Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16) (part 5 of 8)

Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16) (part 5 of 8)

We have been told by the counter-memorialists, and it has been reiterated here, “that natural advantages ought not to be injured by artificial means.” Upon this subject, Mr. Chairman, the people of Georgetown ought to have been silent; they are not aware of a retort which this objection will force upon them. Will they recollect, sir, that to artificial means alone they are indebted for the greatest part of their commerce? Will they recollect that from artificial means alone the towns of Baltimore and Alexandria have been deprived of their natural advantages to the exclusive benefit of Georgetown? Do they not know that the improvement of the Potomac above them has diverted from its natural course a commerce which belonged to others and which now enriches them? And will they permit me to remind them that even to the erection of a bridge they owe no inconsiderable share of their commerce? Yes, sir, I will remind the people of Georgetown of advantages from artificial means which they ought not to have forgotten, because to them, in a great measure, they owe their present commercial standing. The bridge below the Little Falls, at the head of the navigation of the Potomac, has given to Georgetown a considerable quantity of produce from Virginia which must otherwise have gone to Alexandria. I am very far from objecting to the means by which the importance of Georgetown has been acquired. I was pleased with the erection of a bridge at the Little Falls, because it was a convenience generally, and particularly so to that part of the country from which I come, and from the same principle I should be glad to see a number of other bridges erected, both above and below the Falls. I have always thought, and still think, there ought to be a bridge at Georgetown, and if the people of that place are of the same opinion, and will propose it, I will promise to vote for it. Is it necessary already to remind the people of Georgetown that for their exclusive benefit one arm of the river Potomac has been entirely closed, by authorizing a dam from Mason’s Island to the Virginia shore, which gives to them, in some measure, a monopoly of the flour which comes down the Potomac? and are we now to be told by the same people that we possess no constitutional right to authorize a bridge across the Potomac for the public good, even with a free passage to vessels of all descriptions, and that even if we possess the right, it would be a wanton and cruel exercise of it? The erection of the dam will certainly prevent flour boats from going to Alexandria at particular seasons of the year, when high winds are frequent, as they will be obliged to go a considerable distance round Mason’s Island, exposed to a wide and unprotected sheet of water, which will subject them to considerable danger, even when the wind is moderate; but before the erection of this dam, the boats could go down to Alexandria at almost any season, and with almost any wind, as they could, and did, always keep close to the Virginia shore, and covered by its banks were perfectly secure. This measure, as well as the erection of the bridge at the Falls, was evidently injurious to the interests of Alexandria. Yet, sir, had we any complaints from that quarter? Were our rights questioned by them, and our motives censured? Were we told by them that “no place should calculate on artificial advantages, which cannot be afforded without depriving other places of their natural advantages?” No, sir, they were silent; not even a murmur escaped them; they had no wish to deprive their neighbors of any advantages they could derive from “artificial means,” although their interests should in some measure be affected by it; they felt none of those jealousies which appear now to influence their neighbors. It is well known that at the last session of Congress I was in favor of the causeway from Mason’s Island to the Virginia shore. I did not believe at that time it could do any injury to the public, and as the people of Georgetown supposed it would benefit them by reclaiming a channel considerably injured by natural causes, I could have no reasonable objection to the experiment, and of course gave to it my support.

Mr. QUINCY supported; and Messrs. DAWSON, G. W. CAMPBELL, MAGRUDER, VARNUM, and MASTERS, opposed the resolution; when the question was taken, and the resolution carried--yeas 60, nays 51. The committee immediately rose and reported their agreement to the resolution. The House took the report into consideration. On concurring in the resolution the yeas and nays were called; and were--yeas 61, nays 49, as follows:

YEAS.--Joseph Barker, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, Silas Betton, William Butler, Levi Casey, Martin Chittenden, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Frederick Conrad, Orchard Cook, Leonard Covington, Jacob Crowninshield, Ezra Darby, Elias Earle, Ebenezer Elmer, William Ely, James Fisk, James M. Garnett, Peterson Goodwyn, Silas Halsey, Seth Hastings, Wm. Helmes, David Hough, Walter Jones, James Kelly, Thomas Kenan, John Lambert, Joseph Lewis, jun., Henry W. Livingston, Matthew Lyon, David Meriwether, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jonathan O. Mosely, Thos. Newton, jr., John Pugh, Josiah Quincy, Thomas M. Randolph, Jacob Richards, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Martin G. Schuneman, Henry Southard, Richard Stanford, Joseph Stanton, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, David Thomas, Philip R. Thompson, Uri Tracy, Abram Trigg, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Peleg Wadsworth, Eliphalet Wickes, Nathan Williams, Alexander Wilson, Joseph Winston, and Thomas Wynns.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, junior, Isaac Anderson, John Archer, David Bard, Barnabas Bidwell, John Blake, jr., Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, Joseph Bryan, George W. Campbell, John Campbell, John Chandler, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, jun., John Dawson, Peter Early, James Elliot, John Fowler, Charles Goldsborough, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Isaiah L. Green, John Hamilton, James Holland, David Holmes, Patrick Magruder, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Jeremiah Nelson, Roger Nelson, Gideon Olin, Timothy Pitkin, jun., John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee, Thomas Sanford, James Sloan, John Cotton Smith, John Smith, O’Brien Smith, Samuel Smith, Samuel Tenny, Joseph B. Varnum, Matthew Walton, John Whitehill, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, and Marmaduke Williams.

Ordered, That a bill, or bills, be brought in, pursuant to the foregoing resolution; and that Mr. THOMPSON of Virginia, Mr. CAMPBELL of Maryland, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. MAGRUDER, and Mr. BUTLER, do prepare and bring in the same.

MONDAY, February 3.

A memorial of the merchants of the town of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, was presented to the House and read, stating that they have witnessed, with mingled feelings of indignation towards the perpetrators, and of commiseration for their unfortunate countrymen, the insults and barbarities which the commerce of these States has sustained from the cruisers of France and Spain; but that it is their object, in the present memorial, to confine their animadversions to the more alarming, because more numerous and extensive detentions and condemnations of American vessels, by Great Britain, and to advert to the principles recently avowed and adopted by her courts, relative to neutral trade in articles of colonial produce: principles which, if admitted, or practised upon in all the latitude which may fairly be inferred to be intended, would be destructive of the navigation, and radically impair the most lucrative commerce of our country; and praying that such measures may be adopted, by negotiation, or otherwise, in the wisdom of the Government, as will tend to disembarrass our commerce, assert our rights, and support the dignity of the United States.--Referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

Intercourse with Great Britain.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH said the House would recollect better than he did, for he was not present at the time, the very important resolution referred on the motion of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. GREGG,) whom he saw in his place, to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. It was no part of his purpose at this time to discuss the merits of that resolution, and it was still further from his purpose to throw any impediment, or create any delay in bringing forward that discussion; the more so, as he considered the whole country south of the seat of Government, and more particularly that part of the country in which he resided, decidedly interested in a speedy and prompt reception or rejection of the proposition. Indeed, such was his opinion of the necessity of its being speedily acted upon, that as soon as he saw the resolution which had been offered, which was not until Friday, when it was laid on their table, the first suggestion of his mind was to move the going immediately into a Committee of the Whole on it; as those gentlemen with whom he had the honor of holding personal and political intercourse would testify. But a more mature reflection had convinced him that before the resolution could receive that ultimate decision which he trusted it would receive, the House stood in need of material information, which, however it might be in the possession of this or that individual, was not possessed by the body of the House. His object in addressing the House was to obtain this information from the proper authority, from the Head of a Department, which was the only way in which information of a satisfactory nature, such as ought to influence the decision of the House, ought to be obtained. Mr. R. then submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to lay before this House a statement of the exports and imports of the United States, to and from Great Britain and Ireland, and the American colonies of the same, for the two last years, distinguishing the colonial trade from that of the mother country, and specifying the various articles of export and import, with the amount of duties payable on the latter.

Mr. SMILIE expressed himself in favor of the resolution, and observed that the species of information called for, had not been received by the House later than 1803.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD was of opinion that it would be best to extend the resolution so as to embrace the British Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the provinces beyond the Cape of Good Hope.

A conversation of some length ensued between Messrs. CROWNINSHIELD, BIDWELL, and ALSTON, on the one side; and Messrs. J. RANDOLPH and J. CLAY, on the other, on amending the resolution. The former gentlemen were for amending the resolution so as to embrace a period of peace as well as war, and to obtain information from “all the dependencies of Great Britain,” which the latter gentlemen opposed on various grounds, one of which was, that if this additional information were desirable, it could be obtained by a distinct resolution.

On Mr. CROWNINSHIELD’s motion to amend the resolution, so as to extend it to “British dependencies,” generally, the House divided--ayes 43, noes 67.

Mr. NICHOLSON suggested the propriety of adding the following words to the resolution, in which the mover acquiescing, they were incorporated into it:

“And also a statement showing in detail the quantity and value of the like articles of import brought into the United States, from other nations respectively, with the rate and amount of duty thereon.”

The resolution, thus modified, was agreed to without a division.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD then moved the following resolution. He said, in substance it was the same with the amendment which he had proposed to the resolution of the gentleman from Virginia:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to lay before this House a statement of the amount of the exports and imports to and from the British dependencies, other than those of America, for the last two years.

This resolution was likewise agreed to without a division.

WEDNESDAY, February 5.

Non-Intercourse with Great Britain.

Mr. CLAY.--The gentleman from Massachusetts having laid on the table a resolution arising out of the present state of our foreign relations, and as that subject is one on which I think there cannot be too much deliberation before we act, or of which too many views cannot be taken, I will take the liberty of submitting some resolutions which I have drawn up, and to which I ask the attention of the House. In the present state of our relations with foreign powers, it appears to me that a system of commercial regulations, mild and yet firm, one which can be carried into permanent effect without much inconvenience to ourselves, will be more effectual than any temporary expedients. If we are disposed to adopt such a system, it will be looked upon by foreign nations as one in which we are likely to persevere. They will consider its probable effects in time of peace upon their colonial possessions, and they may be induced to enter into permanent regulations opening to us a trade with their colonies. The distinction attempted to be made between a war trade and an accustomed trade will be destroyed, and with it the only pretext upon which are founded the vexations and depredations committed on American commerce. The present is a favorable moment for the adoption of such a plan. At this time the ports of the belligerent powers are open, and the effect of the measures, which I am about to propose, will not have an immediate distressing effect upon the West Indies. If these measures are taken, the powers of Europe will find that, unless they admit our ships into their colonial ports in time of peace, the trade between their colonies and us will be cut off by a system which will be but slightly injurious to ourselves. I think, I repeat it, that a permanent system, mild but firm, will be more likely to induce Great Britain, in particular, to recede from the unjust pretensions she has set up, than more violent and extreme measures, which, from their very nature and their injurious consequences to ourselves, must be necessarily temporary.

Mr. C. concluded, with offering the following resolutions:

Resolved, That, after the ---- day of ---- next, no trade or intercourse in any ship or vessel owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of any foreign Government, shall be permitted between the United States or their Territories, and any port or place in the colonies or dominions of any European power, which trade or intercourse is not permanently permitted by the laws or regulations of such European power, to be carried on in ships or vessels of the United States.

Resolved, That, after the ---- day of ---- aforesaid, no goods, wares, or merchandise, shall be exported from the United States or their Territories, in any ship or vessel owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of any foreign Government, to any port or place in the colonies or dominions of any European power, the importation of which into such port or place, in ships or vessels of the United States, is not permanently permitted by the laws or regulations of such European power.

Resolved, That, after the ---- day of ---- aforesaid, no goods, wares, or merchandise, shall be imported into the United States or their Territories, in any ship or vessel owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of any foreign Government, from any port or place in the colonies or dominions of any European power, the exportation of which from such port or place, in ships or vessels of the United States, is not permanently permitted by the laws or regulations of such European power.

Resolved, That, after the ---- day of ---- aforesaid, no goods, wares, or merchandise, shall be imported into the United States, in any ship or vessel owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of any foreign Government, excepting articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the colonies or dominions of such foreign Government, unless such importation be expressly permitted by treaty between the United States and such foreign Government, or unless during a war in which the United States may be a party.

The House immediately considered these resolutions, and referred them to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

Importation of Slaves.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill imposing a duty of ten dollars on every slave imported into the United States.

Mr. JACKSON offered a new section, the object of which was to prohibit the importation into the United States of all slaves, brought either from abroad or from any State, except, in the latter case, by citizens of the United States removing to a Territory, to settle therein.

Mr. JACKSON viewed this provision as necessary, in consequence of a legal construction given to an act of the last session, which allowed the importation of slaves from abroad into Louisiana.

This motion was opposed by Messrs. ALSTON, ELY, MORROW, SPALDING, and SLOAN, who either viewed it as inexpedient in itself, or as proper to be introduced into a distinct bill.

Mr. JACKSON said, as it was the wish of his friends, he would withdraw the motion, and offer it on another occasion.

No farther amendments having been offered the committee rose, and reported their agreement to the bill.

The House immediately considered the report.

The amendment limiting the imposition of the tax to the first day of January, 1808, was disagreed to; and the other amendments agreed to.

Mr. JACKSON inquired what the effects would be of the forfeiture of the cargo, in case slaves were smuggled into the United States? Would they be kept in the service of the United States? He did not wish to have any thing to do with them.

Mr. JOHN C. SMITH said, he had voted for the resolution; but the defects in the details of the bill were so glaring, that he hoped it would be referred to a select committee, that it might be so modified as to cure these defects; or, that in case it were found insusceptible of modification, it might be rejected. Mr. S. accordingly moved the recommitment of the bill to a select committee.

Mr. JACKSON advocated this motion, and remarked that the proviso of the bill that declared the duty should not be construed as giving a sanction to the importation of slaves, offered an additional reason for either rejecting or recommitting it. How could this language be used with propriety in a law, when the constitution, the highest authority, authorized the trade?

Mr. QUINCY spoke to the like effect, and further inquired, whether it was the intention of gentlemen to apply the provisions of the bill to slaves navigating the ships of the United States.

Messrs. HASTINGS and SLOAN defended the provisions of the bill as perfectly correct. They observed that slaves were considered as property, as merchandise, and could only, therefore, in the bill be treated as such.

The motion to recommit was lost--ayes 39, noes 61.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD spoke against the bill, and moved its postponement to an indefinite day.

Messrs. JOHN C. SMITH, TAGGART, and RHEA of Tennessee, supported; and Messrs. SLOAN, ELMER, and SMILIE, opposed the motion; when the yeas and nays were called on it, and were--yeas 42, nays 69, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, jr., George M. Bedinger, Silas Betton, Phanuel Bishop, William Blackledge, Joseph Bryan, William Butler, Levi Casey, Martin Chittenden, Christopher Clark, Matthew Clay, Frederick Conrad, Jacob Crowninshield, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, junior, John Dawson, Elias Earle, Peter Early, James Elliot, James M. Garnett, Edwin Gray, James Holland, John G. Jackson, Walter Jones, Thomas Kenan, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, William McCreery, David Meriwether, Thomas Moore, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Thomas M. Randolph, John Rhea of Tennessee, Thomas Sanford, O’Brien Smith, Thomas Spalding, Samuel Taggart, Samuel Tenney, David Thomas, Thomas W. Thompson, David R. Williams, and Thomas Wynns.

NAYS.--Isaac Anderson, John Archer, Joseph Barker, John Blake, jr., Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, John Chandler, John Claiborne, Joseph Clay, Leonard Covington, Richard Cutts, Ezra Darby, Ebenezer Elmer, William Ely, John W. Eppes, William Findlay, James Fisk, John Fowler, Peterson Goodwyn, Andrew Gregg, Isaiah L. Green, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, Seth Hastings, David Holmes, David Hough, Nehemiah Knight, John Lambert, Michael Leib, Joseph Lewis, junior, Matthew Lyon, Patrick Magruder, Nicholas R. Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, Jonathan O. Mosely, Jeremiah Nelson, Thomas Newton, junior, Joseph H. Nicholson, Gideon Olin, John Pugh, John Rea of Pennsylvania, Jacob Richards, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Thomas Sammons, Martin G. Schuneman, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, John Cotton Smith, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Henry Southard, Richard Stanford, Joseph Stanton, Lewis B. Sturges, Philip R. Thompson, Uri Tracy, Abram Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, John Whitehill, Robert Whitehill, Eliphalet Wickes, Marmaduke Williams, Alexander Wilson, and John Winston.

Mr. JACKSON moved to strike out the proviso of the bill, which motion was disagreed to; when the bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading to-morrow--ayes 69.

THURSDAY, February 6.

Another member, to wit, from South Carolina, RICHARD WYNN, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

FRIDAY, February 7.

Non-Importation of Slaves, into Territories.[32]

On motion of Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS the House came to the following resolution:

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire whether any, and if any, what additional provisions are necessary to prevent the importation of slaves into the Territories of the United States.

A committee of five members were appointed.

Removal of Federal Judges on the Address of Congress.

AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH, agreeably to notice given by him yesterday, made the following motion:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, That the following article be submitted to the Legislatures of the several States, which, when ratified and confirmed by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the said States, shall be valid and binding as a part of the Constitution of the United States:

The Judges of the Supreme, and all other courts of the United States, shall be removed from office by the President, on the joint address of both Houses of Congress requesting the same.

The House having agreed to consider the motion, it was, at the instance of Mr. J. RANDOLPH, referred to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH gave notice that he should call up this motion on Thursday.

Naval Peace Establishment.

The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill relative to a Naval Peace Establishment.

Mr. GREGG explained at some length the provisions of the bill. The bill, he said, corresponded with the intimations of the President relative to giving an opening to the promotion of several officers who had greatly distinguished themselves in the Mediterranean service. He stated that the bill contemplated giving the President power to keep in service nine hundred and twenty-five able and ordinary seamen and boys, making two-thirds of the full complement of six frigates, two of forty-four guns, two of thirty-six, and two of thirty-two; that it contemplated the increasing the number of captains from ten to thirteen; the creation of nine masters-commandant, and the increase of lieutenants from thirty-six to seventy-two. This arrangement was proposed, in order to give to the young officers in the navy that rank and reward merited by them, and to enable the doing this, without interfering with the rules of promotion usual in the naval service.

Mr. LEIB spoke against the feature of the bill that augmented the number of officers. It appeared to him, indeed, a pension bill, and to make large allowances without services rendered. It also contemplated the keeping six frigates in service, and provides for them thirteen captains, nine masters-commandant, and seventy-two lieutenants. He did not consider the Treasury in such a state of overflow as to justify this liberality.

Mr. GREGG said the gentleman had misunderstood his remarks as well as the nature of the bill, which, so far from directing six frigates to be kept in actual service, repealed that part of a former law which contained this provision.

No motion having been made to amend the bill, the Chairman proceeded in the reading of the remaining sections; when

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH expressed his opinion that the bill required considerable amendment, and that he had understood from the Secretary of the Navy that its provisions were not consonant to that system which he considered the most conducive to the public service. With a view to obtain fuller information relative to the subject, he moved that the committee should rise and ask leave to sit again.

This motion obtained, without opposition, when the committee rose and received leave to sit again.

MONDAY, February 10.

Another member, to wit, DUNCAN MCFARLAND, from North Carolina, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Importations from Great Britain.

Mr. NICHOLSON said he wished to lay on the table a resolution relative to the subsisting differences between the United States and Great Britain, on which several resolutions had already been offered.

Mr. N. said he had seen two propositions, neither of which he liked. One was a resolution offered by a gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. GREGG.) When he considered that our importations from Great Britain amounted annually to about twenty-five millions of dollars, and that the whole of this trade was, according to the proposition of the gentleman, to be prohibited; and it was also considered that the average amount of duties on articles imported from Great Britain was twenty per cent., it would at once be seen that the measure would affect the revenue to the amount of five millions annually.

Nor did it, in offering these resolutions, appear to have been taken into view, that while the measure had a very material effect on the revenue, it had likewise an immediate effect on the habits of our citizens who consumed goods imported from Britain. With regard to the single article of cotton, its prohibition would operate in three different ways. In the first place, the wants of our people will be increased in proportion to the prohibition of cotton goods; in the second place, the revenue would be affected by it; and in the last place, it was extremely probable that the foreign demand for the raw material we furnish would be considerably diminished. A single fact would evince this with some force. In the year 1791, there were exported to Liverpool 64 bales of cotton; and in the first nine months of 1805 there had been exported to the same place 93,000 bales. This would show what the effect might be of the prohibition of the importation of articles manufactured from cotton in Great Britain on the demand for the raw material we furnish.

Mr. N. then submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That, from and after the ---- day of ---- next, the following articles, being of the growth, or manufactures of Great Britain or Ireland, or of any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain, ought to be prohibited by law from being imported into the United States, or into the territories thereof, viz:

All articles of which leather is the material of chief value; all articles of which tin or brass is the material of chief value, tin in sheets excepted; all articles of which hemp or flax is the material of chief value; all articles of which silk is the material of chief value; woollen cloths, whose invoice prices shall exceed ----; woollen hosiery of all kinds; window glass, and all other manufactures of glass; silver and plated wares; paper of every description; nails and spikes; hats; clothing ready made; millinery of all kinds; playing cards; beer, ale, and porter; and pictures and prints.

This resolution was immediately considered by the House, and referred to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed.

West India Trade.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD said, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. NICHOLSON) had offered several resolutions prohibiting the importation of sundry articles of British manufactures into the United States. Mr. C. observed that he had another project which he wished to submit, relative to our trade with the British West Indies. He did not mean at this time to discuss the subject, either so far as it was connected with the propositions of the gentleman from Maryland, or with that of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, which went to a much greater extent. But with regard to one idea expressed by the gentleman from Maryland, he thought it proper to say a few words. That gentleman had observed that the proposition offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania would affect the revenue to the amount of five millions of dollars; and therefore impressed upon the House the duty of being extremely cautious in taking such a step. Mr. C. said he did not believe the adoption of that proposition would affect the revenue to any such extent. He did not believe it would affect the revenue to the amount of a million of dollars. Because, although we should prohibit the importation of British goods, we could get most of the same articles from other countries. We get salt from Cadiz, and Lisbon, and from several other places. Rum could be got from every island in the West Indies; and if we should not be able to get a sufficient quantity to supply our wants, we could import from France brandies, which will be a good substitute. We may also get woollens from the continent of Europe, and every article on the list, perhaps at higher prices. It was not, however, Mr. C. said, his object at this time to discuss the merits of either proposition. His chief object was to offer his own project, which related to the West Indies. Every one knows that those islands are dependent on the United States for the necessaries of life; that they cannot get many important articles they absolutely want from other countries. Every one knows that for fish, beef, pork, and lumber, they are dependent on us, inasmuch as they cannot get them elsewhere. How is the trade carried on? Great Britain has adopted a curious commercial principle, bottomed on the principle of her navigation act; which in time of peace almost amounts to a prohibition to introduce into her islands any articles of ours; and which in time of war opens the ports of a few of her islands for the introduction of particular articles for three or six months. Mr. C. said he wished to see this trade permanently open to the citizens of the United States. He thought it probable this might be done by the adoption of his plan. The gentleman from Pennsylvania had offered a proposition which was calculated to meet in part the practices of Great Britain. The first resolution related to trading to the West Indies in foreign vessels, and not in vessels of the United States. Every one knew that in the trade between the United States and the West Indies there were either none, or very few foreign vessels.

Mr. C. then offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That, from and after the ---- day of ---- next, no goods, wares, or merchandise, shall be exported from, or imported into, the United States or the territories thereof, in any ship or vessel whatever, to or from any European colonies or settlements, situated on the eastern side of the continent of America, or its adjacent seas, northward of the Equator, unless the importation of all articles of the growth, product, or manufacture of the United States and their territories, in American bottoms, is at all times admitted into the said colonies, or settlements, and unless the exportation of the productions of the said colonies, or settlements, is permanently allowed in American bottoms from the same to the United States, and the territories thereof.

WEDNESDAY, February 12.

Limits of Georgia.

Mr. SPALDING, from the committee to whom was referred, on the thirteenth ultimo, the memorial of the Legislature of the State of Georgia, made a report thereon, which was read, as follows:

The committee to whom was referred the memorial of the Legislature of the State of Georgia, respecting disputed limits between that State and the State of North Carolina, having taken into consideration the matter of the said memorial, as well as such information as the documents attached to the memorial and former reports made to this House afford, beg leave to submit the following report:

Between the latitude of 35 degrees north, which is the southern boundary claimed by North Carolina, and the northern boundary of Georgia, as settled by a convention between that State and South Carolina, intervenes a tract of country supposed to be about twelve miles wide, from north to south, and extending in length from the western boundary of Georgia, at Nicajack on the Tennessee, to her north-eastern limits, on the Tugalo. This tract was consequently within the limits of South Carolina, and in the year 1787 it was ceded to the United States, who accepted the cession. This territory remained in possession of the United States until 1802, when it was ceded to the State of Georgia. From the most correct information relative to the said territory, it appears that it is inhabited by about 800 souls, and (to adopt the words of a former report) it is not shown at what period they made the settlement, nor had they any title to the land on which they settled and made improvements. No such title indeed could have been created, as those lands remained within the boundary of the Cherokees until the year 1798, when a part of this territory was purchased by a treaty held at Tellico. It does not appear that the lines that bound the tract of land in question, and divide it from Carolina, have ever been established by public authority.

After the transfer of this territory by the United States to Georgia, the Legislature of that State, in compliance with the earnest request of those self-governed people, praying that they might be allowed to participate in the civil rights enjoyed in common by the people of the United States, passed an act in the year 1803 to organize the inhabited part of the territory, and to form it into a county, authorizing, at the same time, the Governor to appoint commissioners, to meet such commissioners as should be appointed by the Government of North Carolina to ascertain and plainly mark the line dividing this territory from North Carolina. The Governor of North Carolina expressed a readiness to accede to the proposition, under the provisions of a former act of the Legislature of that State, but clogged with a condition which the Legislature of North Carolina refused to depart from, and which the Legislature of Georgia refused to accede to. Her reason may be found in a letter from General Pickens, of the State of South Carolina, attached to a report made to the House respecting that territory while the property of the United States. The letter states, that before the people inhabiting that territory settled on the lands, it was surveyed, and grants obtained for most part of it from the State of North Carolina, and probably by men who cared little whether the land was within the Indian claim or the limits of South Carolina. Your committee conceive that they have no right to enter into the feelings of either of the parties, or to pronounce upon the justice of the condition made by North Carolina on the one part, or its rejection by Georgia on the other, and have therefore confined their attention to that part of the memorial which calls upon Congress to define and mark out the thirty-fifth degree of latitude--the line which North Carolina admits to bound her State--upon the south and north of which Georgia can have no claim of territory. Your committee, after giving to this point the most deliberate consideration, are of opinion that the United States are bound, in good faith, to use their friendly offices with the State of North Carolina for obtaining an amicable adjustment of the limits of the territory, which they have transferred to Georgia, in all parts where such limits may be disputed.

Your committee, therefore, beg leave to offer the following resolution:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint a commissioner, to meet such commissioners as may be appointed by the States of North Carolina and Georgia, for the purpose of ascertaining and running the line which divides the territory transferred by the United States to Georgia, from North Carolina.

The report was read, and referred to a Committee of the whole House on Friday next.

THURSDAY, February 13.

Society of Harmony.

The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the bill received from the Senate, the object of which is to authorize the location of a quantity of land in the Indiana Territory by George Rapp and his associates, they paying two dollars therefor, and giving them a credit, without the payment of interest, for six years, when they are to pay one-fourth of the purchase money, and the residue in six annual payments, on condition that, agreeably to prescribed terms, the vine shall be cultivated.

Mr. MCCREERY stated that George Rapp and his associates, amounting to about 3,000 persons, were natives of the Electorate of Wirtemberg; that they were Lutherans, who had fled from oppression in that country; that they were mostly cultivators of the vine, and wished an extension of the usual time for paying for public lands, they not having the means of the common payment; they wished to live together, and to cultivate the vine for their principal support, for their prosperity, and for the good of the community, in introducing its culture into this country.

Mr. ELY observed that the bill appeared to give a preference in the sale of the public lands; that the bill was presented from the Senate without the documents or testimony which might justify this preference; he therefore moved that it should be committed to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. GREGG.--They obtain a whole township of the best land at only two dollars per acre, and it is proposed to extend to them an unusual indulgence in the time of payment. He would not agree to it.

Mr. FINDLAY spoke in favor of the bill.

Mr. CONRAD.--The indulgence of time for payment is not unprecedented. He showed an act granting twelve years for payment where land was purchased for the same purpose, and that act does not bind the purchasers to plant the vine, whereas this does. It were better to make a present of the land than not have the settlement among us of such persons. If not thus sold, it is more than probable that the land will lie waste and unsold more than the six years.

Mr. OLIN.--If we can be justified in a sale of this kind, why oblige foreigners instead of our own countrymen? We have citizens enough of our own who would be glad to purchase on such terms.

Mr. SLOAN.--Though I drink no wine myself, I have no wish to prevent others, for I think it may often be serviceable. I consider the indulgence as to the time of payment in the light of an encouragement or bounty, that may prove useful to us as well as the applicants.

Mr. SMILIE.--I cannot say with the gentleman from New Jersey that I drink no wine, for I certainly do when I can get it. I do not consider it as a valid objection that the petitioners are foreigners. I am myself a European, who have fled from oppression in the country where I was born. How great a part of Pennsylvania is settled by such characters!

Mr. MCCREERY.--The applicants are men of piety and industry. Let us give them a good chance, for our own sakes as well as theirs, to introduce the culture of the grape here.

Mr. FINDLAY.--If this indulgence be not given, the land will lie waste. We wish to populate the territory. Their settlement will enhance the value of the public lands around them.

Mr. ELY.--I am sorry my motion has occasioned so much debate. I was ignorant of the circumstances relating to this society, and to the character of it; my object was information, not an intention to defeat the bill. We deviate from the usual mode, which is to have the report of a committee in cases of this sort.

Mr. GREGG.--This bill very improperly authorizes a deviation from the established practice of selling public lands--it is a change of principle. I do not wish to see so great a body of foreigners settled together; we shall have a little Wirtemberg; we must legislate for them; they cannot speak our language; they cannot serve as jurymen, and from the information I have received, I am confident they will not succeed in cultivating the vine in that country.

Mr. BEDINGER.--I am a shareholder in a vineyard in Kentucky, and our success has exceeded our most sanguine expectations.

Mr. MACON.--In order to try the sense of the committee, I move to strike out the words “George Rapp and his associates.” Why should we not grant bounties for raising wheat or corn as well as the vine? If wine can be made here to advantage, there is no need of the encouragement of this House. A few years since we raised no cotton, but the profit of this culture once known, it has become an article of vast exportation. What claim have these aliens over our own citizens? They have been oppressed; put your finger on any spot of Europe that is not under oppression. If you commence this new system, all the best sections of land will be taken up in this manner. Who will not purchase on such terms?

Mr. LYON.--Lands not belonging to the public may be had for less than one dollar an acre in many places.

Mr. OLIN.--We have men that can cultivate the vine as well as those foreigners. It is a plain, simple thing.

Mr. JACKSON.--If disposed to grant favors, let us grant to those who have the greatest claim. There are many old soldiers of the Revolution, who would rejoice to purchase land on these terms. Why encourage the making of wines? They are luxuries, not necessaries. Lands on the Ohio are from six to eight dollars in many places; this bill gives the petitioners their choice of the best, and they pay no interest for their purchase, at two dollars.

Mr. SLOAN.--This bill will enhance the value of lands adjoining. It will be a humane act.

Mr. JACKSON.--I rise merely to state a fact I have just now learned. There are at this very time men waiting for the passage of this bill, who are ready to give six dollars per acre for much of the very land the bill contemplates.

Mr. HOLLAND.--Some small tracts only may sell for six dollars. We bind the purchasers to plant the first year 9,000 plants, and 3,000 annually after.

Mr. MORROW, of Ohio.--I rise only to reply to the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. JACKSON.) I never seek for information in the lobby, nor the gallery, nor Pennsylvania avenue. The gentleman is misinformed.

Mr. JACKSON.--My authority is an honorable member near me--an authority at least as respectable as any the gentleman from Ohio can have.

The question was taken--50 for striking out, 51 against it. The committee rose, and the House considered the bill.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD.--There is no interest to be received. I have made a calculation that, considering the want of interest to the time of the last payment, we now get only ninety-seven cents per acre. I move to strike out two, and insert three dollars per acre.

The motion was lost--44 only for it.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD.--There are in a section about 23,000 acres, making about 46,000 dollars. I move to insert six per cent. interest till paid.

Mr. NICHOLSON.--Public lands are sold without interest for a certain time. If the money be not punctually paid, I am willing the debt should be on interest after.

Mr. JACKSON.--I move to postpone the consideration of the bill indefinitely.

The ayes and nays were called for, and taken on this motion--ayes 53, nays 59.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD’s motion for the insertion of interest was lost--52 to 49.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS moved the insertion of two instead of six years for payment of the land. Motion lost--54 to 45. The bill passed to a third reading for to-morrow.

FRIDAY, February 14.

Indiana Territory.

Mr. GARNETT, from the committee appointed on the eighteenth of December last, to whom were referred the report of a select committee on the letter of William H. Harrison, made the seventeenth of February, eighteen hundred and four; a memorial of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Indiana Territory, and several petitions of sundry inhabitants of the said Territory; made the following report:

That, having attentively considered the facts stated in the said petitions and memorials, they are of opinion that a qualified suspension, for a limited time, of the sixth article of compact between the original States and the people and States west of the river Ohio, would be beneficial to the people of the Indiana Territory. The suspension of this article is an object almost universally desired in that Territory. It appears to your committee to be a question entirely different from that between slavery and freedom, inasmuch as it would merely occasion the removal of persons, already slaves, from one part of the country to another. The good effects of this suspension, in the present instance, would be to accelerate the population of that Territory, hitherto retarded by the operation of that article of compact, as slaveholders emigrating into the Western country might then indulge any preference which they might feel for a settlement in the Indiana Territory, instead of seeking, as they are now compelled to do, settlements in other States or countries permitting the introduction of slaves. The condition of the slaves themselves would be much ameliorated by it, as it is evident, from experience, that the more they are separated and diffused, the more care and attention are bestowed on them by their masters, each proprietor having it in his power to increase their comforts and conveniences in proportion to the smallness of their numbers. The dangers, too, (if any are to be apprehended,) from too large a black population existing in any one section of country, would certainly be very much diminished, if not entirely removed. But whether dangers are to be feared from this source or not, it is certainly an obvious dictate of sound policy to guard against them, as far as possible. If this danger does exist, or there is any cause to apprehend it, and our Western brethren are not only willing but desirous to aid us in taking precautions against it, would it not be wise to accept their assistance? We should benefit ourselves, without injuring them, as their population must always so far exceed any black population which can ever exist in that country, as to render the idea of danger from that source chimerical.

Your committee consider the regulation contained in the ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States, which requires a freehold of fifty acres of land as a qualification for an elector of the General Assembly, as limiting too much the elective franchise. Some restrictions, however, being necessary, your committee conceive that a residence continued long enough to evince a determination to become a permanent inhabitant, should entitle a person to the rights of suffrage. This probationary period need not extend beyond twelve months.

The petition of certain settlers in the Indiana Territory, praying to be annexed to the State of Ohio, ought not, in the opinion of your committee, to be granted.

After attentively considering the various objects desired in the memorials and petitions, the committee respectfully submit to the House the following resolutions:

1. Resolved, That the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, which prohibits slavery within the Indiana Territory, be suspended for ten years, so as to permit the introduction of slaves, born within the United States, from any of the individual States.

2. Resolved, That every white freeman of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided within the Territory twelve months, and within the county in which he claims a vote, six months immediately preceding the election, shall enjoy the rights of an Elector of the General Assembly.

3. Resolved, That the petition of certain settlers in the Indiana Territory, praying to be annexed to the State of Ohio, ought not to be granted.

4. Resolved, That it is inexpedient, at this time, to grant that part of the petition of the people of Randolph and St. Clair which prays for a division of the Indiana Territory.

Referred to a Committee of the Whole on Thursday next.

Society of Harmony.

The bill allowing George Rapp and his associates to locate a township of land in the Indiana Territory on certain conditions, was read a third time.

Mr. CLARK moved to recommit the bill to the Committee on Public Lands. The bill wants several amendments. There is no penalty, should the petitioners neglect to plant the vines.

Mr. JACKSON.--I second the motion of my colleague. These public lands formerly belonged to the State of Virginia; when ceded by that State, the Government of the United States were made trustees “for the common benefit of the Union; faithfully and bona fide for that use, and for no other,” to use the words of the act granting the cession. This is a contract between Virginia and the United States; we are in the place of trustees; we cannot violate the trust, yet this mode of selling the land for the benefit of individual foreigners is a violation of the trust. This precedent will be quoted hereafter, and will operate most injuriously. Notwithstanding what the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. MORROW) has said, I cannot help saying, that there are men ready at this time to give six dollars per acre for this very land, or land of this description. This bill will give them a whole township, 23,000 acres of land of the first quality. I cannot conceive the cultivation of the vine as a national benefit, as being “for the common benefit of the Union.” It will diminish the revenue, should vines be raised in abundance here. Wine is heavily taxed, and the tax is paid by the rich. I am altogether opposed to the bill.

Mr. SMILIE.--A new argument indeed is brought forward by the gentleman from Virginia. We can hardly turn round without somehow invading the rights of Virginia. If we talk of building a bridge or erecting a dam, at once the rights of Virginia are invaded. If we wish to dispose of some of our public land in the West as we think proper, the rights of Virginia are invaded. Virginia claimed lands stretching to the north pole; she took what she wanted, and gave a quit claim to the United States for the rest. Some of the House think this sale, this indulgence in the payment for the purpose of introducing the cultivation of the vine, and of serving these worthy foreigners, will be “for the common benefit of the Union;” some think otherwise; it is merely a matter of opinion, and a majority of opinion must decide.

Mr. MORROW.--There are some small tracts of land, on which what are called squatters are settled, and where already improvements have been made, which would sell for four or six dollars per acre; but I doubt whether any township of land would sell for two dollars, even with the usual instalments.

Mr. PARKE, of the Indiana Territory.--Even in the settled parts of the Territory, lands are not above three dollars.

Mr. ELY.--Gentlemen have said that poor lands were proper for the vine. It may be so; but the petitioner and his associates mention also the raising of hemp, which requires the best bottom lands. I am far from wishing to discourage these settlers; but they are already among us, and will not leave this country. They are represented to be (and I fully believe the representation) men of piety and morality; the United States are not beyond improvement in piety and morality; instead of putting them in one, and that a far-distant place, let them be scattered over the Union, that all parts may be benefited. Such a body of men, of one sect, of one language, will wish to seclude itself from the rest of the Union; they will wish what this bill gives them, and what I think injurious, an exclusive territory. We are deviating from our common usage in the sale of land. Is the deviation necessary or proper? Gentlemen have said they were flying from oppression to this land of liberty; liberty was their object; a republican Government; yet it appears that when they left Wirtemberg, their expectation and intention was to settle in Louisiana, then under the Spanish Government. The bill obliges them to plant a certain number of vines; perhaps the expense of this will not be $100, and there is no forfeiture even if they should refuse to comply. It may prove a fine speculation for them; they may get perhaps the finest land and the best salt lick in the territory.

Mr. NICHOLSON, (after recapitulating the arguments previously adduced.)--I have no objection to the settlement of the applicants in one body; nor can I see any probable evil resulting from it. The gentleman from Massachusetts has informed us that the people of the United States are bad enough, and that the distribution of this society over the whole States might prove advantageous to the Union; if not in one body, they must settle on lands for sale in different parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, &c. This distribution would be unfair, as Massachusetts has not lands for sale, except perhaps in the district of Maine; hence that State would be deprived of the advantage it might obtain by an improvement of its piety and morality from a distribution of a part of this society among the citizens of that State. I know not why the sale of this land, according to the terms of the bill, should be considered as not conducing to the good of the nation. We have given lands for colleges and schools, and for the support of clergymen; we have also sold lands, the proceeds of which were to be expended for the improvement of roads--roads by which the public at large would be benefited, though the citizens of Maine or Georgia might never travel them.

The bill was recommitted to a Committee of the Whole--62 to 53, and made the order of the day for Monday next.

MONDAY, February 17.

Non-Importation of Slaves into Territories.

Mr. DAVID R. WILLIAMS, from the committee appointed, on the seventh instant, “to inquire whether any, and, if any, what, additional provisions are necessary to prevent the importation of slaves into the Territories of the United States,” made the following report:

That the act of Congress, passed the 7th April, 1798, authorizing the establishment of a Government in the Mississippi Territory, permits slavery within that Territory, by excluding the last article of the ordinance of 13th July, 1787. The seventh section of this act prohibits, after the establishment of a Government, the importation of slaves from any port or place without the limits of the United States; of course, the right to import slaves from any place within the limits of the United States is not restricted.

The act of 2d March, 1805, further providing for the Government of the Territory of Orleans, secures to its inhabitants “all the rights, privileges, and advantages, secured by the ordinance of 13th July, 1787, and now enjoyed by the people of the Mississippi Territory.” The importation of slaves, from any place within the limits of the United States, is one of those rights; consequently, the inhabitants of the Territory of Orleans may exercise it also.

The tenth section of the act of 26th March, 1804, “erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof,” prohibits the introduction of slaves into that Territory, from any place, “except by a citizen of the United States, removing into said Territory, for actual settlement, and being at the time of such removal bona fide owner of such slave or slaves.” This tenth section, being repugnant to the first section of the act of 2d March, 1805, was repealed by the last section of said act, which declares: “that so much of an act, entitled ‘An act erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof,’ as is repugnant with this act, shall, from and after the first Monday of November next, be repealed.”

The committee are in the possession of the fact, that African slaves, lately imported into Charleston, have been thence conveyed into the Territory of Orleans; and, in their opinion, this practice will be continued to a very great extent while there is no law to prevent it.

Upon this view of the subject, the committee believe it is expedient to prohibit any slave or slaves, who may be hereafter imported into the United States, from being carried into any of the Territories thereof; they, therefore, respectfully recommend the following resolution:

Resolved, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to import or bring into any of the Territories of the United States any slave or slaves that may hereafter be imported into the United States.

The report was referred to the Committee of the Whole to-morrow.

TUESDAY, February 18.

Society of Harmony.

The House resumed the consideration of the bill sent from the Senate, entitled “An act to empower George Rapp and his associates, of the Society of Harmony, to purchase certain lands;” and a motion being made further to amend the said bill by inserting, at the end thereof, the words following:

“And interest, at the rate of six per cent, per annum, commencing from the end of the four years aforesaid, shall be charged on the whole of the six last payments, until the same shall be received into the public Treasury:”

The question was taken that the House do agree to the said amendment, and resolved in the affirmative--yeas 62, nays 44.

Ordered, That the said amendments, together with the bill, be read the third time to-day.

The said bill, together with the amendments thereto, was read the third time; and, on the question that the bill, as amended, do pass, it passed in the negative--yeas 46, nays 46.

Mr. SPEAKER declaring himself with the nays. And so the said bill was rejected.

Church in Georgetown.

Mr. FINDLAY called up the bill for incorporating the Presbyterian Society in Georgetown. The bill was long, and was read by sections. One section authorized a lottery for finishing the church.

Mr. CLARK moved to strike out the section; you would not convert your church into a gambling house. I never considered that religion of the best kind which was supported by lotteries.

Mr. SLOAN.--I am for striking out. I never will consent to an act authorizing public gambling.

Mr. CLARK.--Corporations of all kinds, but more particularly ecclesiastical corporations, are objects of my particular hatred. Religion I do not consider of this world. I am no enemy to it, however; I adore it. To try the principle of the bill, I move to strike out the first section.

Mr. SOUTHARD.--I can see no possible objection to an act of incorporation in this as well as other cases. There are many advantages a society of this nature cannot enjoy without incorporation. Donations from the wealthy, who often bequeath sums for the benefit of religion, cannot be held without such incorporation.

Mr. SLOAN.--We have no acts of incorporation in the society in which I was brought up, (the Quakers,) yet we find no difficulty in the management of our affairs--no difficulty in receiving gifts. I abhor all ecclesiastical corporations. Congress never has, and I hope never will, stain its pages with an act of this sort.

Mr. SMILIE.--I hope the gentleman from New Jersey will not frighten himself with the echo of his own words. No evil can result from this act. The opinion of the Quakers is, that no money ought to assist them in their passage to heaven; others believe that money is employed to the best advantage in this way; hence the Quakers never pay those who preach for them, while almost all other classes of Christians do. The gentleman from New Jersey surely does not wish to forbid a clergyman’s payment. I hope that citizens of different persuasions may all have a full enjoyment of their modes of religious worship.

Mr. ELMER.--There never was a nation without religious establishments. All sects, except the Quakers, pay their preachers; and if the preachers among the Quakers have not a direct salary, they find means to obtain something of that kind indirectly, though not from direct funds. Considered in a moral, political, and religious view, these acts of incorporation are highly necessary and proper for the well-being of society.

Mr. CLARK.--This is the first request that has been made to Congress for a religious incorporation; if we check it now, we may check what may hereafter prove an immense evil. It is from small beginnings that great disasters usually rise. Should this bill pass, I foresee what may perhaps in time come to pass. I can foresee the practice of pious frauds. The priests dressed in their canonicals, attending the rich man on his dying bed, and urging the repenting sinner to part with a portion of his wealth for the good of the church, and for the obtainment of a certain passport to heaven.

Mr. FINDLAY.--This is an accommodation Congress only can grant, and which is enjoyed in all the States.

Mr. NICHOLSON.--I never knew an application of this kind to be refused in the State, a part of which I have the honor to represent. In the Legislature of that State, half a dozen applications of this sort would have been granted in the time we have already spent in this unnecessary and shameful debate. Why should we refuse? If a society of Hindoos in the District should make such an application, I should not think of refusing them. If the dying rich man believes the bestowment of a part of his wealth for the benefit of religion will be a deed rendering him more acceptable to heaven, shall he be deprived of this right to give, because another thinks otherwise?

Mr. RHEA, of Tennessee, moved to postpone the consideration of the bill till the 1st of May.

