to the total exclusion of all others, or enable him to propose some other project, equally beneficial perhaps to the public at large, and which might at the same time accord better with the immediate interests of his constituents?

His constituents, he was proud to say it, had ever contributed with alacrity and cheerfulness to the wants and exigencies of the Union. They were prepared and willing, he was confident, to do so still; and he made not the least doubt but that they would readily subscribe to the exclusive repeal of the internal taxes, and submit, without a murmur, to the continuation of all the other taxes, however burdensome to themselves, provided they are convinced and well satisfied that this measure was fairly and impartially adopted for the welfare of the whole, and not for the benefit of the one at the expense of the other division of the country. It was for this purpose, therefore, that he wished the present motion to be adopted, and that he had desired the attention of the Committee of Ways and Means to be directed, particularly, to those articles of importation and of general use and necessity, such as salt, sugar, coffee, common teas, &c. He was desirous that these and similar items should be compared with the carriage tax, the tax on licenses to retail spirituous liquors, and various other similar items of the internal taxes, and that the House might be furnished with such information with respect to both, as might enable him to judge, whether there might not be a partial repeal as well of some of the external as internal taxes, and not a total and exclusive reduction of the latter, as was contemplated; whilst all the former, however grievous and inconvenient, were to be retained. Did he then ask any thing which was unreasonable or improper? Could any possible inconvenience accrue from allowing him to obtain the information he desired? If not, why refuse to indulge him in what he deemed useful, and what (at the worst) could only be regarded by gentlemen themselves as superfluous information? Was it fair; was it becoming; did it comport with that civility and politeness which was due from the one to the other, by citizens of a common country, assembled together for the express purpose of consulting upon their common interests, to treat thus cavalierly what must at least be allowed to be a respectable minority?

With respect to the two only reasons which had ever been offered in favor of the exclusive repeal of the internal tax, viz: the expense and number of officers required to collect it, was it not the immediate and precise object of the resolution under debate to inquire whether it was not possible to devise some means by which these inconveniences might be obviated, or at least greatly lessened? And what objection could there be to the inquiry? Were gentlemen perfectly and entirely convinced that nothing of the kind could be done, or were they apprehensive that the thing was in itself so feasible, that an inquiry of this kind would throw a stumbling-block in the way of the project already determined on, which although he would freely acknowledge, that as an abstract proposition it was expedient as much as possible, and to collect your taxes at as small an expense, and by means of as few agents as conveniently could be done, yet there was another still more important maxim which ought never to be lost sight of: this was, that the burdens of the Government, as well as the advantages which flowed from it, should be fairly, equally, impartially, and equitably distributed among every description of the citizens, in whatever part of the country they resided. If, therefore, it did happen, that a few more officers and a somewhat greater percentage were required to collect the taxes in one than in another part of the country, this alone would most certainly and indubitably not be a sufficient reason to do away all the taxes in the one, and throw the whole burden of the Government on the inhabitants of the other.

Mr. RUTLEDGE confessed himself much puzzled by the new forms of proceeding this day adopted. Ever since he had had the honor of a seat in Congress, it had been invariably the practice, when measures were proposed not agreeable to the majority, for them to offer their objections to them. This had ever been the practice, and the experience of its convenience offered strong reasons for its continuance. When the majority stated their objections to any measure, the minority in sustaining it answered them fully; thus, both sides acted understandingly, and when the proceedings of the National Legislature went out to the people, they were at the same time informed of the reasons under which their Representatives had legislated. This had not only been the usage in Congress, but the form of proceeding in all representative bodies with whose history we are acquainted. Even in the British House of Commons, which gentlemen had often and emphatically styled a mockery of representation, so great is the respect paid to public opinion, that the majority deem it their duty to assign in debate the reasons of their conduct. Although the Minister in England has quite as much confidence in the strength of his majority as gentlemen here can have in theirs, yet, in feeling power, he does not forget right, and his regard for public opinion is so great, that he never secures his measures by a silent vote. In these days of innovation, we, it seems, are to pursue a different course. When the resolution offered this morning by his honorable friend from New York (Mr. MORRIS) was taken into consideration, not a voice was raised against it. This profound silence made us expect a unanimous vote; but, in consequence, he supposed, of some outdoor arrangements, it was rejected by this silent majority. He had seen many deliberative assemblies, but never before witnessed such a procedure. He would not say whether this was respectful towards the minority, who, we have been told from high authority, have their equal rights--he would not say whether it was dignified as it regarded the majority, but, without pretending to any spirit of prophecy, he would venture to say it could not be deemed politic or wise by the people of this country.

When the doors of Congress were open, and persons admitted to take the debates, the people expected to be fully informed of the views and motives which governed the votes of their Representatives. But it seems our constituents are not to be treated with this heretofore common civility. In proposing measures we are obliged to guess at what gentlemen feel against them, (for they say nothing,) and to defend them, without knowing in what they are objectionable to those who govern in this House. This kind of governing is but ill calculated to produce harmony, to restore social intercourse, and to heal the wounds inflicted on society by the spirit of party.