Mr. SMILIE spoke against postponement.

Mr. QUINCY.--I had not intended to open my mouth on a subject that appeared to me so plain; where our duty was so apparent; but the debate has taken so strange a turn that I must make a few remarks. This is a mere civil affair--religion has nothing to do with it, so far as we are concerned in granting or refusing the application. I never knew an application of this kind to be refused--it is an application for the grant of certain powers to a certain number of persons; it is like an application for the incorporation of a bank, or any thing similar. Congress have only to inquire whether or not the ends are proper; whether the powers asked are or are not likely to be injurious. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. CLARK) says, that incorporations of all kinds, particularly ecclesiastical, are objects of his great abhorrence. The objects of his abhorrence must then be very numerous, for they almost every where abound. In Massachusetts nothing can be more common. The incorporation of a religious society is not for the mere purpose of enabling such a society to receive the gifts that may be bequeathed them; the incorporation is for the purpose of enabling a society, or number of persons, to transact their business, to hold property, to sue and be sued, &c. Property they must hold, and, if not held as a corporate body, they must hold it as joint tenants--tenants in common--or they must have trustees to hold it for them, or a part must hold as trustees for the rest; and hence arise innumerable difficulties, litigations, and disagreements--difficulties that will not arise in corporate bodies. You have only to take care, when an act of incorporation is granted, that no powers be granted that may have an injurious effect.

Mr. SOUTHARD.--The incorporation of almost all societies is for the advantage of the public; the incorporation of religious bodies has ever been beneficial to morals and to society at large. It enables them to give and to receive justice; to sue and to be sued. The benefits of incorporation are innumerable; what were society without them? what are we but a corporate body?

The bill passed to a third reading by a large majority.

WEDNESDAY, February 19.

Church in Georgetown.

The bill to incorporate the Trustees of a Presbyterian Church in Georgetown was read a third time.

Mr. ELMER supported, and Messrs. JACKSON, SLOAN, HOLLAND, and RHEA, opposed the bill.

The question was taken by yeas and nays, and the bill passed--yeas 72, nays 40.

THURSDAY, February 20.

Charlestown, (Kanawha,) Virginia.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD, from the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, made a report on the petition of sundry inhabitants of Charlestown, Virginia, praying that said place may be made a port of entry and delivery.

The report is detailed, and assigns a variety of reasons against the expediency of granting the prayer of the petitioners, and concludes with a resolution that they have leave to withdraw their petition.

The House having taken the report into consideration--

Mr. JACKSON observed that the facts detailed in the report were conceded. It was probable that there would never be a vessel entered at Charlestown from a foreign country. With regard to the success of the prayer of the petitioners, Mr. J. said he should not have been sanguine, but for a constitutional provision which he considered imperative. No port of entry existed in the western part of Virginia, in consequence of which, vessels sailing from Charlestown were obliged to pay duties at New Orleans. The constitutional provision, to which he alluded, was this: “No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.” Was it not obvious that a preference was given to the ports of one State over those of another by requiring the vessels of the one, to enter and clear in the ports of the other; and was it not also obvious that the latter part of the provision was equally violated? It would be a great convenience to the petitioners to give bonds and take out clearances in the neighborhood of the place where their vessels are built, instead of being obliged to go to a distance of 2,000 miles, where they would find themselves among strangers.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD observed that there were several ports of entry already in Virginia from which vessels might clear without paying duties at New Orleans. He further observed that New Orleans and Natchez were not within the limits of a State, and therefore were not embraced by the constitutional provision referred to; and added that duties were only paid on the entry of vessels from a foreign country.

Mr. J. C. SMITH thought there was sufficient plausibility in the remarks of the gentleman from Virginia, to give the subject a full discussion. He therefore moved a reference of the report to a Committee of the whole House on Monday, which was agreed to--yeas 59.

FRIDAY, February 21.

Payment of Witnesses.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill from the Senate, providing for the payment of the witnesses on the trial of Samuel Chase.

Mr. J. C. SMITH said, at the close of the last session, a bill providing for the payment of the witnesses on the part of the United States, had gone from the House to the Senate, and been disagreed to by them. The Senate on their part, had passed a bill providing for the payment of all the witnesses, to which the House had disagreed. A conference had taken place on the disagreeing votes of the Houses, and the bill had been lost from a want of concurrence. The consequence was, the witnesses still remained uncompensated; some of whom have sustained heavy expenses. Petitions received this session from several witnesses on the part of the prosecution, had been referred to the Committee of Claims, who had reported a bill which was the same in substance with that adopted by the House the last session; the committee not considering themselves at liberty to depart from the principle then established by the House.

It was for the House to decide how long this unprofitable contest (for unprofitable it surely was to the witnesses) should be kept up. Mr. S. said he was not disposed to go into a consideration of the question, whether the expenses of an impeachment should in all cases be incurred by the Government. He would barely observe that the Senate had been unanimous; and if the House should adhere to the ground they had taken, no compensation would be allowed to the witnesses. He submitted it, whether, under these circumstances, it were proper to keep up such a conflict? It had so happened that many of the witnesses, summoned by the accused, had been used by the managers, and the process of summoning them had been similar on both sides. In the bill there was an omission to provide for the expenses incurred by the managers. If no other gentleman proposed an amendment, he should think it his duty to offer one, providing for these expenses. He hoped the committee would agree to the bill. Some gentlemen might think, by agreeing to it, they evinced an opinion of the guilt or innocence of the accused. But such a vote could not be viewed in this light. The House had exercised their constitutional right by voting an impeachment, while the Senate had exercised the same right in acquitting the accused. The same body who had acquitted, had sent down this bill, involving their opinion that the proposed compensation to witnesses was right. Indeed he considered the bill from the Senate as a taxation of costs by the court who sat on this occasion.

Mr. MACON, with a view to try the question, whether the House would agree to pay all the witnesses, moved to insert after the word witnesses the words--“on behalf of the United States.” He said the history of this business given by the gentleman from Connecticut was correct. The accused had been acquitted by a constitutional majority, consisting of a minority of the Senate. It was not, he believed, the practice in any criminal court, of any State in the Union, for witnesses summoned by the defendant, to be paid by the State. The States, in many instances, pay their own witnesses, where the person accused is not convicted, but with respect to the conflict between the two Houses, he was convinced the decision of this House was correct; and that it accorded with the general usage throughout the United States. If there was an exception, he did not recollect it. It was true that one or the other House must give way, or the bill would be lost. He would much rather that it should be rejected by the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, than that it should pass as it then stood. If the Senate had offered this bill, it is equally true that the grand jury, who make a bill, have refused it. The two Houses stood on the same ground. One are the triers and the other the hearers. If Congress agree to pay all the expenses of an impeachment, the impeached may run the expenses to such an amount as to prevent a trial. Why pay the expenses in this case, if not in any other? Shall they be paid because this man is a judge, and not a man arraigned before a judge? When a judge is tried he deserves no more indulgence than a private individual, and though he is acquitted, the acquittal is not such as to convince the nation, or any other body of men, that he is innocent. It was not that kind of acquittal which an honest man would wish. It was constitutional, but not by a majority of the Senate. Are we, under these circumstances, obliged to pay the witnesses he has chosen to summon? Believing, as he did, the man guilty, and the charges in many instances supported, the payment of his witnesses appeared to him a very strange thing. In this, as in every other case, he was willing to yield to a constitutional decision, but he could never consent to pay the witnesses of the accused.

Mr. ALSTON said the amendment went to try the question, whether the House would agree to pay all the witnesses summoned on the trial of Judge Chase. Before it was made, the honorable Speaker ought to have told the House whether they could determine which witnesses were summoned on the part of the United States, and which on the part of Judge Chase. From every thing which he had seen, (and he had examined all the documents on the subject,) he had found no data upon which to determine what witnesses had been summoned on one side or the other, unless from the recollection of gentlemen, by which he supposed the House would not consent to be governed. When the question was before the House the last session, he had expressed his doubts whether they ought to pay the witnesses of an accused man, whether he was acquitted or convicted; but he was now convinced that, until Congress passed a law, prescribing how witnesses are to be paid, they were bound to pay them. No such law had been passed. He would ask gentlemen learned in the law, whether a witness on the part of Judge Chase could demand compensation from him? Have we passed any law, prescribing how much shall be paid, or how it shall be done? No such law has been passed. Mr. A. said he thought gentlemen were carrying their prejudices too far in this instance. He had voted for five out of eight of the articles, but the Senate had acquitted him of all of them. He was contented with this decision, and so far as he was acquainted with the sentiments of those he represented, he believed they too were satisfied. It was not now a question how this principle should be settled. If a general law were brought before them, there was no doubt, but that, if a man so conducted himself as to bring himself to a trial, he should pay his own witnesses, provided such law declared how much they should be paid. The honorable Speaker had said there was not a State in the Union in which the witnesses of a person indicted and acquitted were paid by the State. Mr. A. said he believed, in Virginia, when a man was indicted and acquitted, he was not subject to the payment of costs. If this were true, one State at least, and that the largest in the Union, had set a different example; and if precedent was entitled to any influence, it was against the Speaker. Mr. A. said this, however, had no weight with him. The great objection with him was, that they could not discriminate the witnesses of the United States from those of the accused; and if they could ascertain them, there was no law prescribing how the latter should be paid by the accused.

Mr. JACKSON believed Congress bound to render compensation to the witnesses on the trial of Judge Chase, on the abstract principle of justice and right, as well as from precedent and practice. The argument of the honorable Speaker militated against the inference drawn by him. He says the accused may multiply witnesses to such an extent as to defeat a prosecution. If the proposition, however, be examined in all its bearings, it will be found to operate most severely, and almost exclusively, on the man impeached by the House of Representatives, no matter for what cause, or whether he is guilty or innocent. If the House are determined to destroy him, it is only necessary to vote an impeachment, which will impose upon him a ruinous burden. Mr. J. said he did not apply these remarks exclusively to the impeachment of Judge Chase. The Journal of the House would show that he was in favor of his impeachment. But as he had been acquitted by the constitutional tribunal, clothed with authority to pronounce him guilty or innocent--the dernier tribunal constituted for such cases--he did not consider himself justified to say, after their decision, that he was guilty. He held himself bound by the judicial decisions and laws of the country, though as an individual he might dissent from some of them. The United States might, in case a person acquitted on an impeachment is compelled to pay his witnesses, multiply charges embracing the whole life of the accused, and tracing him from the district of Maine to Georgia, so as to compel him, in order to refute the charges, to adduce ten times as many witnesses as would otherwise be necessary. The true rule is, that the court shall decide what witnesses are proper to be taxed in the costs, and what are not. The Senate, who in this instance are the court, have decided that all shall be taxed. They were perfectly competent to decide whether any witnesses of the accused were brought forward without sufficient cause, or whether they were essential to the defence. It is manifest, by the bill under consideration, that they have made the latter decision. The gentleman from North Carolina is correct in his statement of precedent. The uniform course in Virginia, is to tax the attendance of witnesses, who are paid out of the public treasury; and those on the part of the defendant in the same way as those on the part of the prosecution. This practice has been extended so far as to embrace the payment of witnesses from another State. In a late case, although as far as the opinion of the court could go, a man was declared guilty of the crime with which he was charged, yet, the jury having pronounced him innocent, a witness on his part, brought from Kentucky, was paid out of the public treasury. This is not the case where the individual is convicted. If he possess sufficient property, that is answerable for the expenses.

The Senate, undoubtedly, possess the right to say whether the witnesses adduced are necessary; and if, in any future case, improper witnesses shall be brought forward, they may refuse to tax them. This bill does not provide for all cases of impeachment, but is confined to the case of Samuel Chase. Mr. J. said he would submit whether it was proper or just to compel men at a great expense to attend at the seat of Government in an inclement season of the year without giving them a compensation. If a law had been previously passed prescribing that the witnesses of the accused should be paid by him, they would have required some assurance from him. But as no discrimination had been made between the witnesses, they came forward in full faith that the Government would allow them a liberal compensation.

Mr. NICHOLSON said he had but a few observations to make on this subject: indeed, indisposition disabled him from making many. He considered this bill as calculated to establish a great principle--a principle whether, in all cases of impeachment, the United States are to bear the burden. It was not in reference to an individual that he was induced to advocate the amendment of his honorable friend, the Speaker, but because its effect would be to establish a principle that would hereafter govern in similar cases. If the principle were established that in all cases of impeachment the Government is to bear the expense, it will put it in the power of the individual impeached to increase the burden to any extent he pleases. And whenever a man shall be impeached, base enough to hate the Government under which he lives and holds an office, in a case which requires but two witnesses, he may summon two hundred. This bill will establish such a principle, and we shall in all future cases be told that the witnesses of the accused were paid in the case of Chase. It was for this reason, Mr. N. said, he advocated the amendment, and to convince the individual that subjected himself to an impeachment that he must suffer some pains and penalties. For it was not to be presumed that the House of Representatives would impeach any man unless there was some color for it--some reason to induce the nation at large to believe him guilty. An impeachment speaks the language of the nation, expressed through their representatives; and whenever a man in office conducts himself so as to make the nation believe him guilty, it was not desirable to offer the protection held out in the bill, particularly when a majority in the other branch also believed him guilty.

But, gentlemen say, this is not the practice in the State courts; and we are told in Virginia, when a man is acquitted, the State pays the expense of his witnesses. Mr. N. said this might be so, though he did not know that it was; it was not so, however, in the courts of the United States. Any gentleman who doubted this, had only to refer to the treasurer’s accounts since the Government had been in operation, and he called upon any such gentleman to show a single charge for witnesses in cases of acquittal. It is not the practice in England, nor could it be made to appear by any document, that the witnesses summoned by Warren Hastings, though he was acquitted, had been paid by the Government. But admitting, for argument’s sake, the practice to be such in the United States as it is represented to be in the courts of Virginia, would that meet the present case? No. In Virginia there was a reciprocity. There, if a man was convicted, he paid all the costs, and if acquitted, the State pays them. But, in the United States, do we make the convicted pay the costs? Had the accused judge been convicted, would gentlemen advocate his paying all the costs? No. In that case he would have been scot free as to the payment of money, though he might have sunk in reputation. In Virginia there is a reciprocity; the convicted either pays the expenses of the prosecution or goes to jail; whereas, in this case, the United States are called upon to bear the whole burden. When Judge Pickering was convicted, was he called on to pay the costs? Such a thing was not then dreamed of. It was then considered proper that the United States should pay their own witnesses. The argument, therefore, fails. The only objection of any weight is that raised by the gentleman from North Carolina. It is said to be impossible to discriminate the witnesses. The gentleman says that he has examined the Journals of the Senate, and cannot find any discrimination. But has he looked at the Journals of impeachment, where it appears that such witnesses were sworn on the part of the United States, and such on the part of the accused? Besides, if this evidence were not on the journal, it could be got from the parties themselves, who could swear they were summoned on the part of the United States or the defendant. This was a common thing in the courts of Maryland, and Mr. N. supposed it was likewise so in other courts. He concluded his remarks by expressing a hope that the amendment would be adopted.

Mr. EARLY said it was his misfortune the last session to differ with a majority of the House, and his present opinion was what it then was. His opinion was not founded either on general principles, or on the practice of the several States, or United States courts. It was founded on the peculiar circumstances of this case. Some of these circumstances had already been stated by gentlemen; but there were some important points of view in which they might be considered, which had not been noticed. It was true, as had been stated by the gentleman from North Carolina, that it could not be distinguished which witnesses were summoned on the part of the prosecution, and which on the part of the respondent, from an omission by the Senate, when they prescribed the form of the subpœna, to distinguish, as it is usual, for which party it was issued. This fact was abundantly proved by the form of the subpœna. How, then, were witnesses to know that they were summoned on the part of the United States, or the respondent? They could not know. There were no circumstances by which they could acquire such knowledge. The party did not serve his subpœnas in person, but they were all sent to the marshal of a given State. A number of them were taken out in blank, and sent to the marshals by post. The gentleman from Maryland has endeavored to obviate the force of this fact, by informing us that a discrimination may be made, by the circumstance of the fact on which side the witnesses were sworn. True; but no gentleman knows better than himself that the witnesses summoned on one side were, in some instances, sworn on the other; and he would call his recollection to the testimony given by Messrs. Tilghman and Rawle.

[Mr. NICHOLSON here explained, and contested the fact. Mr. EARLY agreed that these two witnesses had been summoned both on the part of the prosecution and the respondent.]

Mr. EARLY said, whether he was correct or not as to the particular cases he had alluded to, he was not mistaken as to the general fact. The gentleman from Maryland had endeavored to obviate the force of this argument in another way, by representing that the witnesses might be called on to swear on which side they were sworn. But this could not be done, but by the passage of some law on the subject. There was no authority which would justify the Secretary of the Senate in demanding such an oath, and if the circumstance could be proved, there was no power, under any existing law, by which the witnesses could recover a compensation for their attendance. They were compelled to attend--by whom? By a branch of this Legislature, on pain of imprisonment in case of disobedience. Whence shall they be indemnified? Will any gentleman say they can recover from the respondent? If so, let them point to the law which authorizes such a recovery. Will they say it can be had under the common law? A majority of this House will not bear them out in the argument. For it is a standing principle with us, that the common law is not in force in the courts of the United States. But put this objection aside--how much shall they recover? Where is the law fixing their per diem allowance? There is a perfect chasm in the subject.

Mr. E. repeated that his opinion was governed by the peculiar circumstances of the case; by the omission of the Senate to insert in the subpœna, on whose side the witnesses were summoned, or to provide for making any recovery from the accused; or how much, and where the recovery should be made. He considered the witnesses summoned, owing to this omission, as being without a remedy, from which resulted the obligation on the part of the Government, as they made the omission, to provide a remedy. The gentleman from Maryland, in noticing the observations relative to the practice of Virginia, stated, that if a similar reciprocity existed on impeachments, his objection to this bill in whole or in part would be done away. Mr. E. said, that in his opinion, this observation fortified the ground he had taken. If there were no reciprocity in this case, it was for want of a general provision. Let us then pass a law making this provision, and let it operate in all future cases. This would be equitable. But the want of reciprocity which arose with themselves, was no ground for omitting to make the only provision for the witnesses which the case allowed. When at the last session, in consequence of the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, a committee of conference had been appointed, he recollected that a distinguished member of the other branch, now absent in consequence of an unfortunate accident, took this ground--that the subpœna did not distinguish on which side the witnesses were summoned, and made a proposition that the bill should be so modified as to place the allowance made to the witnesses of the respondent on this peculiar ground. This proposition did not then obtain, but Mr. E. was still for taking such a course. He hoped the amendment of the honorable Speaker would not prevail; in which case he would move, by way of preamble to the bill, what would place the allowance on the peculiar ground he had stated, and thus remove the objections of the Speaker.

Mr. NICHOLSON made some explanation of what he had previously stated in regard to the practice of courts, and observed that a witness summoned on one side was not permitted to be sworn on the other, until he had been previously examined by the party summoning him. He also passed over the journal of impeachment, to show that the witnesses on the part of the prosecution had all been examined in the first instance, with a few exceptions, which were specially noted, before those on the part of the respondent were called.

Mr. SMILIE, being of opinion that the question was not ripe for decision, moved that the committee should rise and ask leave to sit again.

This motion having prevailed, the committee rose, and the House adjourned.

MONDAY, February 24.

A new member, to wit, EVAN ALEXANDER, returned to serve as a member of this House, for the State of North Carolina, in the place of Nathaniel Alexander, appointed governor of the said State, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

Amendment of the Constitution.

ADDRESSING OUT FEDERAL JUDGES.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH observed that some time had elapsed since he gave notice that he should call up his resolution for amending the Constitution of the United States. The state of his health had not admitted of his taking his seat before this day. He therefore availed himself of the first opportunity to move that the House should resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, with the view of taking that resolution into consideration.

Mr. MASTERS moved a postponement.

The SPEAKER said there could be no postponement of a subject referred to a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, as it was in order every day to take up business so referred.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH said, if gentlemen were unprepared, he had no objection to waive his call until to-morrow.

The SPEAKER remarked that there could be no debate on the priority of business.

Mr. CONRAD moved to discharge the Committee of the Whole from the further consideration of the resolution. He said he would briefly assign his reasons for this motion. The session had progressed and the season was fast approaching when every man of agricultural pursuits would be anxious to attend to them, unless detained by important business. He did not believe the proposed amendment to the constitution so important as to require immediate attention. He hoped, therefore, that it would be postponed until the next session, and that the way would thereby be paved for transacting the important national business that claimed their earliest attention.

The SPEAKER said the first question was on the House resolving itself into a Committee of the Whole.

The question was taken on this motion, and carried--yeas 61.

Mr. GREGG was called to the Chair, and the resolution having been read, as follows:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, That the following article be submitted to the Legislatures of the several States, which, when ratified and confirmed by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the said States, shall be valid and binding as a part of the Constitution of the United States:

The Judges of the Supreme and all other Courts of the United States shall be removed from office by the President, on the joint address of both Houses of Congress requesting the same.

The committee divided on agreeing to it, without debate--yeas 51, nays 55.

The committee then rose, and reported their disagreement to the resolution.

The House having agreed to consider the report,

Mr. J. RANDOLPH called for the taking the yeas and nays on the question of concurrence.

Mr. CLARK moved a postponement of the consideration of the report to the third Monday of March, merely with the view of making it give place to more important business, which he said must be attended to. He said he had voted against the resolution, not because he was inimical to the principle involved in it. With a small modification, he should be in favor of it; and he hoped the period was not distant when, with such a modification, it would become a part of the constitution.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH hoped a postponement to so distant a day would not prevail. He was himself desirous that it should be postponed for a few days, in order to give notice to the House, that there might be a full vote on what he considered a most important measure. He appeared in this instance, as in many others, to be in a state of profound error. The amendment, or deterioration of the constitution, he had always considered to be a point of the greatest importance. But now, judging by the opinions of gentlemen, it seemed to be of lesser importance than the laying a duty of one or two per cent., to continue but for two or three years. It has, said Mr. R., been a subject of extreme concern to me, though not myself able to attend to the public business, to find, on inquiring daily of my colleagues, that the House has refused to do any business, because on a future day they expected some important business to come before them. I understand that a very important resolution of a gentleman from Pennsylvania, on a business so generally denominated the Yazoo as to require no other name, was postponed on the same ground that my colleague now wishes the resolution under consideration postponed. If there is such important business to transact, in God’s name, why not progress in it? But notwithstanding this immensely important business, which serves as an excuse for doing nothing, we make no progress in it, if by it I am to understand the state of our foreign relations. I have no wish, nor do I intend to allude to any thing which passed while we were sitting in conclave. But I did hope, when one or two members, who were represented as the only hindrances to the despatch of business, were withdrawn from the House for one or two weeks, every thing would have been completed. I expected the adoption of very different measures towards Great Britain. Instead of this, I find nothing done. And now, when an amendment to the constitution is brought forward, which is allowed to be very important, and when the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania is called up, we are told by gentlemen, we cannot attend to these subjects; there is important business which we expect to have at some future day before us, and therefore we are determined in the interim to do nothing.

One word as to the remark of the gentleman on my left, (Mr. CONRAD.) He belongs to a class of men which I highly respect, for the plain reason that I belong to it myself. He says, the time is approaching when every man engaged in agricultural pursuits must be anxious to go home, and therefore he does not wish at present to act on the resolution I have laid on your table. True; but when men, be they agricultural, mechanical, or of any other profession, undertake any business, it is their duty to go through with it at every hazard. I do not know a man in the House who has suffered more than the individual who now addresses you by his attendance here, and if I could have found an apology in my own mind, I should long since have been gone. If the situation of affairs warranted it, I should be willing to adjourn for two or three months. But I never can agree to adjourn in the present perilous state of affairs, and leave the country to a blind and fortuitous destiny. I must first see something like land, some foot-hold, something like certainty, instead of a political chaos, without form or body. Before I consent to go home, I must see something like a safe and honorable issue to our differences with foreign powers; and I must see, I hope, another thing--something like an attempt to bring the constitution of this people back to the principles on which this Administration came into power.[33] I take this proposition, and that of the gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. NICHOLSON,) to be two important means of bringing that Administration back to those principles. My friend from Virginia says, he expects, at a future period, to obtain this reform. I fear, if delay be permitted, that we shall get into the situation of another deliberative assembly, of which every member agrees that reform is necessary, but that the present is not the accepted time. I am afraid that we are in this situation already. I believe it, because I see it. It is a most fortunate circumstance that we made hay while the sun shone; that we got in the harvest at the first session of the seventh Congress; that we did away the midnight judiciary and the internal taxes. If those institutions were now standing, I believe they would be as impregnable as any part of the system around which gentlemen affect to rally. I believe it, because I believe appointments would have their effect. Yes, it is but too true, that patriots, in opposition, are as apt to become courtiers in power, as courtiers in power are fond of becoming patriots in opposition. So far, then, from wishing to postpone this measure, I believe that delay will only serve to enhance the difficulty of obtaining it. It is a maxim laid down by every man that has written on national policy, that those abuses which are left untouched in the period of a revolution, are sanctified by time, and remain as the nest-eggs of future corruption, until they compel a nation, either to sweep them away, or to sink beneath them. This, without any exception, is the history of all corruptions; and those corruptions and abuses not reformed at the first session of the seventh Congress, what has become of them? Have they been suffered to sleep? If they have, is it not to be apprehended that they will rise refreshed from their slumbers with gigantic strength? Fortunate it was that, at the first session of the seventh Congress the midnight judiciary and the internal taxes were done away; and it would likewise have been fortunate, if another measure had been attended to at the same time. It would have been, in my firm persuasion, very different in its issue from that which it has been. If the great culprit, whose judicial crimes or incapacity had called for legislative punishment under the constitution, and which have given rise to the motion now before us, had been accused at the first session of the seventh Congress, that accusation would have had a very different issue. And why? Because it is perfectly immaterial what a man’s crimes are--every day that elapses between their commission and the time he is called to answer, lessens the detestation and horror felt for them, and, of course, enhances the value of his chance of an escape from punishment. I am persuaded that, in the remarks I have offered, I have been hurried into some observations that do not strictly belong to it. Yet these remarks furnish a sound reason for not deferring the proposition until the time moved by my colleague. I hope, therefore, the House will reject the postponement until the third Monday of March, and that a postponement will take place to some time when the House shall be fuller, when a decision can be made after mature reflection. For, truly, as to the provision under the constitution, can any man be so mad or foolish as to think of again trying it? I consider the decision of the last session as having established this principle--that an officer of the United States may act in as corrupt a manner as he pleases, without there being any constitutional provision to call him to an account.

Mr. GREGG.--I feel but little concerned as to the fate of this motion. I am ready at any time to give my vote on the resolution. As it now stands, I shall vote against it; but modified, as I have seen it in the hands of a gentleman from Virginia, I shall vote for it. But my principal reason for rising, is to say that a great part of the censure cast on the House by the gentleman from Virginia for not meeting the national business, is proper and applicable; and I regret that it is so. But if the gentleman reflects on the subject, he will acknowledge that a great part of the delay which has occurred, attaches to himself. I, four weeks ago, submitted a resolution to the House on some points of dispute between one of the belligerent nations and the United States; I was anxious that it should be taken up and promptly decided, one way or another. The gentleman from Virginia then called for certain statements from the Treasury, which he considered as having a bearing on the subject. Under that impression the consideration of the resolution was deferred from day to day; and the statements have not yet been received. I stated, at the time, that these statements could have no influence on my vote; but other gentlemen said, they would influence theirs. I regret that we have not been able to go on with this business. I do not know how long we are to be kept in this paralytic state. If the gentleman who has called for the statements, and other gentlemen will agree, I am prepared at once to go into an examination of the subject. But, as the gentleman from Virginia was the first to embark the House in this call, I hope he will take a part of the censure to himself.

Mr. SMILIE.--I am sorry the motion of postponement has been made. I do not know any other time better than the present for the discussion of this subject. It is a subject of the last importance to the peace and happiness of the United States. I am a friend to an amendment of the constitution relative to the Judiciary Department. Whether that offered is the best that can be made, or whether it is going too far, I cannot determine until the subject shall have been investigated in this House. For my part, I am so sensible that that part of the constitution which relates to the power of impeachment is a nullity, that I see the utmost necessity for an amendment. From what we have seen, I do religiously believe that we cannot convict any man on an impeachment. The resolution before you goes to place the Judges of the United States on the same independent footing with those of Great Britain. Whether our situation requires that they should stand upon higher ground, is a proper subject for discussion. I am rather inclined to think they ought not.[34] It is contended, it is true, that, as they have, according to the opinion of some gentlemen, the right of sitting in judgment on our laws, they ought to be placed beyond the reach of a majority of Congress. This subject must, at some time or other, be considered, and some amendment in the constitution must take place. When the delays and various vexations, attendant on an impeachment, are considered, it will be evident that they will generally discourage the House from taking this step; and when it is likewise considered that a conviction can only take place on the votes of two-thirds of the Senate, let gentlemen say whether there is any chance of making the constitutional provision effectual. I despair of it. With regard to the particular modification which may be given to this resolution, that is another thing. I sincerely wish the House would take it up and consider it without any great delay.

Mr. CLARK.--I hope my colleague will do me the justice to believe that I have not made this motion from hostility to his resolution. With a small modification, I am decidedly for it. I assure him it did not require the remarks he has made to-day, to show the insufficiency of the present system. Of that I had satisfactory proof the last year. But I doubt whether the resolution, in its present state, is correct. I do hope that my colleague will give it a little more consideration, and I assure him I shall be happy to harmonize with him. In the decision by a mere majority, the scales of justice are so near an equilibrium, that it is doubtful often to which side justice inclines. I, therefore, think there ought to be some modification of the principle contained in the resolution. But I principally wish the postponement to prevail, that the House may act on resolutions which I conceive all-important to the whole country, and peculiarly so to that part of the community represented by my colleague and myself. Every day’s delay increases the difficulty and urges on the ruin that menaces them. It is well known that there is not the best harmony between the merchants and planters. It is at all times the interest of the former to buy produce as cheap as they can, and never was there a better scheme for speculation to them than that furnished by the resolutions on our table. How easy it is for them to convince the planter that there will be a suppression of intercourse, and that his produce will be soon worth nothing. These are the effects that I wish to prevent. My colleague will do me the justice to believe that I have had no hand in the procrastination. I have offered no project. With regard to the proposed amendment to the constitution, I repeat it, I am in favor of it, with a small modification. Nor do I wish it postponed for any great length of time. I have no idea of leaving that to be done by our children which we ought to do ourselves.

Mr. FINDLAY said he was against the indefinite postponement of the subject, though in favor of its being postponed a short time. He thought it was a subject which ought to be fully investigated. He was decidedly in favor of the object of the resolution, but in a different form.

Mr. CONRAD was in favor of the indefinite postponement of the resolution. He did not think the subject ought to be acted upon at this session. He was not unfriendly to the principle, but he never could consent that a bare majority of Congress should have the power to remove a judge. If the amendment was so framed as to give the President a discretionary power to remove a judge on the address of a majority of the two Houses, and to make the removal imperative on the vote of two-thirds, he might be for it. At any rate he thought it best to postpone the subject until the next session.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I am as anxious as any man for a decision of the question implicated in several of the resolutions laid on our table, and for a good reason. My tobacco is unsold. I feel the full force of the observations of my colleague. I know that these resolutions have already given rise to much nefarious speculation. When I called for information, I had no idea of the time it would take to get it; and had I been apprised of it, I do not know whether I should not have preferred acting in the dark to waiting for it.

There is another reason why I wish this subject (amendment to the constitution) taken up at this session. When I offered this resolution at the last session, it was said to be too near the close of the session to act upon it--this was acknowledged. But, it was said, print it and let it go abroad. This has been done. But the reason for which I wish it acted upon this session is, that the elections intervene between this and the next session. Gentlemen may say what they please of the principle of quamdiu bene se gesserit, but I believe if the members of this House held their seats for seven years, their conduct would not be the same as it is under the present tenure. I wish to recur to that good old principle that sends the Representative back to render an account of his actions to his constituents. After the next election gentlemen will obtain credit for two years more of good behavior. I believe my friend from Virginia will allow this to be a good reason against a postponement.

As gentlemen have stated the substance of the resolution as a reason for its postponement, I will state its substance as a reason for not postponing it. One gentleman says he will not consent that the judges shall hold their offices subject to the will of a bare majority of the two Houses. But does not every thing of importance depend on that majority? Do they not appropriate millions? Do they not hold the purse and the sword? Or do gentlemen think the woolsack more important? This is most indubitably the case; and I wish to hear any reasoning against giving efficiency to the will of a majority that does not approximate the doctrine of the Polish veto. There can be no reason for this distinction. And, so far from there being danger of this power being abused, the experience of all Governments holds me out in saying that there is greater danger that the power will not be exercised than that it will be abused. For this plain reason: it would require some overt act of notorious misconduct, or an equally notorious imbecility of mind or body, to justify any man in giving such a vote. It is a point of extreme delicacy to give it; and though some men might, I trust a majority of both branches never would give such a vote for light and frivolous reasons. But it may be thought that, as in all free Governments there are parties, a triumphant party would turn out the judges to get into their places. This would be a most humiliating effect. But on what is the probability of such an effect founded? How are the turners out to be turned in? Have they the power to appoint themselves to office? No. And from our experience heretofore, no such inference can be drawn. There is no probability of one triumphant faction putting down another to get their offices. Because a triumphant faction could not rise to power but at the will of a majority; and although they might take offices away from others, they could not bestow them upon themselves. But suppose they did? It would be for the first and last time. It would be a struggle between office-hunters and the people; and I believe all the experience we have heretofore had shows that this description of men are too prone to union for the public to sustain either profit or loss from their divisions. But if in this opinion I am in error, I would recur back to my first principle to support me. Is the power to remove a judge more important than the power of declaring war, of laying taxes, and of effecting various other national objects? This is a doctrine to me totally unintelligible.

Mr. SMILIE observed that he regretted that the motion for an indefinite postponement had been made, as it was equivalent to a rejection of the resolution.

The question was then taken, by yeas and nays, on an indefinite postponement, and passed in the negative--yeas 42, nays 81, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, jun., Barnabas Bidwell, Phanuel Bishop, James M. Broom, Martin Chittenden, Frederick Conrad, Orchard Cook, Richard Cutts, Samuel W. Dana, Ezra Darby, John Davenport, jun., Peter Early, Caleb Ellis, Ebenezer Elmer, William Ely, James Fisk, Seth Hastings, William Helms, David Hough, Joseph Levis, jun., Henry W. Livingston, Josiah Masters, Jonathan O. Mosely, Gurdon S. Mumford, Jeremiah Nelson, Timothy Pitkin, jun., John Pugh, Josiah Quincy, Martin G. Schuneman, John Cotton Smith, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Samuel Tenney, Thomas W. Thompson, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Joseph B. Varnum, Daniel C. Verplanck, Peleg Wadsworth, Eliphalet Wickes, and Nathan Williams.

NAYS.--Evan Alexander, Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Joseph Barker, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, William Blackledge, John Blake, jun., Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, John Boyle, William Butler, George W. Campbell, John Campbell, Levi Casey, John Chandler, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, George Clinton, jun., Jacob Crowninshield, John Dawson, William Dickson, Elias Earle, James Elliot, John W. Eppes, William Findlay, John Fowler, James M. Garnett, Peterson Goodwyn, Andrew Gregg, Isaiah L. Green, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, David Holmes, John G. Jackson, Walter Jones, Thomas Kenan, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, Duncan McFarland, Patrick Magruder, Robert Marion, William McCreery, David Meriwether, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Thomas Newton, jun., Joseph H. Nicholson, Gideon Olin, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee, Jacob Richards, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Thomas Sammons, Thomas Sanford, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Henry Southard, Thomas Spalding, Richard Stanford, Joseph Stanton, David Thomas, Uri Tracy, Matthew Walton, John Whitehill, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, Marmaduke Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, and Thomas Wynns.

Mr. CLARK then varied his motion so as to postpone the resolution to the second Monday in March--varied to next Monday, and carried.

Exclusion of Contractors from Seats in the House--Prohibition of Plurality of Offices--Disjunction of Military and Naval with Civil Appointments.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I beg leave to submit a motion to the House--a very important motion--which at present I only mean to lay on the table. The Constitution of the United States has provided that no person holding an office under the Government of the United States shall be capable of holding a seat in either House of Congress. But as the best things are liable to corruption, and as we are told the corruption of the best things is always the worst, so the Constitution of the United States has received in practice a construction which in my judgment the text never did and does not warrant, but which, if warranted by the text, is totally repugnant to the spirit of that instrument, which, composed of the jarring interests of the different States, and settled on the basis of compromise, gave birth to a Government of responsibility, without influence, without patronage, without abuse, without privileges, attached to any individual, class, or order of men. It could not have been the object of such an instrument, that while a man holding an office not exceeding the value of fifty dollars, should be excluded from a seat in this House, a contractor living on the fat of the land should be capable under the constitution of holding one. Look through the whole of the constitution, and say where such a privilege is to be found. You find there the single principle of republicanism, that he who has the influence derived from power and money shall not have a place in the council of the nation--that placemen and pensioners shall not come on this floor. While this principle scrupulously excludes men holding responsible offices--men known to the whole world--shall it be considered as permitting contractors to creep in through the crevices of the constitution, and devour the goods of the people? Such a departure from the spirit, if not from the letter of the constitution--such a gross evasion of principle--calls aloud for remedy. Can a man who holds a contract for fifty or a hundred thousand dollars give an independent vote on this floor? If so, why not admit the Chief Justice and other high officers under the Government to a seat here? Is it for any other reason, but that the constitution will not permit the influence derived from office to operate here?

The constitution may be tried by another test. It was made for the good of the people under it, and not for those who administer it. It was never intended to be made a job of, and I hope it never will be suffered by the people to be made a job of. I think it is contrary to the tenor of the constitution to hold a plurality of office. We some time since received a petition from a learned institution to exempt books imported by them from duty. What did we say on that occasion? We said, no; we cannot exempt your books from duty. All must conform to the laws. There is no man too high or too low for them. The same measure must be meted to all. To my extreme surprise, I see a practice even more repugnant to the spirit of the constitution than a contractor sitting in Congress; and that is, a union of civil and military authority in one person--a union more fatal to a free nation than the union of Executive, Legislative, and Judicial powers.

Having made these remarks, Mr. R. offered the following resolutions, which were referred to a Committee of the whole House on Tuesday next:--

“Whereas it is provided by the sixth section of the first article of the Constitution of the United States, that ‘no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House of Congress during his continuance in office;’ therefore,

“1. Resolved, That a contractor under the Government of the United States is an officer within the purview and meaning of the constitution, and, as such, is incapable of holding a seat in this House.

“2. Resolved, That the union of a plurality of offices in the person of a single individual, but more especially of the military with the civil authority, is repugnant to the spirit of the Constitution of the United States, and tends to the introducing of an arbitrary government.

“3. Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law to render any officer in the Army or Navy of the United States incapable of holding any civil office under the United States.”

THURSDAY, February 27.

Importation of Slaves.

An engrossed bill for imposing a tax of ten dollars on all slaves hereafter imported into the United States was read the third time.

A motion was made, and the question being put, that the farther consideration of the said bill be postponed indefinitely, it passed in the negative--yeas 42, nays 69.

On motion,

Ordered, That the said bill be recommitted to Mr. SLOAN, Mr. FISK, Mr. EPPES, Mr. QUINCY, Mr. J. C. SMITH, Mr. J. CLAY, and Mr. MARION.

Prize Money.

CAPTAIN LANDAIS.

A bill for the relief of Peter Landais was read a first, second, and third time, and passed. The petitioner claimed prize money due him in 1799; his claim was upward of $12,000.

Mr. SMITH, who reported the bill, stated that he believed the petitioner at present wished but a part of the sum due him; and he would thank any gentleman to name a sum with which to fill the blank.

Mr. NICHOLSON gave a very affecting statement of the petitioner’s situation, and moved to fill the blank with $6,000. It was so filled without a dissentient voice.

WEDNESDAY, March 5.

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Mr. GREGG, from the committee to whom was referred, on the twenty-eighth of January last, the petition of the President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company, made the following report:

That it appears a company has been incorporated by the respective States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, for the purpose of forming a navigable canal over the isthmus, which separates the bays of Chesapeake and Delaware: that in pursuance of the several acts of incorporation, passed by the said States, respectively, a large number of subscriptions were made by divers citizens of the United States, and a board of president and directors were duly elected for carrying the project into effect.

That the said president and directors, in pursuance of their appointment, have procured skilful engineers, to explore and survey the ground across the aforesaid isthmus, and have fixed on a route or position for the canal, calculated, as they conceive, in every respect to secure the great and important purpose of an uninterrupted navigation, and have made considerable progress in the work. They find, however, that to accomplish it, a greater portion of fortitude and perseverance, and more ample resources will be necessary, than the individuals who are embarked in it can be supposed to possess. The importance of the undertaking and the immense national advantages which may ultimately result from it, they hope will be sufficient inducements to prevail on Congress to grant them such assistance as will enable them to complete the business agreeably to their original plan.

The committee cannot hesitate a moment in deciding on the importance and extensive utility of connecting the waters of the Chesapeake and Delaware by a navigable canal. To adopt a phrase familiarized by use, they consider the project as an opening wedge for an extensive inland navigation, which would at all times be of an immense advantage to the commercial, as well as to the agricultural and manufacturing part of the community. But in the event of a war, its advantages would be incalculable. The reasoning of the petitioners is conclusive on this point. If arguments are necessary, their petition furnishes an ample supply to prove, that no system of internal improvement which has yet been proposed in this country, holds out the prospect of such important national advantages, as naturally result from a successful termination of their undertaking.

Did the finances of the country admit of it, the committee would feel a perfect freedom in recommending to the House the propriety, in their opinion, of extending to the petitioners such aid as the difficulty and importance of their enterprise would be thought to justify. But it is a question, whether, at this moment, the state of the treasury would admit of any pecuniary assistance being granted. The amount of the public debt, yet to be extinguished, the embarrassed state of our commerce, and the critical situation of the country in relation to foreign Governments, might perhaps be considered as insurmountable objections against applying any public money to internal improvements, at this particular time. Under an impression arising from these circumstances, the committee recommend the following resolution:

Resolved, That it would not be expedient, at this time, to grant any pecuniary assistance to the President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company.

The report was referred to a Committee of the Whole on Monday.

Importations from Great Britain.

The House then, on the motion of Mr. GREGG, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union--ayes 72.

Mr. GREGG moved that the committee should take into consideration a resolution, offered by him, on the 29th of January, for a non-importation of British goods.

The committee having agreed to take up the resolution, and it having been read from the Chair, in the following words:

“Whereas Great Britain impresses citizens of the United States, and compels them to serve on board her ships of war, and also seizes and condemns vessels belonging to citizens of the United States, and their cargoes, being the bona fide property of American citizens, not contraband of war, and not proceeding to places besieged or blockaded, under the pretext of their being engaged in time of war in a trade with her enemies, which was not allowed in time of peace;

“And whereas the Government of the United States has repeatedly remonstrated to the British Government against these injuries, and demanded satisfaction therefor, but without effect: Therefore,

“Resolved, That, until equitable and satisfactory arrangements on these points shall be made between the two Governments, it is expedient that, from and after the ---- day of ---- next, no goods, wares, or merchandise, of the growth, product or manufacture of Great Britain, or of any of the colonies or dependencies thereof, ought to be imported into the United States; provided, however, that whenever arrangements deemed satisfactory by the President of the United States shall take place, it shall be lawful for him by proclamation to fix a day on which the prohibition aforesaid shall cease.”

Mr. J. CLAY inquired whether it would not be in order to call up a resolution offered by him on the same subject.

The CHAIRMAN said it was not in order, after the committee had determined to consider the resolution just read.

Mr. GREGG then rose, and said: Mr. Chairman, I cannot but congratulate the committee on our having at length taken up the business to which I believe the people of this country universally expected we would have turned our attention on the first moment of assembling in our legislative capacity. Before we left our homes, we had learned, through the channel of newspapers, that outrages of a most atrocious kind had been committed on the persons and property of American citizens, by some of the belligerent nations of Europe. This intelligence has been officially confirmed by sundry communications which we have received from the President of the United States. From these sources we have derived the information that irruptions have been made into our territory, on its southern frontier, by subjects of Spain, and that depredations to a very considerable extent have been committed on our commerce by the cruisers of that nation. The manly spirit with which these irruptions were resisted by the officers of our Government appears, for the present, to have checked the further progress of that evil; and it seems that the system of depredation has been discontinued, in pursuance of instructions issued by the Minister of State and of Marine to the Director General of the Fleet. These orders were issued on the 3d day of September, 1805, and are understood to have been produced by the remonstrances of our Minister at that Court. From these favorable symptoms, a presumption naturally and necessarily arises that an amicable adjustment of the points in dispute between that Government and ours is not to be despaired of. Should we, however, be deceived in this calculation--should similar aggressions be repeated--we are not destitute of means to obtain redress; and on such an event taking place, I presume we would not hesitate in resorting to the complete exercise of these means.

I wish the prospect of an accommodation of our differences with Great Britain were equally bright and flattering. But the systematic hostility of that Government towards our commerce, and its obstinate perseverance in the impressment of our seamen, notwithstanding the repeated remonstrances of our ministers, leave no room to expect an accommodation until we resort to such measures as will make her feel our importance to her as the purchasers and consumers of her manufactures, and the great injury she will sustain through a total privation of our friendship.

In searching for materials to substantiate the facts stated in the preamble to the resolution, it is only necessary to refer to the history of the conduct of the British Government towards us for a very short period. By turning a few pages of that history we will find that a large number of our fellow-citizens have been forcibly taken from their homes--for his ship is a seaman’s home--have been put on board British ships of war and compelled to fight her battles against a power between whom and her own Government there exists no difference. The general notoriety of this truth precludes the necessity of a reference to any particular document to prove the correctness of the statement. Was such a reference necessary, I might point to a report from the Department of State, made at the last session of Congress. In that report we find that, at that time, fifteen hundred and thirty-eight persons, claiming to be American citizens, had been able to extend their application for relief to their own Government; and though Great Britain claimed some of these as her subjects, agreeably to her doctrine of non-expatriation, the great mass was acknowledged to be Americans, for whose detention no other cause could be assigned but because she stood in need of their service. And is it not a fair presumption that this number was but a small proportion of those who were actually impressed? Changed from ship to ship, and the vessels in which they are frequently changing their station, and guarded with the most scrupulous attention, it is almost impossible for them to find any opportunity of applying to their own Government or any of its officers for relief.