The question was taken, and it passed in the negative--yeas 37, nays 57.

Duties on Imports.

Mr. RUTLEDGE called up for consideration the resolution which he moved on Friday, on which the previous question was then taken, viz:

"Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed particularly to inquire into the expediency of reducing the duties on brown sugar, coffee, and bohea tea."

Mr. GRISWOLD hoped the resolution would be decided upon.

Mr. RUTLEDGE hoped the reference would obtain. These articles paid the highest rate of duties and were of the first necessity. In looking over the rates of duties on imports, he saw many articles that were taxed enormously high. Those in the resolution were of the first necessity, the duty high, and laid when they were at war prices; while the people received war prices for their produce, they could with convenience pay for these articles, though high. The object of the resolution was merely to inquire, and he did not see how it could interfere with any object gentlemen have in view.

Mr. DANA.--I beg liberty to tender the homage of my profound respects, for the dignified situation in which gentlemen have now placed themselves, and congratulate them on their silence. There is something peculiarly impressive in this mode of opposing every thing that is urged. It is seldom that gentlemen have exhibited such a remarkable appearance of a philosophical assembly.

"That dumb Legislature will immortalize your name"--is said to have been the language of a certain distinguished General to a certain nominal Abbé, who has been represented as having pigeon-holes full of constitutions of his own making. During the memorable night at St. Cloud, when the French Council of Ancients, and Council of Five Hundred, were adjourned--to meet no more--it may be recollected, the powers of executive government were provisionally committed to three persons, styled Consuls, and two of them were the General and the Abbé. From each of the Councils, twenty-five members were selected, to compose a commission, and assist the provisional Consuls in preparing a constitution for France. Of the numerous projects of constitutions presented by the Abbé, it is said no part was finally adopted except the plan of a dumb Legislature. This, the General instantly seized with apparent enthusiasm, exclaiming to the Abbé, "that dumb Legislature will immortalize your name!" And it was determined to have a corps legislatif that should vote, but not debate.

It was scarcely to be expected that any thing like this would soon take place in our own country. But it is the prerogative of great geniuses, when in similar circumstances, to arrive at the same great results, although with some difference in the process. Nor can I forbear offering my tribute of admiration, for the genius who has projected a mode of proceeding among us, that so nearly rivals the plan adopted in France. I know not to whom is due the honor of this luminous discovery. After ascribing to him, however, all merited glory, permit me to examine the force of the argument relied on by gentlemen in opposition to the proposed resolution.

Their argument is silence. I hope to be excused if I do not discuss this subject in the most satisfactory manner; as silence is a new species of logic, about which no directions have been found in any treatise on logic that I have ever seen. It will be my endeavor to reply to gentlemen by examining some points which may be considered as involved in their dumb arguments.

One of these points is--that certain members of this House have pledged themselves to their constituents, for repealing all the internal taxes. They may have declared their opinions to this effect, before the election; and, being chosen under such circumstances, may now deem themselves bound in honor not to vary. The terms assented to between their constituents and themselves may, therefore, be viewed by them as the particular rule of their own conduct. But is this House to be regarded in the same light with the English House of Commons, during the early period of their history, when the knights of shires, and the representatives of cities and boroughs, were instructed on what terms they should bargain with the Crown for special privileges, and were limited to the price agreed on by their constituents? The situation of gentlemen who have thus pledged themselves to vote for repealing the internal taxes, must be irksome, indeed, if on mature consideration they should believe it more proper and more beneficial for the country to have other taxes reduced. Those who have entered into a stipulation of this sort, so as to feel it as a point of honor, are so peculiarly circumstanced that they might think it too assuming in me, were I so much as to express a desire that they would vote for reducing some of the duties on imports, instead of repealing all the internal taxes. It is to be hoped, the number of members who have pledged themselves in this manner, does not exceed twenty-five or thirty.

Another point involved in this argument of silence is, that other gentlemen may have pledged themselves to these, and given them a promise of support on this subject. It must be acknowledged that this was more than was required on account of their seat in this House. If any gentlemen have absolutely so pledged themselves to their constituents, it must indeed be difficult to convince them. On this point, their minds must be so differently constituted from mine, that there does not seem to be any common principle between us that can be assumed as the basis of argumentation.

Another point is, the Executive has recommended a repeal of all the internal taxes, and not any reduction of the impost. And will gentlemen act upon this as a sufficient reason for their conduct? Is it now to become a principle, that the Executive is to deliberate, and the Legislature to act, and that no measure is to be adopted unless proposed by the Executive? Would it not be better for the country to abolish this House, and to avoid useless expense, if it is to be nothing more than one of the ancient Parliaments of France, employed to register the edicts of a master?