This open, this flagrant violation of our rights as men, and as citizens of an independent nation, certainly demands the interposition of Government. To what cause are we to ascribe the neglect with which these unfortunate men have been treated? A few years ago, when some of our people had the misfortune to be made prisoners by the Algerines, and at a later period, when some others fell into the hands of the Tripolitans, the feelings of the Government and of the whole country were alive. All voices united in requiring the energy of the Government to be exerted, and its purse to be opened, so that no means to obtain the liberty of the captives might be left untried. Success has crowned these endeavors, and those who were unfortunately slaves are now enjoying their freedom. In what respect, I would ask, does the situation of those who have been impressed from on board their own vessels, and who are forcibly detained on board British ships of war, differ from that of the Algerine and Tripolitan prisoners? So far as respects the Government, the infringements of its rights are greater in the former than in the latter case. The situation of the individual is no better. A wound inflicted by a British cat-of-nine-tails is not less severely felt than if it had proceeded from the lash of an Algerine. The patient submission with which we have so long endured this flagrant outrage on the feelings of humanity and on the honor of our country, must have excited the astonishment of the whole world; but it must also have impressed them very forcibly with an idea of the moderation of our Government, and of its strong predilection for peace. I trust, however, we will now show them that there is a point beyond which we will not suffer; that even although we may not think it advisable to make reprisals, we will at least withdraw our friendly intercourse from that Government, whose whole system of conduct towards us has been that of distress and degradation; and that, as the business is now taken up, it will be pursued with zeal and ardor, until relief is extended to this unhappy class of sufferers, and security obtained against similar aggressions on their persons in future, by such arrangements as ought to be deemed satisfactory.

In relation to the capture and condemnation of our vessels, contrary to what we consider, and to what I verily believe to be the law of nations, I shall not detain the committee with many observations. I have no intention of entering into a discussion of the abstract question, whether a trade is justifiable in war which is not open in time of peace. I will only observe, that on the principles of reason and justice, and from such authors as I have had an opportunity of consulting, the right for which we contend does appear to me to be clearly established. In some late publications, this question has received a very luminous and ample discussion, and the right insisted on by us has been placed on such ground, and supported by reasoning so clear, so cogent, and so conclusive, that Great Britain, with all her boasted talents, will find it extremely difficult to find answers for them.

But even admitting the British doctrine to be correct, what, I would ask, has been the conduct of that Government under it? Has it been that of a nation actuated by motives of liberality and friendship? Has it been that of a civilized and polished nation? Has it been such as justice and the fair and honorable conduct of our Government has given us a right to expect? No person, I think, is prepared to answer in the affirmative. It does not appear that the principle was practised on during the last, nor for some time after the commencement of the present war. I will not undertake absolutely to say that they relinquished it, but the trade which it now prohibits was permitted to be carried on to a great extent without any interruption from their cruisers. Numbers, allured by the prospect of gain, were induced to engage in the profitable business, and supposing themselves safe under the protection of law, had their vessels and effects seized to a large amount. The capture and condemnation of their property was to them the first promulgation of the law. Ignorance of what it was impossible for them to know, was imputed to them as a crime, and an honorable dependence on the justice of a Government professing to be friendly, was prosecuted with penalty and forfeiture.

But even independent of our just cause of complaint arising from this principle, apparently new, thus unjustly brought into operation, how has that Government conducted in relation to captures, in which, after the most minute investigation, all the ingenuity of her courts have not been able to discover any principle to warrant the condemnation? The perplexing difficulties, the vexatious delays, and the enormous expense attending the prosecution of a claim through every stage of its progress, place an almost insurmountable barrier in the way of obtaining justice. In fact, all her commercial maxims, and the whole system of her conduct, discover a manifest intention, a fixed determination, to consummate the ruin of the commerce of this country.

From this very brief view of the conduct of the British Government towards us, and I have confined it merely to the points stated in the preamble to the resolution; every candid, every unprejudiced person, I think, must acknowledge, that we are arrived at a crisis; that we have reached a period at which the honor, the interest, and the public sentiment of the country, so far as it has been expressed, call loudly on us to make a stand. The evil we have already suffered is great, and it is progressing. Like a cancerous complaint, it is penetrating still deeper towards our vitals. While we yield year after year, Great Britain advances step by step; yet a little longer and our commerce will be annihilated, and our independence subverted.

Here the great difficulty presents itself. What are the proper steps to be taken? what measures that we can adopt will be most likely to effect the object we have in view, and in its operation produce the smallest inconvenience to ourselves? I, sir, have reflected much on this subject. I have considered, so far as I was capable, the bearing which every measure which I have heard proposed would have on it. The result of my reflections is, that, under all the circumstances of the case, the resolution, which is now the subject of immediate discussion, ought to be adopted. What is the resolution? what does it say? It addresses Great Britain in this mild and moderate, though manly and firm language: You have insulted the dignity of our country by impressing our seamen, and compelling them to fight your battles against a power with whom we are at peace. You have plundered us of much property by that predatory war which you authorize to be carried on against our commerce. To these injuries, insults, and oppression, we will submit no longer. We do not, however, wish to destroy that friendly intercourse that ought to subsist between nations, connected by the ties of common interest, to which several considerations seem to give peculiar strength. The citizens of our country and the subjects of yours, from the long habit of supplying their mutual wants, no doubt feel a wish to preserve their intercourse without interruption. To prevent such interruption, and secure against future aggressions, we are now desirous of entering into such arrangements as ought to be deemed satisfactory by both parties. But if you persist in your hostile measures, if you absolutely refuse acceding to any propositions of compromise, we must slacken those bonds of friendship by which we have been connected, you must not expect hereafter to find us in your market, purchasing your manufactures to so large an amount. What will the people of this country say of this proposition? Will they not be ready to exclaim, that it is too mild for the present state of things? What will be the opinion of foreign Governments respecting it? Will they not say that we have extended the principle of moderation too far? What must be its impression on Great Britain herself? Sir, if she is not lost to every sense of national justice, she must acknowledge its equity and fairness. But I would inquire particularly what would be its operation on the people of that country? If carried into effect, I believe it will strike dismay throughout the Empire. Its operation will be felt by every description of people, but more especially by the commercial and manufacturing part of the community. The influence of these two classes is well known in that country. They are the main pillars of its support. They are the sources of its wealth. Their representations, therefore, are always attended to. And what language must they speak on this occasion? It must be evident that a regard to their own interest will lead them to remonstrate loudly against that system which will produce an annual defalcation in the sale of their manufactures, of thirty millions of dollars. This is their vulnerable part. By attacking them in their warehouses and workshops we can reach their vitals, and thus raise a set of advocates in our favor, whose remonstrance may produce an abandonment of those unjust principles and practices which have produced the solemn crisis.

Mr. J. CLAY.--By the resolution before us we are prohibited from importing from Great Britain any articles, however necessary or convenient they may be; while, at the same time, we are permitted to carry any articles to her market. The effect will be, that while our productions are accumulating in the hands of the British manufacturers and merchants, they will have no means of paying for them; and of consequence debts to a very large amount will become due from British merchants to American citizens. Even at the present day, I have great doubts whether there are not greater sums due by the merchants of Great Britain to the citizens of the United States than there are recoverable debts due by American citizens to them. If so, what will become of the second expedient proposed to be resorted to by my colleague, that of sequestration? The balance of injury, instead of being in our favor, will be against us. If my colleague had looked over the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, and had attended to the amount of American property afloat, he would have seen that there is not less than one hundred millions of dollars worth of American property at the mercy of the cruisers of Britain. I believe that the naked vessels, independent of the products they carry, amount in value to more than thirty millions of dollars. It will be seen that the commerce of the United States in exports and imports amounts to one hundred and fifty millions, of which it is fair to calculate that one-third is constantly exposed on the ocean. Of this amount about forty millions is carried on between the United States and the power to whom it is proposed to cut off intercourse. With this fact staring us in the face, would it be politic to expose so much property to the retaliation of the British Ministry? When the gentleman spoke of the amount of British depredations, he ought to have stated the amount of those recently committed. I believe I am not very wrong in stating the whole amount of American property detained by British cruisers as not exceeding six millions of dollars. On balancing, therefore, their interests, ought the United States to resort to measures of hostility; to measures which, in the opinion of every man, will justify retaliation?

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD.--The gentleman from Pennsylvania, who has last spoken, regrets that this subject has been taken up so soon, but I regret it has not been taken up at an earlier period. Although, after I found certain information called for, I moved for other documents, calculated to shed further light on the subject, yet I then said, and I am still convinced that this information could not influence my decision on the subject under consideration. The documents called for are, however, now before us, and it appears that the balance of trade between the United States and Great Britain is from eleven to twelve millions against us. This difference we are obliged to make up by remittances in cash or bills from other countries; when, if we did not purchase of her more than we sell to her, we should not owe this annual balance, and the amount would surely be returned to the United States, very probably in cash, as a balance in our favor from other European nations. The trade, therefore, with Great Britain, so far as relates to the balance, is disadvantageous to us. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. CLAY) thinks that this resolution will materially injure us, while it will inflict little injury on Great Britain. But there can be no doubt the measure it contemplates will injure Great Britain vastly more than it will injure us. Great Britain has, without any cause whatever, condemned our vessels engaged in the carriage of colonial productions, the bona fide property of American citizens. The gentleman has acknowledged that these captures may amount to six millions of dollars. I do not know the amount, but if the adjudications continue, I believe it will soon exceed that sum. But if the amount did not exceed one million, we are bound in duty to protect our merchants. The gentleman, in his remarks, goes on the calculation that Great Britain will go to war with us if we adopt this resolution. But I have no such idea. If, however, I held that opinion, I should not on that account withhold my approbation from it. Because I believe if a war should take place, the United States will have a great advantage over Great Britain. We should be able, in that event, to fit out a great number of privateers, and we should make two captures to their one. If a war should take place, which I do not hesitate to say I should greatly deprecate, we should take twice as much of their property as they would take of ours. But we are not, by the adoption of this resolution, about to enter into war with Great Britain. No such thing is in the contemplation of any gentleman. We are merely about to prohibit the importation of British goods in consequence of her having seized our vessels engaged in carrying on a lawful commerce, and in consequence of her seizure of American citizens protected by the American flag.

In November, 1793, Great Britain adopted a similar principle with regard to the colonial trade, except that the orders issued at that time went further than the present principle. In consequence of these orders four or five hundred of our vessels were seized. Every one knows the conduct of the American Government at that time. A treaty was finally made in which Great Britain promised to pay for the aggressions committed by her vessels on neutral rights. But nearly ten years elapsed before our merchants received compensation for their losses. This principle slept till 1801. Great Britain did not find it convenient to call it again into existence before that time. It then appears by a correspondence between Mr. King, then our Minister at the Court of Great Britain, and Lord Hawkesbury, that she attempted to renew it at this time. Mr. King, however, remonstrated; and he finally received a note from Lord Hawkesbury who had referred the subject to the Attorney-General of Great Britain, admitting that the seizure, under this principle, was not warrantable. The opinion is this: that the neutral has a right to carry on a commerce with the enemies’ colonies. That the continuity of the voyage is broken when the return cargo is landed in the neutral country, and has paid duties there, and that the goods can afterwards be safely transported to any belligerent country in Europe, in the same bottom on which they were originally imported, or on any other neutral bottom whatever. This appears to have settled the question, and numerous decisions in England both before and since that time have confirmed the principle as a correct one.

As to the impressment of our seamen, that too is a subject of most serious complaint. We have called for a document on this point, which unfortunately is not yet on our tables. It is so extensive, and the information drawn from such various sources, that the Secretary of State has not yet been able to present it. We have, however, understood, that the number of our impressed seamen amounts to above 3,000. During the last war Great Britain impressed upwards of 2,000 of our seamen, of which she restored 1,200, proved to be American, and 800 remained in her possession at the peace. In the short period of two years she has impressed 3,000 seamen. I believe that we are bound, by all peaceable means, to obtain the liberation of these men. Lately, one of our frigates was shipwrecked off Tripoli, and 300 men taken captives. We immediately passed a new appropriation bill, and sent out several additional frigates. The affair has terminated honorably to our country, and our seamen are released. Will we not now do as much for 3,000 seamen, as we then did for 300, which are but a tenth part?

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I am extremely afraid, sir, that so far as it may depend on my acquaintance with details connected with the subject, I have very little right to address you, for in truth, I have not yet seen the documents from the Treasury, which were called for some time ago, to direct the judgment of this House in the decision of the question now before you; and, indeed, after what I have this day heard, I no longer require that document or any other document--indeed, I do not know that I ever should have required it--to vote on the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania. If I had entertained any doubts, they would have been removed by the style in which the friends of the resolution have this morning discussed it. I am perfectly aware, that on entering upon this subject, we go into it manacled, handcuffed, and tongue-tied; gentlemen know that our lips are sealed on subjects of momentous foreign relations, which are indissolubly linked with the present question, and which would serve to throw a great light on it in every respect relevant to it. I will, however, endeavor to hobble over the subject, as well as my fettered limbs and palsied tongue will enable me to do it.

I am not surprised to hear this resolution discussed by its friends as a war measure. They say (it is true) that it is not a war measure; but they defend it on principles which would justify none but war measures, and seem pleased with the idea that it may prove the forerunner of war. If war is necessary--if we have reached this point--let us have war. But while I have life, I will never consent to these incipient war measures, which, in their commencement, breathe nothing but peace, though they plunge at last into war. It has been well observed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania behind me (Mr. J. CLAY), that the situation of this nation in 1793 was in every respect different from that in which it finds itself in 1806. Let me ask, too, if the situation of England is not since materially changed? Gentlemen who, it would appear from their language, have not got beyond the horn-book of politics, talk of our ability to cope with the British navy, and tell us of the war of our Revolution. What was the situation of Great Britain then? She was then contending for the empire of the British channel, barely able to maintain a doubtful equality with her enemies, over whom she never gained the superiority until Rodney’s victory of the twelfth of April. What is her present situation? The combined fleets of France, Spain, and Holland, are dissipated, they no longer exist. I am not surprised to hear men advocate these wild opinions, to see them goaded on by a spirit of mercantile avarice, straining their feeble strength to excite the nation to war, when they have reached this stage of infatuation, that we are an over-match for Great Britain on the ocean. It is mere waste of time to reason with such persons. They do not deserve any thing like serious refutation. The proper arguments for such statesmen are a straight waistcoat, a dark room, water gruel, and depletion.

It has always appeared to me that there are three points to be considered, and maturely considered, before we can be prepared to vote for the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania: First. Our ability to contend with Great Britain for the question in dispute: Secondly. The policy of such a contest: Thirdly. In case both these shall be settled affirmatively, the manner in which we can, with the greatest effect, react upon and annoy our adversary.

Now the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. CROWNINSHIELD) has settled at a single sweep, to use one of his favorite expressions, not only that we are capable of contending with Great Britain on the ocean, but that we are actually her superior. Whence does the gentleman deduce this inference? Because, truly, at that time when Great Britain was not mistress of the ocean, when a North was her prime minister, a Sandwich the first lord of her admiralty, when she was governed by a counting-house administration, privateers of this country trespassed on her commerce! So, too, did the cruisers of Dunkirk; at that day Suffrein held the mastery of the Indian seas. But what is the case now? Do gentlemen remember the capture of Cornwallis on land, because De Grasse maintained the dominion of the ocean? To my mind no position is more clear, than that if we go to war with Great Britain, Charleston and Boston, the Chesapeake and the Hudson, will be invested by British squadrons. Will you call on the Count de Grasse to relieve them, or shall we apply to Admiral Gravina, or Admiral Villeneuve to raise the blockade? But you have not only a prospect of gathering glory, and what seems to the gentleman from Massachusetts much dearer, profit, by privateering, but you will be able to make a conquest of Canada and Nova Scotia. Indeed! Then, sir, we shall catch a Tartar. I confess, however, I have no desire to see the Senators and Representatives of the Canadian French, or of the tories and refugees of Nova Scotia, sitting on this floor or that of the other House--to see them becoming members of the Union, and participating equally in our political rights. And on what other principle would the gentleman from Massachusetts be for incorporating those provinces with us? Or on what other principle could it be done under the constitution? If the gentleman has no other bounty to offer us for going to war, than the incorporation of Canada and Nova Scotia with the United States, I am for remaining at peace.

What is the question in dispute? The carrying trade. What part of it? The fair, the honest, and the useful trade that is engaged in carrying our own productions to foreign markets, and bringing back their productions in exchange? No, sir. It is that carrying trade which covers enemy’s property, and carries the coffee, the sugar, and other West India products, to the mother country. No, sir, if this great agricultural nation is to be governed by Salem and Boston, New York and Philadelphia, and Baltimore and Norfolk and Charleston, let gentlemen come out and say so; and let a committee of public safety be appointed from those towns to carry on the Government. I, for one, will not mortgage my property and my liberty, to carry on this trade. The nation said so seven years ago--I said so then, and I say so now. It is not for the honest carrying trade of America, but for this mushroom, this fungus of war--for a trade which, as soon as the nations of Europe are at peace, will no longer exist,--it is for this that the spirit of avaricious traffic would plunge us into war.

I am forcibly struck on this occasion by the recollection of a remark made by one of the ablest (if not the honestest) Ministers that England ever produced. I mean Sir Robert Walpole, who said that the country gentlemen (poor meek souls!) came up every year to be sheared--that they lay mute and patient whilst their fleeces were taking off--but that if he touched a single bristle of the commercial interest, the whole stye was in an uproar. It was indeed shearing the hog--“great cry and little wool.”

But we are asked, are we willing to bend the neck to England; to submit to her outrages? No, sir, I answer, that it will be time enough for us to vindicate the violation of our flag on the ocean, when they shall have told us what they have done in resentment of the violation of the actual territory of the United States by Spain--the true territory of the United States, not your new-fangled country over the Mississippi, but the good old United States--part of Georgia, of the old thirteen States--where citizens have been taken, not from our ships, but from our actual territory. When gentlemen have taken the padlock from our mouths, I shall be ready to tell them what I will do, relative to our dispute with Britain, on the law of nations, on contraband, and such stuff.

I have another objection to this course of proceeding. Great Britain, when she sees it, will say the American people have great cause of dissatisfaction with Spain. She will see by the documents furnished by the President, that Spain has outraged our Territory, pirated upon our commerce, and imprisoned our citizens; and she will inquire what we have done? It is true, she will receive no answer, but she must know what we have not done. She will see that we have not repelled these outrages, nor made any addition to our army and navy--nor even classed the militia. No, sir, not one of your militia generals in politics has marshalled a single brigade.

Although I have said it would be time enough to answer the question which gentlemen have put to me when they shall have answered mine, yet as I do not like long prorogations I will give them an answer now. I will never consent to go to war for that which I cannot protect. I deem it no sacrifice of dignity to say to the Leviathan of the deep--we are unable to contend with you in your own element, but if you come within our actual limits we will shed our last drop of blood in their defence. In such an event I would feel, not reason, and obey an impulse which never has, which never can deceive me.

France is at war with England--suppose her power on the continent of Europe no greater than it is on the ocean. How would she make her enemy feel it? There would be a perfect non-conductor between them. So with the United States and England--she scarcely presents to us a vulnerable point. Her commerce is now carried on for the most part in fleets--where in single ships they are stout and well armed--very different from the state of her trade during the American war, when her merchantmen became the prey of paltry privateers. Great Britain has been too long at war with the three most powerful maritime nations of Europe not to have learnt how to protect her trade. She can afford convoy to it all--she has eight hundred ships in commission, the navies of her enemies are annihilated. Thus this war has presented the new and curious political spectacle of a regular annual increase (and to an immense amount) of her imports and exports, and tonnage and revenue, and all the insignia of accumulating wealth, whilst in every former war, without exception, these have suffered a greater or less diminution. And wherefore? Because she has driven France, Spain, and Holland from the ocean. Their marine is no more. I verily believe that ten English ships-of-the-line would not decline a meeting with the combined fleets of those nations. I forewarn the gentleman from Massachusetts and his constituents of Salem, that all their golden hopes are vain. I forewarn them of the exposure of their trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope (or now doubling it) to capture and confiscation--of their unprotected seaport towns, exposed to contribution or bombardment. Are we to be legislated into war by a set of men, who in six weeks after its commencement may be compelled to take refuge with us up in the country? And for what? A mere fungus--a mushroom production of war in Europe, which will disappear with the first return of peace--an unfair trade. For is there a man so credulous as to believe that we possess a capital not only equal to what may be called our own proper trade, but large enough also to transmit to the respective parent states the vast and wealthy products of the French, Spanish and Dutch colonies? It is beyond the belief of any rational being. But this is not my only objection to entering upon this naval warfare; I am averse to a naval war with any nation whatever. I was opposed to the naval war of the last Administration, and I am as ready to oppose a naval war of the present Administration, should they meditate such a measure. What! shall this great mammoth of the American forest leave his native element and plunge into the water in a mad contest with the shark? Let him beware that his proboscis is not bitten off in the engagement. Let him stay on shore, and not be excited by the muscles and periwinkles on the strand, or political bears, in a boat to venture on the perils of the deep. Gentlemen say, will you not protect your violated rights? and I say, why take to water, where you can neither fight nor swim? Look at France--see her vessels stealing from port to port on her own coast--and remember that she is the first military power of the earth, and as a naval people second only to England. Take away the British navy, and France to-morrow is the tyrant of the ocean.

This brings me to the second point. How far is it politic in the United States to throw their weight into the scale of France at this moment, from whatever motive--to aid the views of her gigantic ambition--to make her mistress of the sea and land--to jeopardize the liberties of mankind? Sir, you may help to crush Great Britain, you may assist in breaking down her naval dominion, but you cannot succeed to it. The iron sceptre of the ocean will pass into his hands who wears the iron crown of the land. You may then expect a new code of maritime law. Where will you look for redress? I can tell the gentleman from Massachusetts that there is nothing in his rule of three that will save us, even although he should outdo himself, and exceed the financial ingenuity which he so memorably displayed on a recent occasion. No, sir, let the battle of Actium be once fought, and the whole line of seacoast will be at the mercy of the conqueror. The Atlantic, deep and wide as it is, will prove just as good a barrier against his ambition, if directed against you, as the Mediterranean to the power of the Cæsars. Do I mean (when I say so) to crouch to the invader? No! I will meet him at the water’s edge, and fight every inch of ground from thence to the mountains--from the mountains to the Mississippi. But after tamely submitting to an outrage on your domicil, will you bully and look big at an insult on your flag three thousand miles off?

But, sir, I have yet a more cogent reason against going to war, for the honor of the flag in the narrow seas, or any other maritime punctilio. It springs from my attachment to the Government under which I live. I declare, in the face of day, that this Government was not instituted for the purposes of offensive war. No! It was framed (to use its own language) “for the common defence and the general welfare,” which are inconsistent with offensive war.[35] I call that offensive war, which goes out of our jurisdiction and limits for the attainment or protection of objects not within those limits, and that jurisdiction. As in 1798 I was opposed to this species of warfare, because I believed it would raze the constitution to its very foundation--so, in 1806, I am opposed to it, and on the same grounds. No sooner do you put the constitution to this use--to a test which it is by no means calculated to endure--than its incompetency becomes manifest, apparent to all. I fear if you go into a foreign war, for a circuitous, unfair carrying trade, you will come out without your constitution. Have not you contractors enough yet in this House? Or, do you want to be overrun and devoured by commissaries, and all the vermin of contract? I fear, sir, that what are called “the energy men” will rise up again--men who will burn the parchment. We shall be told that our Government is too free; or, as they would say, weak and inefficient. Much virtue, sir, in terms! That we must give the President power to call forth the resources of the nation. That is, to filch the last shilling from our pockets--to drain the last drop of blood from our veins. I am against giving this power to any man, be he who he may. The American people must either withhold this power, or resign their liberties. There is no other alternative. Nothing but the most imperious necessity will justify such a grant. And is there a powerful enemy at our doors? You may begin with a First Consul. From that chrysalis state he soon becomes an Emperor. You have your choice. It depends upon your election whether you will be a free, happy, and united people at home, or the light of your Executive Majesty shall beam across the Atlantic in one general blaze of the public liberty.

For my part, I will never go to war but in self-defence. I have no desire for conquests--no ambition to possess Nova Scotia. I hold the liberties of this people at a higher rate. Much more am I indisposed to war, when, among the first means for carrying it on, I see gentlemen propose the confiscation of debts due by Government to individuals. Does a bona fide creditor know who holds his paper? Dare any honest man ask himself the question? ’Tis hard to say whether such principles are more detestably dishonest, than they are weak and foolish. What, sir, will you go about with proposals for opening a loan in one hand, and a sponge for the national debt in the other? If, on a late occasion, you could not borrow at a less rate of interest than eight per cent., when the Government avowed that they would pay to the last shilling of the public ability, at what price do you expect to raise money with an avowal of these nefarious opinions? God help you, if these are your ways and means for carrying on war! if your finances are in the hands of such a Chancellor of the Exchequer. Because a man can take an observation, and keep a log-book and a reckoning; can navigate a cock-boat to the West Indies, or the East, shall he aspire to navigate the great vessel of State--to stand at the helm of public councils? Ne sutor ultra crepidam. What are you going to war for? For the carrying trade? Already you possess seven-eighths of it. What is the object in dispute? The fair, honest trade, that exchanges the product of our soil for foreign articles for home consumption? Not at all. You are called upon to sacrifice this necessary branch of your navigation, and the great agricultural interest--whose handmaid it is--to jeopardize your best interests for a circuitous commerce, for the fraudulent protection of belligerent property under your neutral flag. Will you be goaded, by the dreaming calculations of insatiate avarice, to stake your all for the protection of this trade? I do not speak of the probable effects of war on the price of our produce. Severely as we must feel, we may scuffle through it. I speak of its reaction on the constitution. You may go to war for this excrescence of the carrying trade, and make peace at the expense of the constitution. Your Executive will lord it over you, and you must make the best terms with the conqueror that you can. But the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GREGG) tells you that he is for acting in this, as in all things, uninfluenced by the opinion of any minister whatever--foreign, or, I presume, domestic. On this point I am willing to meet the gentleman--am unwilling to be dictated to by any minister, at home or abroad. Is he willing to act on the same independent footing? I have before protested, and I again protest against secret, irresponsible, overruling influence. The first question I asked when I saw the gentleman’s resolution, was, “Is this a measure of the Cabinet?” Not of an open declared Cabinet; but, of an invisible, inscrutable, unconstitutional Cabinet, without responsibility, unknown to the constitution. I speak of back-stairs’ influence--of men who bring messages to this House, which, although they do not appear on the Journals, govern its decisions. Sir, the first question that I asked on the subject of British relations, was, What is the opinion of the Cabinet? What measures will they recommend to Congress?--(well knowing that whatever measures we might take, they must execute them, and therefore, that we should have their opinion on the subject.) My answer was, (and from a Cabinet Minister too,) “There is no longer any Cabinet.” Subsequent circumstances, sir, have given me a personal knowledge of the fact. It needs no commentary.

But the gentleman has told you that we ought to go to war, if for nothing else, for the fur trade. Now, sir, the people on whose support he seems to calculate, follow, let me tell him, a better business, and let me add, that whilst men are happy at home reaping their own fields--the fruits of their labor and industry--there is little danger of their being induced to go sixteen or seventeen hundred miles in pursuit of beavers, raccoons, or opossums, much less of going to war for the privilege. They are better employed where they are. This trade, sir, may be important to Britain, to nations who have exhausted every resource of industry at home, bowed down by taxation and wretchedness. Let them, in God’s name, if they please, follow the fur trade. They may, for me, catch every beaver in North America. Yes, sir, our people have a better occupation--a safe, profitable, honorable employment. While they should be engaged in distant regions in hunting the beaver, they dread lest those whose natural prey they are should begin to hunt them, should pillage their property, and assassinate their constitution. Instead of these wild schemes, pay off your debt, instead of prating about its confiscation. Do not, I beseech you, expose at once your knavery and your folly. You have more lands than you know what to do with; you have lately paid fifteen millions for yet more. Go and work them, and cease to alarm the people with the cry of wolf, until they become deaf to your voice, or at least laugh at you.

Mr. Chairman, if I felt less regard for what I deem the best interests of this nation than for my own reputation, I should not, on this day, have offered to address you, but would have waited to come out, bedecked with flowers and bouquets of rhetoric, in a set speech. But, sir, I dreaded lest a tone might be given to the mind of the committee--they will pardon me, but I did fear, from all that I could see or hear, that they might be prejudiced by its advocates, (under pretence of protecting our commerce,) in favor of this ridiculous and preposterous project; I rose, sir, for one, to plead guilty; to declare in the face of day that I will not go to war for this carrying trade. I will agree to pass for an idiot if this is not the public sentiment, and you will find it to your cost, begin the war when you will.

Gentlemen talk of 1793. They might as well go back to the Trojan war. What was your situation then? Then every heart beat high with sympathy for France, for republican France! I am not prepared to say, with my friend from Pennsylvania, that we were all ready to draw our swords in her cause, but I affirm that we were prepared to have gone great lengths. I am not ashamed to pay this compliment to the hearts of the American people, even at the expense of their understandings. It was a noble and generous sentiment, which nations like individuals are never the worse for having felt. They were, I repeat it, ready to make great sacrifices for France. And why ready? Because she was fighting the battles of the human race against the combined enemies of their liberty; because she was performing the part which Great Britain now, in fact, sustains, forming the only bulwark against universal dominion. Knock away her navy, and where are you? Under the naval despotism of France, unchecked and unqualified by any antagonizing military power; at best but a change of masters. The tyrant of the ocean, and the tyrant of the land, is one and the same, lord of all, and who shall say him nay, or wherefore doest thou this thing? Give to the tiger the properties of the shark, and there is no longer safety for the beasts of the forest or the fishes of the sea. Where was this high anti-Britannic spirit of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, when his vote would have put an end to the British treaty, that pestilent source of evil to this country? and at a time, too, when it was not less the interest than the sentiment of this people to pull down Great Britain and exalt France. Then, when the gentleman might have acted with effect, he could not screw his courage to the sticking place. Then England was combined in what has proven a feeble, inefficient coalition, but which gave just cause of alarm to every friend of freedom. Now the liberties of the human race are threatened by a single power, more formidable than the coalesced world, to whose utmost ambition, vast as it is, the naval force of Great Britain forms the only obstacle.

I am perfectly sensible and ashamed of the trespass I am making on the patience of the committee; but as I know not whether it will be in my power to trouble them again on this subject, I must beg leave to continue my crude and desultory observations. I am not ashamed to confess that they are so. At the commencement of this session, we received a printed Message from the President of the United States, breathing a great deal of national honor, and indignation at the outrages we had endured, particularly from Spain. She was specially named and pointed at. She had pirated upon your commerce, imprisoned your citizens, violated your actual territory; invaded the very limits solemnly established between the two nations by the Treaty of San Lorenzo. Some of the State Legislatures (among others the very State on which the gentleman from Pennsylvania relies for support) sent forward resolutions pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, in support of any measures you might take in vindication of your injured rights. Well, sir, what have you done? You have had resolutions laid upon your table, gone to some expense of printing and stationery--mere pen, ink, and paper, that’s all. Like true political quacks, you deal only in handbills and nostrums. Sir, I blush to see the record of our proceedings; they resemble nothing but the advertisements of patent medicines. Here you have “the worm-destroying lozenges,” there “Church’s cough drops;” and, to crown the whole, “Sloan’s vegetable specific,” an infallible remedy for all nervous disorders and vertigoes of brain-sick politicians; each man earnestly adjuring you to give his medicine only a fair trial. If, indeed, these wonder-working nostrums could perform but one-half of what they promise, there is little danger of our dying a political death, at this time at least. But, sir, in politics as in physics, the doctor is ofttimes the most dangerous disease; and this I take to be our case at present.

But, sir, why do I talk of Spain? “There are no longer Pyrenees!” There exists no such nation, no such being as a Spanish King, or Minister. It is a mere juggle, played off for the benefit of those who put the mechanism into motion. You know, sir, that you have no differences with Spain; that she is the passive tool of a superior power, to whom, at this moment, you are crouching. Are your differences, indeed, with Spain? And where are you going to send your political panacea, resolutions and handbills excepted, your sole arcanum of Government, your king cure all? To Madrid? No--you are not such quacks as not to know where the shoe pinches--to Paris. You know, at least, where the disease lies, and there you apply your remedy. When the nation anxiously demands the result of your deliberations, you hang your head and blush to tell. You are afraid to tell. Your mouth is hermetically sealed. Your honor has received a wound which must not take air. Gentlemen dare not come forward and avow their work, much less defend it in the presence of the nation. Give them all they ask, that Spain exists--and what then? After shrinking from the Spanish jackall, do you presume to bully the British lion? But here the secret comes out. Britain is your rival in trade, and governed as you are by counting-house politician; you would sacrifice the paramount interests of the country, to wound that rival. For Spain and France you are carriers, and from good customers every indignity is to be endured. And what is the nature of this trade? Is it that carrying trade which sends abroad the flour, tobacco, cotton, beef, pork, fish, and lumber of this country, and brings back in return foreign articles necessary for our existence or comfort? No, sir, it is a trade carried on--the Lord knows where, or by whom; now doubling Cape Horn, now the Cape of Good Hope. I do not say that there is no profit in it--for it would not then be pursued--but it is a trade that tends to assimilate our manners and Government to those of the most corrupt countries of Europe. Yes, sir, and when a question of great national magnitude presents itself to you, it causes those who now prate about national honor and spirit to pocket any insult; to consider it as a mere matter of debit and credit; a business of profit and loss, and nothing else.

The first thing that struck my mind, when this resolution was laid on the table, was unde derivatur? A question always put to us at school. Whence comes it? Is this only the putative father of the bantling he is taxed to maintain, or, indeed, the actual parent, the real progenitor of the child? Or, is it the production of the Cabinet? But, I knew you had no Cabinet, no system. I had seen despatches relating to vital measures laid before you the day after your final decision on those measures, four weeks after they were received; not only their contents, but their very existence, all that time unsuspected and unknown to men whom the people fondly believe assist with their wisdom and experience at every important deliberation. Do you believe that this system, or rather this no-system, will do? I am free to answer it will not, it cannot last. I am not so afraid of the fair, open, constitutional, responsible influence of Government, but I shrink intuitively from this left-handed, invisible, irresponsible influence, which defies the touch, but pervades and decides every thing. Let the Executive come forward to the Legislature; let us see while we feel it. If we cannot rely on its wisdom, is it any disparagement to the gentleman from Pennsylvania to say that I cannot rely upon him? No, sir, he has mistaken his talent. He is not the Palinurus on whose skill the nation, at this trying moment, can repose their confidence. I will have nothing to do with his paper, much less will I endorse it, and make myself responsible for its goodness. I will not put my name to it. I assert that there is no Cabinet, no system, no plan; that which I believe in one place, I shall never hesitate to say in another. This is no time, no place, for mincing our steps. The people have a right to know; they shall know the state of their affairs; at least, as far as I am at liberty to communicate them. I speak from personal knowledge. Ten days ago there had been no consultation; there existed no opinion in your Executive department; at least, none that was avowed. On the contrary, there was an express disavowal of any opinion whatsoever, on the great subject before you; and I have good reason for saying that none has been formed since. Some time ago, a book was laid on our tables, which, like some other bantlings, did not bear the name of its father. Here I was taught to expect a solution of all doubts, an end to all our difficulties. If, sir, I were the foe--as I trust I am the friend of this nation--I would exclaim, “Oh, that mine enemy would write a book!” At the very outset, in the very first page, I believe, there is a complete abandonment of the principle in dispute. Has any gentleman got the work? [It was handed by one of the members.] The first position taken is the broad principle of the unlimited freedom of trade between nations at peace, which the writer endeavors to extend to the trade between a neutral and a belligerent power, accompanied, however, by this acknowledgment: “But, inasmuch as the trade of a neutral with a belligerent nation, might, in certain special cases, affect the safety of its antagonist, usage, founded on the principle of necessity, has admitted a few exceptions to the general rule.” Whence comes the doctrine of contraband, blockade, and enemy’s property? Now, sir, for what does that celebrated pamphlet, “War in Disguise”--which is said to have been written under the eye of the British Prime Minister--contend, but this “principle of necessity?” And this is abandoned by this pamphleteer at the very threshold of the discussion. But, as if this were not enough, he goes on to assign as a reason for not referring to the authority of the ancients, “that the great change which has taken place in the state of manners, in the maxims of war, and in the course of commerce, make it pretty certain” (what degree of certainty is this?) “that either nothing will be found relating to the question, or nothing sufficiently applicable to deserve attention in deciding it.” Here, sir, is an apology of the writer for not disclosing the whole extent of his learning, (which might have overwhelmed the reader,) is the admission that a change of circumstances, (“in the course of commerce,”) has made (and, therefore, will now justify) a total change of the law of nations. What more could the most inveterate advocate of English usurpation demand? What else can they require to establish all, and even more than they contend for? Sir, there is a class of men--we know them very well--who, if you only permit them to lay the foundation, will build you up, step by step, and brick by brick, very neat and showy, if not tenable arguments. To detect them, it is only necessary to watch their premises, where you will often find the point at issue surrendered, as in this case it is.

Again: Is the mare liberum any where asserted in this book, that free ships make free goods? No, sir; the right of search is acknowledged; that enemy’s property is lawful prize, is sealed and delivered. And, after abandoning these principles, what becomes of the doctrine that a mere shifting of the goods from one ship to another, the touching at another port, changes the property? Sir, give up this principle, and there is an end to the question. You lie at the mercy of the conscience of a Court of Admiralty. Is Spanish sugar, or French coffee, made American property, by the mere change of the cargo, or even by the landing and payment of the duties? Does this operation effect a change of property? And when those duties are drawn back, and the sugar and coffee re-exported, are they not (as enemy’s property) liable to seizure upon the principles of the “Examination of the British doctrine,” &c.? And, is there not the best reason to believe, that this operation is performed in many, if not in most cases, to give a neutral aspect and color to the merchandise?

I am prepared, sir, to be represented as willing to surrender important rights of this nation to a foreign Government. I have been told that this sentiment is already whispered in the dark, by time-servers and sycophants. But, if your Clerk dared to print them, I would appeal to your Journals. I would call for the reading of them, but that I know they are not for profane eyes to look upon. I confess that I am more ready to surrender to a naval power a square league of ocean, than to a territorial one, a square inch of land within our limits; and I am ready to meet the friends of the resolution on this ground at any time.

Let them take off the injunction of secrecy. They dare not. They are ashamed and afraid to do it. They may give winks and nods, and pretend to be wise, but they dare not come out and tell the nation what they have done. Gentlemen may take notice if they please, but I will never, from any motive short of self-defence, enter upon war. I will never be instrumental to the ambitious schemes of Buonaparte, nor put into his hands what will enable him to wield the world, and on the very principle that I wished success to the French arms in 1793. And wherefore? Because the case is changed. Great Britain can never again see the year 1760. Her continental influence is gone for ever. Let who will be uppermost on the continent of Europe, she must find more than a counterpoise for her strength. Her race is run. She can only be formidable as a maritime power; and, even as such, perhaps not long. Are you going to justify the acts of the last Administration, for which they have been deprived of the Government at our instance? Are you going back to the ground of 1798-’9? I ask any man who now advocates a rupture with England to assign a single reason for his opinion, that would not have justified a French war in 1798? If injury and insult abroad would have justified it, we had them in abundance then. But what did the Republicans say at that day? That, under the cover of a war with France, the Executive would be armed with a patronage and power which might enable it to master our liberties. They deprecated foreign war and navies, and standing armies, and loans, and taxes. The delirium passed away--the good sense of the people triumphed, and our differences were accommodated without a war. And what is there in the situation of England that invites to war with her? It is true she does not deal so largely in perfectibility, but she supplies you with a much more useful commodity--with coarse woollens. With less profession, indeed, she occupies the place of France in 1793. She is the sole bulwark of the human race against universal dominion; no thanks to her for it. In protecting her own existence, she ensures theirs. I care not who stands in this situation, whether England or Buonaparte. I practise the doctrines now that I professed in 1798. Gentlemen may hunt up the journals if they please; I voted against all such projects under the Administration of John Adams, and I will continue to do so under that of Thomas Jefferson. Are you not contented with being free and happy at home? Or will you surrender these blessings that your merchants may tread on Turkish and Persian carpets, and burn the perfumes of the East in their vaulted rooms? Gentlemen say it is but an annual million lost, and even if it were five times that amount, what is it compared with your neutral rights? Sir, let me tell them a hundred millions will be but a drop in the bucket, if once they launch without rudder or compass into this ocean of foreign warfare. Whom do they want to attack? England. They hope it is a popular thing, and talk about Bunker’s Hill, and the gallant feats of our Revolution. But is Bunker’s Hill to be the theatre of war? No, sir, you have selected the ocean, and the object of attack is that very navy which prevented the combined fleets of France and Spain from levying contribution upon you in your own seas; that very navy which, in the famous war of 1798, stood between you and danger. Whilst the fleets of the enemy were pent up in Toulon, or pinioned in Brest, we performed wonders to be sure; but, sir, if England had drawn off, France would have told you quite a different tale. You would have struck no medals. This is not the sort of conflict that you are to count upon, if you go to war with Great Britain. Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat. And are you mad enough to take up the cudgels that have been struck from the nerveless hands of the three great maritime powers of Europe? Shall the planter mortgage his little crop, and jeopardize the constitution in support of commercial monopoly, in the vain hope of satisfying the insatiable greediness of trade? Administer the constitution upon its own principles; for the general welfare, and not for the benefit of any particular class of men. Do you meditate war for the possession of Baton Rouge or Mobile, places which your own laws declare to be within your limits? Is it even for the fair trade that exchanges your surplus products for such foreign articles as you require? No, sir, it is for a circuitous trade--an ignis fatuus. And against whom? A nation from whom you have any thing to fear?--I speak as to our liberties. No, sir, with a nation from whom you have nothing, or next to nothing, to fear; to the aggrandizement of one against which you have every thing to dread. I look to their ability and interest, not to their disposition. When you rely on that the case is desperate. Is it to be inferred from all this that I would yield to Great Britain? No. I would act towards her now, as I was disposed to do towards France, in 1798-’9; treat with her, and for the same reason, on the same principles. Do I say I would treat with her? At this moment you have a negotiation pending with her Government. With her you have not tried negotiation and failed, totally failed, as you have done with Spain, or rather France; and, wherefore, under such circumstances, this hostile spirit to the one, and this--I will not say what--to the other?

But a great deal is said about the laws of nations. What is national law but national power guided by national interest? You yourselves acknowledge and practise upon this principle where you can, or where you dare--with the Indian tribes for instance. I might give another and more forcible illustration. Will the learned lumber of your libraries add a ship to your fleet, or a shilling to your revenue? Will it pay or maintain a single soldier? And will you preach and prate of violations of your neutral rights, when you tamely and meanly submit to the violation of your territory? Will you collar the stealer of your sheep, and let him escape that has invaded the repose of your fireside--has insulted your wife and children under your own roof? This is the heroism of truck and traffic--the public spirit of sordid avarice. Great Britain violates your flag on the high seas. What is her situation? Contending, not for the dismantling of Dunkirk, for Quebec, or Pondicherry, but for London and Westminster--for life; her enemy violating at will the territories of other nations, acquiring thereby a colossal power that threatens the very existence of her rival. But she has one vulnerable point to the arms of her adversary, which she covers with the ensigns of neutrality; she draws the neutral flag over the heel of Achilles. And can you ask that adversary to respect it at the expense of her existence? and in favor of whom? An enemy that respects no neutral territory of Europe, and not even your own. I repeat that the insults of Spain towards this nation have been at the instigation of France; that there is no longer any Spain. Well, sir, because the French Government does not put this in the Moniteur, you choose to shut your eyes to it. None so blind as those who will not see. You shut your own eyes, and to blind those of other people, you go into conclave, and slink out again and say, “a great affair of State!”--C’est une grande affaire d’Etat! It seems that your sensibility is entirely confined to the extremities. You may be pulled by the nose and ears, and never feel it, but let your strong box be attacked, and you are all nerve--“Let us go to war!” Sir, if they called upon me only for my little peculium to carry it on, perhaps I might give it; but my rights and liberties are involved in the grant, and I will never surrender them while I have life. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. CROWNINSHIELD) is for sponging the debt. I can never consent to it; I will never bring the ways and means of fraudulent bankruptcy into your committee of supply. Confiscation and swindling shall never be found among my estimates to meet the current expenditure of peace or war. No, sir, I have said with the doors closed, and I say so when the doors are open, “pay the public debt;” get rid of that dead weight upon your Government--that cramp upon all your measures--and then you may put the world at defiance. So long as it hangs upon you, you must have revenue, and to have revenue you must have commerce--commerce, peace. And shall these nefarious schemes be advised for lightening the public burdens; will you resort to these low and pitiful shifts; dare even to mention these dishonest artifices to eke out your expenses, when the public treasure is lavished on Turks and infidels, on singing boys and dancing girls, to furnish the means of bestiality to an African barbarian?

Gentlemen say that Great Britain will count upon our divisions. How? What does she know of them? Can they ever expect greater unanimity than prevailed at the last Presidential election? No, sir, it is the gentleman’s own conscience that squeaks. But if she cannot calculate upon your divisions, at least she may reckon upon your pusillanimity. She may well despise the resentment that cannot be excited to honorable battle on its own ground; the mere effusion of mercantile cupidity. Gentlemen talk of repealing the British Treaty. The gentleman from Pennsylvania should have thought of that, before he voted to carry it into effect. And what is all this for? A point which Great Britain will not abandon to Russia, you expect her to yield to you--Russia! indisputably the second power of continental Europe; with not less than half a million of hardy troops; with sixty sail-of-the-line, thirty millions of subjects, and a territory more extensive even than our own--Russia, sir, the storehouse of the British Navy, whom it is not more the policy and the interest than the sentiment of that Government to soothe and to conciliate--her sole hope of a diversion on the continent, and her only efficient ally. What this formidable power cannot obtain with fleets and armies, you will command by writ--with pothooks and hangers. I am for no such policy. True honor is always the same. Before you enter into a contest, public or private, be sure you have fortitude enough to go through with it. If you mean war, say so, and prepare for it. Look on the other side; behold the respect in which France holds neutral rights on land; observe her conduct in regard to the Franconian estates of the King of Prussia. I say nothing of the petty powers--of the Elector of Baden, or of the Swiss--I speak of a first-rate Monarchy of Europe, and at a moment, too, when its neutrality was the object of all others nearest to the heart of the French Emperor. If you make him monarch of the ocean, you may bid adieu to it for ever. You may take your leave, sir, of navigation--even of the Mississippi. What is the situation of New Orleans if attacked to-morrow? Filled with a discontented and repining people, whose language, manners, and religion, all incline them to the invader--a dissatisfied people, who despise the miserable Governor you have set over them--whose honest prejudices and basest passions alike take part against you. I draw my information from no dubious source; but from a native American, an enlightened member of that odious and imbecile Government. You have official information that the town and its dependencies are utterly defenceless and untenable. A firm belief that (apprised of this) Government would do something to put the place in a state of security, alone has kept the American portion of that community quiet. You have held that post, you now hold it, by the tenure of the naval predominance of England, and yet you are for a British naval war.

There are now but two great commercial nations--Great Britain is one, and the United States the other. When you consider the many points of contact between our interests, you may be surprised that there has been so little collision. Sir, to the other belligerent nations of Europe your navigation is a convenience, I might say, a necessary. If you do not carry for them they must starve, at least for the luxuries of life, which custom has rendered almost indispensable; and if you cannot act with some degree of spirit towards those who are dependent upon you as carriers, do you reckon to browbeat a jealous rival, who, the moment she lets slip the dogs of war, sweeps you at a blow from the ocean. And cui bono? for whose benefit? The planter? Nothing like it. The fair, honest, real American merchant? No, sir, for renegadoes; to-day American, to-morrow Danes. Go to war when you will, the property, now covered by the American, will then pass under the Danish, or some other neutral flag. Gentlemen say that one English ship is worth three of ours; we shall therefore have the advantage in privateering. Did they ever know a nation to get rich by privateering? This is stuff, sir, for the nursery. Remember that your products are bulky, as has been stated; that they require a vast tonnage to transport them abroad, and that but two nations possess that tonnage. Take these carriers out of the market. What is the result? The manufactures of England, which (to use a finishing touch of the gentlemen’s rhetoric) have received the finishing stroke of art, lie in a small comparative compass. The neutral trade can carry them. Your produce rots in the warehouse. You go to Eustatia or St. Thomas, and get a striped blanket for a joe, if you can raise one. Double freight, charges, and commission. Who receives the profit? The carrier. Who pays it? The consumer. All your produce that finds its way to England, must bear the same accumulated charges--with this difference, that there the burden falls on the home price. I appeal to the experience of the late war, which has been so often cited. What then was the price of produce, and of broadcloth?

But you are told England will not make war; that she has her hands full. Holland calculated in the same way in 1781. How did it turn out? You stand now in the place of Holland, then without her navy, and unaided by the preponderating fleets of France and Spain, to say nothing of the Baltic Powers. Do you want to take up the cudgels where these great maritime States have been forced to drop them? to meet Great Britain on the ocean, and drive her off its face? If you are so far gone as this, every capital measure of your policy has hitherto been wrong. You should have nurtured the old, and devised new systems of taxation, and have cherished your navy. Begin this business when you may, land-taxes, stamp-acts, window-taxes, hearth-money, excise, in all its modifications of vexation and oppression, must precede or follow after. But, sir, as French is the fashion of the day, I may be asked for my projet. I can readily tell gentlemen what I will not do. I will not propitiate any foreign nation with money. I will not launch into a naval war with Great Britain, although I am ready to meet her at the Cowpens or on Bunker’s Hill--and for this plain reason, we are a great land animal, and our business is on shore. I will send her money, sir, on no pretext whatever, much less on pretence of buying Labrador, or Botany Bay, when my real object was to secure limits, which she formally acknowledged at the peace of 1783. I go further: I would (if any thing) have laid an embargo. This would have got our own property home, and our adversary’s into our power. If there is any wisdom left among us, the first step towards hostility will always be an embargo. In six months all your mercantile megrims would vanish. As to us, although it would cut deep, we can stand it. Without such a precaution, go to war when you will, you go to the wall. As to debts, strike the balance to-morrow, and England is I believe in our debt.

I hope, sir, to be excused for proceeding in this desultory course. I flatter myself I shall not have occasion again to trouble you. I know not that I shall be able, certainly not willing, unless provoked in self-defence. I ask your attention to the character of the inhabitants of that Southern country, on whom gentlemen rely for support of their measure. Who and what are they? A simple, agricultural people, accustomed to travel in peace to market with the produce of their labor. Who takes it from us? Another people, devoted to manufactures--our sole source of supply. I have seen some stuff in the newspapers about manufactures in Saxony, and about a man who is no longer the chief of a dominant faction. The greatest man whom I ever knew--the immortal author of the letters of Curtius--has remarked the proneness of cunning people to wrap up and disguise in well-selected phrases, doctrines too deformed and detestable to bear exposure in naked words; by a judicious choice of epithets to draw the attention from the lurking principle beneath, and perpetuate delusion. But a little while ago, and any man might have been proud to have been considered as the head of the Republican party. Now, it seems, it is reproachful to be deemed the chief of a dominant faction. Mark the magic of words. Head--chief. Republican party--dominant faction. But as to the Saxon manufactures. What became of their Dresden china? Why the Prussian bayonets have broken all the pots, and you are content with Worcestershire or Staffordshire ware. There are some other fine manufactures on the continent, but no supply, except perhaps of linens, the article we can best dispense with. A few individuals, sir, may have a coat of Louvier’s cloth, or a service of Sevres china; but there is too little, and that little too dear, to furnish the nation. You must depend on the fur trade in earnest, and wear buffalo hides and bear skins.

Can any man who understands Europe pretend to say that a particular foreign policy is now right because it would have been expedient twenty, or even ten years ago, without abandoning all regard for common sense? Sir, it is the Statesman’s province to be guided by circumstances; to anticipate, to foresee them; to give them a course and a direction; to mould them to his purpose. It is the business of a counting-house clerk to peer into the day-book and ledger, to see no further than the spectacles on his nose, to feel not beyond the pen behind his ear? to chatter in coffee-houses, and be the oracle of clubs. From 1783 to 1793, and even later, (I don’t stickle for dates,) France had a formidable marine--so had Holland--so had Spain. The two first possessed of thriving manufactures and a flourishing commerce. Great Britain, tremblingly alive to her manufacturing interests and carrying trade, would have felt to the heart any measure calculated to favor her rivals in these pursuits. She would have yielded then to her fears and her jealousy alone. What is the case now? She lays an export duty on her manufactures, and there ends the question. If Georgia shall (from whatever cause) so completely monopolize the culture of cotton as to be able to lay an export duty of three per cent. upon it, besides taxing its cultivators, in every other shape, that human or infernal ingenuity can devise, is Pennsylvania likely to rival her and take away the trade?

But, sir, it seems that we, who are opposed to this resolution, are men of no nerve, who trembled in the days of the British treaty--cowards (I presume) in the reign of terror? Is this true? Hunt up the Journals; and let our actions tell. We pursue our old unshaken course. We care not for the nations of Europe, but make foreign relations bend to our political principles and subserve our country’s interest. We have no wish to see another Actium, or Pharsalia, or the lieutenants of a modern Alexander playing at piquet, or all-fours, for the empire of the world. It is poor comfort to us to be told that France has too decided a taste for luxurious things to meddle with us; that Egypt is her object, or the coast of Barbary, and, at the worst, we shall be the last devoured. We are enamored with neither nation; we would play their own game upon them, use them for our interest and convenience. But with all my abhorrence of the British Government, I should not hesitate between Westminster Hall and a Middlesex jury, on the one hand, and the wood of Vincennes and a file of grenadiers, on the other. That jury-trial, which walked with Horne Tooke and Hardy through the flames of ministerial persecution, is, I confess, more to my taste than the trial of the Duke d’Enghein.

Mr. Chairman, I am sensible of having detained the committee longer than I ought; certainly much longer than I intended. I am equally sensible of their politeness, and not less so, sir, of your patient attention. It is your own indulgence, sir, badly requited indeed, to which you owe this persecution. I might offer another apology for these undigested, desultory remarks--my never having seen the Treasury documents. Until I came into the House this morning, I had been stretched on a sick bed. But when I behold the affairs of this nation, instead of being where I hoped, and the people believed, they were, in the hands of responsible men, committed to Tom, Dick and Harry, to the refuse of the retail trade of politics, I do feel, I cannot help feeling, the most deep and serious concern. If the Executive Government would step forward and say, “such is our plan, such is our opinion, and such are our reasons in support of it,” I would meet it fairly, would openly oppose, or pledge myself to support it. But, without compass or polar star, I will not launch into an ocean of unexplored measures, which stand condemned by all the information to which I have access. The Constitution of the United States declares it to be the province and the duty of the President “to give to Congress, from time to time, information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge expedient and necessary.” Has he done it? I know, sir, that we may say, and do say, that we are independent, (would it were true;) as free to give a direction to the Executive as to receive it from him. But do what you will, foreign relations, every measure short of war, and even the course of hostilities, depend upon him. He stands at the helm, and must guide the vessel of State. You give him money to buy Florida, and he purchases Louisiana. You may furnish means; the application of those means rests with him. Let not the master and mate go below when the ship is in distress, and throw the responsibility upon the cook and the cabin-boy. I said so when your doors were shut; I scorn to say less now that they are open. Gentlemen may say what they please. They may put an insignificant individual to the ban of the Republic--I shall not alter my course. I blush with indignation at the misrepresentations which have gone forth in the public prints of our proceedings, public and private. Are the people of the United States, the real sovereigns of the country, unworthy of knowing what, there is too much reason to believe, has been communicated to the privileged spies of foreign governments? I think our citizens just as well entitled to know what has passed as the Marquis Yrujo, who has bearded your President to his face, insulted your Government within its own peculiar jurisdiction, and outraged all decency. Do you mistake this diplomatic puppet for an automaton? He has orders for all he does. Take his instructions from his pocket to-morrow, they are signed “Charles Maurice Talleyrand.” Let the nation know what they have to depend upon. Be true to them, and (trust me) they will prove true to themselves and to you. The people are honest--now at home at their ploughs, not dreaming of what you are about. But the spirit of inquiry, that has too long slept, will be, must be awakened. Let them begin to think--not to say such things are proper because they have been done--of what has been done, and wherefore, and all will be right.

The committee then rose, and the House adjourned.

THURSDAY, March 6.

Non-Importation of British Goods.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union on Mr. GREGG’s resolution.

Mr. N. WILLIAMS.--The subject now under consideration calls for a display of all the knowledge and experience of commercial men and statesmen. And although I do not profess to be of either class, yet if I should chance to bestow a mite of information upon a subject of such vast importance to this country, it will no doubt be favorably received by this honorable committee.

The resolution now under discussion has for its principal object the protection of the active commerce of our country; it therefore becomes us perhaps, before we enter into the merits of the measure proposed, to inquire whether commerce is of itself so important to us, as to demand our protection. This first inquiry might seem unnecessary, and even extraordinary, had we not witnessed so recently, upon this floor, the very light and trivial manner in which the commerce of this country has been treated, and had we not heard the very strange opinion, that it ought to be left to take care of itself.

It is possible that the agricultural class, which embraces a very great and respectable part of the population of our country, will look for some evidence of the benefits to be derived to them from the protected enterprise of our merchants. Those benefits, however, are so obvious to an attentive observer, that very little need be urged to render them apparent. It has been justly said that agriculture and commerce are handmaids to each other. Indeed, their interests are strongly and durably interwoven. Commerce has a direct tendency to raise the price of the product of the farmer’s labor, by seeking in every part of the world the best markets for our articles of export, and by bringing back and scattering through the country that circulating medium which cherishes industry, and sweetens the toils of the laborer. If we had not an active commerce among our citizens, it is evident that foreign merchants and nations only would be enriched by the profits of our agriculture, would convert us into mere diggers of the soil for their benefit, and would thereby gain the means of insulting and degrading us more abundantly. The price of our produce will lessen in the proportion that we curtail the means of transporting it to the best foreign markets, and the means will assuredly be curtailed if we withdraw our protection from the enterprise of our citizens upon the ocean. Declare to foreign nations that the active commerce of this country meets no longer the fostering care of Government, and you will soon hear of their ten-fold insolence upon the seas; and our vessels, frowned from the enjoyment of their rights there, will find an asylum in our harbors only, where they will be left to rot. The produce of our country must share a similar fate, unless we consent to dispose of it to foreign merchants and speculators, at any price they may please to offer for it. But what is not less important, if we have a regard for morals and happiness, a horrid picture here presents itself; that moment you stagnate the vent of your grain, an extensive inland country will be inundated with whiskey and the destructive vices which flow from the free use of it.

Although important, this is far from being the most important view which may be taken of this subject. It is a conceded point that our Government must by some means or other have revenue. The greatest statesmen and patriots of this country have united, I believe, in considering commerce as our most fruitful source of revenue and riches. It presents a mode of fiscal exaction, the most in union with the spirit and feelings as well as the interests of the American people--that of indirect taxation. By this mode the consumers of articles of foreign growth and manufacture, contribute freely and copiously to the support of our Government, and to that fund which is destined to the payment of the national debt, and this too without feeling in a great degree the weight of the contribution. But the moment, sir, we give up this source of revenue, or expose it to the cupidity and rapacity of foreign powers, a resort to modes of taxation less congenial with the spirit of freedom must be inevitable. Let those who are for giving up this, look about and see what other sources of revenue our country can furnish. Experience, that mother of wisdom, has already instructed us, that excise laws are too odious in many parts of our country to be borne; indeed this source of revenue would at best be trifling. Personal property is of a nature too occult and too liable to shift and change to become a safe and permanent source of revenue. The sale of the public lands, relied on by some, is an expedient which on many accounts will be slow and inefficient; but if the sentiment prevails of leaving commerce to take care of itself, and my notions are correct that such a measure will paralyze the industry of the farmer, it may very justly be doubted, whether our wild lands will meet with a ready market. What then, I would ask, remains, but a land tax, to supply a fund to meet the necessary calls of our Government; a tax so odious in many parts of our country, as to be one of the powerful causes of the overthrow of one administration, and if again resorted to, may possibly produce the destruction of another.

Should considerations like these, thoroughly pursued, prove insufficient to convince gentlemen that the commerce of this country is worthy to be shielded by her protecting arm, I may despair of doing it, perhaps, by any further arguments within my power to adduce. But it is certainly deserving the remembrance of this honorable body, that our Government, by the course it has taken, has long since pledged itself to support the rights and interests of our merchants upon the ocean. Aside of the immense revenues drawn from their enterprise and industry, we may consider the measures alone, adopted by our Government, to protect and guarantee their interests, by compacts with foreign nations and armaments for their defence, as having the direct effect of luring them to embark their property upon the seas with the most implicit security, and with almost a certain assurance that this protection should be continued. In short, I do not see how it can be denied that these privileges are as much entitled to the protection of Government, as those, equally, though not more sacred, which are enjoyed by our fellow-citizens upon land. To relinquish any of them would be taking a step towards a dastardly abandonment of our independence as a nation--and would be announcing to every people on earth, that we have become so tame and submissive, that we are willing to be converted into simple tools and instruments for their use and profit, and to desert the defence of our own sacred rights. Whatever course policy or wisdom might have dictated to this nation à priori respecting commerce, it is evidently too late now to retrace our steps; nay, we cannot do it, short of treachery towards the mercantile interest, and without rendering ourselves a subject of derision and contempt to all Europe. If we shrink on the present occasion from that bold and energetic course which the times seem to call for, what a respectable figure we shall cut in history! This will be our story:--“The American nation, finding her commerce in the Mediterranean pestered by the petty barbarous powers surrounding that sea, blustered and talked manfully like Bobadil in the play. Now this hero was invincible, or he would not have talked so valiantly. ‘Twenty more--kill them! Twenty more--kill them too!’ But the moment their rights upon the ocean were assailed by a nation at once respected and powerful, they meanly shrunk from the contest, and in vain did their admired Executive endeavor to rally the representatives of the people, in support of the firm and dignified measures which he recommended.”

If therefore it is clear, as I trust it is, that commerce is the great supporter of agriculture--that it is at the same time the most rational and most prolific source of revenue and riches to our country, and if, in addition to this, Government has pledged itself to a vast body of respectable citizens, in every part of the United States, to protect their property legally employed in commerce--to say that this commerce shall now be left to take care of itself--of all the insulting mockeries ever offered to this nation, this appears to me the most insulting. But with many, and I do not suffer myself to doubt, with a great majority of this committee, this question may be considered as at rest. Commerce is worthy of our protection. Our natural situation, and the laudable enterprise of our citizens, which leads them into every sea and to every land, have made it ours, and we cannot abandon it without being guilty of the most palpable folly.

Mr. MASTERS.--I shall not deny that Great Britain has insulted us by impressing our seamen, neither shall I deny that that nation has committed wanton aggressions and depredations on our commerce, and that commerce ought to be protected. That the resolution under consideration is the best course to be pursued for the interest of this nation, I shall contend against.

Restraints and prohibitions between nations have always arisen from two circumstances--the first, to promote their home industry or manufactures. The liberal price of wages, joined with the plenty and cheapness of land, which induces the laborer to quit his employer and become planter or farmer himself, who rewards with the same liberality which induces his laborers to leave their employment for the same reasons as the first: therefore, it is impossible for manufactures to flourish in this country in our present situation.

The case in most other countries is very different, where the price of labor is low, and the rent and the profit consume the wages of the laborer, and the higher order of people oppress the inferior, which I hope never to see in this country.

It may rationally be calculated that some of the Eastern and Middle States will eventually become manufacturing States; some of those States are nearly filled with people, and many individuals have large capitals employed in foreign commerce, to the amount in many instances of two and three hundred thousand dollars each. When peace takes place in Europe, and things come down to their natural standard, and they can no longer employ that capital to advantage in commercial speculations, they will withdraw the same from that employment; they must make use of those capitals somewhere; they cannot invest them to any advantage in our public funds, bank stock or other corporations, beyond a certain extent; they therefore, by the aid of water-works and machinery, will naturally employ those capitals in manufactures, and I trust the time is not many years distant. That is not now the case, and can have no bearing on the present question; indeed, it is hardly contended that the resolution is brought forward for that purpose; it must therefore be brought forward for some other purpose.

The other circumstance which gives rise to prohibitions between nations, arises from the violence of national animosity, which generally ends in war. This circumstance has brought this resolution into existence; the preamble speaks warlike language, and the whole taken together is a prelude to war with a nation who has two hundred ships-of-the-line, four hundred frigates, besides gun-brigs and other armed vessels, whose revenue is between forty and fifty millions sterling, who can go to war with us without any additional expense to themselves, who will sweep the ocean of American commerce, amounting to nearly one hundred millions of dollars. What then will be the situation of your carrying trade? What then will be the situation of your commerce and your country?

But the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. CROWNINSHIELD) has told us “if we go to war, we can do Great Britain the most injury.” The navigation of their merchant vessels is principally carried on under convoy. Some individuals may fit out a few privateers and capture now and then a vessel, and put some prize money in their private pockets; it cannot be of any advantage to the nation, which will groan under poverty and distress.

It appears to me a matter of great deliberation how far we ought to adopt the present resolution, by prohibiting the importation of British manufactures. In every country it ever was, and always must be, the interest of the great body of the people to buy whatever they want, of those who sell it cheapest. We cannot procure the same articles so cheap elsewhere; even should the measure not involve us in a war, prohibitions and revenge naturally dictate retaliation, and nations seldom fail to do it. The honorable mover of the resolution (Mr. GREGG) asks us “how it is to be inferred, we cannot abide by and execute this system?” It is to be inferred from retaliation, and observation of nations who have preceded us. When France, in 1667, laid discriminating duties on Holland, the Dutch retaliated by the prohibition of French wines, brandies, and the like: a war followed, and the peace of Nimeguen regulated their commercial disputes. About that time the English prohibited the importation of lace manufactured in Flanders; the Government of that country, which was then under the dominion of Spain, immediately retaliated and prohibited all importation of English woollens. Soon after this, the French and English mutually began their heavy duties and prohibitions, and have ever since been in commercial disputes, quarrels, and hostilities; and we, with our eyes open, are now going into the same system. The same honorable gentleman has also said it would attack Great Britain in her vitals, in her manufactories and warehouses. It seems a bad method of compensating injuries done to us, to do another worse injury to ourselves, which I believe will be the case by adopting the present resolution; it will have a natural tendency to retaliation and revenge.

Mr. SMILIE.--I am in favor, Mr. Chairman, of the resolution under consideration; and lest it should be supposed that I am an enthusiast in respect to commerce, and deserve to be classed among that desperate order of men called merchants, according to the representation which we have had yesterday from the gentleman from Virginia, I beg leave to make a few remarks on the abstract question, whether commerce ought to be considered as beneficial in its relation to the United States. I have long thought that there was an essential difference between what is, in the common language of the world, a splendid, and great, and a happy people. I have been led to think that the situation of the people of the United States, separated from the rest of the world by an ocean of three thousand miles, possessing an immense region of land, having full employment for all her people in the cultivation of the earth--having, from the variety of her climate and the difference of her soil, the means of supplying herself, not only with all the necessaries of life in abundance, but with many of its comforts, and even some of its luxuries--from these considerations, I have been led to think it had been happier if the American people, when they became an independent nation, had found themselves without commerce, and had still remained so. Thus circumstanced, they would certainly have avoided those dangers which flow from the weakness of an extended trade, and those luxuries which have hitherto proved so fatal to morals, happiness, and liberty. In my opinion, we should have been a happier people without commerce. Among the considerations which have induced me to believe that this would have been a happy state, is, that we should have enjoyed a perfect state of safety. We should not have been under the necessity of conflicting with foreign nations; because commerce, and commerce alone, can produce those conflicts. I have expressed this opinion, to show that I have not been led by any particular attachment to commerce, to take that part which I have declared I would do on the present occasion. But what was the situation of the American people when they first found themselves a nation? And what are the duties imposed upon us by the compact we entered into? As to any abstract opinions we may entertain on this subject, they ought to have no influence here upon us. I stand here on other ground, and dare not resist the dictates of duty. I was astonished yesterday to hear it mentioned by the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. J. RANDOLPH,) and boldly asserted, referring to the constitution, that the American Government was under no obligation to protect any property of its citizens one foot from the shore. I was astonished at this declaration, because I could see to what it went. I saw, if this was the opinion of the Southern States, where it would end. The situation of this people, when they became a nation, was this: the Eastern States might properly be said to be a commercial people, as they lived by commerce; the Middle States were partly commercial and partly agricultural; the Southern States, properly speaking, were agricultural. This opposition of character must have created great difficulty in forming the constitution, and, in truth, this and other points threw great obstacles in the way of its formation. But a spirit of concession overcame all difficulties. Is it, however, to be believed, that the Eastern States, properly commercial, or the Middle, partaking equally of the commercial and agricultural character, would have united with the Southern States, if they had been told that commerce was to receive no protection? No, sir, it cannot be believed. But I take higher ground--the compact itself, referred to by the gentleman from Virginia. Let us examine the powers vested in Congress under this compact, and decide whether commerce was, or was not intended to be protected. If there was nothing specific in these powers, the first page would show the intention of its framers. “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare,” &c. If we go on to the tenth page, we shall there find the power given to Congress, “to provide and maintain a navy.” Is the protection of commerce contemplated here, or is it not? In other parts of the instrument, we perceive the power to regulate commerce vested in Congress. Will any man pretend to say that the power of establishing a navy can be exercised independent of commerce? Every man of common sense knows that a navy cannot even exist without it.

Having sufficiently established the right of commerce to protection under the constitution, I come now to consider the resolution under consideration. We find our rights invaded by foreign nations, and an attack made by one nation on our carrying trade, which, in my opinion, cannot be warranted by the law of nations. I shall not condescend to argue this point. I believe it to be a lawful trade, let whoever may deny it. I have taken some pains to make myself acquainted with the subject, by reading several treatises upon it; and, notwithstanding the contempt with which a certain book was yesterday treated by the gentleman from Virginia, I will venture to predict that, when the mortal part of that gentleman and myself shall be in ashes, the author of that work will be considered a great man. Nor do I judge in this exclusively from my own opinion, but from the opinions of men of distinguished talents, from different and distant parts of the Union, who all concur in saying that the writer has conclusively established the principle he contends for. Indeed, I could not have believed, had I not heard it, that a Representative of the American people, in the face of the Legislature, would have relinquished so precious a principle! But there was a curious feature in all the luminous discoveries yesterday disclosed to us by the gentleman from Virginia, in which he strictly observed the rule of the rhetorician--where a point could not be justified, to get over it as well as he could. On the impressment of our seamen he said nothing. He knew that the American feelings would not bear it. When I think of what is called the carrying trade, I consider it a small evil compared to this. It has been compared to Algerine slavery, but it is worse. What is this impressment? Your citizens are seized by the hand of violence, and if they refuse to fight the battles of those who thus lay violent hands upon them, you see them hanging at the yard-arm. In the first place, they are obliged to expose their persons to murder, in fighting the battles of a nation to which they owe no allegiance. They are obliged to commit murder, for it is murder to take away the life of a man who has given us no offence, at the same time that they expose their own persons to the commission of murder. This is the true point of light in which I have always considered this horrid and barbarous act, for which, indeed, I cannot find language sufficiently strong to express the indignation I feel. This is the situation of our country. Our commerce depredated upon in every sea, our citizens dragged from their homes, and despoiled of all they hold dear. We are told we are not to mind these things--that the nation who commits the outrages is a powerful nation. But really, as an American, I cannot feel the force of this observation.

The gentleman from Virginia yesterday assumed it as a principle, and the whole of his argument turned on it, that this is a war measure, and that its friends are for going to war. Were I satisfied with the truth of this remark, I should change my mind with regard to the resolution. But is it a war measure? I believe the same duties and obligations exist between nations, as between individuals in a state of nature. If my neighbor treats me with injustice, I have a right to decline all intercourse with him, without giving him a right to knock me down. If we deem it our interest not to trade with a particular nation, have we not a right to say so?--a nation with whom we have no commercial treaty, and towards whom, therefore, in regard to trade, we have a right to act as we please? If a commercial treaty existed between us, it would be our duty to observe it; but, without one, we have an undoubted right to say whether we have or have not a use for her productions. If, then, this be a peace measure, why treat it as a war measure? But it is said that it will lead to war. Britain is said to be a great nation, high spirited, and proud, and therefore we must not take this step for fear of the consequences. Trace this argument--see where it leads us. It leads us to this: that, with a powerful nation we must on no account whatever quarrel, though she may commit ever so many aggressions on our right. No, we must not, let her go whatever length she may, until, on this same principle, we shall be called upon to surrender our independence, because we have to deal with a powerful nation! If we do not make a stand now against her aggressions, when or where shall we do it? But one alternative will remain--to bend our necks, to crouch beneath the tyrant, to submit without murmur to her insolence and injustice.

FRIDAY, March 7.

Importations from Great Britain.

The House again resolved itself into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union--Mr. GREGG’s resolution still under consideration.

Mr. SLOAN.--I do not rise to deny, but to acknowledge myself one of those horn-book politicians, alluded to by a gentleman from Virginia, and to assure this committee that I do not envy or begrudge that member either his superior genius, talents, or learning; and further to ask on behalf of myself, and others of this class, the favor of being permitted to deliver our sentiments on this, and other important subjects, in such language as we are capable of, until our constituents may have an opportunity of electing other members, of superior learning and talents, and farther advanced in political knowledge. This is a favor I hope will not be denied, otherwise a great number of American citizens, the remainder of this and the ensuing session, must go unrepresented.

In answer to the assertion that our late conduct respecting Spain was such as we dare not mention; that we dare not take off the injunction of secrecy; that we are ashamed to let the nation know the secret--permit me to assure that gentleman, and this committee, that I feel neither shame, nor compunction of heart, for the part that I acted in that business, not doubting that, when the injunction is taken off, and the public acquainted with the whole transaction, the real friends of the peace and interest of the United States will fully approve the conduct of the majority, (with whom I had the pleasure to act,) and which, were I, by side-glances and insinuations, to endeavor to impress the public mind with a belief that a majority of their Representatives had acted in a manner they were ashamed of, I conceive my constituents would thenceforth consider me unworthy of their confidence, and, consequently, of a seat on this floor.

We are told that we have no Cabinet. Is it necessary? is it recognized by the constitution? No! The President’s powers are defined, and have, for five years, been fulfilled to the satisfaction of the people.

I have heard of British Cabinets, British Ministers, and British Privy Councils. Of their conduct I formed a very bad opinion, before the member alluded to was out of his nurse’s arms, and have seen no cause to change that opinion. It is therefore pleasing to me to hear that we have no such institution.

Mr. Chairman, however great my gratitude to the member for his paternal care over the children in politics on this floor, which roused him from his sick bed to give his superior opinion upon this subject before our weak and feeble minds had been misled by Tom, Dick, and Harry, or some other arrogant chap that might have some knowledge of steering a ship at sea, but totally ignorant in navigating our vessel of State, I say, notwithstanding I gave all the attention in my power to his eloquent speech of two hours and forty-eight minutes, there were divers parts which my weak brain could not comprehend, and which I beg leave to lay before this committee for the purpose of receiving further information.

1. I cannot comprehend how our demanding the release of our impressed seamen, and restitution for unjust captures of our vessels, can be construed as throwing our weight in the scale of France, for the purpose of supporting a set of men who do not support the public weal of the United States.

2. Nor can I possibly discover that Great Britain stands precisely in the same situation that republican France did in ’93. For information on this subject, let me ask, was it not British gold and British intrigue that then formed the coalition against republican France? And is it not the same that has formed the present coalition against monarchical France? Have the armies of France, in either case, advanced beyond their own territory, previous to the raising and advancing towards them of powerful armies for the express purpose of subjugating them, and dividing their property among the coalesced powers? If the accounts received are true, they have not.

Before I sit down, let me ask the members of this committee, (especially you in whose ears the expiring groans of your brethren in arms--of your beloved fellow-citizens--yet vibrate; slain by the murderous hands of the mercenaries of Great Britain, or more barbarously deprived of life by famine or pestilence,) can you, while that same monarch reigns, and who, instead of diminishing, has added to the long and black catalogue of crimes set forth in our Declaration of Independence, which induced you to risk your lives in opposition to his tyranny; can you with complacency, or any degree of approbation, sit and hear that Government who continues her tyranny and injustice to these United States--witness the capture of our vessels and impressment of our seamen--held up by a member on this floor, as the only barrier we have against the tyranny of that nation who in our struggle assisted us with vessels of war, arms, ammunition, men, and money; whose soldiers fought by your side, and bled to support American liberty and independence, and whose Government continues friendly towards us? I hope not; I believe you cannot; your hearts must turn indignant from such language. For my own part I am free to declare, that, since I have had the honor of a seat on this floor, I have heard nothing that has so hurt my feelings. I have borne them in silence. I am happy in obtaining a few moments in my plain unlearned way to express them, that this committee and all the United States may know that I retain the same abhorrence against British tyranny that I did in the Revolutionary war, and also the same love for the liberty and independence of the United States.

Mr. FINDLAY said he had been long in the habit of observing, that, when a subject was discussed which occasioned numerous arguments, the question was often lost sight of. In the heat of debate, instead of the subject before them, the preceding argument became the text to him that replied, and his to the next who took the floor, and so on, in succession, until some member succeeded in calling the attention of the members to the original subject. Though the present question had but a few days engaged the attention of the Committee of the Whole, yet, in his opinion, several of the speakers on the floor had lost sight of it, further than he had formerly observed in so short a time. He would attempt to draw the attention of the committee from these desultory excursions, which settle no point in debate, and often have no visible connection with it, to the important question they were called upon to decide; and in doing so, he would take no notice of any thing that had been offered as argument, which was not necessarily connected with the question. He would neither be the advocate nor apologist for any one nation of Europe, nor treat any other nation with irritating contempt. Language of the kind that has been used within two days past in this House ought not to be admitted, unless we were employed in discussing a manifesto to support a declaration of war, and even for that purpose it is inconsistent with national dignity. He said, the subject before the House was a resolution, referred to the Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union, to prohibit all importation of goods the produce or the manufacture of Britain, or any of the British dominions; not to prevent Britain or her dependencies from receiving supplies of provisions, raw materials, &c., from us. It does not go to prohibit exportation; but even this should not be done without a very sufficient cause. Two causes are assigned in the preamble to the resolution; first, the impressment of our seamen; second, commercial aggressions.

Mr. F. asked, Was it ever known, in the history of independent nations, that any one nation impressed the citizens or subjects of another nation into their fleets, to fight against a nation friendly to that from which they had been impressed, and to receive no wages or emoluments unless they would enlist; which few of them ever do, except under the lash of the boatswain, which is applied if they appear reluctant to do the meanest drudgery, and who must of necessity hate the nation for which they fought? No, sir, this cannot be shown. The British Government has long been in the habit of impressing their own subjects for seamen. In France, we have been lately told in this House, conscripts are forced to the army. Perhaps the conscripts are the same that we have been accustomed to call the classes of militia in this country; but it is of their own citizens. Impressments to the navy are a very different thing. It is such an exercise of tyranny that it is hoped will never be exercised in this country. Yet, still, except in the case of our seamen, it is their own subjects: they do not impress Swedes, Danes, or Prussians.

A man impressed is condemned to a slavery of the worst kind. Slavery, for a limited time, is a suitable punishment for crimes; but the sentence with us, and in all nations, civilized or savage, is decided by known and responsible judges to be the breach of some law. But by whom is the sentence of condemnation to slavery passed on our citizens, sailing under the protection of our own flag, chargeable with no crime? Not by a court of justice in any form; not even by an officer of high responsibility; but by some young subaltern of a man-of-war, which is universally admitted to resort to the most arbitrary species of government existing. No other crime is alleged to justify the condemnation, but that he speaks the English language, or has become an American citizen, and no other judge but a lieutenant or midshipman selected for this exertion of tyranny.

We have not long since expressed a just abhorrence of slavery, by a very unanimous vote of this House; we have expressed a very commendable sympathy for the untutored sons of Africa, of a different color from ourselves, stolen or forced from their families and all that is dear to them; and shall we make no exertions to protect our own citizens from a worse kind of slavery? If the planters of South Carolina, or any other State where slaves are employed, should forcibly take any of our sons from the plough, or other lawful and necessary occupation, and set them to work with other slaves in raising cotton or rice, the outrage would be horrid, indeed, but not equal to the impressment of our citizens. The slave to the planter must labor, but he is not obliged to kill those who have given him no provocation, or to be killed himself, and he may be found and redeemed. Money redeemed our captives from the Barbary coast, and we felt for them, and advanced the price.

There is, sir, another point of view presented in the impressment of our seamen which ought to address our attention. It is admitted that several thousand of our impressed citizens are employed on board the British men-of-war, fighting against France. These, it is believed, are sufficient to man five ships-of-the-line. If by our silence we connive at this, or by our wilful neglect of such peaceable means as are within our power to prevent it, may not this be charged as a breach of neutrality--may it not be justly called war in disguise? But I forbear.

Commercial aggressions, such as capturing our merchant ships laden with cargoes of colonial produce, purchased in return for the produce of our own country and the property of our own citizens, and condemning, contrary to the laws and usages of nations, as approved and practised even by the British courts until August last, and openly in her decisions substituting the instructions of the court in the place of the law of nations, contrary to her own former practice, by which, it is acknowledged by the opposers of the resolution, the British courts have already condemned at least six millions of dollars, of the property of our citizens, on new principles, which not being known to the owners, it was impossible to provide against the events. Though these aggressions have hitherto been principally committed on cargoes of colonial produce, where only we can find a market for the produce of the Middle and Eastern States, yet the principles are equally applicable to much of our East India trade, and to the trade with France, Spain, and Holland, from which we derive most of the favorable balance of trade, which enables us to discharge the unfavorable balance of trade with Great Britain; and she can so apply them without giving notice of her intention at a time when she knows we have the greatest amount of property on the ocean. We cannot admit the plea of necessity, as suggested in a well known British pamphlet, and advocated without reserve by the gentleman from Virginia. To admit this would justify every possible aggression of the power at war against neutral nations. We make no war in disguise against Britain; we favor her as much as in our neutral station and commercial situation we can do. We bear with aggressions from her that would not be offered nor borne with from any other nation. The profits accruing from a favorable commercial balance with other nations is cheerfully thrown into her lap, and if we do not continue to do so it is her own fault. Justice and policy require that she should do so. Britain pretends no cause of complaint against us. We have readily removed such as she ever had. By pleading necessity, the aggression on her part seems to be acknowledged. Let her remove the cause.

Mr. EARLY.--Mr. Chairman, it is my intention, in submitting to the committee those observations which I am about to make, to confine myself entirely to the merits of the question under consideration.

Upon this, as upon another recent occasion, our attention has been summoned at the outset of the discussion to what gentlemen choose to call the spirit of the nation. We are told, that this spirit had been awakened by the events which led to the introduction of the resolution upon the table, and had called upon us in a loud voice, to adopt energetic measures for the vindication of our national honor, and for the protection of our national rights. The facts, sir, are incorrectly represented. The people of this nation, identified with the Government of the nation, will at all times stand ready to support that Government with the energies of the nation, when a proper occasion shall present itself. Governed by persons of their own immediate choice, they will confidently repose in such persons the determination of that question. Does it follow, that because they have pledged to us the support of the national energies, if in our judgment they are become necessary, that therefore we are called upon to take a course which may render them necessary? It is true that the apprehensions of the public have been excited lest a period had arrived in which it would be necessary to put to risk the national peace. Yes, sir, it is too true that alarm has been spread through every quarter of the Union. But by what means, and from what sources? It has been by the incorrect views of the nature and state of the interests at stake, with which our public prints have teemed. It has been by magnifying representations of the injuries really sustained on the one part, and on the other, by imposing calculations as to the sacrifices demanded to effect redress. These incorrect views of the subject are believed to have been the offspring of mercantile influence. It is from this source, by these means, and through these channels, that the public apprehension has been roused upon this occasion. But it is our duty to unmask the influence which has produced the evil, and to let the nation know the true state of the question now to be decided. To let them understand what the injuries are which we are called upon to redress, and the nature and extent of the interests which we are called upon to sacrifice in effecting it.

But, Mr. Chairman, the impressment of American seamen by British cruisers, is held out as one of the objects of redress in the contemplated measure. This, sir, is a grievance which no man will attempt to deny or palliate. It is an evil calling so imperiously for redress, that almost any sacrifice ought to be made, provided it would answer the purpose. But do gentlemen, can they seriously believe that this resolution will produce the desired effect? Can it be for a moment supposed, that a measure at best weak and inefficient--a measure which in its operation must press with fourfold weight upon ourselves, will produce any serious diversion in our favor, by increasing the number of objects, of which you intend to compel the surrender on the part of your adversary? My fear is that it would only make bad worse, and that instead of 1,500 seamen impressed on board British ships of war, we should have as many thousand made captives, and compelled to fight against their own country.

The resolution under consideration proposes an insurance upon terms vastly disadvantageous. The premium and the risk are out of all proportion. What, sir, is the premium? The sum of $800,000, the amount of revenue estimated to accrue from the carrying trade. What is the risk? The almost certain sacrifice of the agricultural interest of the nation--the almost certain event of a war, and the consequent risk of the destruction of the constitution and liberties of this nation. For one I cannot underwrite such a policy. I will not pledge my constituents to insure upon such terms.

But we are asked, must the carrying trade be surrendered? In return we ask, must the agricultural interest of the country be sacrificed to preserve it? Must we plunge into a war to preserve it? Must we put to risk the constitution and liberties of the nation to preserve it?

Mr. Chairman, this nation is at peace. We are happy in the enjoyment of our rights at home. We are prosperous beyond the example of any other people in the world. We enjoy the fruits of our own industry, abundantly supplied with all the comforts of life, and increasing rapidly in wealth by good markets for our produce. The merchants receive a profit upon their trade, coextensive with the highest wishes of rational men, and when confined to fair neutral commerce, pursue their occupations with security. Is this a state of things which should be put to the risk of chance for such a boon as the carrying trade? Is this a state of things which should be jeopardized for the profit of a few merchants in a few mercantile towns?

Mr. ELMER.--Mr. Chairman, I will rise to make a few observations on the subject now under consideration, but I will not detain the committee more than a few minutes. The resolution on your table is denounced by gentlemen as a war measure, but I cannot discern its tendency to that point. It is acknowledged on all hands that we have received from Great Britain repeated and grievous injuries. The whole American people are alarmed, and their feelings excited by the reiterated acts of oppression and insult. A gentleman from Georgia has told you that our constituents have not dictated any measures; it is true, they have not dictated, but they have complained, and they look up to the collected wisdom of Congress to devise a remedy for the evils under which they are laboring. This is the business upon which we are in part assembled, and it is the most important to which our attention will be called; we should therefore engage in it with all that seriousness and impartiality which its importance demands. Every member should divest himself of all national and party prejudice when he decides on a question in which the interest of his country is so deeply concerned. And can we, as men and as patriots, tamely submit to have our seamen impressed, and forced to fight the battles of a foreign nation, and to have our commerce embarrassed, interrupted, and perplexed, and the property of our citizens engaged therein condemned and made the property of the unjust captors? I trust not.

SATURDAY, March 8.

Importation of British Goods.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, on Mr. GREGG’s resolution.

Mr. ELLIOT.--To replace the present question upon the ground which it originally occupied, to examine it with a view to its real merits, and its merits alone, however hopeless might be the task, would certainly be a very useful one. It has indeed been considered as indicative of a species of madness to attempt to stem a torrent which is known to be irresistible; but it is said that there is sometimes method in madness, and there is always honor in a gallant death in a good cause. It is in vain to conceal the fact that this resolution is devoted to destruction; but its supporters owe something to their own feelings, and they owe much more to their country. It will probably be admitted, Mr. Chairman, on both sides of the House--for it will not be pretended that there are more than two sides upon the present occasion, whatever confusion of parties may sometimes appear to exist upon this floor--that a more interesting crisis of our national concerns than the present, in reference to foreign relations, has not existed since the adoption of the present constitution. Some of the best interests of our country are at stake. But it is not believed by all that our constitution and liberties are involved in any possible issue of this question. Before we even had a constitution, while the elements of our political system were almost without form, and void, the liberties of this people were safe in their own hands, and triumphant over the power of that nation whose vengeance, it is said, we shall provoke by the adoption of this resolution. Our constitution and liberties are safe. The scene is not so awful, but it is impressive. I repeat it, sir, we owe much to our country. The friends of the resolution are prepared for the fate that awaits it; but they have taken their ground from reflection, and they cannot, they will not abandon it against conviction, until overpowered, as indubitably they will be, in the contest.

Two classes of arguments are marshalled in opposition to the motion, one of which is addressed to our hopes, and the other to our fears. To our hopes--of what? Of honorable and successful negotiation, if this measure be abandoned. Great Britain will do us justice if we ask it once more. On what is this hope founded? Let us not go too far back. It was said in ancient times to be dangerous, and doubtless it is dangerous still, to rake open the ashes of a flame not yet extinguished. Do our hopes repose upon events of recent date? Upon the long-continued impressment into her naval service of many of our useful citizens, citizens entitled to the same rights with ourselves, except that they are not delegated to represent the people within these walls? An outrage which no nation but Great Britain practises, and to which no nation but America submits. Upon the constant interpolation of new principles, destructive of our neutral rights, into the venerable code of the laws of nature and nations, or rather the systematic perversion and prostration, to our serious injury, of some of the most sacred principles of those laws. We can soon dismiss this branch of the subject. Coolly and deliberately systematic, severe and unbending, has the injurious conduct of Great Britain toward us long been. Unconnected with strong measures on our part we can discern no reasonable ground for hopes so flattering. Prospects so delusive have no charms for the supporters of the resolution. We repose no confidence upon the justice and liberality of Great Britain, further than as those virtues may correspond with her interest. To that we wish to make an appeal. With myself it has long been a settled opinion, that she would go to war with us whenever it should be her interest to do so. We wish for peace, we raise our voices for negotiation, but for negotiation sustained by measures of an energetic and commanding character.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS.--Mr. Chairman, I feel the necessity of apologizing to the committee for that portion of their time which I shall occupy; not presuming to offer reasons to others why this resolution should not be adopted, I beg their indulgence, while I do that which presents itself at the time as a duty, to declare what are my reasons for voting against it; the deep stake my constituents hold in the measure is my apology.

Such is the magnitude of the subject under discussion, spreading itself over a prodigious extent, running to the heart of some of our most valuable institutions, subverting unmeasurably the plighted faith of the Government, and overturning the foundations of a considerable portion of our revenue, that I feel myself inadequate to trace its influence over even a ramification of that vast interest it lays hold of, much less do I pretend to a view of the whole ground; but, imperfect as that comprehension is, it takes in much more than sufficient to fill me with fear and trembling for its consequences.