The silence of the gentlemen may also be considered as having relation to their great desire for the harmony of social intercourse. To prevent its being disturbed in the House by debating, they may have come to a determination that all the great questions shall be settled by gentlemen of a certain description, when met in nocturnal conclave, and be only voted upon in this place. If such be the fact, it seems but reasonable that any of the members of this House should be admitted in meetings of the conclave, as delegates from the territorial districts are admitted into Congress, with a right to debate, although not to vote. If, however, this is thought too much, gentlemen should at least have galleries provided, so that other members of the Legislature might be admitted as spectators, and have the opportunity of knowing the reasons for public measures.

The question was called for, when Mr. EUSTIS begged the Speaker would state it, as, in listening to the arguments of the gentleman from Connecticut, he had forgotten it.

Mr. RUTLEDGE said he was much pleased by the question of the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts. When gentlemen ask, What is the question? it is to be hoped that they will respect its merits; but, from the scene this day acted, he had learned that the only inquiry with gentlemen would be, from what side does this come?

The question was then taken by yeas and nays, and lost--yeas 35, nays 58.

TUESDAY, January 26.

Territorial Government for the District of Columbia.

Mr. SPRIGG reported a bill for the government of the Territory of Columbia.

[The bill establishes a Legislature, chosen by the taxable citizens of the United States one year resident in the Territory, composed of a House of Representatives, to consist of twenty-five members, seven whereof to be chosen by the district of Rock Creek, seven from the part west of Rock Creek, and eleven by the county of Alexandria. The Governor to be appointed by the President of the United States. The Territory to pay the Legislature, and the United States the Governor. The judges to hold their offices during life, unless removed by the President on the application of two successive Legislatures.]

Referred to the Committee of the whole House on Tuesday next.

A memorial and remonstrances of sundry inhabitants of the county and town of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, was presented to the House and read, praying that Congress will not agree to any plan, or pass any bill respecting the government of the said District, which shall, by the establishment of a subordinate Legislative or subordinate Executive, or otherwise, tend to unite under its power, the two parts of the district, as separated by the river Potomac.--Referred to the Committee of the whole House last appointed.

THURSDAY, January 28.

Lieutenant Sterret, his Officers and Crew.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the report of a select committee of the nineteenth instant, on the resolutions of the Senate, in the form of joint resolutions of the two Houses, "in respect to Lieutenant Sterret, the officers, and crew of the United States' schooner Enterprise;" to which Committee of the whole House were also referred the said resolutions of the Senate; and, after some time spent therein, the SPEAKER resumed the chair, and Mr. Davis reported that the committee had had the said report and resolutions under consideration, and directed him to repeat to the House their disagreement to the said resolutions of the Senate, and their agreement to two resolutions contained in the report of the select committee thereupon, in the form of joint resolutions of the two Houses; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table.

The House then proceeded to consider the said report and resolutions: Whereupon, the resolutions of the Senate, to which the Committee of the whole House reported their disagreement, being twice read at the Clerk's table, in the words following, to wit:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, as a testimony of the high sense they entertain of the nautical skill and gallant conduct of Lieutenant Andrew Sterret, commander of the United States' schooner Enterprise, manifested in an engagement with, and in the capture of, a Tripolitan corsair, of superior force, in the Mediterranean Sea, fitted out by the Bey of that Regency to harass the trade, capture the vessels, and enslave the citizens, of these States, the President of the United States be requested to present Lieutenant Sterret with a gold medal, with such suitable devices thereon, as he shall deem proper, and emblematic of that heroic action, and the mercy extended to a barbarous enemy, who three times struck his colors twice, and recommenced hostilities: an act of humanity, however unmerited, highly honorable to the American flag and nation; and that the President of the United States be also requested to present to each of the Lieutenants, Porter and Lawson, of the Navy, and Lieutenant Lane of the Marines, who were serving on board the Enterprise in the engagement, and contributed, by their gallant conduct, to the success of the day, a sword, with such suitable devices as the President may deem fit.

"Be it further resolved, In consideration of the intrepid behavior of the crew of the Enterprise, under the orders of their gallant commander, and their receiving no prize money, the corsair being dismantled and released after her capture, that one month's pay, over and above the usual allowance, be paid to all the other officers, sailors, and marines, who were actually on board and engaged in that action; for the expenditure of which charge Congress will make the necessary appropriation."

The question was taken that the House do concur with the Committee of the whole House in their disagreement to the same, and resolved in the affirmative.

The resolutions contained in the report of the select committee, to which the Committee of the whole House reported their agreement, being twice read, in the words following, to wit:

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That they entertain a high sense of the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Sterret, and the other officers, seamen, and marines, on board the schooner Enterprise, in the capture of a Tripolitan corsair, of fourteen guns and eighty men.

"Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to present to Lieutenant Sterret a sword, commemorative of the aforesaid heroic action; and that one month's extra pay be allowed to all the other officers, seamen, and marines, who were on board the Enterprise when the aforesaid action took place."

The question was taken that the House do concur with the Committee of the whole House in their agreement to the same, and resolved in the affirmative.

Ordered, That the said resolutions be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow.

MONDAY, February 8.

Imprisonment for Debt.