We have heard, during the last three days of the present discussion, a great deal said about the spirit of the nation, and that it demands energetic measures. Sir, I ask the gentlemen who urge this as an argument, if there had been as much pains taken to apprise the nation of its true position with Great Britain as there has been to alarm it, whether its anxiety would not have been, at least by this time, quieted? If gentlemen, standing in such a responsible situation to their constituents, as they do upon this floor, had, instead of urging war measures, spoke out the plain language of truth, that at the date of Mr. Monroe’s last despatches, Lord Mulgrave had acceded to his request to enter upon an examination of the dispute between the two Governments, whether they would now venture to represent the spirit of the nation as excited in every part of the continent? I presume not. But whence do they learn that this spirit is so excited? It is true we have received spirited resolutions from two towns in Virginia, and a few well-written memorials from a few merchants at a few of the seaport towns refuting the British doctrine; but what else do they say? At Baltimore they believe “redress for the past may be found in amicable explanations.” From Philadelphia you are called upon for a naval force for the West India station. Why? To defend their trade in St. Domingo, I suppose, for that appears to be the pith of the memorial. The merchants of New York pledge themselves to support “all measures adapted,” reserving to themselves the right to judge--not such measures as may be adopted by Congress. From Boston “a special mission” is recommended. The inhabitants of the town of Salem tell you “they wish to take no part in the contests which now convulse the world.” Where else than from these documents do gentlemen find the spirit of the nation? Certainly not from the Cabinet, nor from the Executive, for if it were good authority to talk about what we hear out of this House, they have no such wishes. Is it fair then to force the passage of this resolution by attributing that to the nation which perhaps it does not feel; which it certainly would not, if it were fully apprised of its situation abroad, and which the memorials on your table do not speak? Does the resolution provide for “amicable explanations,” for a “special mission,” for a squadron on the West India station? No such thing, sir.

In arguing this subject it is material to ascertain what is the true cause of our present dispute with Great Britain, and to what extent it goes. I say cause of dispute, because it strikes me that, had not the present difficulty arisen, her insults offered in the impressment of our seamen, were in train for amicable adjustment, and will be arranged when the present uneasiness shall be quieted. It cannot be unknown to gentlemen that an investigation of that subject was nearly completed, and in fact would have been, but for the hasty departure of our then Minister from the Court of St. James.

It is taken for granted that the present aggravations originated in her attempts to cramp, say destroy, if gentlemen like it better, our carrying trade. This is the grand pivot on which the whole machinery of national honor, and dignity, and wrongs, and insults, is made to turn. Yes, sir, this carrying trade which Spain and Portugal once shared, but could not retain; which Holland attempted to monopolize; which Van Tromp and De Ruyter fought for, but which she was obliged to relinquish; this carrying trade is the bone of contention for which the sweat, the blood, the lives and fortunes of the American people are to be lavished in maintaining. And what is this carrying trade? Is it any thing different from a partial right, which but a very small part of the community can enjoy, which but a small portion of that part do improve? Is it not a right which is still problematical--whether the exercise is of real national utility? There are many who believe it has been of no solid advantage to Great Britain herself, notwithstanding she has possessed a much greater share of it than any other nation. Certainly it has been the cause of several long and ruinous wars to her, and if we look back a little upon our own experience, we shall see it has been the germ from which has sprung all our difficulties with that Government since the commencement of a political hurricane--the French Revolution. Since that period our commerce has become a rival of increasing strength with that of Great Britain, and finding it to grow in this branch above competition to the exclusion of hers, she has commenced a system to counteract it, and has commenced it, I have no hesitation in saying, mildly, to what it will progress, if we drive her to it. Gentlemen are surely not unmindful of the untamable pride of that Ministry; they cannot forget that it is formed of men who never do acts of aggression by halves, and who feel no other restraints than those of power. National rights, injuries, and insults, are not graduated on the scale of their policy. The only inquiries with them are, Can we gain by the war? Is this the time to strike the first blow with the most effect? I need not give an instance of this fact. If Great Britain ever had waited for a just cause of war, that is, when she wished for it, we might console ourselves with our safety in agreeing to this resolution; but it is well known that she never did, and in my opinion, with her present Minister, she never will.

The committee now rose, and had leave to sit again.

MONDAY, March 10.

Importations from Great Britain.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union, on Mr. GREGG’s resolution.

Mr. CLARK.--A sense of duty, prevailing over personal inclination, compels me, Mr. Chairman, to offer a few remarks on the subject under consideration. The measure now under discussion appears to me to involve the best interests of our country; the prosperity, the happiness, and the liberties of America tremble before it. In the hands of the resolution are contained the issues of life and death, and it would be criminal in me not to throw in my mite to rescue our common country from the impending danger. The course which I shall take will differ in some degree from that pursued by those who have spoken in opposition to the resolution. I shall not attempt to draw any marked discrimination between the varying interests of the country, or invidious distinctions between the agricultural and commercial interests. I think they are so essentially united, that one cannot fall to the ground without tumbling the other headlong into ruins. I shall consider the subject relatively to its general policy, and whether, on the principles of that general policy or conditional compact, as has been contended by gentlemen, we are bound to adopt the resolution. If I shall succeed in convincing a single gentleman now in favor of the resolution, that we are not bound by the constitution, and that it will be impolitic to adopt it, I shall consider this amongst the happiest events of my life.

The great objects of our federal engagement, in forming the compact under which we now live, were to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of society. Under this constitution gentlemen call upon us, under the pretext of promoting the general welfare, to adopt a resolution which manifestly goes to the promotion of a minor interest. This compact, in providing for the general welfare, must mean that of the whole, or at any rate, of the larger portion of the community; it was never designed to promote a subordinate interest at the sacrifice of the general prosperity. Are we then bound by the constitutional compact to adopt this resolution? I think not. Thus much as to the constitutionality of the question.

I must consider this resolution as a war measure, and viewing the policy and present situation of Great Britain, against which it is pointed, I have no hesitation to say, that in my opinion, it will produce instantaneous war. A maritime war, for such a one she will wage, will not add one item to her present expenses; neither will it embarrass her measures on the continent? It can have no such effect. She has eight hundred ships on the ocean, flushed with victory and conquest, and a part of her navy is at this moment triumphantly sailing almost in sight of your shores, ready at any moment to seize, should that course appear expedient to her, all our vessels navigating the ocean. It cannot affect her continental operations. The war she will wage, will be altogether maritime. Her navy cannot be essential against her continental enemies in Europe. Already have their fleets been annihilated. The victories off Trafalgar and in the West Indies, have cleared the ocean of almost every sail, and there remains no employment for her navy but to depredate your commerce; and she will do it, you may rely upon it. Those are but indifferently acquainted with Great Britain and the genius of the first Minister, who suppose all the power in their hands will not be made use of. Gentlemen tell you this is not contemplated as a permanent system of commercial arrangement, but a temporary expedient, which by its pressure is to bring our rival to a sense of duty, and make her do us justice. But this temporary measure will have on Britain all the effect of war. Declare war to-morrow, and it can only affect her trade. Can you believe that she will, with all her advantages, remain quiet? It is not her character; she will not do it. I should think contemptuously of her if she should. Will she suffer you to take war measures and not retaliate? Will she be more afraid of you with your four thousand troops, dispersed over the whole western country, and your thirteen armed vessels rotting in the Eastern branch, than of that power whose conquering arm has extended the limits of his sway beyond former comparison, and whose ambition is bounded only by the habitable world?

Mr. EPPES.--After the discussion which has already taken place on this subject, I shall not consider myself authorized to occupy much of the time of the House. As, however, I have on some occasions ventured to express my opinions on this floor, I cannot reconcile to my feelings a silent vote on a question interesting to the people of the United States generally, and particularly so, to that portion of country which I in part represent.

Whatever difference of opinion may prevail within these walls as to the course which ought to be adopted towards a nation which under the pretence of right has commenced a system of warfare and pillage on our commerce, I hope for the honor and interest of our country we shall finally unite in something. If in a free country there is any principle which ought universally to be admitted, to enforce which reasoning or demonstration should be necessary, it is, that every class of citizens is equally entitled to protection. To secure to man his personal rights, and the fruits of his honest industry, are the two most important objects of a free Government. The Government unwilling to use for that security the means of which it is possessed, does not deserve the support of freemen. Our constitution makes no discrimination between different classes of citizens, nor can we in our legislative capacity. The citizen whose capital is vested in a ship has an equal right to protection in using for his benefit and happiness that ship, with the cultivator of the soil in using his plough. To arrest by violence his ship, and confiscate his property, is to the merchant the same injury as it would be to the farmer to arrest his plough and destroy his crop. In each case the citizen must look to the community for the removal of every obstruction thrown by violence in the way of that perfect freedom in the use of his property which constitutes its value. It is true, and no man will deny the correctness of the principle, that every nation has a right to abandon any particular commerce injurious to its interests or dangerous to its safety. This is the natural right of all nations, and particularly of free countries, where the general welfare of the community is the supreme law. While, however, a commerce remains lawful, the citizen embarks in it with the same right to expect protection as in any other lawful occupation; for a Government to refuse it, is a violation of that fundamental principle in free government; that protection on the part of the Government is the basis of support on the part of the citizen. If we are unable or unwilling to interpose in behalf of our citizens, when their personal rights have been invaded--their property captured and condemned under principles unknown to the law of nations--let us give up the farce of pretending to self-government, and go back to the degraded state of colonies.

The ground of difference between the United States and Great Britain is too well known for me to dwell on this part of the subject. It has been stated on this floor by a gentleman from Massachusetts, in terms clear, forcible, and manly. The impressment and detention of our seamen is an injury which has justly excited the indignation of the people of America for the last ten years. Every attempt to arrest by negotiation this serious injury has failed, and each year adds new victims to the roll of impressed seamen. The recent captures of American property to the amount of six millions of dollars, under doctrines new and manifestly unjust, is a serious injury to the individuals and to the community. And although I have no doubt, as has been eloquently stated on this floor, that American merchants have in some instances disgraced that character by covering the property of the enemies of Great Britain, I am equally certain that the injuries done to bona fide American merchants, trading fairly on American capital, are sufficiently numerous to justify and demand the interposition of this Government.

While, however, I have no doubt as to the right of the citizen on the one hand to demand protection, and of the duty of the Government on the other to extend it to him, I am willing to acknowledge all the difficulties of our present situation. I consider it no disgrace to this infant nation to say we are not able to meet on the ocean a nation--a match on that element for all the world combined. I hope the period will never arrive when the substance of the citizen here shall be squandered on a navy competent to meet on the ocean the navy of Great Britain. Separated from the rest of the world, at too great a distance to fear invasion, possessing a country abounding with productions valuable to the different nations of Europe with whom we have commercial relations--if we are not able to meet on the ocean Great Britain or any other European power, we can say to them all, Respect in your intercourse with us the principles of justice, or we hold no intercourse with you; if you will not traffic with us on principles that are fair, we will neither receive your manufactures, nor send to you our productions. We are now for the first time about to test this principle so important to a nation jealous of fleets and armies. Of the various measures of the kind which may be resorted to--high discriminating duties--a prohibition of certain enumerated articles, a general prohibition, and as a dernier resort a suspension of all intercourse, are the remedies within our reach. It is a mere question of convenience and expediency to which of these we shall resort. I should prefer for myself, as a first step, the mildest. It is not, in my opinion, the interest of this nation to dissolve at a single blow its commercial connection with Great Britain. The commerce, if carried on, on principles that are fair, is mutually advantageous to the two countries. In Great Britain we find the best market for our most valuable productions, and with us she finds the best market for her manufactures. To prohibit, at a single blow, imports to the amount of thirty-five millions of dollars, however injurious it might be to the manufacturers of Great Britain, would certainly be a serious injury to our own citizens. I cannot but hope that a milder measure will cause the British Government to respect our rights and pursue a course manifestly dictated by a regard to its own interest. If, however, Great Britain is so lost to her own interest as to persevere in a system of injustice calculated to deprive her of the best market for her manufactures--a market daily increasing, with the increasing population of this infant country--let us on our part proceed with that caution and moderation, which shall evince that the course we are determined to pursue is founded on principle, and will never be abandoned until our wrongs are redressed. I am willing to adopt for the present a prohibition of enumerated articles; if that shall fail, to pass hereafter a total prohibition, and finally, to put forth our whole strength, and say, we hold no future intercourse with you; but dissolve for ever all commercial relations with a nation, which takes for its national law the base principle of necessity, and makes itself the exclusive judge of that necessity.

Mr. NICHOLSON said he had been desirous for some days to offer to the committee his opinions on the subject now under consideration; but as other gentlemen had manifested a similar disposition, he had yielded the floor to them. It was now his intention to offer such remarks as appeared to him pertinent.

The resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. GREGG,) in his opinion, was objectionable in all its parts. There was no point of light in which he could view it, in which objections did not present themselves. He read and commented on the preamble; the style of which he said he did not like, because, instead of a spirit of amity and conciliation, it breathed little less than defiance. While we profess to speak the language of peace, we declare to Great Britain, that unless she will meet us at that precise point which we think proper to mark, we will, in the words of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, stab her in the vitals. While we declare that we approach her as friends, yet our style is that of an enemy. The olive branch that is held out conceals a dagger in its boughs. This threatening manner he said was not calculated to preserve peace in private life, and how could it be expected to succeed between nations? Did gentlemen imagine that Great Britain, even surrounded as she was by her enemies, was yet so tame as to submit to threats? Was the character of her first Minister so little known, as to induce a belief that he would tremble at the rod held over him? No, sir, they are not sunk so low; and if we really wish for an amicable adjustment of our differences, we ought to proceed as friends and not as enemies. A mere commercial regulation, he said, might not, perhaps, produce war; it was the threat held out in the preamble, and the hostility manifested on the floor of the House of Representatives, that were calculated to wound the national pride of Britain, and, therefore, to excite enmity between the two countries. What does the preamble say? We have marked a point from which we will not recede, and to which we demand that you shall come; if you do not, we strike at your most essential interests; in the language of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, we will stab you in your vitals. Is this the way to conciliate? Is this your method of opening a negotiation? Believe me, sir, instead of presenting the olive branch, we carry a firebrand that will kindle a flame which we may find it difficult to extinguish. Great Britain will feel all this--she will at once ask, is it fair, is it manly, is it honorable to threaten me now, when I am contending for all that is dear to me? Will you insult me in my distress, and while you sustain my enemy on one hand, with the other endeavor to unnerve the arm which you acknowledge is raised in defence of its own existence?

If the subsequent parts of the resolution were unobjectionable, the preamble itself would determine me against the whole. To preserve peace, let us proceed to our object in a peaceable manner. If, indeed, gentlemen are for war, then they are right in advocating this measure.

The resolution, he said, embraced two points: the one related to the carrying trade; the other to the impressment of American seamen. The latter had always been a source of great anxiety to him. No man in America had deplored the evil more than he did, and none should be more ready to apply the remedy, when an effectual remedy could be devised. To him, however, it was a matter of no little surprise, that gentlemen had so long slept upon a subject, on which they now appeared to manifest so much zeal. He himself twice proposed measures with a view to obtain redress, but he had not been able to carry them through the House. Gentlemen, who now zealously volunteered their services, rendered him no assistance then. At the last session he had introduced a bill on the subject, and such were the variety of objections to it, that it was committed and recommitted several times. Difficulties presented themselves from all quarters; alterations and amendments innumerable were adopted, until finally it was shuffled through the House, in so imperfect a state that it was not worth the time which had been spent on it. Strong measures were not then the order of the day, nor would they be now, if the impressment of American seamen was the only ground of complaint. Great Britain has pursued this practice for ten or twelve years past, but these patriotic merchants, who are now so clamorous, presented you with no memorials on the subject. No, sir. It is the carrying trade alone, which has covered your tables with the memorials of the merchants, because their interests are affected, and it is out of this that the resolution of the gentleman from Pennsylvania has grown. Although I do not admit the correctness of the principle assumed by Great Britain, in relation to the carrying trade, yet I am willing to acknowledge that with me it is an object of secondary importance only, when compared with the other violations of our flag, in the impressment of our seamen.

I have thus endeavored to show with what success the committee must determine, that, by adopting this resolution, we hazard a war; that the course of commerce will be materially, suddenly, and, therefore, injuriously changed; that inasmuch as we cannot procure from other countries many important articles with which Britain supplies us, the revenue will be much diminished; and that the value of our own products will be lessened to an incalculable amount. Having been a considerable time on the floor, I feel extremely exhausted, and will, therefore, close my remarks, although it was my wish to have said much more on this subject; particularly to point out the different effects to be produced by the adoption of the measure now under discussion, and that which was submitted by myself. To my own proposition, however, I am not exclusively attached. I have thought and do still think it the best which has been proposed. This I trust will be the opinion of the House. Believing the conduct of Great Britain towards this country not to be justified, I am willing to unite in such measures as may induce her to do us justice. But I will not go to the extent proposed in this resolution, because I am persuaded it will operate much more injuriously upon ourselves, than upon those whom we intend to affect by it.

Mr. MACON.--Mr. Chairman, I feel myself bound by the call which has been made by three gentlemen from Pennsylvania, (Messrs. GREGG, SMILIE, and FINDLAY,) with whom I have long been in the habit of friendship, a friendship on my part sincere, to state the reasons which will govern my conduct on this occasion; whether they may be satisfactory to others or not, they are perfectly so to me. That a difference of opinion subsists between the members with regard to the measures best adapted to the present crisis of our affairs, is evident from the number of resolutions on your table. An attempt has been made to liken this resolution to one agreed to in 1793; but are they alike? I think not. That was general, and operated alike on every part of the Union, while this, in my opinion, is special, and will only operate on one part of the Union; and this partial operation will be severely felt by that section of the country which I in part represent. Besides this clear difference in the two resolutions, will not all the three gentlemen agree that there is a great and striking difference in our affairs with Great Britain--in 1793 and now? Her motives may be as unfriendly now as then; but I speak of facts known to all, not of motives; she then held the western posts, she then detained an immense property belonging to the Southern people, both in violation of the treaty of peace. She then instigated the Indians to war on the frontiers, and then, as at this time, impressed our sailors and captured our vessels; besides, the United States had not then relinquished the principle, that free ships should make free goods. In relinquishing this principle, they, in a great measure lost sight of the carrying trade, by peaceable means; but, if gentlemen wish to turn to Europe, they will find that, in 1793, the treaties of Pavia and Pilnitz were in force. Let the facts which I have stated be compared with those of the present day, and all must confess that there is a very considerable difference. I have said this much to show that there is no analogy in the facts of the present time and those of 1793, and that there is no change of opinion in me. If, however, I am mistaken, it is an honest mistake.

This nation, in my opinion, must take her choice of two alternatives: to be happy and contented without war, and without internal taxes; or to be warlike and glorious, abounding with what is called honor and dignity, or in other words taxes and blood. If it be the first, the people will continue to enjoy that which they have hitherto enjoyed--more privileges than have fallen to the lot of any nation with whose history we are acquainted; they will, as they have done, live plentifully on their farms, and such as choose, will carry on a fair trade, by exchanging our surplus productions for such foreign articles as we may want. If we take the other ground we shall, I fear, pursue the same career, which has nearly, or quite ruined all the other nations of the globe. Look at the people of England, legally free, but half their time fighting for the honor and dignity of the Crown, and the carrying trade, and see whether they have gained any thing by all their battles for the nation except taxes, and these they have in the greatest abundance. Look also at France, before the Revolution, and we shall see a people possessing a fertile country and fine climate, having the honor to fight, and be taxed as much as they could bear, for the glory and dignity of the grand monarque. Let us turn from these two great nations, and view Switzerland during the same period; though not powerful like the others, we shall see the people free and happy without wars, contented at home, because they had enough to live comfortably on, and not overtaxed. The history of these three nations ought to convince us that public force and liberty cannot dwell in the same country.

I mean not to impute improper motives to any one, nor to examine the Journal after changes, though I am perfectly willing to have it thumbed over, from the day I took a seat in the House to the present, after my name; and if, on examination, it shall appear that I have changed my political principles, or have not uniformly adhered to them, I am willing to bear the name of a political hypocrite. I have formerly been, on very great questions, in very small minorities; on a most important question, in a minority not sufficient to command the yeas and nays. I will say no more on this subject; nothing can be more disagreeable than to talk about one’s self, and nothing could justify it but the call which has been made; perhaps I have already said too much on it, but it was impossible to say less.

The dispute with Great Britain is most unquestionably for the carrying trade; a trade which is less beneficial to the nation than any other, and a trade which has produced most of our disputes with foreign nations, and it is the only trade that requires expensive protection. Will any one contend that this trade is half as important as the coasting trade? This cannot and will not be contended, for every one knows that the coasting is the best trade. It not only exchanges the products of one part of the nation for those of another, but it also tends, by making us better acquainted with each other, to connect us more intimately, and to make every part harmonize for the public good. The trade which I consider the next best for a nation to carry on, is the direct trade for home consumption, by which the surplus produce of one country is exchanged for that of another; and in this as in every branch of trade, this great rule will be adhered to--buy cheap and sell dear if you can. With the coasting and direct trade agriculture is more nearly connected than with any other. But a nation may be agricultural without being commercial. The Swiss cantons and Milan were of this description, and it may be remarked that Milan is the most populous country in Europe. China is said to be of the same character; but, as little is known of that country, I shall not quote it to establish a fact which is clearly established by the other two. A country may also be commercial without being highly agricultural, as was the case with Venice and some other European powers. But let us pursue that system which our own experience has proved to be the best for the United States; for, since the adoption of the present constitution, and before this day, we have had trying times. It will be remembered, that during the French Revolution, we had complaints against France. Her government issued orders of which we justly complained; one of them, I believe, declared all the productions and manufactures in Great Britain to be contraband of war; this, if executed, would have nearly cut off all communication with a nation with whom we carried on the greatest trade. What did we then do? We sent ministers to France, with two of whom she refused to have any intercourse, but pretended to be willing to negotiate with the other. All the ministers finally returned home, and we took half-way measures against her, which are the worst of all measures, and which produced a sort of half war, which I believe injured us more than her--for besides the actual expense, which may be estimated at not less than $10,000,000, it nearly ruined the agricultural people by reducing the price of produce; flour it reduced from twelve and fourteen dollars per barrel to six; and tobacco, from ten and twelve dollars per hundred to three; and it had no doubt the same effect on other articles of exportation. And how were we relieved from these evils? We again sent ministers, who were received, and they made a treaty. Besides what has been before stated of the conduct of Great Britain, it will not be forgotten that she declared all France in a state of blockade, and this order would have cut off all commercial intercourse with her, who then wanted much of our produce. To Great Britain, also, a minister was sent, and he made a treaty. I am now desirous that the same steps should be pursued before we adopt decisive measures. We once laid an embargo, of which we tired. This shows the necessity of acting cautiously, and of taking no measures which we cannot adhere to. All the gentlemen who have supported the resolution now under consideration, have expressed doubts whether it would produce greater effects on Britain or ourselves. This is surely doubting its policy, and if its policy be doubted by its friends, what ought to be the result of our inquiries, especially when it is believed that its adoption will materially injure one part of the country, and that part entirely agricultural? Does the public good, about which we have heard so much, require that a measure which its friends seem to think of doubtful policy, ought to be adopted, when none can doubt but it will injure, if not sacrifice, the real interest of a part of the community? Examine the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, and it will, at one glance, show from what quarter the great export is made to Great Britain; cut off the import, and you will lessen the price of the export, if it shall be exported. But we are told that we are bound to protect commerce, meaning, I suppose, that this resolution must be adopted. Then if we are really bound, and there is no discretion, nothing of expediency, there is no occasion for this investigation. But gentlemen well know, that on every question, discretion may and will be exercised. But have we really done nothing for commerce and navigation? On this subject I can confidently appeal to those most interested. What, since the adoption of the present constitution, has made this the second commercial nation in the world? Before that we had but little claim to the character of a commercial people. Have not the protecting duties on the tonnage of foreign vessels, and on goods imported in them, produced the effect? They have secured to our vessels the carrying our own productions, which encourages navigation in proportion to their bulk. Let gentlemen inquire the number of cargoes which tobacco and cotton alone furnish the American vessels. Besides this encouragement given to navigation, has not a law been passed to favor the fisheries, and thereby to form sailors for the use of the merchant service? It may be right here to observe that I neither approved nor voted for that law, but no attempt has ever been made to repeal it. This is the encouragement by which, during a time of peace, we have become the second commercial nation in the world, and this too in the short space of time since the adoption of the present constitution--say, if you please, since the 3d of March, 1789. One consequence, a little curious, is produced by this encouragement, which is this: When Europe is at peace, the protecting duties prevent any competition by foreign vessels to carry our productions, and when at war, so many of our vessels carry for the belligerent nations, that freight is nearly as high with us as it is with them, so that what the agricultural people pay in time of peace to encourage, they lose the benefit of when Europe is at war, and when it is most wanted.

Among the arguments urged to show the effect of this measure on Great Britain, one is that it will ensure us a powerful aid in that country; that the British merchants and manufacturers, whose interests will be seriously affected, will give you all their assistance. This argument has been completely answered by a gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. EARLY.) But if gentlemen really calculate to make friends on the other side of the water, it seems to me that a different plan would produce more effect. Cut off all intercourse between them and us, and adhere to the plan long enough, and you will find the merchants and manufacturers of England joined by all the inhabitants of the West Indies, to have the intercourse opened. The Assembly of Jamaica have acknowledged that they cannot get supplies in plenty except from the United States; but this plan would operate as much on beef, pork, fish, and flour, as on tobacco or cotton. But this would be too strong for them, while they are desirous to adopt a measure which will have the same effect on cotton and tobacco. What is this but a sacrifice of a part of the agricultural interests of the country to what they believe will be a protection for the carrying trade? I should like it quite as well if the attempt was not to be made solely at the risk of one part of the Union. The evil is felt in one part, but the remedy is to be applied in another. Adopt general measures, which will operate equally in every part of the country, and if the shoe is to pinch, let it pinch all alike, and all will then be willing to have it off as soon as possible.

I am willing to acknowledge that a dollar got by this carrying trade, and made the property of the nation, is just as good as a dollar got any other way, even by the cultivation of land. But does it follow from thence that you are to make more sacrifices to get the dollar in that way than it is worth? I think not. The adoption of the resolution, besides its unjust and partial operation, will considerably affect the revenue, and no ways and means are proposed to meet any deficiency. On the present question we risk a revenue of ten millions of dollars raised on the consumption of foreign articles in the Union, to gain--what? (I speak only of revenue) an additional sum of $850,000, which additional sum you will lose as soon as you depart from your neutrality. It is asked again and again, if we have not a right to the trade about which so much has been said? If the doctrine that free ships should make free goods had obtained, there could be no doubt on the question; but I mean not to examine the right but the effect of the resolution; nor do I mean to deny that the trade is of some use to the nation. Merchants would not so anxiously pursue it, if they made no profit by it; and their profit adds to the national stock, and may affect the price of native articles offered for sale. I am also willing to acknowledge that a cargo of flour or any other native production sent to the West Indies, and there fairly exchanged for sugar, and the sugar brought home, that the sugar is as much ours as the produce of our own soil, and this sugar so obtained we have a right to carry to those that may want it. But the question before the committee is not a question of right, but of expediency. Is the protection which will be given to this carrying trade, by the adoption of the resolution, of that sort and of such certainty, as to justify the adoption of a measure, which will operate excessively hard on one part of the Union? The right of deposit at New Orleans before we purchased the country, was certainly as well established as our right to carry coffee and sugar to France and Spain, or any where else--it was a right acknowledged by treaty. But when the deposit was refused, what did we do? we took pacific measures, and succeeded. We heard then much about honor and dignity, and that it was our duty to enforce our right by arms; but notwithstanding all this, we adopted no measure like the present; we then acted for the general welfare. Does it follow, because I am opposed to the resolution, that I am unwilling for our citizens to own vessels? It does not. I am willing they may have as many as they please, and do as they please with them, so that they do not involve the nation in war by them. On this subject the interests of the husbandman in New Hampshire and Georgia are the same.

The gentleman who introduced the resolution expressed a wish that no party or geographical feelings should be brought into the debate. If there was no cause for geographical feelings, why then wish, or why anticipate them? Let the report of the Secretary of the Treasury be examined, and it will be seen that there is cause for this feeling; indeed, the statement, made from that document by a gentleman from Georgia (Mr. EARLY) must have convinced all of the partial operation of the resolution. On the first page of the report it appears, that the annual exports to Great Britain and her dependencies are estimated at about $15,690,000, of which sum, tobacco and cotton alone make $8,860,000; it also appears, that we exported to the dominions of Great Britain in Europe, for each of the three years ending on 30th September:--in 1802, the sum of $12,066,521; and that cotton, tobacco, rice, pitch, tar and rosin, made of that sum $8,485,762; in 1803, the sum of $16,459,264, and that the same articles made of that sum, $11,912,493; in 1804, the sum of $11,787,659, and that the same articles made of that sum, $9,443,807. These articles are selected, because they are the produce of one section of the Union. The same part of the country produces the following articles in common with other parts of the nation, but the proportion of each is not known:--flour, wheat, beef, pork, staves, heading, boards, plank, scantling, timber, flaxseed, skins, wax, hams, bacon, turpentine, spirits, lard, and Indian meal, and I may add, pickled fish; some of these articles are carried to the Middle and perhaps to the Eastern States, and are there exported, or consumed; and, if consumed, enable them to export more of their own productions.

It has also been said, that if we adopt the resolution, and cannot get what we want from Great Britain, we will manufacture for ourselves. This sounds well on this floor, but I very much doubt the practicability of making this nation manufacture for itself, while we have land enough for every industrious citizen to become a landholder, and a cultivator of the soil. Connecticut and Massachusetts have tried the experiment, and both without success, and both on articles in which it was most likely to succeed; if these States, with their population, could not succeed, what chance of success is there in other States? The practicability ought to be satisfactorily shown before we enter on the plan. It may, as has been said, prevent our wives from wearing silk gowns, and ourselves from wearing broadcloth; whether it will produce this effect is quite uncertain; fashion is as great a tyrant as any we have to contend with; it will, I fear, be difficult to destroy its influence by legislating. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. SMILIE) and myself, plain as we are, are both obliged in some degree to yield to it; we can no more contend with it, than we can fly to Europe.

I come now to that part of the subject where every man must feel the injury done to his fellow-citizens; I mean the impressment of our seamen. Is there a father who does not feel this? No; not one in the nation; and that man who shall devise a certain remedy for this evil, will deserve the thanks of his country; he will, indeed, be its greatest benefactor; he, like the impressed sailor, will have a place in the tenderest part of the hearts of his countrymen. If a plan to prevent this injury was only made known, the very knowledge of the plan would put an end to the injury. But can gentlemen seriously believe that the adoption of the resolution will produce this effect? The means are not adequate to the end, I conceive; at least, it remains to be shown that they are. I will, without hesitation, state what I believe to be the best remedy for the evil. It is this: to agree with Great Britain that neither country shall employ the sailors of the other; and to agree, also, on the proof that shall be required on both sides; we might expect that Great Britain would adhere to an agreement of this kind, because it would be her interest to do so, and on her interest alone, I should rely. In considering this subject, we must look at things as they really are, and not as we would wish them to be. The British Government exercise the right, or rather the power, of impressing their sailors; and, I believe, in time of war, of prohibiting their going into foreign service. Under these circumstances, it may be advisable for us not to employ them, notwithstanding we may do it with their consent, especially if it would prevent their impressing our countrymen. If the merchants really be the friends of the American sailors, they would willingly agree to such a regulation. If they would not be willing, is it not clear they would employ British sailors at the risk of having ours impressed? On this subject it might not be improper to state that I have been informed, in some parts of the world, certificates of persons being American citizens are sold, and that the market has been well supplied. I have also been informed that a British officer in Philadelphia actually procured one for the purpose of enabling him to go home. This favored Great Britain. I have given this information, to show that others, besides citizens, may obtain certificates. Impressments, I fear, can only be prevented by negotiation; indeed, I have heard that the two Governments have been engaged on this interesting subject. I hope it will be resumed, and that it will end in securing to our countrymen their safety on the ocean.

We are told that the nation calls for strong measures, that the President has recommended them, and that men of the greatest talents think them requisite. This may be true, but as I have neither seen nor heard of this call of the nation, and as I do not know the opinions of others, I shall certainly pursue my own. The first Message of the President to Congress, most unquestionably pointed as strong towards Spain as it did to Great Britain; and, hitherto, but little has been said about the usage we received from her. But the recommendation of the President alone, is not always a good reason for legislating, I apprehend, because every President has recommended subjects for the consideration of Congress, on which no act was ever passed. If ever the liberties of this nation are destroyed by strong measures, it will be when the recommendation of the President shall alone be deemed good cause for their adoption. At present, we have choice of all the resolutions on the table, notwithstanding all that has been said in favor of the one now under consideration. No doubt can be entertained, but the mover of each thinks his own the best. From the number, it would seem there was no difficulty in finding remedies for the injuries we have received.

Again: we must adopt this resolution, or we shall be degraded. This is no new phrase to me; I have formerly heard it so often, and on so many occasions, that I have become a sort of a skeptic on it. We shall not be degraded by living in peace with all the world. We shall not be degraded by not following the example of the European nations, by rushing into war, on every opportunity that may offer. War is nothing but another name for blood and taxes; we shall not be degraded, being free and happy at home; but we shall be degraded, if we fail in paying the national debt, or if we refuse to observe treaties constitutionally made. This will be the worst kind of degradation, because it will proceed from a want of morality. In order to induce us to adopt the resolution, we are seriously told that the revenue is derived from commerce. This I deny, and say that it is derived from the whole labor of the community. Stop the laborer in his field, and the revenue is gone. Commerce is useful, it is the means by which our productions are exchanged for the productions of other countries.

It has been said that the land tax overthrew one Administration; adopt this measure, and you may possibly overthrow another. I doubt whether the gentleman who made the assertion is altogether correct in point of fact; it may have aided, but other laws were passed, which undoubtedly had more effect, and were more obnoxious in the part of the country where I live. I mean the attempt to raise an army without an actual war; an army of officers, almost without soldiers; the Alien and Sedition laws. It was also said, we were pledged to protect this carrying trade. This reminds me of what I once heard said before, which is this: that we were pledged to pay the salaries of certain judges, after the law was repealed under which they were appointed. I believe we are as much pledged in one case as in the other, and not more; I know of nothing binding in this country, except the constitution and the laws. A majority of both Houses of Congress may pass a law to give the carrying trade what protection they please, and that law will be binding. We are also called on to become the champions of the laws of nations, as if all nations would at once agree with us what these laws really are, and as if a majority of them adhered to their principles; when we know that scarcely a nation in Europe pays any regard to them; and that they will, at different times, entertain different opinions on the same subject. Have not most of them formerly declared, that free ships should make free goods, and have not some of the same nations since given up the principle? Before we undertake this business, would it not be prudent to endeavor to ascertain the opinions of other nations, whose interest may be most like our own? I wish no alliance with any of them; but, if all the nations of Europe should be willing to yield the principle which we are desirous to maintain, no man will be mad enough to say we ought to contend for it. There is certainly a great difference of opinion as to the nature of the measure. Some think it a war measure; others that it may lead to war, and others again, consider it entirely pacific. Without attempting now to inquire which of the three opinions is most correct, it is sufficient for me, that I believe it will not produce the effect intended, and that its operation on the United States will be partial. If, however, it should be adopted, and produce war, that war we must support with all our strength; and if it produce a good effect, I, for one, will rejoice as much as any man in this House. A great many appeals have been made to the spirit of 1776; that spirit was not only the spirit of liberty, but also of magnanimity and justice; all the measures then taken operated equally on every part of the Union.

It is said, this is the right time to settle all our disputes with Great Britain, because she is now hard pushed. If we wish to make a treaty that may be lasting, we ought not to take any unjust advantage of her situation; if we do, whenever she shall be free from her present embarrassments, she will be discontented and restless under it, and never satisfied until she gets clear of it. The true rule for us, is to take no advantage, and in all cases to act justly.

I agree in opinion with the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. SMILIE,) that war destroys the morals of the people. Hence I was greatly surprised when he followed this correct sentiment with an assertion that he would rather have war than loss of national honor. This thing called national honor has ruined more than half the people in the world, and has almost banished liberty and happiness from Europe. Destroy the morals of the people, and we may play over such a game of war as has been played in France; nothing less than to perpetuate the liberty and happiness of the nation ought to induce us to go to war.

It is a little remarkable that the United States have, since the adoption of the present constitution, become the second commercial power in the world; when, if we believe the public prints, she has lost capital enough to have ruined the most wealthy nation in Europe. Million after million is lost, and yet her prosperity is unrivalled, either in ancient or modern times. I know full well that, according to the opinions of the writers on the laws of nations, we have just cause of war against Great Britain. I also know as well, that we have heretofore had as good a cause of war against both Great Britain and France. We then preferred peace--the result has been prosperity. What destroyed the prosperity and liberty of Venice, of Genoa, and of Holland? Wars, and wars, too, generally undertaken to protect the carrying trade.

TUESDAY, March 11.

Importation of British Goods.

Mr. MACON.--Much has been said about the spirit of the nation, and that we are far behind it--meaning, I suppose, those who oppose the resolution. As to my part, I know not how the spirit of the nation has been ascertained. There is no manifestation of it on the table. It is, however, true, that two towns have sent resolutions pledging their lives and fortunes to support whatever measures Congress may adopt. There are, also, several memorials from the merchants and insurance companies; but if gentlemen take these for the manifestation of the national spirit, they are, I think, mistaken. The national spirit is to be found nowhere but among those who are to fight your battles. These people may, for aught I know, be of that number. They may have been before Tripoli, and they may now be ready to enter into the army or navy. Addresses, we well know, will not fight battles, nor fill regiments. We have seen, in former days, the Speaker’s table loaded with addresses from almost every part of the Union, pledging, also, their lives and fortunes to support any measures that the then Administration might adopt. What was done? Among other acts, one was passed to raise twelve regiments of infantry. There was no difficulty in getting officers--unless, indeed, it was to make the selection out of the great number who applied--but how was it about privates? Instead of getting enough for the twelve regiments, scarcely enough for four could be enlisted. At that time, too, we heard a great deal about the spirit of the nation, and saw a something of the spirit then talked of, in a corps called the ---- Blues. Those who then spoke of the spirit of the nation were deceived. They took the vaporings of the towns and the noise of the addressers to be really the spirit of the nation. But, be assured, sir, that whenever the spirit of this nation shall move, every individual, in every department of the government, will move too.

The ocean must be considered a common and undivided property, to which each nation has a right; hence the difficulty of affording the same security and protection there as on land, where each knows the spot where his dominion ends and his neighbor’s begins. It is vain, therefore, the real situation of the United States being considered, to expect from her that perfect protection on the ocean which she can afford within her territorial limits. I believe this cannot be done, even to that part of the ocean from whence we get our exports. Other nations also frequent the same place, for the same purpose. This, like the rest, is joint property. Not so with our land, no nation pretends to claim a right to cultivate that.

The gentleman from Vermont (Mr. ELLIOT) has told us, that by adopting the resolution we shall encourage other European nations to manufacture for us. It is, I conceive, quite enough for the agricultural part of the community to pay their money to encourage the manufactures of this country. It is as much as I am willing to do. But what certainty have we, if we adopt the resolution, and give the proposed encouragement, that any of them will leave their present occupation, be that what it may, to take our advice? Each one of them may think that their interest is as well understood at home as we can possibly understand it.

The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. BIDWELL) stated the case of our prisoners at Tripoli, as a case in point. He is, I think, mistaken. We were at open war with that power, when the frigate Philadelphia unfortunately struck on the rocks in the harbor of Tripoli. The result is known. The enemy got possession of the vessel, and the crew were made prisoners of war. There then existed a state of actual war between the United States and the Tripolitans. In the present case we have just cause of complaints against Britain, and are endeavoring to have them settled by negotiation. I will state a case which seems to me to compare better with the situation of our unfortunate countrymen who may be now impressed on board the British ships of war. It is the case of Captain O’Brian and his crew, who were captured by the Algerines, and remained with them so long, that I believe the captain, in the latter part of the time, dated all his letters to his friends by the year of his captivity. I have understood they suffered as much as any people could bear. We had then, I believe, no addresses, no resolutions, nor memorials from the merchants and insurance companies. But this case may not be thought to apply to that part of our complaints which relate to the capture of our vessels, carrying coffee and sugar to France and Spain, by the British armed ships. I will state one which I think has some; it is the case of Scott, of South Carolina, which has been decided in this House. He claimed pay for property taken by the Indians at a time when no open and declared war existed. He got nothing from the national Government. The United States in a treaty gave the property up to the Indians. I believe, at the time it was taken, some hostilities had been committed. Permit me here to observe, that no agent was appointed by the Government to endeavor to recover this property, and that I well recollect, when the claim was under debate, that it was stated by a member of the House that one of the Indian agents had got the treaty, at his desire, so formed, as to relinquish a claim for the property.

I have endeavored to confine my observations to the resolution now under consideration, and to answer some of the arguments urged in its support; though I confess, that, while examining this, I have also paid some attention to the others on the table. I wish gentlemen, before they vote, would seriously consider whether this is the best. I think it is not. When we reflect on the happiness we enjoy, the prosperity of the nation, the growth of the villages, towns, and cities, the improving state of agriculture, the number of turnpike roads, bridges, and canals, which are undertaken in many parts of the Union, and that one improper act may alter for a time this happy state, and retard every improvement, we ought to be cautious before we change the ground on which we stand. Complaints have been made of delay on this important subject; they are, in my opinion, without foundation. It required serious deliberation and no time has been lost. It is always far better to decide rightly than quickly. It is immaterial to other nations what estimate we form of our own strength--there are two rules by which they will judge: the number of men and the state of the treasury. Indeed, it seems of late to have become a maxim in war, that the longest purse is the longest sword. It is true that we have a single million in the treasury to spare; it is equally true that resolutions are before us, which, if adopted, will require at least that sum to carry them into execution. In this situation, ought we to take measures which may endanger the revenue without providing ways and means to meet any deficiency? We talk of war with an almost empty treasury; no two things can be less connected, except that they are both bad. I have stated that which appeared to me to be the best plan to secure our seamen from impressment; but the man who shall actually produce the plan which shall have the effect, will deserve the gratitude of the nation.

In this time of difficulty we are all embarked in the same ship; my ardent prayer is, that whatever shall be done, may promote the interest and happiness of all.

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL.--Mr. Chairman, I rise to submit to the committee some of the reasons that will govern my vote on the measure now under discussion. In doing this, it is not my intention to go over the various grounds taken in this debate, or to answer the several arguments that have been advanced, in support of principles to which I am opposed. My object will be to lay before the committee such a view of the subject as I conceive best calculated to ascertain the true ground on which we stand, and the measures which, in the present crisis of our affairs, it would be advisable to adopt.

I am not disposed, Mr. Chairman, to pursue measures that will crimson the American fields with the blood of her citizens, any more than other gentlemen who have spoken on this subject; nor am I willing that thousands of innocent persons should suffer distress and ruin, for the benefit of a few individuals--a few merchants; which, it has been stated, will be the effect of the measure before you; neither, sir, will I ever give my vote for any measure that shall appear to me calculated to sacrifice the agricultural interest of this nation to that of commerce, or have a tendency to enhance the latter at the expense of the former; and so far as the resolution before you appears to me likely to produce this effect, I shall oppose it. The people whom I have the honor to represent are chiefly agriculturists, and it will always be my wish and my pride, to support their interests, and to cherish and promote the agricultural interest of this country in general, so far as it may be in my power. But I am not, at the same time, prepared to see the nation suffer, without resistance, every indignity with which Great Britain may choose to treat her, and submit patiently to every aggression and outrage her cruisers, under her authority, may choose to commit on our citizens and our commerce. I conceive it our duty to take such measures as will prove to the world a determination on our part to resist injuries and maintain our rights. In regard to the commercial relations of this country with foreign powers, I deem it proper on this occasion to declare it as my opinion, which I have always entertained, that it would have been better for the American people, if Government had never given protection to commerce, out of sight of our own territory, or beyond the reach of our cannon from our shores. It would have been well for us, if the American flag had never floated on the ocean, under the authority of Government, to waft to this country the luxuries and vices of European nations that effeminate and corrupt our people, to excite the jealousies and cupidity of those powers whose existence, in a great degree, depends on commerce, and to court, as it were, their aggressions, and embroil us in their unjust and bloody contests. If we had guarded against those pending evils by leaving commerce to seek her own protection, except within the limits of our own jurisdiction, we should have had a fair prospect of continuing to flourish a free, independent, and happy nation, much longer than I fear will be our destiny to do, if we continue to become more and more entangled in European politics and intrigues--to be subject to feel the effects of European convulsions, and national contests, in consequence of being deeply engaged in commercial relations with European powers. If we had adopted this policy, foreign nations would have vied with each other for our commerce and our friendship, and would convey the surplus productions of our country from our storehouses, and furnish us in return with those articles and manufactures of their countries, which our necessities or convenience might require; and we might then behold the collisions of the great powers on the continent of Europe, and their jarring interests contending for superiority, without endangering our peace or our happiness, and with no other inconvenience than the regret we might feel for the miseries and sufferings of that portion of the human family, with whom, however, we had no immediate connections.

But, Mr. Chairman, we have assumed the character of a commercial nation, abroad as well as at home. Our Government has, in some degree, pledged the nation to protect commerce, and under this impression our citizens have embarked largely in trade, and made considerable progress therein. The enterprising spirit of our merchants has raised this nation to rank, in regard to commerce, the second in the world, and from this source also, our revenue is chiefly derived. Under these circumstances, I am not prepared to say this is the propitious moment to retrace our steps, and without even giving notice of our intention to do so, abandon our merchants and their property to the rapacity of a foreign nation. I conceive, on the contrary, it is our duty to afford them such protection as the resources of our country, and the prospects we have heretofore held out, would authorize them to expect.

In examining this subject, the first important inquiry that presents itself, is, in regard to the grounds of complaint which have occasioned the resolution before you to be proposed. There are two. First, the impressment of our seamen; and second, the unjust, and, as we believe, unauthorized aggressions committed on our commerce by the cruisers of Great Britain. If you look at the documents on your table, you will see that our seamen have been impressed by that nation for years past, without the color of right, and in a manner, which it is not pretended, on this floor, is authorized by justice, or sanctioned by the laws or usages of nations. They have been treated in the most inhuman manner, if information is to be relied upon; compelled to perform the hardest duty in her ships of war, and forced against their will to fight her enemies, who were at the same time on terms of friendship with us. They have been taken from sea to sea, and from place to place--from one country or island to another; shifted from ship to ship, and often sent to distant parts of the world, so as to place them beyond the research of their friends or their country, and put it out of the power of either to reclaim them, by producing the proofs required of their citizenship to obtain their liberation. It has been stated that Great Britain has always been willing to deliver up such impressed seamen as were proved to be bona fide American citizens. But this is a fallacious pretext on her part, from which little or no benefit can arise to us. She impresses our people, without inquiring in regard to their citizenship, or paying the least regard to their protections. Their friends knew not where to find them, the Government cannot ascertain where they are, and years sometimes pass before it is known whither they have been carried. It has, therefore, in most cases, been found impossible to procure their release, and restore them to their friends and their country; and there are at this moment, unjustly detained by that nation, between two and three thousand of our seamen; who have been impressed without any other pretext, than that they spoke the English language, or resembled, in their persons, the inhabitants of the British empire. Our Government has, in vain, remonstrated, time after time, on this subject to the Court of St. James. No satisfactory arrangements could be obtained, nor is there any fair ground to expect a change in the conduct of that Government in this respect. Complaints have been made and repeated in every quarter of the Union on this subject. The outrages committed on our citizens have made an impression on the public mind, that demands on our part the adoption of some decisive measure to correct the growing evil. It has, indeed, been said by some gentlemen on this floor, that there exists the prospect of the fair adjustment of our differences with Great Britain on this subject. I would ask those gentlemen, upon what information this opinion is founded? For myself, Mr. Chairman, I know of no just ground to authorize such expectation. The documents on your table do not justify a belief, that there is at this time the least prospect of adjustment. They inform us, there was once such a prospect, but that it has long since vanished; and so far as we can collect information from those documents, as well as from other sources, there is not to be found in the conduct of the British Ministers, the slightest foundation for a belief that they are disposed to relinquish the ground they have taken, unless it is rendered necessary by some effective measures on our part. I would then put it to gentlemen to say, if we are not at this time to take any step whatever, towards vindicating our violated rights, when will be the proper time for us to act? Have we not patiently endured those injuries long enough? And if not, how much longer must we tamely submit to them? What time can be more favorable than the present to resist them? Will it be when Great Britain has got into her possession a greater number of our seamen? When, instead of near three thousand, she will have gotten six, eight, or ten thousand? Will it then be a more proper time to make a stand--to call upon her by some efficient measure to do us justice--to treat us as an independent nation, or to tell her, that we will at least cease to treat her as a friend? I presume not, sir. I cannot conceive it proper that we should wait for such an event, before we make a stand in defence of our rights. On the contrary, it is my opinion, there can be no time more likely than the present, to render effectual any measures we may adopt. The present state of the war in Europe, which sufficiently occupies the great powers in that quarter, if properly considered, and its probable results, in regard to us, duly weighed, ought, it appears to me, to convince any man of reflection that this is the most favorable moment to insist on finally adjusting our differences on this subject with Great Britain. The right of our seamen to protection, while they sail under our flag is undeniable. It is a perfect right, as much so as the right to be protected within our houses, or in our carriages on the highway. You ought, therefore, never to abandon it, on any pretence whatever; nay, sir, you cannot abandon it, in justice to your citizens, unless, indeed, you are willing to surrender your independence as a nation. The ocean is a highway for all nations, over which no one power has exclusive jurisdiction. If you resign this right now to Great Britain, what reason have you to believe she will not push her demands further, and urge you to resign another, that may be still more important? It is high time that this business was brought to a final close, for if your seamen are to be seized wherever they are found on the ocean, you had better strip your ships of every sail they carry, confine your citizens within the limits of your own jurisdiction, to fight your own battles, should it become necessary, rather than see them exposed against their will, in fighting the battles of a foreign nation.

The second ground of complaint is the aggressions committed on our commerce, contrary to the law of nations, and in violation of every principle of justice. Great Britain assumes to herself the right to interdict to neutral nations a commercial intercourse with the colonies of her enemies, except under such modifications as she has been pleased to prescribe. She justifies the capture of your vessels on the ground of their being engaged in a commerce, during the war, that was not open to them in time of peace. If this principle be once admitted as correct, and carried to the full extent of which it is capable, it will be found, in its consequences, almost wholly to destroy, not only the commerce of this country as a neutral, but that of every neutral nation in the world. You are told you must not in time of war exceed your accustomed traffic in time of peace. What is the consequence? War, in a great degree, destroys the trade which you were accustomed to enjoy in time of peace, as a great part of it becomes contraband of war; and this new principle shuts up all the avenues of commerce that were opened, in consequence of, or even during the war. What commerce, then, let me ask, will be left to the neutral? None, sir, that will deserve the name of commerce. But the reasons advanced in support of this principle, will go still further to show its destructive consequences. One of the reasons given why you must not carry on this trade, is, because it is beneficial to the enemies of Great Britain, as you thereby furnish them with provisions and other articles of merchandise, which relieve them from the pressure of the war, and prevent her from deriving all the benefits she otherwise would do, from her superiority at sea. If there is any solidity in this reasoning it will go the whole length to prohibit you from carrying the productions of your own farms to any nation the enemy of Great Britain. Your provisions, bread stuffs, beef, and pork, are surely as useful for carrying on war as the produce of the West India islands. She has hitherto, it is true, applied this reasoning only to the productions of the colonies, but it will equally apply to those of your own country. Hence, the injustice and absurdity of the principle must appear evident to every discerning and unprejudiced mind. But she has already, in carrying into effect her new principle, gone further than merely to prohibit neutrals from carrying colonial produce directly to the ports of her enemies. She has laid the groundwork to prevent you from carrying to those ports your own productions. Your vessels are seized and condemned for being engaged in conveying to her enemies colonial produce, which has been fairly purchased and paid for by your citizens, brought to this country, and, according to your revenue laws, made a part of the common stock of the nation. If there is a shade of difference in principle between this case and that in which the produce of your own farms should be captured on its way to the same enemy’s ports, it is as flimsy as can be conceived to exist. When your people have purchased the productions of other countries, and fairly paid for them; brought them into your own, and complied with your municipal regulations respecting them, they become neutralized, and as much a part of the common stock of the nation as if they had been raised on your own farms; and the same principle that would inhibit you from carrying these to the ports of a belligerent, would, by parity of reasoning, prevent you from carrying to the same ports the productions of your own farms.

But, Mr. Chairman, let us for a moment inquire whence Great Britain derives the right, according to any known principle of law or justice, to seize and condemn colonial produce, the property of a neutral, in consequence of its being destined for the ports of the parent State, her enemy? Strangers can acquire no rights against each other, in consequence of the domestic regulations relative to commerce, which a power independent of them may choose to establish. Suppose France, by law, in time of peace, should prohibit the importation of colonial produce to her ports, on the continent, except in her own vessels, Great Britain could have no right to capture an American vessel engaged in such trade. France alone could rightfully seize and condemn such vessel for the infraction of her laws; but no other power could have such right. Suppose such prohibitions removed by France during a war, and the trade declared lawful, could Great Britain thereby acquire a right to capture such vessels for being engaged in a trade now declared lawful, which she could not do when it was unlawful? Certainly she would not. Such doctrine would be contrary to the plainest dictates of reason and common sense. She had no right to capture such vessel while the prohibition continued, and she could not certainly acquire the right by such prohibition being removed. The intervention of war cannot alter the case, for the rights of neutrals, except as to contraband, remain the same in time of war as they were during peace. I must therefore consider this principle assumed by Great Britain as a flagrant violation of the law of nations, contrary to every principle of justice, and such as ought not to be sanctioned by this or any other independent nation. If you tamely submit in this instance, she will assuredly push her aggressions still further; encroach on your rights, step by step, as her convenience and interest may require, until she has effectually destroyed your commerce, and monopolized to herself the whole of its profits. That part of our commerce that becomes immediately subject to the operation of this new principle, has been stated as very unimportant, and under the name of the carrying trade, has been ridiculed as not meriting the notice of Government. A very few remarks however will, I apprehend, show that it is not so insignificant as has been represented. In our trade with Great Britain, there is a balance in her favor of nearly twelve millions of dollars. This balance must be paid out of the proceeds of the exports of the United States to other countries. Many of those countries that consume a great portion of our produce, cannot give us specie in return. Our merchants must, therefore, in all such cases, return the produce and manufactures of such countries instead of specie; and, as the quantity of foreign produce and goods thus received exceeds the amount necessary to supply the demands for consumption in this country, it becomes important that this surplus should be carried to other markets, where there is a demand for it, and where specie can be obtained in return. This has heretofore been done by our merchants, by first importing such foreign produce into our own country, and then re-exporting the same for a market; and by means of this trade alone have they been enabled to discharge the balance against us in our trade with Great Britain. The annual value of imports into the United States amounts to about seventy-five millions of dollars; of this, twenty-eight millions are re-exported to all parts of the world, and of that amount, eighteen millions go to the dominions of Holland, France, Spain, and Italy--the greater part of which is subject to capture by the new principle of the law of nations acted upon by Great Britain. This is the carrying trade, sir, which gentlemen have considered so unimportant as not to merit the attention of Government. Instead of estimating this trade at $850,000, as gentlemen have done, being the net revenue derived therefrom, (and which is not considered as paid by citizens of the United States,) it may fairly be estimated at nearly eighteen millions, or about one-fourth of the whole of your imports, nearly in the proportion of eighteen million to seventy-five. For if your merchants are not permitted to re-export the surplus foreign produce to those markets where there is a demand for it, it will remain on their hands and rot in their storehouses. This would also sink the price of your own produce, as there could not be a sufficient demand for it, because your merchants would not receive in return foreign produce. Your trade must, therefore, be diminished nearly in the proportion before stated. I ask gentlemen if this trade is cut off, how your merchants are to get specie to meet the balance in favor of Great Britain of twelve millions of dollars? If this cannot be done, your imports must diminish in proportion as the means of remittance fail, and your revenue must also feel the shock, and suffer in the same proportion as your importations are lessened. This is a view of the subject which I presume deserves at least the serious consideration of gentlemen, and I beg of them to pause before they agree to relinquish, without a struggle, this portion of our national rights--for, if you submit in this instance to the interdiction imposed by Great Britain of carrying colonial produce to the ports of her enemies, she will assuredly advance her pretensions, as already stated, still further, and insist on the right to prohibit you from supplying them with your own; and it may fairly be asked, on the ground she has taken, where is the difference between sending colonial produce to her enemies and sending your own produce? The quantum of injury to her, and of benefit to them, will be the same; and she will have nearly the same right to prohibit in the one case as in the other. This shows the necessity of taking some decisive step that will convince Great Britain that we are determined not to submit to these aggressions; that will tell her, in firm and manly language, thus far you may go, but not farther. On this subject, also, our Government has remonstrated to that of Great Britain without effect. No satisfactory arrangements could be obtained, and there is no greater prospect of an amicable adjustment of our differences with that nation at this moment than there was a year ago, nor have I any idea that we shall find ourselves in a better situation in this respect, one, two, or three years hence, if we tamely acquiesce, than we now are. There is, therefore, no ground for delay; we can derive no benefit from it; this is the time we ought to act, the most propitious that is likely to present itself.

But, it is insisted, this measure will produce war; I consider it entirely in the nature of a commercial regulation, and such as cannot, as already stated, give any just cause of war. But, it is asked, will Great Britain inquire whether it is, or is not, just cause of war? Will she not consider it so, because it is against her interest? If gentlemen will have it that Great Britain has abandoned every principle of justice, it is vain to expect she will, on any occasion, be governed by reason, or motives of propriety, in her conduct toward us; if she is totally regardless of common right, and governed by her interests alone, she waits only a more favorable opportunity to give our commerce a more deadly blow; and it is, therefore, high time to withdraw ourselves from all connections with her. But, I am not prepared to go this length; I cannot believe a great nation, who holds a dignified rank among the powers of the earth, would expose herself to the indignation and derision of the world, by abandoning all respect for justice and public right. I must believe she still retains some regard for her national honor; and, if not for her honor, she does for her interest: all that she could say, with any color of justice, would be, that she has the right to adopt other regulations on her part to counteract yours. Let us inquire into the effect of such regulations. She may say, your produce shall not go to her colonies, her islands, or any of her dominions. If she takes this measure, she will prepare the most effectual scourge for her own subjects. She will reduce the inhabitants of those islands not only to a state of starvation, but force them at length, in all probability, into insurrection. We have already witnessed the complaints of those people to the mother country. We have seen the picture they have drawn of their sufferings and distress, and their declarations that they cannot exist without the produce of the United States. How, then, shall Britain retaliate? She cannot do it effectually without injuring herself more than she will you. Hence, I am clearly of opinion, the adoption of proper measures on our part--of measures similar to that before you--would be likely to produce the desired effect in the conduct of Great Britain toward us.

It has, Mr. Chairman, been observed by a gentleman from New York, (Mr. MASTERS,) that national animosity produced the resolution before you. I regret that such an idea should be expressed on this floor. I know of no such animosity, but I believe, on the contrary, if a national partiality exists in this country, it is in favor of Great Britain; not that I believe such partiality criminal; but Great Britain being the parent country, speaking the same language with ourselves, and so many of her subjects becoming citizens of this country, there is naturally felt a degree of attachment towards the people of that nation. If these feelings do not go too far, they are laudable; but in regard to a national animosity to Great Britain, I do not believe it exists in this country, at least to any considerable extent. If gentlemen mean that this animosity exists against tyranny, I hope it will eternally exist, so long as its cause exists.

But, Mr. Chairman, I hope we shall not cherish animosity against France, any more than against Great Britain. Nor do I wish us to cherish partiality for either. There was, I believe, sir, a time when the people of this country felt a generous impulse in favor of the French nation. The flame of liberty that issued from the bosom of America, during the Revolution, had kindled up anew in France, and promised for awhile to illuminate the whole world. The American people rejoiced at the prospect, and felt a generous sentiment of enthusiasm towards those who appeared to be advocating the cause of liberty and the freedom of man. But I am not prepared to say, that their flame has continued to burn, or that the expectations it created have been realized; but I may, I presume, say, there is no ground to believe that this nation entertains a criminal animosity against or partiality for either Great Britain or France. The same gentleman has observed, what I admit is too true, that Great Britain governs the commerce of the world. This, however, is the strongest reason that could be advanced, against a tame submission to every act of aggression which that Government may choose to commit on your commerce, unless, indeed, you are willing to acknowledge a national pusillanimity, and an inability to resist injury. If we are unable to oppose Great Britain on the ocean, and she will persist in her unjust violation of our rights, let us withdraw from all connections with her--confine ourselves within the limits of our territory, and live independent of her luxuries and her commerce, on the productions and manufactures of our own country.

To conclude my remarks on this subject, I will briefly repeat, that I am decidedly of opinion, the conduct of Great Britain is such, in impressing our seamen, and capturing merchant vessels, on the ground of their being engaged in a trade with her enemies, not open to them in time of peace, is manifestly unjust and unauthorized by the laws of nations. I conceive we have an undoubted right, without giving just cause of war, to regulate our own commerce, and to say from what nations we will, or will not, import articles of consumption; and what description, and under what circumstances. I also believe it our duty at this time to adopt some decisive measure on the subject, that will evince to Great Britain our determination to resist aggression, and to maintain our rights. I would, sir, prefer a measure in which we could, and would persevere, unless it should be found our interest to change it--a measure that would be least likely to paralyze our revenue or affect the agricultural interest. With this view, I would prefer, in the first instance, imposing additional or discriminating duties on certain specified articles, imported from Great Britain; such as would give the preference to other European markets. Or, if more agreeable to the majority of this House, I would concur in interdicting the importation of such articles. And if this should not prove effectual, I would take still stronger ground. I would prohibit the importation of all merchandise, the growth or manufacture of the British dominions. And, should it become necessary, I would cut off all intercourse with that nation; which would effectually starve her West India islands, and compel her to come to just terms, or abandon her colonies to distress and ruin. These measures I am willing to take, and support in succession, as the occasion may require; and in doing so I shall act under the conscientious and perfect conviction that they are for the good of the nation; that they are necessary to vindicate the injured rights and insulted honor of my country; and that country will, I am confident, in this, justify my conduct.

Mr. JACKSON.--My conviction of the importance of this subject will plead my apology for the trespass I shall make on the time of the committee. I purpose to take a rapid review of the points in discussion between this country and Great Britain, and to touch lightly upon the arguments of gentlemen, who have contended that it is better to surrender them than to assume an attitude of resistance, or to adopt measures perfectly pacific for the purpose of producing a relaxation of the arbitrary systematic attacks upon our neutral rights; for, with one or two exceptions, the objections adduced go to sanction the opinion that the commerce in question ought to be abandoned; and that this Government ought not to do any thing to protect it. The measure presented to the consideration of this committee is calculated to produce a redress of the grievances complained of with so much justice. First, the capture of our vessels sailing on the high seas, in strict observance and obedience to the law of nations; and, secondly, the impressment of our seamen, bona fide citizens, protected by the flag of the nation. While we are discussing the proposition of resorting to a remedy to redress these evils, we are met by gentlemen who deny that it is right to do any thing. First, because the Executive has not recommended any particular measure; and, secondly, because the trade under consideration is fraudulent, and the citizens impressed are the subjects of Great Britain.

With regard to the first allegation, that the Executive has not recommended any specific measure, was it not objected under a former Administration that the Executive interfered improperly in legislative measures? Congress possesses the constitutional power of declaring war, and should the Executive recommend a declaration of war to us, I presume we should hear much of the Executive attempting an undue and indecent influence over our legislative powers; for, judging by the past, I have no doubt that whenever such a recommendation shall be made by the Executive, it will be opposed by the same persons who now call for his recommendation, and express dissatisfaction at his withholding it.

But it is asserted this trade is fraudulent, and it is dishonorable to protect it. So much has been said and written on this subject, that it is altogether useless to combat the arguments urged on this floor; for it is not because a celebrated pamphlet, without an author, has been written on the subject on this side of the water, vindicating the fairness and legality of the trade, or as gentlemen will have it, surrendering the question at the threshold, or because another equally celebrated has been written on the other, declaring it “War in Disguise,” that we will consent to be concluded on the question, as they are all free game, and ought to pass for nothing unless their arguments carry conviction to the mind. The question resolves itself into the consideration whether this trade is fraudulent or not. Can we exchange our productions with the colonies of the belligerent nations--bring here theirs, and carry any surplus beyond our wants to other nations? I conceive that we can; common sense sanctions the opinion. Gentlemen, however, say we cannot. That the property is not changed, but still belongs to the original owner of it, and that our neutral flag fraudulently covers the enemy’s property. But gentlemen deal in a mere coinage of the fancy when they say so. I demand their proofs; they will not accept our opinions; and I with equal propriety reject theirs. How will they show that this is not our property? It is said that a want of capital is a proof of it; but, on investigation, it will be found, that the American capital is fully adequate to the carrying on this trade. Do not we find our merchants engaged in the trade to the East Indies, which requires a capital of three and four hundred thousand dollars, and if the trade to the West India islands be equally profitable, is it not to be presumed that they will likewise engage in it? If this property does not pass by the transfer, as we contend it does, it may be maintained that a horse sold in the open market will be subject to an execution subsequently issued against its previous owner; nay, even that the executor of such owner may sue for and recover it. But this argument shakes every principle involved in commerce to its foundation; its origin is traffic, which induces one man to exchange the surplus beyond what is necessary to him, for that which is necessary, and was the surplus of another; and if the property is not changed by this traffic, nothing is safe, every thing is afloat, and no man knows to whom any property belongs which may happen to be in his possession. Such a doctrine must destroy all commerce at a single blow. But, say gentlemen, Great Britain indulges us in pursuing the honest carrying trade. I disclaim the position. How can she be said to indulge us with a right sanctioned by the law of nations; a right inherent in every independent nation? I contend that the trade to which I have just alluded, is as just and honest as any other trade of this country afloat on the ocean.

Great Britain not only imposes on our trade the restriction which interdicts our carrying the products of the colonies of her enemies to the mother country, after incorporating them with our own stock, but she disallows all trade with her enemies in time of war not permitted in time of peace. The gentleman from Virginia argues this is correct. He says Great Britain has a preponderance on the ocean, and inquires whether we have a right to check it by supplying her enemy with any thing necessary to relieve his wants. This is going farther than “War in Disguise;” than the time-serving Sir William Scott, who sometimes recollects that he is called on to expound the law of nations as a judge, and at others only to register the orders of the King and Council; or any other man in England. Does not this strike at the root of the whole trade of our country? There is no nation at war that is not more or less supported by our products; they drive from us the means of subsistence, and the carriage of them, it seems, is to be prohibited because Great Britain has a preponderance on the ocean, and can starve out her enemies if we are not permitted to carry to them. Great Britain says you shall not carry on a trade in time of war not permitted in time of peace. She seizes our vessels; inverts the natural principle of evidence; throws the onus probandi of showing that this trade then prosecuted was carried on in time of peace, on the owner of the property, and thus our whole trade afloat is exposed to hazard and vexatious interruptions. But, in defiance of this rule set up by herself, Great Britain opens in war her own islands, whose trade is shut up in time of peace. Test then her principle by her practice. It will not be contended that she connives at a fraudulent trade, or justifies it as lawful with herself, when she declares the same trade relatively to her enemies illicit and subject to condemnation. If then she is not governed by narrow and unjust views, she cannot contend that that is right when it respects herself, which is wrong in relation to another. She has yielded that question by opening her ports in war which were shut in peace, and has made, even if there existed a previous doubt, this trade lawful. But, not confined to going this length, she carries on that trade herself which she denies to us; thus adding another to the numerous outrages committed upon us. If we acquiesce in this doctrine, advocated by Great Britain, sanctioned by her admiralty courts, and enforced by her cruisers, I ask if we shall not violate that honest neutrality which compels us to treat all nations alike? The great principle of a neutral nation, as defined by the law of nations, is, to treat the belligerents with equal impartiality, and not to favor one at the expense of another. By acquiescing in the doctrine that renders this part of our trade liable to capture, we make ourselves a party on the side of one of the nations engaged in war.

This colonial trade is not only lawful, but it is beneficial to the merchant and also the farmer. Gentlemen have attempted to draw a distinction between the mercantile and the farming interests. I shall by and by expose the fallacy of their reasoning; but, at this time, I will confine my remarks to proving that this trade is not only beneficial to the merchant but likewise to the farmer. The colonies from which this trade is derived are fed exclusively from this country--to them we carry our provisions and receive in return their productions. It is not our interest to receive money, if they had it, because we should lose the profit on the return cargo. If we were not at liberty to purchase beyond the consumption of our country, the extent of our exports would be diminished in the same ratio, for not having money to pay for our provisions they could not purchase them. The consequence would be that the trade would fall into retail hands, and the loss would reverberate on the farmer, the demand for his productions would be diminished, and they would rot in our warehouses. This shows that the farmer is as deeply interested in the trade as the merchant.

WEDNESDAY, March 12.

Importations from Great Britain.

Mr. JACKSON.--I admitted, in its fullest latitude, the aversion of the American people to go to war for light and transient causes. They will sedulously foster peace; they will bear and forbear much; viewing war as the scourge of the human race, every honorable exertion will be made by them to avert it; but there is a point of degradation and insult beyond endurance which no nation can advance to without feeling the vengeance of United America. We have tested this truth by experience. Look to the Revolution, sir, when the noble spirit of the times braved the terrors of treason, misery, and death, rather than tamely submit to the accumulated wrongs that were heaped upon us. I have too much respect for my country to believe that any attempt to rob us of a single right which we then secured by one of the noblest struggles recorded in the annals of the world, would be tamely surrendered. But it is said the spirit of the nation has been roused by the impositions of the newspapers, influenced by the rapacity of the merchants. No, sir; it is by seeing its rights and the rights of its citizens trampled on--prostrated by a lawless banditti on the ocean, respecting no law but their own interest--acknowledging no rights between them and the tyranny of the seas. Is the capture of our seamen, and vessels, and cargoes on the ocean, an imposition? No, sir; it is a fatal reality, witnessed by the miseries and bankruptcies of thousands; and when an honest burst of indignation is re-echoed from the remotest corners of the Union, we are gravely told that we must make a distinction between commerce and agriculture, which it is alleged exists in fact, and cannot be lost sight of. Let us examine this doctrine. The merchant purchases the produce of the farmer, his beef, and pork, and every surplus which he has, and traverses every sea in search of a market for it; the price abroad produces competition at home; the profits to the merchant being always nearly the same, and by this competition the farmer receives a premium proportionate to the demand abroad; but take away this rivalship at home by abandoning your merchants to the depredations of every freebooter--for, if you once pronounce that they are to be abandoned, every sea and shore will be infested by them--and you compel him to quit the ocean, to employ his capital on land, and our farmers will be obliged to take whatever price foreigners coming into our ports may choose to give, and to purchase the productions of other countries from them at whatever price they may choose to ask. The interests of agriculture and commerce are, therefore, intimately connected: but another expedient is resorted to. It is said a distinction is to be kept up between the Northern and Southern interests, and this measure will operate on the South alone. Sir, we ought to know nothing of local interests or geographical divisions, when the rights of an American citizen are invaded; we ought only to know it and feel it as Americans. Did the North use other language when the navigation of the Mississippi was destroyed by withholding the right of deposit at New Orleans? No, sir, with honorable feelings, their only solicitude was how they should most effectually restore and preserve it. Let us then act with sentiments of the same noble liberality when the pressure of wrongs is most immediately felt by them, but which must and will operate upon us also, for no measure can affect the rights of this nation that will not sensibly injure every part of the Union. If our commerce is disturbed, if our rights on the sea are cut off one by one, and such is the tendency of the present measures of Britain, what will become of our cotton and tobacco? Will they not rot on our hands, or be sold at the price of those who may be pleased to come and purchase them? If commerce languish, agriculture will languish likewise, for one is the handmaid of the other. But, say gentlemen, the value of the trade interrupted by the piratical conduct of Britain, is not worth contending for, is not worth the risk of the present measure, or the hazard of war. I hope, however, we shall not estimate national wrongs by pounds, shillings, and pence. I hope that, when our rights are invaded, we will all be united, not in calculating the cost, but in adopting measures to insure redress. But gentlemen say these aggressions will only last during the war. Sir, the war in Europe, for the last fifteen years, has been almost unintermitted. Were you to hold this language to an individual, and say to him, you are denied free ingress or egress to or from your own mansion, and console him by adding, you can bear with your wrongs, they will last only during your lifetime; he would spurn you from him with indignation. Look at the state of the European world, at its situation for twenty years past, and say what chance have you of peace? I hope our rights will not be thus permitted to be trampled on with impunity, under such a pretext. I hope to see some systematic measures adopted to meet Great Britain, who appears to have formed a deliberate plan to inflict all the injury in her power on this people, whom she looks upon as her most dangerous rival. This step, which she has taken, is a link in the great chain of vassalage, a colossal stride towards effecting that plan which has for its object the dominion of the seas. If we yield one right, as well established as the right to breathe the vital air, it is weak in us to imagine Great Britain will stop here. This would be as contrary to her genius as the genius of this Government is to war.

I consider the aggressions which Britain has made upon our trade alone, a sufficient stimulus to induce us to do something. But when I refer to the three thousand seamen she holds in miserable bondage, I consider the destruction of this trade as but a drop in the ocean compared with them. But, on this subject, horrid as it is, I find some gentlemen are the apologists of Britain! One gentleman observes that, inasmuch as her own subjects are in our employ, she has a right to take from us an equal number. But there is no analogy between the cases. The act of her subjects in entering into our service is voluntary, while our citizens are kept in her service by violence. Some of our own citizens reside in Britain, and yet we never dreamed of complaining, because she has not banished them from her bosom. No man in his senses can say that Britain is justified in keeping our citizens in slavery, on the ground that we employ her subjects in our service.

If a man has a protection, she says it is fraudulent and tears it to pieces; and if he has not a protection, she declares that conclusive proof that he is not an American citizen. It is very much to be regretted that the law requiring those protections ever passed; and that we had not asserted the right to protect every man sailing under our flag, except the enemies of a belligerent nation. Three thousand of our citizens now groan under this abject slavery! This number have presented their claims to your Government. Besides which, many more are carried from sea to sea, and from one country to another, without being ever able to make their cases known to you. In vain do they endeavor to forward their complaints--an inexorable tyranny denies them the indulgence. It is fair then to infer that the whole number is twice that I have stated, and it really appears to me as if our sensibility were lost in the magnitude of the injury. If there were but a single case of this species of oppression presented to us, it would be more affecting and effective. Draw the picture of a single victim, the only son of aged parents, their staff, the prop of their age, their pride and only support; he toils and labors to obtain a venture, with the pleasing prospect of quadrupling his little capital--they follow him, when ready to leave them, with tears and blessings to the water side, where he embarks; and in a few hours the lessening sail is lost to their view on the bosom of the wide-expanded ocean. They return to their cottage and implore a beneficent God to protect their darling; they count the days of his absence, and when, according to the usual course of events, the period of his return is drawing to a close, each hour awakens new fears and new solicitude. By and by the vessel anchors in its port--they fly to embrace him--but, alas! he is not there--he was, off the harbor’s mouth, robbed of his all, impressed by the British, and carried into worse than Algerine slavery--for with those he would only be compelled to work for his master, whilst these make him work, and fight, under a lash more cruel than the barbarian bastinado, and a despotism more unrelenting than the slave driver’s exercise. Their golden dreams are vanished with the recital. The soul shrinks back upon itself; they cast a long and wishful look upon the ocean, and with tottering steps reach their once peaceful, happy home--but no peace, nor happiness, welcomes their return. Hope lingers for awhile, and cheers their drooping spirits--it directs their appeal to the Government, which the old man fought and bled in the field to establish, upon the basis of universal justice, and whose principles he impressed on the mind of his child. Year after year it is deaf to their cries; it sits down and calculates the cost of asserting its rights, with the nicety of a ledger-keeper, and decides in favor of a pusillanimous acquiescence, because the balance of dollars and cents is struck in its favor. Poverty approaches with rapid strides--their last dollar is laid out to procure the means of subsistence; too proud to beg, and too infirm to labor, they know not how to avert their fate; the little plans they have formed without the means of execution, fly like meteors before them--nature is making a mighty struggle with adversity, when it is announced that their boy fell beneath the thousand lashes which were inflicted on him for attempting his escape; and Death, kindly interposing his friendly arm, grants a respite from their miseries! Does not such a case demand our attention? It is not at all comparable to that of many others. Add to the scene which I have feebly portrayed, the distraction of a tender wife, manacled and confined in the cold damp cells of a lunatic hospital--her children bound out by the parish, and all their prospects of life nipped in the bud, occasioned by the impressment of the husband and the father--and then tell me do we violate the principles of the constitution, which declares that it is made to provide for the common defence and general welfare, by vindicating those measures which are well calculated to procure redress? This were indeed to play such fantastic tricks before high heaven, as make even angels weep! Shall we, in the Tripoline war, to rescue from bondage three hundred Americans, perform, through the agency of some of our citizens, acts of perseverance, address, and heroism, unsurpassed in the annals of ancient or modern times, at the sacrifice of the lives of many brave men, who, with some of those that survived the conflict, will be enrolled by a grateful country upon the list of the favorite sons of the American nation--when as many thousands are groaning under the cruel oppression of Great Britain, and crying to us for succor, without exciting or producing one manly exertion!

THURSDAY, March 13.

Importations from Great Britain.

The House again resolved itself into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union--Mr. GREGG’s resolution still under consideration.

Mr. LEIB.--From the course which has been pursued for several days, I am induced to move that the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union be discharged from the further consideration of this resolution, and that of the gentleman from New Jersey. Without entering into the merits of the resolution, I will confine myself to stating the reasons on which I make this motion. I did expect, when this subject first came under discussion, to have heard something respecting its merits; that a comparison would have been drawn between the advantages and disadvantages likely to ensue to the United States from its adoption, instead of which I found my colleague sailing round the coast without examining its tendency or bearing. He told us it was pacific, and, in the same breath, said it struck a dagger into the vitals of Great Britain. If, Mr. Speaker, I were to strike a dagger at you, would you not consider it a hostile act? And yet this measure is said to be pacific, and it is represented as having no tendency to war. When this measure was first proposed, I was in favor of it; I was impelled by my feelings against Great Britain, whose injuries I sensibly felt. But I have since listened to the arguments adduced in its favor by my colleagues. What are they? Did they speak of its profits and loss; did they show that it would be advantageous to this country? Instead of this they talked of national honor. But, on this subject, I agree with the poet:

“Act well your part, there all the honor lies.”

I am not disposed to be a duellist for national honor. I am disposed to view this as a question of profit and loss; and if the loss will be greater than the gain, to reject it; and it is because I think that the United States will incur more loss than profit by it, that I wish to get rid of it. I believe it will have a warlike aspect, and therefore I am against it. I have no idea of fighting all the world. I hope, from the course which this discussion has taken, and from the conviction which it has produced of the inability of the United States to carry this measure into effect, that we will enter on the discussion of some other measure more likely to be effectual. I am willing to get rid of this resolution in the easiest way, and I therefore move you to discharge the committee from its further consideration.

The yeas and nays were then taken on discharging the Committee of the Whole from the further consideration of Mr. GREGG’s resolution, and were--yeas 24, nays 101.

The question was then taken on discharging the committee from Mr. SLOAN’s resolution, by yeas and nays--yeas 26, nays 98.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.

The Chairman put the question on considering Mr. GREGG’s resolution, on which the committee divided--yeas 47, nays 70.

Mr. J. CLAY moved to consider the resolution offered by himself, and that of his friend from Maryland, (Mr. NICHOLSON.)

FRIDAY, March 14.

Importations from Great Britain.

Mr. MUMFORD said: Mr. Chairman, it is with great diffidence I rise to speak on this question. I am a merchant, unaccustomed to speak in a public body. But, sir, when I see the dearest interests of my country unjustly attacked by a foreign nation, I must beg the indulgence of this committee while I express my sentiments on the serious aspect of our foreign relations. Sir, I do not wish to extenuate the conduct of any nation. I have no predilection for one foreign nation more than another. I shall endeavor to speak the language of an independent American.

Sir, I had indulged the hope that the ninth Congress of the United States had assembled to deliberate on the momentous affairs of their country as Americans; but, sir, it gives me pain, and I regret extremely, to see gentlemen so far forget the interest of their own country in defending the pretended rights of others. That there should be a difference of opinion respecting our own regulations, was to be expected, but when your lawful commerce is attacked by what the honorable gentleman from Virginia so emphatically terms “the Leviathan of the Ocean,” and attacked, too, contrary to their own acknowledged principles, as laid down in the correspondence between your late worthy Minister, Mr. King, and the British Minister, Lord Hawkesbury, I beg leave to call on the Clerk to read that part of the Boston memorial which relates to that correspondence. [The Clerk read the article.]

I shall now commence my observations on our unfortunate fellow-citizens in British bondage; and in answer to the honorable gentleman from Maryland, whom I very much respect, I do frankly acknowledge that amongst all the petitions presented to you by the merchants of the United States, there is not one word about our impressed seamen, Salem and another port excepted. But, sir, I beg leave to inform this committee, and that honorable gentleman, that before we enter our vessels at the custom-house, we are called upon to witness the recording of this tale of human woe before a notary public, stating all the seamen impressed during the voyage. This is immediately transmitted to the Secretary of State, for the correctness of which I refer you to the documents from that department now on your table. Sir, is it decorous, is it candid, is it liberal, is it respectful to the committee to impute such unworthy motives to the merchants as we have heard expressed on this floor? They are men, sir; and I believe candor will allow them their share of sensibility, and that they sympathize for suffering humanity as much as a planter, a farmer, a lawyer, or any class of the community. Sir, I feel as much as any man for the sufferings of this meritorious class of citizens, having been an eye-witness to the barbarous treatment inflicted by the officers of the British Government on one of them. He was lashed to a scaffold on the gunwale of a boat, and whipped from ship to ship, until he had received five hundred lashes. What was the consequence? He expired the next morning. What was his crime? He had been impressed into their cruel bondage, and had endeavored to regain his liberty! We are asked, what is the remedy for this outrage? There is but one, sir. Demand satisfaction for the past, and in future make your flag protect your citizens, at least on the high seas, the common high road of all nations. Your merchants can insure their property against this “Leviathan of the Ocean;” but there is no alternative for the poor sailor, he is inevitably doomed to cruel slavery.

I now come to speak of foreign nations. We are told that the American merchants cover Spanish property. This may be the case. I believe it; but it is to a very limited amount. The Spanish merchants have little capital at present to dispose of. Their Government owes them considerable sums of money, and the paper currency of that Government is at such a discount (I believe from 40 to 50 per cent.) that they are not able to extend their commerce, if they were ever so much disposed to do so.

Respecting the French merchants, a great proportion of them in France are bankrupts, in consequence of heavy taxes, contributions, forced loans, and all the impositions of imperial ingenuity. That country depends not on commerce for her revenue; she collects one hundred and twenty millions of dollars per annum, of which twelve millions only are levied upon commerce, being but ten per cent, on the whole revenue. Their merchants have it not in their power to extend their business for want of a capital, which is a fact that will be acknowledged by all commercial men. They are by no means the favorites of the Emperor; he grants them no indulgences, of which the late transactions at the national bank are a sufficient evidence.

Respecting Holland, every person conversant in business knows the cautious calculation of the Dutch merchants; they trade very little on their own account in time of war, but are constantly soliciting the American merchants to make consignments of property to sell on commission. And yet we are told in that oracle, the celebrated pamphlet, “War in Disguise,” that France, Spain, and Holland carry on the war against Great Britain with property covered by Americans! Will any rational man believe them?

I now come to Great Britain, sir; not one word has been said about property covered for her. She is immaculate; she is innocent; she can do no wrong. I have good authority for this last expression. The King says so, and others repeat it. Sir, immediately upon the coalition being formed on the continent of Europe, she seized upon your unsuspecting commerce, and surprised it with new principles and new doctrines in her Courts of Admiralty, which operated with her ships of war in the same manner as though they had actually received orders from the Lords of the Admiralty (how insidious! but they understand decoy) to capture and bring in all American vessels bound to enemies’ ports; and if by chance any of them escape their fangs, after a mock trial, they are compelled to pay enormous charges, from five hundred to six hundred guineas, and sometimes more. This operates as a premium to carry in all your vessels, knowing beforehand they will have nothing to pay; for, although you gain your cause, you must pay the costs. This, sir, discourages your cautious and best merchants, and they are thus compelled to abandon and decline pursuing a lucrative and lawful traffic.

If there be any property covered for Great Britain, I have every reason to believe, from facts I will state to the committee, that it appertains almost exclusively to some British merchants, lately adopted citizens of the United States, for they take good care to keep all their business in their own hands. They are the honest merchants who own the honest vessels we have heard so much about, and they are engaged in exporting cotton, tobacco, and other produce of our country. Why should they have the preference? it will be asked. I will not tell you what I do not know, (as has been said in this committee,) but I will tell you what I do know. Sir, the real American merchants cannot enter into competition with them. They have their particular friends in England, who are interested, and will of course give them the preference. By a variety of ways they obtain all the freights, to the exclusion of your vessels. Sir, we are often compelled to take in ballast alongside of those very ships who have full freights engaged. Thus, sir, the real American merchant is the dupe of these honest adopted British citizens. These are your slippery-eel merchants, so justly denominated by the honorable gentleman from Virginia, whose acme of mind I much admire. They were indeed, sir, so slippery in some of your districts, that it was found necessary to pass a law excluding all of them who resided in foreign countries from owning any ship or vessel belonging to the United States; for a number of them, after having made fortunes out of your neutrality, had slipped off to Great Britain to spend the money and the remainder of their days. And in order that we might not compromit our neutrality in this deceptive business, our National Legislature has been careful to pass a law in the first session of the eighth Congress, dated 27th March, 1804, to correct the abuse, which has in some measure put a check to it; and yet we are emphatically told that it is only coffee, sugar, and East India goods that are guilty of the sin of interfering with British merchants, those monopolizers of the commerce of the whole world.

I mention these facts, sir, to vindicate the character of the real American merchants; it will stand the test with that of any other nation in the world. Sir, look at your revenue system, examine all the records of your district courts, see how very few fines and forfeitures they have incurred, and then compare them with any class of citizens you please, and you will, I am confident, Mr. Chairman, exculpate them from such disingenuous reflections as have been animadverted upon in this committee. Sir, they make it a point of honor to discourage smuggling, knowing the whole revenue of their country to depend upon that fidelity which they have never ceased to inculcate. I cannot but persuade myself that, on mature reflection, gentlemen will not withhold from that class of the community the protection guaranteed to them by the constitution of their country. It is a fact well known to this committee that the Federal Constitution, under which we now hold our seats in this House, grew out of the great inconveniences we then experienced in our commercial affairs with foreign nations. Surely they are not outlawed. I trust not, sir. I hope better treatment from the hands of my country.

I now come to the true history and the cause of the aggressions of Great Britain. It is very difficult to trace her in all her ramifications of fraud on your neutrality and of injustice on your commerce. Sir, when the present continental coalition was concluded, the “lords of the ocean,” with that colossus the East India Company, the merchants trading from London to the continent of Europe, the West India merchants, and some of our honest adopted citizens from Great Britain, all agreed with common consent to be in the fashion; and they formed a coalition against your commerce, and ordered a book to be written, in which they took a conspicuous part, called “War in Disguise.” This was truly on their part war in disguise, and the first act of hostility they commenced upon your unsuspecting commerce; and I hope they may ultimately meet the fate of all other coalitions, at least as far as respects our country. They had ordered, as all coalitions do, a large supply of ammunition; one hundred thousand copies of this instrument of death to your commerce were distributed, at sixpence each, to all parts of the British dominions, in order that your property might be plundered for the use of the naval commanders, who could no longer find any other property on the ocean. This book says, “they must retire on a handsome competency at the close of the war,” no matter from whom it is taken.

Next comes the East India Company, that colossus of mercantile avarice, whose monopoly draws into its vortex all the demand for East India produce in Europe. Your lawful commerce to those markets interfered with them, and was considered incompatible with this monopoly, and must be doomed to destruction.

Next come the merchants trading from London to the continent of Europe. They attend the public auctions, purchase your condemned vessels and their cargoes, procure a license from their Government, and send the same cargo on their own account to the very market your own citizens intended it for.

I now come to some of those honest adopted British merchants; and in order to elucidate that subject, I will beg leave to read a copy of a letter from one of the first houses of respectability in London, said to be in the confidence of the Minister:

“This Government has granted licenses to neutral vessels, who take in a proportion of their cargoes in Great Britain, to proceed to the Spanish colonies to the south of the line, provided the returned cargoes are to be brought to this country; and I have now several expeditions of this nature under my direction for the account of houses on the continent, who prefer subjecting themselves to the conditions Ministers have imposed for the toleration of that trade, to the risk of detention and its consequences, even in the event of restitution.”

This is no fiction, sir, it is a fact. It cuts your commerce like a two-edged sword, involves your neutrality, and prevents your own merchants from going to the same market, the profit on which ultimately centres in Great Britain. There are at this moment British agents in two of your commercial cities, and I suppose more in other parts of the United States as well as in Europe, for they swarm on the industry of all nations. They are acting in concert to carry on this licensed trade with the Spanish colonies, their enemies jeopardizing your neutrality, to the manifest injury of the real American merchants. This is a very valuable branch of commerce, as you may readily suppose from the price that sagacious calculating nation sets upon it. What is the result of all this? Why, sir, if it were not for the interference of this very Government, so much extolled at the expense of your own, we should enjoy the benefit ourselves. They themselves license vessels to carry on a commerce, which if pursued by your citizens, without their permission, is sure to be plundered. Thus, sir, that Government assails your commerce at home, and condemns it abroad, on the most vexatious and unwarrantable pretensions.

Sir, I beg leave to call the attention of the committee to an important fact. Examine your treaty with Spain, your treaty with France, your treaty with Holland, your treaties with some of the Northern Powers, what do they say? “Free ships make free goods.” What does Great Britain say? “You shall give up the goods of my enemies;” and you accede to it. Is this reciprocal? Is it just? Is it not a humiliating concession? Is this cause of war? What says that oracle, that celebrated pamphlet, on this occasion? Not a word, sir; it is as silent as the grave. Who now has the greatest cause of complaint, Great Britain or her enemies? Her motto is “Universal domination over the seas”--the common highway of all nations--and, unless you assert your rights, you will be swept into the general vortex. We are told that this is a war measure. If it be true, and commercial regulations are of that nature, we are at war with Great Britain at this very moment, for she imposes four per cent, on her exports to our country. You cannot impose any on your exports to that country; it is unconstitutional.

Mr. CHANDLER.--Mr. Chairman, unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, it is with extreme diffidence that I rise to make a few observations on the measures now under consideration; but the subject is so important, that I am unwilling to give a silent vote.

It appears to be acknowledged by all the gentlemen who have spoken before me, that we have just cause of complaint against Great Britain; that she has impressed our seamen and compelled them to serve on board her ships of war, to the number of several thousand; that she holds them in the most degrading servitude, and compels them to fight her battles against a nation with whom we are at peace, and that she has seized and condemned, contrary to the laws of nations, and usage, our ships and property to a very large amount. This fact, Mr. Chairman, is so evident and notorious, that it would be trifling with the time of this committee, were I to attempt to introduce new evidence to prove it.

This point being conceded, it then remains to be determined whether we will tamely submit to these wanton aggressions upon our rights as an independent and a neutral nation, or have recourse to measures of some kind calculated to obtain redress for the past and security for the future. The first, Mr. Chairman, ought to be put out of the question. To submit, without opposition to so wanton and so flagrant violation of our rights, would render us unworthy the name of Americans. For what did we contend with this same Great Britain in 1775 and the succeeding years? When we were few in numbers, and at first without arms, without ammunition, without money, or other established resources, and without allies? Sir, a Warren, a McClary, a Montgomery, a Mercer, and a host of heroes, fought, and bled, and died--for what? For the rights, the liberties, the freedom, and independence of our country. And shall we, Mr. Chairman, without one effort, surrender those dear-bought rights and privileges, the price of which was the best blood of our countrymen? No, sir, we shall not, we will not do it; our faces would be covered with shame, and disgrace as well as injury descend to our children. But, sir, this committee will not consent to a surrender of those rights, which they are constituted to guard and protect. They will, I presume, at least a great majority of them, be disposed to take measures sufficiently strong to compel that haughty nation to do us justice.