Mr. SMILIE called up his resolution that a committee be appointed to revise the laws respecting imprisonment for debts due the United States. His objects, he said, were two; to secure the debtor's property, and to inflict some penalty or provide some remedy instead of imprisonment for life.

Mr. RUTLEDGE was opposed to imprisonment for life, where the debtor gave up his whole property, and was unable to pay all. He had known, in South Carolina, revenue officers imprisoned for debts due the United States, who had been many years confined; men of good character, men of honesty, but who, through ignorance of transacting certain business, or their misfortunes, were unable to pay. He knew an individual of that State who had applied to that House for relief; his petition was referred to the Secretary of the Treasury; the Secretary felt a delicacy in interfering in the case; the petition was not granted; and the person had now been in jail five years, though his inability to pay did not arise from having wasted the public money, or from aught but misfortune; for he was acknowledged to be a man of good character. He was averse to such cruelty. Hence the necessity of making some provision that the innocent, when distinctions can, as in most instances, be made, may not be subjected to cruel punishments, that were of no benefit to the United States. Why send him to jail? Why lock him up there? Why prevent his being able to support his family?

Mr. SMILIE.--It is the case that when you exceed in making your laws what is reasonable, those laws, as the present concerning debtors to the United States, will not be executed. The present law cannot be put in execution. He wished some sufficient penalty. This was not the proper stage to give his sentiments; were it, he should say, he thought the defaulter ought to give up the property, and perhaps be imprisoned a period. But the Legislature are not the proper judges, and ought not to interfere; the Legislative and Judicial Departments should be kept separate. We want some uniform law, operating on all according to their demerit.

The subject was postponed till to-morrow.

FRIDAY, February 12.

State Balances.

Mr. THOMAS called up his motion respecting State Balances, which is as follows:

"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of extinguishing the claims of the United States for certain balances, which, by the Commissioners appointed to settle the accounts between the United States and the individual States, were reported to be due from several of the States to the United States, and that the said committee have leave to report by bill or otherwise."

Mr. BAYARD hoped the resolution would prevail. The debtor States, not satisfied with the settlement made by the Board of Commissioners, had asked for information respecting the grounds on which it had been made. The information had been imperiously refused. In his opinion it was but right, if the debtor States did not dispute the validity of the debts due to the creditor States, that they should agree to expunge the claims against the debtor States. Indeed, he had been assured that the commission was not instituted with a view of sustaining any charges against the debtor States, but for ascertaining the amount due to the creditor States, and funding them; and he believed it had been so understood at the time. This was an affair not determinable by the ordinary rules applied to individual cases. Many of the States, not expecting a settlement, had kept no accounts or vouchers; and however great the supplies they contributed under such circumstances, they received no credits for them; while those States which had been most careful in the preservation of vouchers, shared a different and a better fate.

Mr. B. believed it was the true policy of the creditor States to agree to the extinguishment of these balances. He believed they never could be paid, because no State allowed them to be due. They would not, therefore, be paid voluntarily; and he knew of no force in the United States to compel payment. Why, then, keep up a source of irritation, which could do no possible good, and which could only tend to repel some States from that constitution, which we all ought to endeavor to make the object of general affection?

Mr. SOUTHARD said, he had yet heard no reason that convinced him that the resolution offered was just or proper. It would be recollected that this contract was made under the confederation. In the establishment of our independence, great and various exertions had been made. In the contributions made, great inequalities took place, which were unavoidable. Generally, where the war existed, the States became creditor States. It was just that those States which had contributed more than their share should be repaid, and that those who had paid less should make up the deficiency. If the debtor States were not to pay their balances, why settle the accounts? To relinquish the payment would be, in his opinion, not only unjust but unconstitutional. The constitution says, "All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States, under this constitution as under the Confederation;" and the present Government had recognized those debts as just. The gentleman from Delaware says, the settlement is not just. But this was barely the suggestion of his own mind. To sustain it, he ought to have shown its defects; but this he had not done.

Mr. MITCHILL was in favor of the resolution, as he believed a refusal to adopt it would be attended with unpleasant sensations. He judged so from an historical review of the business. The several States had associated together for their common defence, and, in the eye of equity, whatever that defence required, should constitute a common charge. The accounts of expenses thus incurred were not settled till the new Government was established. That Government fixed the mode of settlement; it appointed a board of referees, to report the debts and credits of the respective States. In this report, it was the fortune of certain States, notwithstanding the greatness of their contributions, to be reported debtor States. These States became debtors from the independent spirit with which they asserted their sovereign rights. Not relying on the general contributions, they furnished great supplies without making any charge to the Union; by exerting all their strength, they paid as they went, and preserved no vouchers of what they paid. This, he averred, was the case as to the State which he had the honor in part to represent; a State as willing as able to contribute, and which did contribute to a great extent; but which had neglected to preserve her vouchers, the preservation of which would have made her a creditor State. He believed, therefore, that in equity, the States were not bound to pay these balances. But to this it is replied, the award is final. He would not agree to that; he denied it. Besides, there was a want of coercive power in the United States to enforce those demands. From this consideration alone, we ought to proceed with lenity, and endeavor to make the settlement a peaceable one. As in other circumstances, we ought to make a virtue of necessity.

Mr. S. SMITH said, he did not rise to take any part in the debate, but in order to bring the subject directly before the committee. To do which, he moved so to amend the resolution as to make it read, "Resolved, That it is expedient to extinguish the claims," &c.

Mr. LOWNDES hoped the amendment would not be agreed to. He did not see the expediency of volunteering a relinquishment of the claims established against several of the States. The amendment was calculated to take the committee by surprise. The original resolution went merely to consider the expediency of a relinquishment; the amendment involved the principle itself.

Mr. HILL was desirous the amendment should not be made, not from any indisposition himself to agree to it, but from a regard to the sentiments of other gentlemen. Even if it was ascertained that these debts had arisen on a just consideration, yet, in his opinion, they ought to be extinguished, from the principle that, in our Government, whatever hazarded the harmony of the Union, ought to be avoided. Precedents were not wanting in which sacrifices were made to this principle. He alluded to the quieting the claims under Connecticut rights. But, whatever might be the general ideas on this subject elsewhere, he knew not a man in North Carolina, who did not believe the adjustment iniquitous. To show the committee how the citizens of that State felt, he would state a case that had occurred before the Board of Commissioners. Two claims had been made, both for the same amount and the same description of supplies, one on one side and one on the other side, of Pedee River; one in North, and the other in South Carolina; and, in one case, seven shillings had been allowed, and in the other, only sixpence for the bushel of wheat. The business generally was entitled to the attention of Congress. It had, in fact, already been attended to at different times. New York had extinguished eight hundred thousand dollars of her balance under certain provisions applied to her case.

Mr. BACON said, if the object of the motion was to go into a new liquidation of the old accounts between the United States and the several States, it would not only take up every day of the present session, but the work would be left unfinished for our successors. These debts had been incurred in a common cause, in which each State was equally interested, and towards which each State was bound equally to contribute. When Congress made requisitions on this principle, they were accompanied by a promise that there should be a final liquidation. This liquidation was made; the settlement was complete. But this settlement is now objected to, and what is to be done? Why we must annul the contract. This might satisfy some of the States, but he was sure it would dissatisfy others. He saw, therefore, no end to be answered by the motion. We must either set aside all that had been done, and begin de novo, to which this body is incompetent, or rest satisfied with what is already done.

Mr. R. WILLIAMS observed, that since he had held a seat in the House, this subject had been almost every session called up. The more he had heard it discussed, the more he became convinced of the necessity of getting it out of the way. He found that whenever it was brought up, all was imagination. One State contended that it had contributed largely, and another, that its exertions had not been surpassed.

We are asked, why relinquish these balances before we are solicited by the States? He would reply that North Carolina never had recognized the debt, and, in his opinion, never would apply for its extinguishment. He was in favor of the amendment, because the principle ought to be decided here, and not in a select committee. What, indeed, could such committee report? There were no vouchers or books whereon the settlement had been made to be got at. All they could do, then, would be to report the balances alleged to be due, which any member could at any time learn.

It seemed almost useless to go into arguments to show the injustice of the claim, and of consequence, the justice of the resolution. It had been justly said, that those States which had contributed the most, had, by the report of the Commissioners, the most to pay; and this was peculiarly so with the State of North Carolina.

Mr. W. had forborne to dwell on the injustice of these demands. But were he to enter on that branch of the discussion, he should say that the very act of destroying all the vouchers was of itself sufficient to justify any suspicion. He should say, that for what, in some States, there had been an allowance of one hundred pounds, North Carolina had not been allowed twenty shillings. Could, then, gentlemen talk of moral obligation, and say that this was a just debt?

Mr. T. MORRIS said, it was contended that the accounts should be opened anew and re-examined. The fears, therefore, of the gentleman from Massachusetts, were entirely visionary. The resolution was a simple one. It proposes to inquire into the expediency of doing away these debts. The amendment goes to determine the principle here. He thought it proper the principle should be settled here. But gentlemen say they want information. If so, after the amendment is agreed to, they may move for a postponement. If the amendment were carried, he would himself move a postponement.

It had been said that New York had had eight hundred thousand dollars of her debt remitted by the United States. But how did the case really stand? New York had availed herself of the act of Congress, not because she acknowledged the debt to be just, but because she preferred doing something to remaining in the situation towards the United States in which she stood. It was strange, then, to hear gentlemen say that New York had been favored. What was the fact? North Carolina, according to the gentleman, had not, and would not, pay one cent; and New York had discharged a greater sum than was due by all the other debtor States, with the exception of Delaware. She was, therefore, instead of being favored, placed in a worse situation than any other State. It was from the existence of this state of things that he wished a final decision to be made this session. New York having agreed to make certain payments to the United States, it was important to her to know whether the United States meant to enforce payment by the other States. Her situation would be truly unfortunate, if after agreeing to pay, the United States suffered her claims against the other States to sleep. She would not only have to pay her quota of the debts, but would see no prospect of deriving her share of benefit from the payments of the other debtor States.