I believe, Mr. Chairman, the only difference in opinion with most of us is, what measures will be most likely to have the desired effect, with the least injury to ourselves. For my own part I was in favor of the resolution laid on the table by the gentleman from Pennsylvania. I allude to the one which has been several days under discussion. I was in favor of it, because I believe it would be the most effectual; and no man I think can doubt our right to adopt such a measure, it being only a commercial regulation, such as every independent nation may rightfully make whenever her interest or convenience require it. It would, in my opinion, be most likely to effect our object, because it would most deeply touch that tender point, their interest; and it is their interest which governs them. If we forsake their workshops and warehouses, it will materially affect their manufactures and trade. Indeed, to use the language of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, it will reach the vitals of her commerce; and if it were to go to the vitals of their nation, the fault is not ours; they are the aggressors, we act on the defensive only. If, sir, that nation has two millions of people employed in the cloth manufacture alone, as was stated by a gentleman from Maryland, (which number, however, I think too large,) she must at least have four millions in the whole employed in manufactures of all kinds. We take from her of these manufactures to the amount of thirty millions annually--a market for which she cannot find elsewhere. Interdict the importation of her goods, and what is the consequence? She cannot pay, and therefore cannot employ her workmen. She will not find her account in manufacturing goods annually to the amount of thirty millions of dollars more than she can find a market for; therefore her workmen, at least one million of them, will be out of employment. How are they to subsist? How can they get their bread? Other means they have not; they cannot find any other occupation; and, if they could, they are not fitted for them. This derangement of business must be severely felt; their merchants and manufacturers will, I believe, be persuasive advocates for us. They will feel the evil, and will powerfully press the Government to do us justice. The Minister will be convinced of the danger. He will be careful not to suffer our custom to be diverted from England; for he knows if the channel of our trade is once turned, it will not easily, if ever, be restored. He will pause before he finally drives his best customer to the necessity of leaving him; for he cannot be ignorant that our trade, consisting of the exportation of raw materials, and the importation of wrought manufactures, will be courted by other nations, who will soon find it for their interest to accommodate us with a supply of our demands on satisfactory terms. I consider, Mr. Chairman, that our commerce is and will be so available to the nations of Europe, as to furnish us the means of commanding respect and procuring justice by commercial regulations. I have no fear that Great Britain will venture on a war with us; but if, from a predetermination to quarrel with us at all events, she should make a commercial regulation, or any other of our measures, a pretext for hostilities, notwithstanding all that has been said on the floor of this House by certain gentlemen, to disparage the troops or militia of our own country, and of our weakness, inferiority, and inability to defend ourselves, and to prove the invincible power of Great Britain, yet I trust she would still find us Americans.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I should have been better pleased if the gentleman who has so eloquently painted the wrongs which we have received from Britain had, instead of telling us of the disease, pointed out the remedy. The gentleman a few days ago offered himself as a collateral security for the facts stated by the President and our illustrious Minister at the Court of London. Did the gentleman believe that what we could not take from them, we should accept from him? That our commerce has been pirated upon and our seamen impressed we all knew before. But where is the remedy? Gentlemen say they are for taking commanding ground, that will ensure respect. Where is it? Let them give in their project. Is this the remedy, or is this the time? Gentlemen tell us we ought not to stop short of indemnity for the past and security for the future. Are they then for going to war with Britain on the same ground which Mr. Pitt took with the French Republic? Do they expect success in their project? And is peace to be destroyed, and the interests of this people compromitted, until what they please to call indemnity and security shall be obtained? Are they for going to war with Spain and France, and making a similar convention with them that we some time since made with Britain for spoliations committed on our commerce, and then by a kind of legerdemain draw from our own pockets wherewith to pay for those very spoliations? Is this the indemnity they expect to obtain? I want none of it. I almost dread to see a convention with any power across the Atlantic, with a stipulation to pay money, as I fear its only tendency would be to deprive us of that we have left. Make any sort of convention you please, and something will scarcely fail to fall out between the cup and the lip, by which you will have to pay the debts due to you by others. By some sort of legerdemain, the money of your bona fide citizens will get into the pockets of your diplomatists or their creatures on this and the other side of the water, into the hands of bureau men, of counting-house politicians. But I find gentlemen undertake to say, because I am indisposed to go to war, I am the advocate and apologist of Great Britain; and because I quote the able pamphleteer, who stands forth the godfather of the doctrines contained in it, I abjure them; and so far from costing me six cents, they cost me one hundred and fifty; and I consider that a better bargain than the other pamphlet, which did not cost me a sous. Am I to be considered as the apologist of Britain, because the defence of this country has been committed to weak advocates, or because its cause has been weakly defended or treacherously abandoned? No; I am the advocate of the circumstances of the times--of the constitution of this people--of common sense--of expediency. What does the gentleman from New York tell you? I admire the resentment he feels for the wrongs committed on our country, and I entertain a respect for him. He tells you every thing I have told you--that American merchants are employed in covering enemy’s property. No, he draws a distinction between native and adopted merchants, and says that he considers the latter as the root of the evil. I agree that this trade is carried on by foreigners naturalized among us. But the gentleman says the other nations of Europe treat us on the principle that free ships make free goods; while Great Britain treats us on the opposite principle, and contends for the principle of contraband of war, and the liability of enemy’s property to seizure. Why is there this difference? Because those who treat on the principle of the mare liberum find it their interest to treat on this principle. But do they who have the mastery of the ocean consider it as their interest? And yet the gentleman arraigns one country for being governed by her own interest, while he applauds another for being governed by the same feelings.

But the gentleman says the Federal Constitution grew out of commerce. Indeed! I have always understood it grew out of the feeble and lax state of our Federation. I have no doubt the regulation of commerce, and the hope of obtaining an adequate revenue, aided its formation. But will the gentleman undertake to say the constitution was made to give us the mastery of the seas? If so, I will be glad to see how he makes it out. Will he say the finger of Heaven points to war?

Mr. J. CLAY said he was sorry the committee were determined to press this subject. He believed a delay of four or five days would be important; he therefore moved that the committee should rise.

Mr. ALSTON said, it would certainly be unnecessary for the committee to rise, with a view to decide upon the resolution offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. GREGG.) The committee having refused in the first instance to take up this resolution, and having acted upon that which had been submitted by the gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. NICHOLSON,) was a sufficient evidence of the sense of this House as to its final adoption or rejection. The newspapers emanating from this place to all parts of the United States would convey the sense of the House as fully upon the resolution as though a final vote should have been taken; and should the resolution offered by the gentleman from Maryland be now decided upon, and agreed to, every one would be satisfied that the one offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania would not be adopted.

Mr. A. said it was time--high time--that this House had come to some determination upon this important subject. It was time that the public mind was put to rest. It was time that the American people were informed of the extent that we intended to go, and of the steps we intended to take towards Great Britain, in order to meet the aggressions committed by that Government upon the commerce of our country. He verily did believe the resolution submitted by the gentleman from Maryland, the merits of which it was in order upon the present motion to discuss, better calculated to have the desired effect upon that Government on whom it was intended to operate, than any other plan or project which had been submitted or talked of, inasmuch as it was only a commercial regulation or restriction, acknowledged by all Governments in the world to be perfectly within the control of every independent nation. Some gentlemen had thought it not sufficiently strong--that something more efficient should be adopted. For his part, he did believe it much stronger, as to the effect it would have in bringing Great Britain to terms of amicable adjustment, than that which had been submitted by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and which was now sleeping on the table. This, Mr. A. said, was that kind of commercial regulation that carried with it the appearance of a determination to persevere in it; and, in his humble opinion, it was well calculated to distress that nation who had so long persisted in a regular system of aggression towards us. On the contrary, that which had been submitted by the gentleman from Pennsylvania was such a one as Great Britain would plainly discover we ourselves did not mean to persevere in, because it would readily be seen, that, while it distressed her, it would be equally injurious to us. Another reason suggested itself why he would prefer the resolution now under discussion. It seemed to be understood, on all sides, let which should be adopted, or whatever course should be pursued, that no system was to go into operation immediately--that full time was to be given for an attempt at friendly negotiation. It was intended as an expression of public sentiment. It was, therefore, of great importance to this nation, that the sentiment expressed should be with as much unanimity as possible. It was evident to all that the resolution offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, from the violent opposition it had met with, could not, if carried at all, be carried by that majority that the one now under discussion could. If, therefore, he in the first instance had been in favor, he should, after the discussion which had already taken place, think himself, for the sake of harmony alone, perfectly justified in abandoning it. The resolution now under discussion, which was offered by the gentleman from Maryland, could not be objected to, as the other had been, on the ground of its being in any manner whatever calculated to produce war, if adopted in the full extent in which it was submitted. The object of the present resolution is a prohibition of certain articles, the growth and manufacture of Great Britain and her dependencies, from being imported into the United States; most of which articles, Mr. A. said, he was advised by those better acquainted than himself with mercantile transactions, could be obtained from other countries; and those which could not be obtained, we could either do very well without, or raise within ourselves. What effect, then, would this measure have upon Great Britain? No person would deny that it would lessen in her own country the value of her manufactures. Whilst our citizens at home were perfectly content, the voice of the artisan, the manufacturer, and the laborer in Great Britain, would be raised against the aggressions committed by their own Government, which caused us, and in fact compelled us, in self-defence, to enter into the regulation proposed.

MONDAY, March 17.

Importations from Great Britain.

The motion for the committee to rise having been rejected, the question was taken on the resolution originally proposed by Mr. NICHOLSON, when the committee rose, and the House concurred in its adoption--yeas 87, nays 35, as follows:

YEAS.--Evan Alexander, Willis Alston, jr., Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Joseph Barker, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, Barnabas Bidwell, William Blackledge, John Blake, jr., Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, John Boyle, William Butler, George W. Campbell, John Chandler, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, George Clinton, jr., Frederick Conrad, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Ezra Darby, William Dickson, Peter Early, James Elliot, Ebenezer Elmer, John W. Eppes, William Findlay, James Fisk, John Fowler, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Isaac L. Green, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, William Helms, David Holmes, John G. Jackson, Thomas Kenan, Nehemiah Knight, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, Duncan McFarland, Patrick Magruder, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Gurdon S. Mumford, Thomas Newton, jr., Joseph H. Nicholson, Gideon Olin, John Pugh, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee, Jacob Richards, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Thomas Sammons, Martin G. Schuneman, James Sloan, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Henry Southard, Joseph Stanton, David Thomas, Uri Tracy, Joseph B. Varnum, Matthew Walton, John Whitehill, Robert Whitehill, Eliphalet Wickes, David R. Williams, Marmaduke Williams, Nathan Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, Joseph Winston, and Thomas Wynns.

NAYS.--Silas Betton, Phanuel Bishop, James M. Broom, John Campbell, Levi Casey, Martin Chittenden, Leonard Covington, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, jr., Elias Earle, Caleb Ellis, William Ely, James M. Garnett, Charles Goldsborough, Seth Hastings, David Hough, James Kelly, Joseph Lewis, jr., Jonathan O. Mosely, Jeremiah Nelson, Roger Nelson, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Josiah Quincy, Thomas Sanford, John Cotton Smith, Thomas Spalding, Richard Stanford, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Samuel Tenney, Philip R. Thompson, Daniel C. Verplanck, and Peleg Wadsworth.

Mr. EARLY moved that the resolution be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means to bring in a bill.

WEDNESDAY, March 19.

Death of Senator Jackson, of Georgia.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate, having been informed that the honorable JAMES JACKSON, Esq., one of the Senators from the State of Georgia, died yesterday, have appointed a committee to take order for superintending his funeral.

The House then proceeded to consider the said message: Whereupon,

Resolved, unanimously, That this House will attend the funeral of JAMES JACKSON, Esq., late a member of the Senate of the United States.

Resolved, unanimously, That the members of this House do wear mourning on the left arm for the space of one month, in testimony of their respect for the memory of that distinguished revolutionary patriot.[36]

Canal at the Rapids of the Ohio.

Mr. BOYLE, from a committee appointed, on the tenth ultimo, on the memorial of the Legislature of the State of Kentucky, made a report thereon; which was read, and referred to the Committee of the Whole, to whom was committed, on the fifth instant, the report of a select committee on the petition of the President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company. The report is as follows:

That, of the practicability of opening the proposed canal, and of its preference to one contemplated on the opposite side of the river, as well on account of the greater facility of its accomplishment, as of the superior advantages that would result to the navigation of the river, when accomplished, may, in the opinion of the committee, be correctly estimated by reference to a draft of part of the river, and notes explanatory thereof, which accompany the memorial. Of the immense utility of the proposed canal no one can doubt who reflects for a moment upon the vast extent of fertile country which is watered by the Ohio and its tributary streams, and upon the incalculable amount of produce which must, of course, necessarily find its way to market by descending that river and encountering the danger and difficulties of passing its rapids. But, besides the general advantages which would result from the completion of the proposed canal, it is, in the opinion of the committee, particularly interesting to the United States, inasmuch as it would greatly enhance the value of the public lands north-west of the Ohio. There can be but little doubt that, by the additional value it would give to the public lands, the United States would be more than remunerated for the aid which the Legislature of Kentucky have solicited.

From these considerations the committee would not hesitate to recommend a donation or subscription of shares to the amount contemplated by the law of the Legislature of Kentucky incorporating the Ohio Canal Company, if they believed the state of the public finances was such as to justify it. But, from the applications already made for aid in opening canals, it is probable that, if the United States enter upon expenses of this kind, those expenses cannot be inconsiderable; and, as the revenue of the United States is already pledged, almost to the full amount, for purposes, though not more useful, yet more urgent, the committee are induced to submit the following resolution.

Resolved, That it is inexpedient to grant, at present, the aid solicited by the Legislature of Kentucky, in opening a canal to avoid the rapids of the Ohio.

FRIDAY, March 21.

Potomac Bridge.

An engrossed bill to authorize the erection of a bridge over the river Potomac, in the District of Columbia, was read the third time; and on the question that the said bill do pass, it was resolved in the affirmative--yeas 61, nays 52.

About 2 o’clock Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS said he had a motion to make, which required the galleries to be cleared. They were accordingly cleared.

WEDNESDAY, March 26.

Importation of British Goods.

The bill to prohibit the importation of certain British goods, wares, and merchandise, was read the third time.

The yeas and nays were called for on its passage.

The question to recommit the bill having been disagreed to, it passed--yeas 93, nays 32, as follows:

YEAS.--Evan Alexander, Willis Alston, jr., Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Joseph Barker, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, Barnabas Bidwell, William Blackledge, John Blake, jr., Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, William Butler, George W. Campbell, John Chandler, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, George Clinton, jr., John Clopton, Frederick Conrad, Orchard Cook, Leonard Covington, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Ezra Darby, John Dawson, William Dickson, Elias Earle, Peter Early, James Elliot, Ebenezer Elmer, John W. Eppes, William Findlay, James Fisk, John Fowler, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Isaiah L. Green, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, William Helms, David Holmes, John G. Jackson, Walter Jones, Thomas Kenan, Nehemiah Knight, Matthew Lyon, Duncan McFarland, Patrick Magruder, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, William McCreery, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Gurdon S. Mumford, Roger Nelson, Thomas Newton, jr., Joseph H. Nicholson, Gideon Olin, John Pugh, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, John Rhea of Tennessee, Jacob Richards, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Thomas Sammons, Martin G. Schuneman, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Henry Southard, Joseph Stanton, David Thomas, Uri Tracy, Philip Van Cortlandt, Joseph B. Varnum, Matthew Walton, John Whitehill, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, Marmaduke Williams, Nathan Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, and Joseph Winston.

NAYS.--Silas Betton, James M. Broom, John Campbell, Martin Chittenden, Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, jr., Caleb Ellis, William Ely, James M. Garnett, Seth Hastings, David Hough, Joseph Lewis, jr., Jonathan O. Mosely, Jeremiah Nelson, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Josiah Quincy, John Randolph, Thomas Sanford, John Cotton Smith, Thomas Spalding, Richard Stanford, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Samuel Tenney, Philip R. Thompson, Thomas W. Thompson, Abram Trigg, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Daniel C. Verplanck, and Peleg Wadsworth.

THURSDAY, March 27.

Introduction of Slaves into Territories.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS, from the committee appointed on the seventh ultimo, presented a bill to prohibit the introduction of slaves into the Mississippi Territory, and the Territory of Orleans; which was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the Whole on Saturday next.

FRIDAY, March 28.

Plurality of Offices.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the following resolutions submitted some time since by Mr. J. RANDOLPH.

Resolved, That a contractor under the Government of the United States is an officer within the purview and meaning of the constitution, and, as such, is incapable of holding a seat in the House.

Resolved, That the union of a plurality of offices in the person of a single individual, but more especially of the military with the civil authority, is repugnant to the spirit of the Constitution of the United States, and tends to the introducing of an arbitrary government.

Resolved, That provisions ought to be made, by law, to render any officer in the army or navy of the United States, incapable of holding any civil office under the United States.

The question was taken on these resolutions without debate.

The first was agreed to--ayes 54, noes 37.

The second was agreed to--ayes 75; and

The third was agreed to without a division.

When the committee rose and reported their agreement to the resolutions.

The House immediately considered the report.

On concurring with the Committee of the Whole in their agreement to the first resolution,

Mr. FISK said he sincerely regretted it was not in his power to vote for this resolution. He regretted there was no such principle in the constitution as is prescribed. Such a principle not being in the constitution, he did not conceive it in the power of the House to make the provision. It was not, in his opinion, in their power to say a man should not hold a seat in that House who was not prohibited by the constitution. It was on this ground only he was against the resolution under consideration.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I think the gentleman from Vermont may in perfect consistence with the principle he has laid down, which I do not mean at present to contest, give his vote in favor of this resolution. He says that this House has not a right to make a disqualification which the constitution itself does not attach to the tenure of a seat on this floor; that the constitution draws a line between the qualification and disqualification of a member, and that this House has no right to alter them. What do we propose to do? To add a new disqualification? No; to do that which the constitution put in our hands, which it not only authorizes but enjoins upon us. The constitution declares that each House shall be the judge of the qualification of its members. It is clearly, then, the duty of the House to expound what is or is not a disqualification; and we are now only about to declare what is such a disqualification--merely to expound the constitution on this head. I know some gentlemen are startled at the idea of expounding the constitution. But do we not do this every day? Is not the passage of every act a declaration on the part of this House that a decision upon it is among their constitutional powers? Or, in other words, is it not an exposition of the constitution? So, in this instance, I will suppose a man returned to serve as a member of this House, and that he is declared, for some reason, to be disqualified from holding a seat. This, according to the gentleman, would be expounding the constitution. We propose doing no more than saying, if the Secretary of State, or Chief Justice, should come here, they cannot hold a seat. We say that an abuse exists under the constitution, and offer a remedy.

I have heard some quibbling about the meaning of the word “officer.” What is the meaning of office? Agency; it is the office of a man’s cook to dress his dinner, of a tailor to supply him with clothes; and it is the office of a contractor to fatten on the land--to acquire lordships, demesnes, baronies--extensive territory--by the advantage he derives from holding the public money, in virtue of his contract. But it is asked, if a contractor is an officer; and whether he can be impeached? because, under the constitution, all civil officers are liable to impeachment. Would you impeach the Marshal of the District of Columbia? It may be answered that you may impeach him, but that you would not probably do so, because that would be breaking a butterfly on the wheel. Would you impeach a deputy postmaster? And yet when the postmaster at New York accepted his appointment, did he not vacate his seat in the Senate? There is no doubt a contractor is an officer pro tempore--it is not an office in perpetuity, but created for a time, and for a particular purpose. And I will ask, if it is not more dangerous to the independence of the two Houses to admit commissioners and contractors within their walls than officers with legal salaries and appointments? If we are to admit either, I say, give me the legal officer, with a determinate salary and definite powers, rather than the contractor who may gain thousands and tens of thousands of dollars by a single job. But, if the gentleman from Vermont is of opinion that a contractor is not an officer, under the constitution, I hope he will join me in another vote, on an amendment which I shall beg leave to offer--this goes only to purge these walls, not those of the other House. I mean an amendment declaring void all contracts made with members of either House, and on this principle: between the sessions of the Legislature it is possible for a member to receive a lucrative job, by which he may put thousands in his pocket, and which being completed in the recess, and there being nobody to take cognizance of it, it will be impossible to apply a remedy. But, I hope this construction, which, so far as relates to our own House, we have an undoubted right to make, will obtain as the true construction of the constitution.

But it is said that this House, and Houses which may hereafter meet, may give the constitution a different construction. No doubt of it; and this may operate to the end of time. A former House passed a sedition law; a subsequent House deemed the law unconstitutional. It is true they did not declare it so, and I am sorry for it; but there is no doubt of the fact. Now, we may pass a sedition law again to-morrow, and the people rise up against it, and send different members to represent them. The people may again slumber; as long as you keep your hands from their pockets, they will keep their eyes from yours; and, in the same way, this law may be repealed. I can, therefore, see no force in this objection. The courts of justice undertake to expound the constitution, and shall not the House of Representatives be as competent to do this as any court of justice? I will suppose a case, that of a man condemned under the Sedition law by a tribunal of justice. Suppose men of different principles come on the bench, would they hesitate to reverse the preceding decision of the court? Indisputably not. Here, too, then, we would behold varying and repugnant decisions.

Mr. EPPES.--I have no doubt that every objection which can be made to a member of this House holding a civil office during his continuance as a Representative, applies with equal force to his holding a lucrative contract. The framers of the constitution in excluding civil officers from the floor of this House, most certainly intended to prevent any species of dependence which might influence the conduct of the Representative--to prevent his looking up for preferment to the Executive, or being biased in his vote by Executive favor. A lucrative contract creates the same species of dependence, and every objection which could be urged against an officer, applies with equal force against contractors, who are dependent on the Executive will, and particularly carriers of the mail. While, however, I make this admission, I do not believe we have power to pass this resolution. The words of the constitution are: “No person holding an office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.” These words are plain and clear. Their obvious intention was to have excluded officers, and officers only. It would certainly have been equally wise to have excluded contractors, because the reason for excluding officers applies to them with equal force. We are not, however, to inquire what the constitution ought to have been, but what it is. We cannot legislate on its spirit against the strict letter of the instrument. Our inquiry must be, is he an officer? If an officer, under the words of the constitution, he is excluded; if not an officer, we cannot exclude him by law. It is true, as has been stated, that, by the constitution, we are made the judges of the qualifications of our own members. This judgment, however, is confined within very narrow limits. The constitution prescribes the qualifications of a member. We can neither narrow nor enlarge them by law. Our inquiry can go no further than this: has the Representative the qualifications prescribed by the constitution? An extensive meaning has been given to the word “office.” How far such a construction of the meaning of this word is warranted, I leave for others to decide. That all contractors are not officers, I am certain. A man, for instance, makes a contract with the Government to furnish supplies. He is certainly not an officer, according to the common and known acceptation of that word. He is, however, a contractor, and, under this resolution, excluded from a seat here. A carrier of the mail approaches very near an officer. The person takes an oath, is subject to penalties, the remission of which depends on the Executive. His duties are fixed and prescribed by law. Near, however, as this species of contract approaches to an office, I do not consider that the word “office” in the constitution can include even this species of contract. I consider the word “office” in the constitution ought to be construed according to the usual import and meaning of that term; and as I do conscientiously believe that the word “office” and the word “contract” cannot be tortured to mean the same thing, I shall vote against the resolution.

Mr. ALSTON.--While I am as much opposed as any man to see any holder of public money within these walls, I cannot justify myself in declaring what is or what is not the constitution. If in any case this ought to be done, this surely should be the last. What is its effect? To deprive a member of his seat on the vote of a bare majority, when the constitution has declared that “no seat shall be vacated, but on the vote of two-thirds of the members.” Let this House say so, and what becomes of a contractor, if any such there be within these walls? The decision of the House will be in violation of the constitution. No man who knows me will imagine that I have any partiality for contractors holding seats within these walls. I have never held a contract, or received a cent of the public money but for my wages as a member of this House. I am, therefore, as disinterested as man can be on this point. If there is a contractor within the meaning of the constitution, let him be pointed out. I am not certain how I shall vote upon such a proposition. But I will not declare beforehand a particular construction of the constitution. If I believe the case comes within the constitution, of which I am not certain, I will vote for clearing the House of such a member. But I will not consent to a majority declaring in this way what they cannot carry into effect. How can this be done? If you cannot get two-thirds of the members of this House to vacate the seat, I ask what becomes of the resolution declaratory of the meaning of the constitution? But it is idle to pass a declaratory resolution unless it can be carried into effect. One thing I will say, if the mover will modify his resolution so as to impose a penalty on any officer who shall make a contract with a member of Congress, I will give it my consent. For I wish to see no man in these walls dependent on the Government. I still adhere to the principle which I set out with, when I entered into public life, for I became a member of the legislature of the State which I have the honor to represent at the age of twenty-one; but there was no office in the gift of any government which I would possess. This is a principle to which I strictly adhere, and I do not believe I have any relation on earth who holds an office, numerous as my relatives are.

Mr. R. NELSON said he was sorry that he could not on this occasion, consistent with the oath he had taken to support the constitution, advocate the resolution under consideration. He agreed that it was highly improper for contractors to hold seats in that House, as there were many cases in which they could not give a free and impartial vote; but in his opinion there was no power to exclude members from a seat, unless that power was contained in the constitution. He said he would give his idea of the spirit and meaning of the constitution on this point. They were bound by its letter--where the letter and the words of it were plain, they were bound strictly to adhere to them; where, from the wording, the meaning was doubtful, or difficult, every member was bound to put that construction which his judgment dictated. But where there was no difficulty, where the words were plain and obvious, he would ever raise his hands against what was called the spirit of the constitution, or, in other words, giving it a meaning which the words would not bear. If this power existed in the constitution, it must be found under that section which declares, that “No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House, during his continuance in office.” The question then comes to the single point: Is a contractor an officer under the constitution? If he is, there is no doubt he may be excluded from a seat in this House; but if he is not, he cannot be excluded. What then is the idea of an officer under the constitution? It either must be recognized by the constitution, or some law passed in conformity to it, for no man under the Government has a right without law to create as many offices as he pleases. The Postmaster-General has a right to contract for carrying the mail; he may employ for this purpose fifty, five hundred, or five thousand men. Will any body thence contend that the Postmaster-General has the right of creating five thousand offices? Our constitution has been justly extolled as the freest in the world, and as the best calculated to promote the happiness and security of the people. It has been called free in contradistinction to those despotic governments, where all the offices are held up to sale. Is not this the case with contracts? Are they not uniformly given to the lowest bidder? What government of principle then is this, which proposes to put a construction upon the constitution, by which offices under the Government shall be thus exposed to sale? But are they in truth officers of the United States, recognized either by the constitution or laws? No, they are not officers of the United States, they are mere hirelings of the Postmaster-General; he has not the power of setting up the constitution to the highest bidder. If so, it is no longer a free constitution; it does not deserve the eulogiums which have been so justly passed upon it.

Mr. EARLY.--I would not rise to trouble you were not the yeas and nays to be recorded on this question. I am as fully sensible as the honorable mover of the resolution, or any other gentleman on this floor, of the extreme impropriety, to say the least of it, of persons remaining members of this House who hold a contract under the Government to which any emolument is attached. With him and them I believe, that of all descriptions of appointment, this is the most improper to be blended, where the emoluments are not fixed by law, but rise or fall with circumstances. I am therefore as willing as any person can be to adopt any measure to effect a remedy of this evil, which we possess the constitutional right of doing. My difficulty on this subject is not the same with that presented to the minds of some gentlemen, that we are not authorized to pass a resolution putting a construction upon the constitution. On this subject, by the constitution we are made judges of the qualifications of the members of this House. If so, we are necessarily judges of their disqualification also. One power implies the other. I therefore have no difficulty on this score. The simple question is, in my mind, whether a contractor is an officer under the constitution? My own opinion is decidedly in the negative--an opinion formed after the most mature reflection. I can appeal to you, sir, that I have sought after truth on this subject with industry; and I can appeal to other members to attest my having contemplated early in the session the offering a resolution as the foundation of a law, to give effect to the object of the gentleman from Virginia, to declare void any contract made by any officer under this Government with any member of either House. So far I am prepared to go, if any member shall introduce such a proposition. The passage of such a law will remove the inconvenience which might arise from interfering decisions made in this House at different times, and will prevent the existence of a different rule in the two branches of the Legislature.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH admitted that this might be, as he was convinced it was with many gentlemen, and hoped it was with all, a question admitting of a fair difference of opinion. It was a question that respected the construction of the Constitution of the United States. The point in issue, whether a contractor is or is not an officer of the United States, had been set aside by being begged. Gentlemen argue as if it was proposed to add a new qualification to holding a seat on this floor, when in truth, no such question existed; the only question was, whether there was an existing disqualification. While I am up, said Mr. R., permit me to say the gentleman from Maryland has, with a peculiar infelicity, abandoned the ground which he had first taken. He says that a contract cannot be an office, because the former are put up to sale; and because no man, under the constitution, can possess the power of creating an indefinite number of offices. And yet, how are those men who carry the mail or discharge the duties of postmasters appointed, but on the mere dictum of the Postmaster-General? And how are foreign Ministers appointed? They are not appointed by law. The President nominates as many as he pleases, and is only limited by the money at his disposal. As to the offices under the Postmaster-General, as has been alleged, being let to the lowest bidder, I believe it would be difficult to establish the allegation. I understand that that is not the principle on which they have been let out. We are told that a contract is nothing but a bargain. It certainly is a bargain. But suppose the office of Postmaster-General, as that seems in this debate to have engaged so much of the attention of gentlemen, should be let to the lowest bidder; would the person that discharged those duties be less an officer of the United States? There is one office which I believe is always let to the lowest bidder--a common executioner. Who is he? The deputy of the sheriff: and quo ad hoc, he is as much an officer as the superior who employs him.

Mr. ELMER said it was perfectly clear to him, that the members of that House were not at liberty to vote for the resolution under consideration. Both common sense and the constitution forbade considering a contract in the light of an office, and he had never before heard it contended that they were equivalent terms. He would cordially give his vote for any law which could be constitutionally passed, to get rid of speculation and corruption of any sort, but the oath which he had taken to support the constitution limited his power, which he could not transcend.

Mr. KELLY said he would concisely assign the reasons which would induce him to vote against the resolution. He did not believe an officer and a contractor meant the same things. With regard to the contractors holding a seat on that floor, it might happen that a man might be a contractor without being in the least disqualified from impartially discharging all the duties of a member, as the contract which he formed might be more for the good of others than his own benefit. He, however, allowed that where a person held a seat, and made use of the power it gave him to make a contract, he was highly censurable. Still he was of opinion that it was not in the power of the House to declare the two appointments incompatible, unless the constitution expressly authorized them. In examining the constitution he found no such provision. Though it had been attempted to be shown that a contractor and an officer were one and the same, he believed they were very distinct things. A contractor receives no authority from Government; his contract was derived from an officer, and all the power he possessed was derived from him, who was only amenable for the performance of the duty to the person who appointed him. A contractor could not, therefore, be considered as an officer under the constitution, amenable to the United States.

Several allusions, said Mr. K., have been made to cases which have occurred under the Postmaster-General, but until these shall be particularly pointed out, it will be impossible for us to decide how we are to act. I believe that it does not become this House to pass declaratory acts relative to the constitution. It ought, in my opinion to stand on its own footing; and every case that is presented ought to be decided, not by a declaratory act, but by the constitution itself. My colleague says that the judges of the federal as well as State courts take an oath as well as we do, to support the constitution; and that, notwithstanding they are in the daily habit of construing the constitution. But there is a wide difference between their deciding particular cases which properly come before them, and this House going into a general declaration without any such particular case. Would the judges undertake to declare the meaning of the constitution without the existence of a particular case calling for their decision? So that the very thing which the House is about doing, has been invariably avoided by the judges.

The question was then taken by yeas and nays on agreeing to the resolution--yeas 25, nays 86.

MONDAY, March 31.

Yazoo Claims.

A message was received from the Senate informing the House that they had passed a bill to carry into effect the provisions of the eighth section of the “Act regulating the grants of land, and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the State of Tennessee.”

The bill having been read the first time--

Mr. R. NELSON said he should not, on this occasion, go into an examination of the principles of the bill, as they were well understood by the House. They went to practise one of the grossest impositions he had ever known. In order to get rid of what he considered a stain on the statute book, and a disgrace to the nation, he moved that the bill be rejected.

The question was accordingly put from the Chair, “Shall the bill be rejected?”

On the motion of Mr. LEIB, it was determined to take the yeas and nays.

The question was then put, Shall the bill be rejected? and passed in the affirmative--yeas 62, nays 54, as follows:

YEAS.--Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, William Blackledge, John Blake, jun., Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, William Butler, Levi Casey, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, Frederick Conrad, John Dawson, Elias Earle, John W. Eppes, James M. Garnett, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, David Holmes, Walter Jones, Thomas Kenan, Michael Leib, Duncan McFarland, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, John Morrow, Gurdon S. Mumford, Roger Nelson, Thomas Newton, jun., Gideon Olin, John Pugh, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, Jacob Richards, Thomas Sammons, Thomas Sanford, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Henry Southard, Thomas Spalding, Richard Stanford, Philip R. Thompson, Abram Trigg, John Whitehill, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, and Joseph Winston.

NAYS.--Willis Alston, jun., Joseph Barker, Silas Betton, Barnabas Bidwell, John Campbell, John Chandler, Martin Chittenden, Orchard Cook, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Samuel W. Dana, Ezra Darby, John Davenport, jun., William Dickson, James Elliot, Caleb Ellis, Ebenezer Elmer, William Ely, William Findlay, James Fisk, John Fowler, Isaiah L. Green, Seth Hastings, William Helms, David Hough, John G. Jackson, James Kelly, Joseph Lewis, jun., Matthew Lyon, William McCreery, Jeremiah Morrow, Jonathan O. Mosely, Jeremiah Nelson, Timothy Pitkin, jun., Josiah Quincy, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Martin G. Schuneman, John Cotton Smith, Joseph Stanton, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Samuel Tenney, David Thomas, Thomas W. Thompson, Uri Tracy, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, Eliphalet Wickes, Marmaduke Williams, and Nathan Williams.

So the bill was rejected.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH moved that the House adjourn. He said that a few days ago the House had adjourned on account of the death of General Jackson. He hoped they would now adjourn on account of his resurrection. For he had told him, that if he could give a death-blow to the Yazoo business he should die in peace. Adjourned, yeas 58.

TUESDAY, April 1.

Plurality of Offices.

On motion of Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, the House took up the report of the Committee of the Whole on sundry resolutions agreed to by them on the 28th ultimo. When the question was put on concurring in the report of the Committee of the Whole in their agreement to the second resolution as follows:

2. Resolved, That the union of a plurality of offices in the person of a single individual, but more especially in the military with the civil authority, is repugnant to the spirit of the Constitution of the United States, and tends to the introducing of an arbitrary Government:

Mr. BIDWELL said he would very concisely assign his reasons for voting against this resolution. It declares that “the union of a plurality of offices in the person of a single individual, but more especially of the military with the civil authority, is repugnant to the spirit of the Constitution of the United States, and tends to the introducing of an arbitrary Government.” It appeared to him that this was not a correct declaration. If the constitution itself be referred to, it will appear that it recognizes a union of civil and military offices in the same person. Such a union is to be found in the First Magistrate of the United States, who exercises the highest Executive civil functions, and is at the same time Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia while in actual service. The same principle pervaded the constitution, he believed, of every State. There was also a union of civil and military authority in several offices, by acts of Congress. This was the case with the marshals in certain cases, and officers who are charged with the superintendence of Territorial affairs. If it were proper, said Mr. B., as I do not think it is, by a vote of this House, to undertake to define the constitution, it still appears to me that we cannot consistently say that the union of a plurality of offices in the person of a single individual, but more especially of the military with the civil authority, is repugnant to the spirit of the Constitution of the United States. A declaration of that kind would be a vote of censure on the people of the whole United States, for having adopted the Federal Constitution, on the people of the several States, for having adopted their constitutions, and on the Legislature under both Governments, for having passed laws which authorized such a union.

Mr. J. CLAY said, the objections of the gentleman arose from not having properly considered the nature of the union of civil and military office in the First Magistrate. By the constitution, the military was placed in strict subordination to the civil power. For this reason the President of the United States had placed under his control all the officers of the Army and Navy. The union contemplated in the resolution before you, said Mr. C., is that which gives the actual discharge of civil powers to an officer who has actual command of your army. I ask if it was ever in the contemplation of the constitution, that the President should in person head your armies and command your fleets? I believe not. There exists in one of the Territories such a union as is contemplated in the resolution. In Louisiana a person holding the office of Governor, is at the same time Commander-in-chief of the Army of the United States, in virtue of his appointment of Brigadier-General. Will any man pretend to say that a union of offices, such as these, the discharge of whose duties is incompatible, is such a union as is contemplated in the constitution? No; the union in the constitution was only intended to give the President a control over the Army and Navy; while this resolution contemplates the positive and actual union of powers in the same person, powers which at the same time he may be called upon to exercise at different and distant places. To separate these powers is the object of the resolution. I hope the resolution will be agreed to, and the separation take place.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--My friend from Pennsylvania has left me little to say on the question, and indeed I have heard nothing in the shape of argument, or assertion, but what I was prepared to hear, and of which I apprised the House some time ago. It has come out at last from the lips of a man who has prided himself upon being the champion of the Constitution of the United States to-day, although but a few days ago he threatened us with a dissolution of the Union, that the constitution has no spirit in it. He calls on any man to lay his finger on that spirit. What does the Constitution of the United States say? Does it not guarantee to each State a Republican form of Government? Is there no spirit in this? Is not the constitution then devised under the influence of a Republican spirit, for the benefit of the people who are governed by it, and not for the exclusive benefit of those who administer it? Will any man pretend to say that a Republic is any thing or nothing? And that it is congenial to such a Government that the civil and military authority should be vested in the same hands? Is it not of the very essence of such a Government that the military should be kept in strict subordination to the civil power? And have not your laws, which give to marshals in certain cases a power over the military, been passed to keep the military under such subjection? How is the military to be kept in such subjection, when, according to the usage of the Romans, the leader of an army is the Governor of a province? If the constitution has no spirit in it, it is a dead, lifeless thing, not worth the protection of any man of sense. But I am happy that it has a spirit, which I trust will save this nation, even if its letter shall be killed.

Mr. QUINCY said he would merely observe, that, though it were true that a union of civil and military offices in the same person was repugnant to the spirit of the constitution, it was not true that a union of different offices in the same person was repugnant to it. They had to-day united two offices in the same person, in the bill relative to the Territory of Michigan. They had heretofore constituted several of the officers of the Government Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. He could see nothing in the constitution which interfered with a plurality of offices, which in many instances was attended with great practical benefit. As there was therefore in the constitution nothing explicit against this union, he could not vote for the resolution.

Mr. GREGG said he believed it was contrary to the spirit of the constitution, that civil and military offices should be united in the same person; but, he would ask, what benefit would result from such a declaration? The power of appointing to office was vested in the President and Senate, who were sworn to support the constitution. They were, therefore, the judges of the powers with which they were invested. In the exercise of this power, they have actually declared that they do possess it. What does this resolution amount to? If they undertook to declare the President guilty of such a flagrant act as involved a violation of the constitution, it was their business to impeach him. Mr. G. said, as he could see no good likely to arise from this resolution, he should not vote for it. The practice it referred to was not new, though he had always thought it wrong. He recollected, that, some years since, the Governor of the North-western Territory was likewise Superintendent of Indian Affairs and Commander-in-chief of the Army, for all which appointments he drew pay, though no notice had been taken of it. Other instances of the same kind might be pointed out. He did believe this union was contrary to the spirit of the constitution--to the true spirit of a Republican Government--and if the gentleman from Virginia would bring forward an amendment to the constitution to prohibit such a union, he would vote for it.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--Six years ago, there could not have been a doubt of the right of this House to pass this resolution--now, the right is disputed. Have we not a right to pass a resolution referring to the constitution, in order to bring in a law grounded on it? Do we not do this every day? One word as to the appointment of General Wilkinson. Gentlemen are fond of sheltering themselves behind great names. I have no hesitation in saying I think the Executive was wrong in making that appointment. I have no hesitation in saying so here, though gentlemen who join me out of doors are reluctant to make the same declaration on this floor. I do not think, however, the persons who made the appointment as reprehensible as the persons at whose importunate solicitation it was made. I believe that a man of good sense, and of upright intentions, may be induced to do that which his own judgment will afterwards condemn. It is well known, that the ante-chambers of our great men were crowded with applicants for offices in Louisiana. I have understood that for every office there were at least one hundred and fifty applications. Thus much for the idea which has been thrown out of the existence of a scarcity of characters to supply these offices.

Mr. VARNUM considered the resolution as going too far, and said it was a very common thing for two offices to be united in one man. It had been usual to unite the diplomatic character with the military command in our intercourse with the Indians, and a diplomatic character had likewise been given to our naval commander in the Mediterranean. Instances of a plurality of offices in one person were very numerous. If there existed, at present, any case, in which such a union was incompatible with the discharge of official duties, he hoped it would be pointed out; whether there was or was not, he could not say. But where did the responsibility for such appointments lie? Not that House, but the other branch of the Legislature was responsible; for the correct discharge of whose duties they were accountable to the people. Where, then, was the propriety of an interference by the House? If the President made an appointment against the spirit of the constitution, the people would know it. Was it presumable that if a law was to pass this House, predicated on the resolution under consideration, the other branch of the Legislature would agree to it, after having sanctioned the appointments at which it is levelled? Was this House to sit as a court of censure? The constitution did not delegate such a power. Our very laws, in various cases, direct the union of office prescribed by the resolution. Ought we not, then, in the first place, to repeal those laws before we pass a resolution in direct hostility to them?

Mr. V. said, he had no hesitation to observe, that the military and civil office should, in general, be kept distinct; but he believed there were cases where it was necessary. He was perfectly willing to leave the responsibility where the constitution had placed it--in the hands of the President and Senate. With regard to the union of the military office in the cases alluded to, he would not undertake to say whether it was proper or not. He could readily, however, conceive, that the union arose from the most correct motive, as the country was a frontier, which might be menaced with danger, and which might require the united exercise of the military and civil authority to repel it.

Mr. J. CLAY said he would ask whether the ordinary union of military and civil powers in the Governors of the Territories was such as that contemplated in the resolution? The case of the Governor of Louisiana had been alluded to, where the same person, he believed, received the pay of Governor and Brigadier. Is that the case with the other Governors? He believed gentlemen would not say that it was necessary that the Governor of New Orleans should be a brigadier-general in the army; and yet they allowed that to be the most vulnerable point on the frontier. If, then, they say that the union is necessary in one case, they will admit that it ought to be in the other.

Mr. LEIB said that, viewing the resolution as an abstract proposition, he had no objection to giving it his support; but if it was intended as a side attack upon the Administration, he was not prepared to vote for it. Before he was prepared to act on it under this view, he wished for facts which were not before the House. He, therefore, moved a postponement of the resolution till Monday.

The motion to postpone was lost.

The question was then taken on agreeing to the resolution, and decided in the negative--yeas 31, nays 81.

WEDNESDAY, April 2.

Claim of Beaumarchais.

Mr. BASSETT presented to the House a petition of Amelia Eugene Beaumarchais, heiress and representative of the late Caron de Beaumarchais, deceased, by J. A. Chevallie, her attorney, which was received and read, praying to be relieved from an unfavorable settlement at the Treasury of the United States, of the accounts of the deceased, for supplies furnished, and services rendered to the United States, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the Committee of Claims.

Charlestown, Va.

Mr. JACKSON called for the order of the day, on the report of the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, on the petition of sundry inhabitants of Charlestown, in Virginia, praying that that place should be made a port of entry.

Mr. LEIB moved an indefinite postponement of the report.

Mr. JACKSON opposed this motion, and spoke at some length in favor of the constitutional right of the petitioners to be allowed a port of entry.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD, though against postponement and in favor of discussing the principle, contested the right.

Mr. LEIB withdrew his motion; when the motion to consider the report was disagreed to--only 13 members rising in favor of it.

Exclusion of Army and Naval Officers from Civil Offices.

The House took up the unfinished business of yesterday, being the report of the Committee of the Whole, agreeing to the following resolution, offered by Mr. J. RANDOLPH:

3d. Resolved, That provision ought to be made, by law, to render any officer in the Army or Navy of the United States incapable of holding any civil office under the United States.

Mr. FISK moved to postpone this resolution indefinitely.

This motion was supported by Messrs. FISK, ELMER, and COOK; and opposed by Messrs. J. CLAY, J. RANDOLPH, and J. C. SMITH.

When the question was taken by yeas and nays, and the motion disagreed to--yeas 43, nays 72.

The question was then taken that the House do agree with the Committee of the whole House in their agreement to the said resolution, and resolved in the affirmative--yeas 94, nays 21, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, jun., Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, Silas Betton, William Blackledge, John Blake, junior, Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, William Butler, John Campbell, Levi Casey, Martin Chittenden, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, Frederick Conrad, Leonard Covington, John Dawson, William Dickson, Elias Earle, Peter Early, James Elliot, Caleb Ellis, William Ely, John W. Eppes, William Findlay, James Fisk, James M. Garnett, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, Seth Hastings, David Holmes, David Hough, John G. Jackson, Walter Jones, Thomas Kenan, John Lambert, Michael Leib, Joseph Lewis, junior, Duncan MacFarland, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Jonathan O. Mosely, Gurdon S. Mumford, Thomas Newton, junior, Gideon Olin, Timothy Pitkin, jun., John Pugh, Josiah Quincy, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, Jacob Richards, Peter Sailly, Thomas Sammons, Thomas Sanford, Martin G. Schuneman, John Smilie, John Cotton Smith, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Thomas Spalding, Richard Stanford, Joseph Stanton, William Stedman, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Samuel Tenney, David Thomas, Philip R. Thompson, Thomas W. Thompson, Uri Tracy, Abram Trigg, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, Marmaduke Williams, Nathan Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, and Joseph Winston.