Mr. MACON said the subject was a very old one, which had occupied much time every session for many years, and he thought it would be as well to try the question now as at any other time. No information of a select committee could throw any new light upon it.

There was a fact which ought to have great weight with the committee. One of the Commissioners who made the settlement, who was a member of this House, had, after the settlement, proposed a resolution to extinguish the balances of the debtor States; and he had stated, as a reason for this measure, that the principle adopted by the board had operated very harshly upon particular States. Mr. M. had it from authority not to be questioned, that in the settlement by the Commissioners, teams, with the usual number of horses, had not produced twenty shillings.

This subject had hung over our heads for eight years, and no scheme was yet devised for collecting the balances. How could they be collected? Congress had, it is true, authorized expenditures by the States in the erection of fortifications; but this very act was a tacit confession of the impracticability of getting the money into the public Treasury. As to a settlement with North Carolina, it was involved in great difficulty. In the act of cession of lands by that State to the United States, it was provided that the territory ceded should be pledged to pay a proportional share of the balance due the United States. How could that share be estimated?

Mr. M. regretted that this subject had been brought up. He should not himself have been for bringing it up, for he thought the claims of the United States not worth a rush. The truth was, the States had all exerted themselves in one great and common cause; they had done their best; they had acted with great glory. As to the State which he represented, he would ask if the first blood that had been spilled after that shed at Boston was not in North Carolina? and that was the blood of brother against brother. He desired not, however, to make comparisons, which were always unpleasant, but to show that North Carolina had no reason to shrink from an inquiry which would demonstrate that she had fully contributed her share in the common cause, without meaning to assert that she had done more than other States. Let, then, Congress decide at once, and abandon the claims altogether, or devise some plan for collecting them, that we may know how we stand.

Mr. DANA said, I hope the amendment will not be agreed to. However gentlemen may be possessed of a wholesale intellect, that enables them to decide on interesting questions without a moment's reflection, I confess I am not blessed with so happy an intuition. I do not know that I have ever been called upon to form an opinion on this subject. As to a reference of it to a committee, I think their investigation may be useful, and after we get that, we may take time to decide. But now the plan is changed, and we are called upon to decide at once the principle. This mode of transacting business may be called an economy of time. You may give it the name, but it is not the substance. For my part, I desire to proceed according to our old plan, and go through the slow process of investigation. This is my way, and gentlemen may rest assured that this mode of hurrying business is not the way to save time, but to lose it.

Mr. BAYARD declared himself in favor of the amendment, and he could not think, notwithstanding the remarks of his honorable friend from Connecticut, that any gentleman in the House was unprepared to vote upon it. The subject had been frequently discussed, and he believed that the House was then as well prepared for a decision as they would be for a century to come. It involved but a single principle; and, as to information, he could scarcely tell what information was wanted. He felt much of the indifference of the gentleman from North Carolina, (Mr. MACON.) He was sure the United States had neither the right, nor the power to recover these balances; and he repeated it as his opinion, that it had not been the original intention that the debtor States should pay them. Will gentlemen recollect that the commission was instituted under the old Confederation. Had Congress, then, a right to do any thing to bind the sovereignties of the independent States? All they could do was to pass resolutions making requisitions, which the States might or might not comply with. They could appoint Commissioners to settle the accounts, but could they impose the debts upon the States? No, they could not. It, therefore, never could have been contemplated that they would establish those debts. The only effect that could have been contemplated, was, that the creditor States might rely that, on a settlement, Congress would assume their balances.

On the question being put, the amendment was lost--yeas 41, nays 46.

When the original resolution for referring to a select committee the consideration of the expediency of extinguishing the balances was carried.

Ordered, That Mr. THOMAS, Mr. BAYARD, Mr. DANA, Mr. HILL, and Mr. BUTLER, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the said resolution.

And the House adjourned.

TUESDAY, February 16.

Judiciary System.

The House then went into Committee of the Whole on the Judiciary bill from the Senate.[66]

Mr. HENDERSON.--I should not rise to offer my opinion on the great question before the committee, were I not placed in a situation different from that in which I have been since I have had the honor of a seat in this House. The Legislature of the State of North Carolina, one of whose representatives I am on this floor, have seen proper to instruct their Senators and to recommend to their Representatives in Congress, to use their exertions to procure a repeal of the law passed the last session of Congress, for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States, and the bill on your table has for its object the repeal of this law, and as I shall probably vote against its passage, a decent respect for the opinions of those who have framed and sent forward those resolutions, demands that I should give the reasons which influence my conduct.

The people of America have obtained and established that the powers of Government shall be vested in three great departments; the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. They have said that there shall be a House of Representatives, the members of which shall be chosen by the people of the several States every second year. Though this House is composed of members chosen by the people immediately; though they can have no other interest than the great community from which they were sent; though they must return to the common mass in the short period of two years; yet enlightened America did not see proper to intrust the power of making laws to this body alone; they knew that the history of man, and the experience of ages, bore testimony against the safety of committing this high power to any one Assembly not checked by any other body. They have therefore erected another branch of the Legislature, called the Senate, the members of which are not to be elected by the people immediately, but by the sovereignties of the several States; they are to be chosen for six years, and not for two; and the qualifications requisite to entitle those to a seat is different from that of a member of this House. To these bodies are given the power of initiating all laws; but after a bill has passed both of these Houses, before it becomes of binding obligation on the nation, it must be approved of by the President; it is a dead letter until life is given by the Executive. The President is elected not by the people, not by the Legislatures of the several States, not by either House of Congress, but by Electors chosen by the people. He is to hold his office during four years. This is the second great department of the Government. It will be easily discovered from this cursory view of our constitution, the caution and jealousy with which the people have conferred the power of making laws, of commanding what is right, and prohibiting what is wrong. But, sir, after this law was made, after its authoritative mandate was acknowledged by the nation, it became necessary to establish some tribunal to judge of the extent and obligation of this law. The people did not see proper to intrust this power of judging of the meaning of their laws, either to the Legislative or to the Executive, because they participated in the making of these laws; and experience had shown that it is essential for the preservation of liberty that the Judicial and Legislative authorities should be kept separate and distinct. They therefore enacted a third department, called the Judicial, and said that "the Judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges both of the Supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall at stated times receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office."

It is admitted, I understand, by all parties, by every description of persons, that these words, "shall hold their offices during good behavior," are intended as a limitation of power. The question is, what power is thus to be limited and checked? I answer, that all and every power which would have had the authority of impairing the tenure by which the judges hold their offices, (if these words were not inserted,) is checked and limited by these words; whether that power should be found to reside in Congress, or in the Executive. These words are broad and extensive in their signification, and can only be satisfied by being construed to control the Legislative as well as the Executive power. But gentlemen contend that they must be confined to limiting the power of the President. I ask gentlemen, what is there in the constitution to prove their signification to this end alone? When you erect a court and fill it with a judge, and tell him in plain, simple language, that he shall hold his office during good behavior, or as long as he shall behave well; what, I beseech you, sir, will any man, whose mind is not bewildered in the mazes of modern metaphysics, infer from the declaration? Certainly that the office will not be taken from him until he misbehaves; nor that he will be taken from the office during his good behavior. Under this impression he enters upon his duty, performing it with the most perfect satisfaction to all persons who have business before him; and the Legislature, without whispering a complaint, abolishes the office and thereby turns out the judge. The judge is told this is no violation of the compact; although you have behaved well, although we have promised that as long as you did behave well you should continue in office, yet, there is now no further necessity for your services, and you may retire. These words, "during good behavior," are intended to prevent the President from dismissing you from office, and not the Legislature from destroying your office. Do you suppose, sir, that there is a man of common understanding in the nation, whose mind is not alive to the influence of party spirit, that would yield his assent to this reasoning? I hope and believe there is not. But, sir, how is it proved that the President would have had the power of removing the judges from their office, if these words, "during good behavior," had not been inserted in the constitution? Are there any words in that instrument which give the President expressly the power of removing any officer at pleasure? If there are, I call upon gentlemen to point them out; it does not result from the fashionable axiom, that the power which can create can destroy. The President can nominate, but he can appoint to office only by the advice and consent of the Senate. Therefore, it would follow, if the power of displacing results from that of creating, that the Senate should participate in displacing as well as creating officers. But however this may be, it is certainly a mere constructive power which he has exercised, because the Legislature have, from motives of expediency, acknowledged that he had it. If the constitution does not necessarily give the President the right of removing officers at pleasure, and if that right depend upon Legislative acts or constructions, where would have been the necessity for inserting these emphatic words as a check and limitation of Executive power, where without them the President has no such power? You are taking great pains to control a power which does not exist. The persons who framed our constitution knew that a power of removal in ordinary cases must exist somewhere. They took care, therefore, that in whatever hands it might fall, the language of the constitution respecting the tenure of the office of a judge should be co-extensive with the whole power of removal, whether it should reside in one or in more hands.

But it has been said that the powers of each Congress are equal, and that a subsequent Legislature can repeal the acts of a former; and as this law was passed by the last Congress, we have the same power to repeal it which they had to enact it. This objection is more plausible than solid. It is not contended by us that legislatures who are not limited in their powers have not the same authority. The question is not what omnipotent Assemblies can do, but what we can do under a constitution defining and limiting with accuracy the extent and boundaries of our authority. The very section in the constitution (sec. third, art. first) which I have read, is a proof against the power of every Congress to repeal the acts of their predecessors. In the latter part of the eighth section it is proposed that the judges shall receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office; and yet the salary was ascertained and fixed by a former Congress. The same observations may be made with respect to compensation for the President, which can neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected. It is not competent for this Congress to vary the compensation to him which has been fixed by a prior Legislature. It is clearly seen, upon a little investigation, that the position which gentlemen take is too extensive, and leads immediately to a destruction of the constitution. It does away all check, and makes the Legislature omnipotent. It has been asked, that if a corrupt and unprincipled Congress should make an army of judges, have not a subsequent Congress the right of repealing the law establishing this monstrous judicial system? I answer that they have not; the same mode of reasoning which attempts to prove this right from an abuse of power will also prove that you may lessen the compensation of your judges. May not equal oppression be imposed upon the people by giving your judges exorbitant salaries as by increasing their numbers? May not the same corrupt and unprincipled motive which would lead men to the raising of an army of judges lead them to squander the public money? And may they not, instead of giving their judges two thousand dollars a year, give them two hundred thousand? And yet, sir, if it were to take place, I know of no authority under the constitution to lessen that exorbitant compensation. The Government of our country is predicated upon a reasonable confidence in those who administer our public affairs. They must have the power of acting for the public welfare, and this would never have been given them if the possible abuse of this power were a sufficient reason for withholding it.

Again, sir, the construction which gentlemen on the other side of the House contend for, tends to the concentration of Legislative and Executive powers in the same hands. If Congress, who have the power of making laws, can also displace their judges by repealing that which creates the offices they fill, the irresistible consequence is, that whatever law is passed the judges must carry into execution, or they will be turned out of office. It is of little importance to the people of this country whether Congress sit in judgment upon their laws themselves, or whether they sit in judgment upon those who are appointed for that purpose. It amounts to the same despotism; they in fact judge the extent and obligations of their own statutes by having those in their power who are placed on the sacred seat of justice. Whatever the Legislature declares to be law must be obeyed. The constitutional check which the judges were to be on the Legislature is completely done away. They may pass ex post facto laws, bills of attainder, suspend the writ of habeas corpus in time of peace, and the judge who dares to question their authority is to be hurled from his seat. All the ramparts which the constitution has erected around the liberties of the people, are prostrated at one blow by the passage of this law. The monstrous and unheard of doctrine which has been lately advanced, that the judges have not the right of declaring unconstitutional laws void, will be put into practice by the adoption of this measure. New offences may be created by law. Associations and combinations may be declared treason, and the affrighted and appalled citizen may in vain seek refuge in the independence of your courts. In vain may he hold out the constitution and deny the authority of Congress to pass a law of such undefined signification, and call upon the judges to protect him; he will be told that the opinion of Congress now is, that we have no right to judge of their authority; this will be the consequence of concentrating Judicial and Legislative power in the same hands. It is the very definition of tyranny, and wherever you find it, the people are slaves, whether they call their Government a Monarchy, Republic, or Democracy.

Mr. Chairman, I see, or think I see, in this attempt, that spirit of innovation which has prostrated before it a great part of the old world--every institution which the wisdom and experience of ages had reared up for the benefit of man. A spirit which has rode in the whirlwind and directed the storm, to the destruction of the fairest portion of Europe; which has swept before it every vestige of law, religion, morality, and rational government; which has brought twenty millions of people at the feet of one, and compelled them to seek refuge from their complicated miseries in the calm of despotism. It is against the influence of this tremendous spirit that I wish to raise my voice, and exert my powers, weak and feeble as they are. I fear, sir, on the seventh of December, it made its appearance within these walls, clothed in a gigantic body, impatient for action. I fear it has already begun to exert its all-devouring energy. Have you a judiciary system extending over this immense country, matured by the wisdom of your ablest and best men? It must be destroyed. Have you taxes which have been laid since the commencement of the Government? And is the irritation consequent upon the laying of taxes worn off? Are they paid exclusively by the wealthy and the luxurious part of the community? And are they pledged for the payment of the public debt? They must be abolished. Have you a Mint establishment, which is not only essentially necessary to protect the country against the influx of base foreign metals, but is a splendid attribute of sovereignty? It must be abolished. Have you laws which require foreigners coming to your country to go through a probationary state, by which their habits, their morals, and propensities may be known, before they are admitted to all the rights of native Americans? They must be repealed, and our shores crowded with the outcasts of society, lest oppressed humanity then should find no asylum on this globe!

THURSDAY, February 18.

A message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, transmitting a letter from the Secretary of War on the subject of certain lands in the neighborhood of our military posts, on which it might be expedient for the Legislature to make some provisions. A letter was also received from the Governor of Indiana, on the same subject. The said Message and letter were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

The Judiciary Bill.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the bill sent from the Senate, entitled "An act to repeal certain acts respecting the organization of the Courts of the United States and for other purposes."

Mr. STANLEY.--Mr. Chairman, every measure which is brought under the consideration of a Legislature must first be tested by its expediency. Unhappily, in the present instance, another question arises--its constitutionality. I will endeavor, concisely, to examine the subject on both those points. And, first, as to the expediency of the measure. In order to form a correct estimate between the present Judiciary system of the courts of the United States and that for which it was substituted, it is proper to take a comparative view of both.

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