NAYS.--Evan Alexander, Joseph Barker, Barnabas Bidwell, John Chandler, Orchard Cook, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Ezra Darby, John Davenport, junior, Ebenezer Elmer, Isaiah L. Green, James Kelly, William McCreery, Roger Nelson, John Rhea of Tennessee, John Russell, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, Joseph B. Varnum, John Whitehill, and Eliphalet Wickes.

Ordered, That a bill, or bills, be brought, in pursuant to the said resolution; and that Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, Mr. DAVID R. WILLIAMS, and Mr. JOHN C. SMITH, do prepare and bring in the same.

FRIDAY, April 4.

Prohibition of Military Officers from holding Civil Office.

Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, from the committee appointed on the second instant, presented a bill to prohibit officers of the Army and Navy from holding or exercising any civil office; which was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the Whole to-morrow.

TUESDAY, April 8.

Motion to Adjourn.

On motion of Mr. EARLY,

“Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives be, and they are hereby, authorized to adjourn their respective Houses on Wednesday, the sixteenth of April instant.”

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

THURSDAY, April 10.

Navy Appropriations.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill making appropriations for the support of the Navy of the United States, during the year one thousand eight hundred and six.

The bill was read by sections.

The CHAIRMAN having read that part of the bill which makes an appropriation “for repair of vessels, store rent, pay of armorers, freight, and other contingent expenses,”[37]

Mr. J. RANDOLPH moved to fill the blank with $411,950.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS moved to strike out the words “and other contingent expenses.” He said he made this motion with a view of ascertaining for what objects these contingent expenses were intended to provide. He would ask the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means for information on this point. He believed the sum contemplated to be appropriated unnecessarily large.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH said the gentleman had asked for information which it was not in his power to give. He was as much in the dark as the gentleman as to the items of contingent expenditure; and he should not have moved to fill this blank with so large a sum, but from the conviction that whether they provided the money or not, it would be spent, and an additional appropriation be made the next session. Mr. R. said he viewed an appropriation bill, under present circumstances, a mere matter of form; he believed also all the items of appropriation might as well be lumped together, and it might be declared that a million of dollars were appropriated. Had he been governed by his own opinion, instead of the forms which had been observed, he would have been in favor of drafting the bill in this way, for this reason: If the expenditures of the Navy exceeded this sum by $600,000 there was no doubt the next Congress would make good the deficiency without any inquiry. He believed this, as what had taken place once might take place again.

Mr. R. said he had addressed a note to the head of the department, stating that on such a day the Committee of Ways and Means wished the appropriation bill to be taken up, and expressing a desire that he would give them information of the items of contingent expenditure, as they consider the sum required unnecessarily large. He had received an answer to this effect--the Secretary said he did not think the sum too large, without entering into any explanation. Mr. R. added, gentlemen may fill the blank as they please; it will be no check on the expenditure.

The Committee divided on agreeing to the sum named by Mr. RANDOLPH--ayes 46, noes 37.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS moved to strike out “and other contingent expenses.” He had before said that he had been impelled to make this motion from a sense of duty. This impression had been strengthened by the statement of the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. He could not think it proper to make an appropriation to so large an amount, when the proper organ of the House had without success required information from the head of the department, from whom he had only received a mere opinion. He hoped the committee would agree to strike out this general appropriation, that all the items of contingent expenditure might be stated to the House, and thereby form some check on the expenditure.

Mr. LEIB said he perceived in another part of the bill other mention made of contingent expenses. He would be glad to know what they were. The House ought to know the various items, or otherwise make a general provision for contingent expenses, and leave it to the head of the department to apply the money as he pleases.

Mr. DANA said the first contingent appropriation was for the navy, the second for the marine corps. If striking out the proposed words would enable the committee to obtain the information sought, he should vote for the motion. He had no objection to voting liberally for a navy; but he thought the Legislature ought to be well informed, as they would otherwise scarcely discharge their duty to their constituents.

The motion of Mr. WILLIAMS, to strike out “and other contingent expenses,” was disagreed to--ayes 32.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH moved to strike out that part of the bill making an appropriation “for completing the marine barracks at the city of Washington.” Mr. R. said this object appeared to require a standing appropriation; and, though the building was finite, the appropriation appeared to be infinite.

Motion agreed to--ayes 66.

The committee rose and reported the bill. The House having taken the report of the committee into consideration,

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS, called for the reading of the document, stating the annual expenditures on the Navy, by which it appeared that the expenditures had been as follows:

For 1798 $ 570,314 24 1799 2,848,187 26 1800 3,385,340 48 1801 2,117,420 74 1802 946,213 24 1803 1,107,925 32 1804 1,246,502 74 1805 1,409,949 67 -------------- Total 13,631,853 00 ==============

Mr. D. R. W. renewed his motion to strike out “and other contingent expenses.” He thought the House ought, under existing circumstances, to show a disposition to economize, and to curtail the expenses of the Navy. What is the necessity for this expenditure? Why, the Constitution is in the mud, and the President[38] on her beam ends! Thirteen millions and a half have been already expended, and it is now proposed to add $411,000 for contingent expenses. In making this motion I have no object but to confine the Navy Department to proper expenses; but let them first state what they are.

The SPEAKER observed that this motion could not be received until the amendments of the committee had been acted upon.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS moved to strike out “for ordnance $50,000,”[39] He did not perceive the use of this appropriation. No gentlemen accustomed to travel, but must have seen the unprotected state of the ordnance; look at the Turk’s house, you will there see it lying exposed. To his knowledge it was in many other instances in the same situation.

This motion was lost--ayes 33.

The amendment of the committee to fill the blank with “$50,000,” was agreed to, without a division.

Mr. EPPES offered a proviso declaring that a larger sum than $30,000 shall not be expended on the repairs of any one frigate.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I shall vote against this motion on the same principle that I voted to fill the blank relative to contingent expenses, with $411,000. If we cannot restrain the expenditures of the Navy Department within the sum annually fixed, after giving as much as is asked for, is it not the idlest thing to attempt to restrain them by giving less? The principle on which I voted for filling that blank was this: To give to the Navy Department what it asks, that if, at the end of the year, more shall be expended, the blame may fall on the shoulders of the Secretary, and not on us. The sum appropriated for contingent expenses amounts to $411,000; this is not the half, but it is more than a third of the whole sum appropriated, and it may be expended on repairs or any other item of contingent expenditure. It is enormous. But withhold the appropriation, and where are you? The expense may be incurred, and the Government called on to make good the deficiency; and there the business will end.

With regard to the sum requisite for the repair of a frigate, her situation between this and the next year cannot be foreseen. The Secretary may have estimated $30,000 as sufficient to repair any one frigate as they now stand; but they may be placed in such a condition as to require a much larger sum. But I am against the amendment, said Mr. R., not only for these, but for other reasons. I will never consent to legislate in such a way as to make it appear that we did legislate intelligently, when in fact we do not. If I can be satisfied that $30,000 will be sufficient for the repair of a frigate, I may be induced to vote for it. But even this would be unnecessary. For, after all, the business must be confided to the Head of the Department; and he will be a better judge of the sum required for the repair of a vessel than we are. If he cannot be trusted, we ought, in my opinion, either to refuse the appropriation altogether, or take a very different step from that now proposed. For these reasons I am unwilling to appear to act understandingly on a subject which I know nothing about.

Mr. EPPES.--When I made this motion, it was under the impression that what is correct in private, is also correct in public conduct. We know that, when a vessel owned by a merchant gets in a certain state, it is more advisable to sell than to repair her. I do not know whether I have fixed the proper sum. All I wish to try is, whether the United States are disposed to repair at all events their frigates, whatever their state may be, or limit the sum, after expending which they shall be abandoned. I confess, however, that I am not anxious on this point. I merely wish to try the sense of the House.

On agreeing to Mr. E.’s motion, the House divided--ayes 38, noes 57.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS.--The curtailing Navy expenses may be unpopular, but I conceive it to be right. For that purpose I will renew the motion I offered in committee. I am of opinion that all the expenditures of this department should pass in review before the House. When I first came to Washington, I went to the navy yard. I there saw an elegant building going on. I inquired under what appropriation this was authorized, and was answered, under the appropriation for contingent expenses. I remarked other expenditures, and received the same information. These expenditures may be all proper; but I think that every gentleman on this floor ought to be enabled to tell his constituents how the public money is expended. Talk to them of contingencies, and they will understand as little of the term as of land in the moon. Mr. W. concluded by moving to strike out “and other contingent expenses,” and calling the yeas and nays.

Mr. SMILIE said that no gentleman would censure him for attachment to the Navy. He never had been, nor was he now attached to a Navy. But the situation in which they were placed was well known. If there was time, he should be glad to have every item of expenditure produced by the proper officer, that they might know how to act. He was fully aware that, in the Navy Department, it was more difficult to anticipate the expenses than in any other. Though, therefore, he was no friend to a Navy, as it had not been thought proper to abandon the establishment, he considered it right to make such grants as were necessary for its support. If it was early in the session, or if he thought it possible to get the information, he should vote for calling for it. But as they were reduced to the necessity of saying at once whether they would, or would not support the Navy, he should be in favor of making this grant.

The yeas and nays having been taken on Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS’s motion, were--yeas 25, nays 86.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS moved to recommit the bill to a Committee of the Whole, with the view of obtaining information from the Secretary of the Navy before it was definitively acted on.

The motion was disagreed to--ayes 41, noes 56; when the bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading without a division.

The motion to read the bill a third time on Saturday was carried--ayes 55, when the following motion, made by Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS, was agreed to without a division:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be directed to lay before this House an estimate of the respective sums necessary to be appropriated for repair of vessels, store rent, pay of armorers, freight, and contingent expenses of the Navy for the year 1806.

FRIDAY, April 11.

Exclusion of Military and Naval Officers from Civil Employment.

The bill to prohibit officers of the Army and Navy of the United States from holding or exercising any civil office, was read a third time.

Mr. GREGG said he never found himself involved in greater difficulty. He was in favor of the principle involved in the bill, and yet he could not vote for its passage. He believed that it was a correct principle that civil and military offices should be kept distinct, and he wished the constitution had prohibited the union. In relation to the individual on whom it was mentioned yesterday this law was to operate, he was satisfied it would be best if he could be removed from one of the offices he held; and if such a course had been pursued, he should have been in favor of destroying the office of brigadier-general to get rid of the officer. The effect of this resolution would be to take from a man an office which he held under the constitution. This power they did not possess. The only constitutional way to effect the object was to destroy the office. He would agree likewise to amend the constitution, so as to declare the union of civil and military office incompatible, or to a law providing that after a certain time no person should hold two such offices; and he should, if practicable, be for doing away the office of Governor of Louisiana, because he believed the person holding that office was, by his course of proceedings, producing a disturbance in the Territory. But although he entertained a favorable opinion of the principle of the bill, and would wish to remove that gentleman from one of the offices he held, yet he must vote against the bill, as it went to the unconstitutional removal of an officer.

Mr. SMILIE thought the passage of this bill involved a principle of a very serious nature. As to the abstract principle involved in the bill, he did not dispute its correctness, or that it ought to have been a part of the constitution. But the question was, whether they had a right by a legislative act, to prejudice any other branch of the Government. They were not in his opinion warranted in travelling out of their own sphere to remove existing evils. There was but one way in which the constitution provided for the removal of a public officer. It says “the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Here was the true and only sphere in which the House could move. If the constitution did not give the right of removal in any other way, it did not exist; and if they undertook by a legislative act to remove a man constitutionally appointed, who would pretend to say what mischief might not result from it? For these reasons he should vote against the bill.

Mr. QUINCY said it appeared to him that one of the arguments urged by gentlemen against this bill was fallacious--that which considered it an invasion of the rights of the Executive. This argument went on the assumption that the President would necessarily sign the bill sent to him, which might or might not be the fact. If he accedes to it, the argument of gentlemen falls to the ground; and if it shall be returned, it will then be time enough to discuss the constitutional principle. With regard to the general expediency of passing such a bill, the strongest arguments would be found in favor of it on the page of history. If history proved any thing, it was that the condition of those was most degraded who lived under the colonial governments of Republics. This was amply proved by the annals of the Carthaginian and Roman Republics. The territory under contemplation was a kind of colonial government, and might in the course of time be a powerful engine in the hands of the Executive. He wished, therefore, for a separation of the civil and military powers which might arise under it.

Mr. SMILIE said if the question was what was most convenient or best, he should have no difficulty in agreeing with the gentleman from Massachusetts. But it rested on higher ground--on what was constitutional. If he had a right to make the constitution, he would have no hesitation in separating the civil and military powers. But he could not forget the occurrences which had taken place in the State he had the honor to represent in part. In that State there had been but a single branch of the Legislature without any Executive veto on the passage of the laws. He had seen that Government destroyed by sweeping away the Executive power before the irresistible authority of the Legislature, and he had seen the people obliged, from this circumstance, to give up that constitution and frame a new one. The measure under consideration was of the same kind. The constitutional powers of the Executive ought not to be encroached upon, unless the object was to produce confusion. He had seen the effects of such measures, and deprecated them. You may, said Mr. S., abolish the office, and the officer falls with it; but in no other way, while the office continues, can you remove the officer except by impeachment. Shall we, then, in order to get rid of a man who may not have done right (and as for myself I am ready to answer I have no affection for the man) go into a new scene, the length of which we cannot foresee? This principle once established may lead to any thing; it may lead to a destruction of the powers of the Executive altogether. I am as tenacious of the powers of the Legislature as any man, but I believe the powers of the Executive to be equally necessary. Indeed, I think there is more danger to be apprehended from the overwhelming power of the Legislature, than from the powers of the Executive. For the Legislature is so powerful that there can be little danger of the Executive encroaching upon it.

Mr. EPPES.--If I took the same view of the operation of this law with the gentleman from Pennsylvania, I should certainly give it my negative. As, however, I voted for the resolution on which it is founded, and consider the law in conformity with the resolution, I will assign, in a few words, the reasons which will govern my vote.

We have been told that all the departments of Government are independent of each other. No man denies the correctness of this principle. Let us not interfere with the constitutional rights of the other departments, nor abandon our own. The Executive has by the constitution the right of nominating for office any citizen of the United States, whether an officer of the Army and Navy, or not. This being a constitutional right, he certainly cannot be deprived of it by law; the right remains, and may be exercised if the law passes; the law merely severs the civil and military offices, and leaves the military officer to decide whether he will vacate his military command by holding or accepting a civil office; the Executive will have the same right to appoint--the individual will have the same right to accept the civil office as heretofore, but the acceptance vacates his command in the Army or Navy. If, then, the Executive right to appoint, and the right of the officer to accept, remains after the passage of this law, how can gentlemen contend that the constitutional right of appointment is narrowed? All the difficulty on the present occasion arises from the law being made to bear on the constitutional right of appointment. It is intended to operate only on offices in the Army or Navy which are created by law, to the tenure of which we may annex such conditions as the public good may require. Under the constitution we have a right to prescribe rules for the government of the Army or Navy. In passing this law we add a new clause to the articles of war, viz: That an officer of the Army or Navy shall not hold or accept a civil office. Do gentlemen really suppose that we have no right to make this rule? If we can say that an officer shall not get drunk, that he shall have short hair, a coat of a certain form; that he shall not absent himself from his duty; or if we can in fact annex any other condition calculated to ensure to the public his services, why may we not declare by law that he shall not hold or accept a civil office, he shall forfeit his military command? The public welfare is the basis of the rules for the government of the Army and Navy; we have a right to prescribe such rules as the public good requires, and it is our duty to establish such as will ensure to us the services of our military officers in that station to which they are appointed.

But we are told we are about to remove from office a civil officer by law. The gentleman from Pennsylvania has read the clause of the constitution which provides for the removal of civil officers by impeachment. This law is not to operate on civil but on military officers; civil officers, it is true, are removed by impeachment--military officers by such forms as we think proper to prescribe by law; the operation of this law will be precisely the same with any other new rule prescribed for the government of the Army or Navy. Suppose we were to pass a law that any officer found drunk after the 1st of July next shall forfeit his office--his having been drunk before would not subject him to the penalty of the law--but his being drunk after the first of July next would deprive him of his office. Apply this to the case of a civil officer. An officer of the Army or Navy having accepted a civil office, or holding a civil office, does not at present vacate his military office; the reason is obvious--there is no law against it. If, however, after the first of July next, he accepts or continues to hold a civil office, he forfeits his military command under the new article of war which this law establishes. The law severs the two offices, declares them incompatible with each other, and leaves the individual free to make his election. As to the general principle that the civil and military ought to be separate and distinct, I have no doubt. If the principle is correct, the law ought to extend to all cases, not only such as may hereafter arise, but to those which at present exist.

Mr. STANFORD supported, and Messrs. FINDLAY and SLOAN opposed the bill; when the question was taken by yeas and nays on the passage of the bill--yeas 64, nays 34, as follows:

YEAS.--Willis Alston, Isaac Anderson, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, Silas Betton, John Blake, jr., Thomas Blount, William Butler, Levi Casey, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, John Dawson, Elias Earle, Peter Early, James Elliot, Caleb Ellis, William Ely, John W. Eppes, James M. Garnett, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Seth Hastings, David Holmes, John G. Jackson, Walter Jones, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, Duncan McFarland, Robert Marion, Josiah Masters, Nicholas R. Moore, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Gurdon S. Mumford, Thomas Newton, jr., Gideon Olin, Josiah Quincy, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, Jacob Richards, Thomas Sammons, Thomas Sanford, Martin G. Schuneman, John Cotton Smith, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Thomas Spalding, Richard Stanford, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Philip R. Thompson, Thomas W. Thompson, Uri Tracy, Abram Trigg, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, and Joseph Winston.

NAYS.--David Bard, Joseph Barker, Barnabas Bidwell, John Chandler, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Ezra Darby, Ebenezer Elmer, William Findlay, John Fowler, Andrew Gregg, Isaiah L. Green, James Kelly, William McCreery, Jeremiah Nelson, Timothy Pitkin, jr., John Pugh, John Rea of Tennessee, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Ebenezer Seaver, James Sloan, John Smilie, Henry Southard, Joseph Stanton, David Thomas, Philip Van Cortlandt, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, John Whitehill, Eliphalet Wickes, Marmaduke Williams, and Nathan Williams.

SATURDAY, April 12.

Naval Appropriations.

The bill making appropriations for the support of the Navy was read the third time.

Mr. J. C. SMITH moved to recommit it, for the purpose of restoring the provision for completing the marine barracks at the city of Washington, the amount of expense attending which, he understood, had been already partly expended.

The motion to recommit the bill having obtained--yeas 54--the House went into a Committee of the Whole, Mr. J. C. SMITH in the Chair.

Mr. J. CLAY observed, that since the House had agreed to strike out the provision for completing the barracks, he had understood that more money had been applied to this purpose than had been appropriated, and that it had been drawn from the private funds of one of the officers, under an understanding with the Head of the Department. He, therefore, moved to restore the item “for completing the marine barracks at the city of Washington, three thousand five hundred dollars.”

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS said he should not make any objection to this motion. He would only call the attention of the House to the regard they had heretofore manifested to specific appropriations, under the hope that something would be done to circumscribe contingencies. He believed that this particular sum had been expended much to the interest of the country.

Mr. LEIB said, he was not very fond of making appropriations in this way--for particular officers to run into unauthorized expenditures, and then to call on Congress to make good the deficiency. Is this a provision for completing the house for the commandant? Is that the marine barracks? If not, then under what appropriation is it made? Is it under that of contingencies? Look at the buildings at the navy yard; is all this expense incurred out of the contingent fund? If it is not, it is not authorized by law. Mr. L. said, he did not know that he should make any objection to this item; but he thought it full time to check this loose mode of procedure.

The question was then put, and the motion of Mr. J. CLAY was agreed to without a division.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS said, he wished so to modify that part of the bill which appropriated four hundred and eleven thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars “for repair of vessels, store rent, pay of armorers, freight, and other contingent expenses,” as to separate the items; to give the Department all it asked, but fix a particular sum to each item.

Mr. CONRAD opposed the motion, and remarked that the expenditure under one item might fall short of the sum appropriated, which would require that the deficiency should be made up from the surplus of another.

Mr. DANA said this amendment was warranted by the former usage of the House, and the message of the President of the United States. At the first session of the seventh Congress the President had observed that--

“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.”

This opinion had been given five years ago; and they might now infer that it had been found that it could not be carried into effect, as to the military or naval service. Mr. D. said he considered the gentleman from South Carolina as bringing up this question directly before the House: Will you adhere to specific appropriations, or will you abandon them? Mr. D. said he had never been in favor of them in relation to the Navy or Army.

The question was then taken on the motion of Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS, which was disagreed to--yeas 32, nays 51--when the committee rose, and reported the bill, which was passed without a division.

MONDAY, April 14.

Duty on Salt.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH said he was about to call the attention of the House to a subject which he should not have probably brought into view, but for the change wrought in the state of the revenue, in consequence of the peace with Tripoli. Among the different articles from which moneys were drawn, there was none so heavily burdened as salt; and it would be recollected that it was one of the necessaries of life, and an article, the free use and consumption of which was of material importance to the agriculture of the country. Two acts had been passed laying a duty on this article. It was no new thing to wish--it was, indeed, extremely desirable to diminish, if not to take off this duty, and for that purpose he submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed to inquire into the expediency of repealing so much of any act as lays a duty on salt; and to report such provision as may, in their opinion, be calculated to meet the deficiency occasioned by that repeal.

Mr. THOMAS said the Committee of Ways and Means, of which the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. J. RANDOLPH,) who has made the motion, was and still is Chairman, were instructed by this House in the early part of last session, on a motion which he had the honor then to submit, to inquire into the expediency of reducing the duty on salt, and, if he recollected right, they were directed to report by bill, or otherwise; but, from some cause or other, to him unknown, that committee had never yet made any report on that subject. Courtesy might induce him to impute this neglect to the multiplicity of business put into the hands of the members of that committee.

He, Mr. T., always considered the duty on this article too high, and falling particularly heavy on the agricultural part of the community. It was now, and always had been his wish, to reduce it as soon as our revenue would permit, if consistent with the provisions made for paying off our national debt, and meeting the other exigencies of Government. For his part, he was at a loss, however, to discover that the present situation of our revenue, and the calls on Government for expenditure, together with the present aspect of our foreign relations, warranted this measure more now than last year. It was true that the war with the Barbary Powers up the Mediterranean had ceased, but it was also true, that the two and a half per cent. additional duty on goods paying ad valorem duties has likewise ceased with the peace concluded with Tripoli. This duty was laid for the support of, and was more than adequate to the expense of that war.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH said he certainly did not deny the existence of such a resolution. He had only observed that he did not recollect having received it from the Clerk.

The Clerk read the resolution offered last session by Mr. THOMAS, on the 7th of December, 1804, which was such as he had stated, and which appeared to have received the sanction of the House.

Mr. ALSTON then moved that the resolution should be referred to a Committee of the Whole, which, after a few words in opposition by Mr. LEIB, was disagreed to--yeas 22; when the original motion obtained without a division.

WEDNESDAY, April 16.

Duties on Salt.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill repealing the acts laying duties on salt, and continuing in force for a certain time the first section of the act, entitled “An act further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary Powers,” as follows:

SEC. 1. Be it enacted, &c., That from and after the ---- day of ---- next, so much of any act, or acts, as lays a duty on imported salt, be, and the same hereby is, repealed, and from and after the day aforesaid, salt shall be imported into the United States free of duty.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the first day of January next, so much of any act, or acts, as allows a bounty on exported salt provisions, and pickled fish, in lieu of drawback of the duties on the salt employed in curing the same, and so much of any act, or acts, as makes an allowance to the owners and crews of fishing vessels, in lieu of drawback of the duties paid on the salt used by the same, shall be, and the same hereby is, repealed.[40]

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act, passed on the 25th day of March, 1804, entitled An act further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary Powers, as is contained in the first section of the said act, be, and the same hereby is, continued in force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer.

Mr. QUINCY moved so to amend the first section as to repeal the act laying a duty on salt, additional to that originally imposed, so as to take off at present the duty of eight cents a bushel. He said he was of the opinion that taking off the whole duty on salt would have an injurious effect. A difference of twenty cents on the bushel would operate very seriously on those who had already made shipments. It was part of the duty of a legislator to avoid making such sudden changes as tended to destroy the confidence of the mercantile world in the stability of the laws. Whenever changes were made, they ought, in his opinion, to be gradual. Although he considered the general effect of this measure most important, yet, by too sudden an operation, it might affect a respectable class of individuals very injuriously. He would state the effect which he apprehended it would have. Suppose the repeal should take effect on the first day of July. A cargo of salt generally averages about four thousand bushels; the prime cost at Liverpool was about eleven cents a bushel. The cost of the cargo would, therefore, be only $440; the duty would amount to $800; the freight, &c., to about $1,000; making an aggregate of $2,240, which would be the cost in this country, on a mercantile calculation, supposing the present duties to remain in force. The present price of salt in this country was about fifty-three cents a bushel, which would produce something less than $2,240. The reason of the sum for which it is sold being less than that it costs is, that salt is merely made use of, in most cases, as a return cargo. Taking off the duty of twenty cents, would reduce the price to thirty-three cents a bushel, which would detract $920 from the value of the cargo, and would be more than double the prime cost of the salt. To so great a reduction, so suddenly made, Mr. QUINCY said he objected. He had, he said, another reason for being against the section as it stood. The duty on salt was among the duties pledged for the payment of the national debt. At the time this pledge was made, the duty was twelve cents. The additional duty of eight cents was afterwards imposed. His object was, to reduce the existing duty eight cents, and to let the original duty of twelve cents stand, at least, until some notice had been given to the mercantile world. He believed that a reduction of the duty was highly desirable, and would be very popular. He might not, perhaps, object to an entire repeal if time were allowed him to consult his constituents, some of whom might possibly be ruined by it. All things considered, he thought it would be best to reduce the duty at present eight cents. This would leave Congress at liberty, at their next session, to take the entire repeal into consideration, which might be done in case they considered it eligible.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH said he should prefer the taking off eight cents, rather than suffering the duty to remain as it stood at present; but he hoped the whole duty would be taken off. One of the objections of the gentleman to taking off the whole duty was, that the merchants who have imported salt may be injured by it, and will not be able to compete with those who have imported it duty free. But this argument operated two ways. Did it not apply differently when the duty on salt was first laid? At that time, the very man who now loses, gained in a correspondent ratio. To his mind, Mr. R. said, it was the strangest reason on earth, if this nation were in a situation to give up all its taxes, that it should be said by any gentleman, don’t repeal the laws imposing them, because my constituents, the merchants, have paid duties on some of them. If so, your taxes, so far from being diminished, may go on increasing ad infinitum. But, the truth is, we have the same right now to take off the duty on salt as our predecessors had to lay it on.

But it seems that the original duty of twelve cents was put into pledge for the payment of the national debt. We were told the same thing five years ago when we proposed to repeal the internal taxes. They were, however, repealed without any violation of the public faith, and wherefore? The nation has contracted a debt to the public creditor, and so long as the Government finds funds wherewith to pay it, the public creditor has no right to ask whether we take it from our coat or breeches pocket? whether from a land tax, an excise, or from duties on imported articles? The pledge on our side is, to find money. If, after the repeal of this duty, the ways and means for the payment of this debt are found deficient, I agree that we are bound to make good the deficiency. But what do we propose? The amount of the duty on salt is less than $600,000, and at the same time that we take this off, we impose a duty which will produce a million. We take off a duty on a necessary of life, which falls peculiarly heavy on the poor, and on agriculture, and lay an ad valorem duty on gauze, catgut, and the Lord knows what, which produces from three to five thousand dollars more.

Mr. QUINCY asked whether a duty which produced $850,000 a year, which was limited to the end of the next session, and which was not pledged to the payment of the national debt, could be considered as equivalent to a permanent duty of half a million, imposed by an act which could not be repealed until the debt was paid? He did not think the new tax was a substitute of equal value, and he considered it one of the objects of this bill to get rid of the pledge to pay the debt.

Mr. J. CLAY felt disposed to give every credit to gentlemen in their professions of regard towards the public debt. The answer to the objection was this: A certain fund, arising from the impost, was pledged to the payment and interest of the debt. An act had passed the last Congress increasing the fund appropriated for this purpose, from $7,200,000 to $8,000,000. If the duty on salt was not a component part of this sum, the objection of gentlemen was futile. Now it was a fact, that, so much as this sum was diminished by taking off the $520,000 arising from the duty on salt, so much was it increased by the other duty proposed to be laid by this act. So long as the taxes pledged exceeded eight millions, the Government sacredly regard their engagements. As an answer to all the sensibility displayed by gentlemen for the public faith, permit me, said Mr. C., to refer them to a resolution proposed in the seventh Congress, on the 25th of January, 1802, instructing the Committee of Ways and Means to inquire into the expediency of taking off, or reducing, the duty on brown sugar, coffee, and bohea tea. Another objection urged by gentlemen is, the effect of this bill on the merchants. There is no doubt that, in consequence of it, the price of salt will fall; but, would not this have been the effect on bohea tea, had their measure been successful? The effect, however, will be gradual, and there will be but little loss sustained by any one individual, as the price will begin to fall immediately on taking off the duty. I believe it is not a material error to say, that the traffic is pretty much in the hands of those men who enjoyed it when the duty was laid; and if so, those who now lose, will only lose as much as they before gained. I hope the blank in the bill will be so filled as to give six months notice of the imposition of the duty.

Mr. DANA said, that if gentlemen were disposed to diminish the revenue, to screw up the Government, and if they were satisfied the Administration could get along without this tax, it would weigh much in his mind in favor of repeal; and, as they were disposed to grapple with difficulties and gain popularity, he believed he would gratify them by voting for the bill.

Mr. QUINCY said he opposed such an excessive reduction of this duty at once, not only on the grounds he had stated, but on other grounds. In Massachusetts, in the neighborhood of Boston, very extensive manufactories of salt had been established, under the idea that the duty would be continued. The immediate effect of this measure might be to destroy and ruin them.

Mr. QUINCY’s motion to amend the section was likewise disagreed to without a division.

On motion of Mr. J. RANDOLPH, the blank, relative to the time when the duty was to take effect, was filled with the first day of October.

The third section was then read, which continued the Mediterranean fund till the next session of Congress.

Mr. ALSTON observed that, from the present appearance of things, he did not think it advisable that this section should remain as it was, as in six or eight months they would have again the same ground to travel over. His object was permanently to substitute the Mediterranean fund for the salt tax. He had no objection to make the exchange; to take off the perpetual tax on salt, and lay it on these articles. He thought there was no danger in trusting to the wisdom of Congress the discontinuance of the act imposing them; and that as long as there was a necessity for taxes, these subjects of taxation were as unexceptionable as any that could be laid. When they were about to strike so deeply at the revenue, they ought to be certain that the substitute offered would justify the measure. For these reasons he submitted a motion to make the Mediterranean fund perpetual. He thought this expedient, as the tax on salt was perpetual, and the substituted tax was not so certain as that on salt. With regard to the one, very little variation could take place; while the other might materially change with the times.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD then moved to amend the last section, so as to continue the Mediterranean fund for three years.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH hoped the amendment would not be agreed to. It would be remembered that the right of giving the public money was the sole exclusive right of that branch of the Legislature; and that when they made grants for a long term of years, it would not depend on them alone whether they should be revoked. In his opinion, if the Constitution of the United States was practised on its true principles, that House ought not to give the public money out of its control. There was no existing cause for continuing this fund for three years, or for a longer period than that contemplated by the bill.

The question was then taken on Mr. CROWNINSHIELD’s motion, which was disagreed to--ayes 28. When the question was taken on engrossing the bill, which was carried--ayes 83.

THURSDAY, April 17.

Duties on Salt.

The bill repealing the acts laying duties on salt, and continuing in force, for a further time, the first section of the act, entitled “An act further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary Powers,” was read a third time.

Mr. MASTERS moved to recommit the bill, for the purpose of modifying its details.

Mr. QUINCY supported the motion; which was lost--ayes 37, nays 49.

When the yeas and nays were taken on the passage of the bill--yeas 43, nays 11, as follows:

YEAS.--Evan Alexander, Willis Alston, jun., Isaac Anderson, Burwell Bassett, George M. Bedinger, John Blake, junior, Thomas Blount, Robert Brown, Levi Casey, John Chandler, John Claiborne, Christopher Clark, Joseph Clay, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, Samuel W. Dana, Ezra Darby, John Davenport, junior, John Dawson, Elias Earle, Peter Early, James Elliot, Caleb Ellis, Ebenezer Elmer, William Ely, John W. Eppes, James Fisk, James M. Garnett, Charles Goldsborough, Peterson Goodwyn, Edwin Gray, Andrew Gregg, Silas Halsey, John Hamilton, David Holmes, David Hough, John G. Jackson, John Lambert, Joseph Lewis, junior, Patrick Magruder, Robert Marion, Thomas Moore, Jeremiah Morrow, John Morrow, Jonathan O. Mosely, Jeremiah Nelson, Roger Nelson, Thomas Newton, junior, Gideon Olin, Timothy Pitkin, junior, John Pugh, Josiah Quincy, John Randolph, Thomas M. Randolph, John Rea of Pennsylvania, Jacob Richards, Thomas Sammons, Thomas Sanford, Martin G. Schuneman, James Sloan, John Smilie, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Henry Southard, Richard Stanford, Joseph Stanton, Samuel Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Samuel Tenney, David Thomas, Philip R. Thompson, Thomas W. Thompson, Abram Trigg, Killian K. Van Rensselaer, Joseph B. Varnum, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, Marmaduke Williams, Alexander Wilson, Richard Wynn, and Joseph Winston.

NAYS.--Joseph Barker, John Fowler, Isaiah L. Green, Michael Leib, Matthew Lyon, Josiah Masters, William McCreery, Nicholas R. Moore, John Russell, Peter Sailly, and Uri Tracy.

FRIDAY, April 18.

William Eaton.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill authorizing the settlement of accounts between the United States and William Eaton. No amendment having been made to the bill, the House proceeded to consider the said bill at the Clerk’s table, and the same being again read, in the words following, to wit:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That the proper accounting officers be, and they hereby are, authorized and directed to liquidate and settle the accounts subsisting between the United States and William Eaton, late Consul at Tunis, upon just and equitable principles, under the direction of the Secretary of State.

A motion was made by Mr. JOHN RANDOLPH, and the question being put, to amend the said bill, by striking out, at the end thereof, the words “under the direction of the Secretary of State;” it passed in the negative--yeas 43, nays 48.

Ordered, That the said bill be engrossed, and read the third time on Monday next.

MONDAY, April 21.

Duties on Salt.

The House took up the amendments of the Senate to the bill repealing the acts laying duties on salt, and continuing in force for a further time, the first section of the act, entitled “An act further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary Powers.”

These amendments proposed striking out all the provisions of the bill relative to the repeal of the duty on salt.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I understand this House to have sent a bill to the Senate repealing the existing duty on salt, and continuing for a further time the tax imposing a duty of two and a half per cent. on articles previously charged with ad valorem duties. The Senate have returned the bill, retaining the supply we voted, as well as the tax proposed by us to be repealed. I hope we shall not agree to their amendments, and the reasons I shall offer will not be those drawn from expediency, but from my idea of the constitutional powers of this, and the other branch of the legislature--which is, that it is the sole and indisputable prerogative of this House to grant the money of the people of the United States. It is here only that a grant of money can originate. It is true that the Senate have the power of amending money bills, but my idea of the extent to which that power can go, according to the true spirit of the constitution, is this: while the Senate may amend money bills to facilitate the collection of duties, or in other respects, as to their details, they do not possess the constitutional power of varying either the quantum of tax proposed in this House, or the object on which it may be levied. I hope the House will never consent to give up this invaluable privilege of saying what supplies they will grant, and the object on which they shall be levied. But, even supposing this objection nugatory, I hope this House will not suffer itself to be trapped, on the last day of the session, in agreeing to a grant it was never in their contemplation to make. When we sent a bill to the other branch to continue the Mediterranean duty, we sent at the same time, a bill to repeal the duty on salt. The amendment from the Senate can be viewed in no other light than as originating a money bill in the Senate. It goes to originate a tax on salt. Such, in effect, will be the object and tendency of the measure. Let us suppose, instead of sending to the Senate a bill imposing a new tax, we had sent a simple bill to repeal this same tax upon salt--could the Senate, by an amendment, rivet and continue the Mediterranean fund? And if they could, would not that be originating a money bill? I hope the House will disagree to the amendments of the Senate.

Mr. ALSTON thought it would be advisable to accommodate with the Senate. In order to obtain an accommodation, he should vote, in the first instance, against the amendments of the Senate. On a conference, they may agree to strike off the duty of eight cents on salt, and the next year, when we shall better understand the ground on which we stand, the House may be disposed still further to lessen the burden.

Mr. RHEA, of Tennessee.--I do not consider this bill as in the nature of a bill originating revenue, but as one, on the contrary, detracting from the revenue. I contend that the Senate have the power, at any time, to say they will not consent to the repeal of a revenue law, else they are a trifling, insignificant body. Are they not, as well as we, to judge of the exigency of the country? This is not a question of expediency, but of necessity. Though we are desirous of taking off the duty on salt, such is the situation of the country, menaced with foreign danger, and particularly with a war with Tunis, that the revenue ought not to be diminished. For these reasons I shall concur in the amendment of the Senate.

The yeas and nays were then taken on agreeing to the amendment of the Senate--yeas 24, nays 56.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I hope we shall now adhere to our disagreement to the amendment of the Senate. I hope we shall not concur with the Senate, under the idea of reducing the duty on salt from twenty to twelve cents. Notwithstanding a fear entertained by some gentlemen of a deficiency in the revenue, the House, by a vast majority, passed the bill repealing the duty on salt. The Message of the President was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, and that committee made a report recommending the taking off the duty on salt, and continuing the two and a half per cent. duty. Every objection to the measure that now exists then existed, and ought then to have been offered. We then sent to the other House a supply of money--a tax yielding $900,000, with the probability of its amounting the ensuing year to a million; in this same bill we proposed taking off a tax, which does not yield $600,000; we therefore made a grant of $400,000 annually. It is said that the amendment of the Senate does not go to the imposition of a new tax, but that it continues the revenue as it is. There is some plausibility, but no solidity in this remark. If it goes to continue the revenue as it now is, where is the necessity of continuing the duty of two and a half per cent.? It is therefore in fact a new money bill. Let me urge one thing to the House. If we ever mean to strike off the duty on salt, we must cling to the Mediterranean fund as the lever to lift this load from the shoulders of the people. It will be recollected that within five years we have taken off the internal taxes. I am glad of it; for I fear it would not now be done. They produced about $800,000, inclusive of the taxes which have expired, and $640,000 exclusive of them. But we have granted a supply of two and a half per cent. duties, which yield, annually, from nine hundred thousand, to a million dollars. This is a complete offset to the repeal of the internal taxes. What we have lost by their repeal we have gained, with the addition of one or two hundred thousand dollars beyond the sum we should have received, had they been suffered to remain, and no addition been made to the duties on imports and tonnage; and yet we hear of the growing demands of the Government. But the growing demands of all Governments are alike. Do gentlemen recollect the growing state of the nation? When this Government was first put in motion, the duties on imports were not more than four or five millions. These resources are daily growing, and a fund accruing from the increasing prosperity of the people, which their guardians are bound to account for. Though we have contracted a debt for New Orleans, we have gained a revenue of not less than $300,000 a year. From these circumstances I hope we shall adhere to our disagreement to the amendments of the Senate, and that they will, in their justness and graciousness, yield a tax of half a million for a tax which produces a whole million.

It is said the Senate may strike out all but the title of your bills. Indisputably; but will this House submit? Suppose you send a bill to the Senate laying a duty of two per cent. on saltpetre, and they send it back to you, striking out this provision, and giving you a bill in lieu of it, laying a tax of four shillings in the pound on all the lands of the United States. Is that, under the constitution, a fair exercise of their power? To my mind, if the position be admitted, that it is the sole privilege of this House to grant the public money, it is extremely indecent, to say no more, for that branch of the Legislature to tell the United States they will get all the money they can, whatever may be the disposition of this House. Recollect how the salt tax was laid before--on the last day of an expiring Congress, after a proposition to lay the tax had been rejected, and members had gone home, under the persuasion that no such attempt would be renewed. By some little modification of that proposition, a tax of twenty cents was laid on every fifty-six pounds of salt, and riveted on the people for ever. When I say for ever, I mean the period of its being taken off depends on a branch of the Legislature over which the people have but little control, who are the representatives, not of the people, but of the State sovereignties. Now, if the House do wish, as surely they must, to get rid of this tax, and if they believe, as they must, that the present circumstances of the country admit of its repeal, else the bill would not have passed by so large a majority, I hope they will adhere to their disagreement to the amendments of the Senate, and put it in the power of the other branch to take so much of the public money as it is our pleasure to grant, and not one cent more.

Mr. CONRAD.--I hope we shall not adhere, but try a conference. It will then be time enough to consider whether we will adhere. Anxious as I am to get rid of this odious tax, I will agree to reduce the duty to twelve cents, or keep the Mediterranean fund, and next session judge whether we are able to take off the whole of it.

The motion to adhere was then disagreed to--yeas 36, nays 42. When the House agreed to insist on their disagreement to the amendment of the Senate, and appointed a committee of conference.

And then, on a motion, made and seconded, the House adjourned until half past six o’clock, post meridian.

Eodem Die, half-past 6 o’clock.

Salt Duty.

CONFERENCE.

Mr. GREGG, from the committee of conference on the same bill, observed that the conferees on the part of the Senate did not discover any disposition to recede from their amendments. The conferees on the part of the House stated the danger of losing the bill if the conferees did not relax, and proposed to meet them on the ground of compromise, by taking off the duty of eight cents imposed on salt. To this proposition the conferees on the part of the Senate declined acceding.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH moved that the House adhere to their disagreement to the amendments of the Senate.

Mr. ALSTON.--Having done every thing in our power to repeal the duty on salt or to lessen it, the only question is, whether we shall continue the Mediterranean fund until the next session or not. I call on gentlemen to take a review of the different estimates from the Treasury during the present session, and to consider the expenses they warrant--I allude particularly to the appropriation of two millions towards the purchase of the Floridas, to decide whether we can do without the Mediterranean fund. The great object with me in advocating the repeal of the duty on salt was to obtain the Mediterranean fund. We have done our part to effect this object. I believe with the aid of that fund, though the duty on salt had been taken off, our revenue would have been sufficient; though even the greatest economy would have been requisite in the disbursement of the public money.

Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--I hope we shall adhere to our vote, and I will give my reasons for indulging this hope. I do not profess to be so well acquainted with the subjects of finance as some other gentlemen on this floor. But if the Mediterranean fund is to be continued for so short a time, it is obvious that the revenue to be gleaned from it will be proportionally small. The arguments of gentlemen therefore rebut themselves. They declare that they want a revenue, while they acknowledge that the continuance of this tax will produce but a small one. I hope that we shall keep the Mediterranean fund as a hostage for the salt tax. If between this and the next session a deficiency shall occur in our ways and means, to meet the demands of the Government, it will not be the first time, as I know it will not be the last, in which I shall step forward to vote a supply to meet every honorable demand. If there shall be deficit, as there is no reason to believe there will be, I pledge myself as one of those who will meet it. I wish to adhere to our vote, that the Mediterranean fund may be lost; for we have been told by those who, I presume, are well acquainted on such points, that such a course will enforce economy, and I wish I could add, in the words of an honorable friend who has no longer a seat here, would ensure economy.

The question was then taken by yeas and nays on adhering--yeas 40, nays 47.

The House then agreed to recede from their disagreement to the amendment of the Senate--ayes 45, noes 36.

Hamet Caramalli.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill sent from the Senate, entitled “An act for the temporary relief of Hamet Caramalli.” The bill was reported without amendment, read the third time, and passed--yeas 71, nays 6.

Adjournment.

Mr. EARLY, from the committee appointed on the part of this House, jointly, with the committee appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him of the proposed recess of Congress, reported that the committee had performed that service; and that the President signified to them he had no farther communication to make during the present session.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate, having finished the legislative business before them, are now ready to adjourn.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that this House, having completed the business before them, are now about to adjourn until the first Monday in December next; 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 until the first Monday in December next.

NINTH CONGRESS.--SECOND SESSION.

BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 1, 1806.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.

MONDAY, December 1, 1806.

The second session of the Ninth Congress, conformably to the Constitution of the United States, commenced this day, at the city of Washington, and the Senate assembled, in their Chamber.

PRESENT:

GEORGE CLINTON, Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate.

WILLIAM PLUMER and NICHOLAS GILMAN, from New Hampshire.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS and TIMOTHY PICKERING, from Massachusetts.

URIAH TRACY, from Connecticut.

BENJAMIN HOWLAND, from Rhode Island.

STEPHEN R. BRADLEY and ISRAEL SMITH, from Vermont.

SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, from New York.

JOHN CONDIT and AARON KITCHEL, from New Jersey.

GEORGE LOGAN and SAMUEL MACLAY, from Pennsylvania.

SAMUEL WHITE, from Delaware.

DAVID STONE, from North Carolina.

JOHN GAILLARD, from South Carolina.

ABRAHAM BALDWIN, from Georgia.

THOMAS WORTHINGTON, from Ohio.

WILLIAM B. GILES, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia, for the term of six years, from and after the 4th day of March last, produced his credentials, which were read; and, the oath prescribed by law having been administered to him, he took his seat in the Senate.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House is assembled, and are ready to proceed to business.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have appointed a joint committee, on their part, with such committee as the Senate may appoint, 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 that he may be pleased to make to them.

The Senate took into consideration the resolution of the House of Representatives last mentioned, for the appointment of a joint committee, and

Resolved, That they do concur therein; and

Ordered, That Messrs. MITCHILL and STONE be the committee on the part of the Senate.

Mr. MITCHILL reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, agreeably to the resolution of this day, and that the President of the United States had informed the committee that he would make a communication to the two Houses to-morrow, at twelve o’clock.

TUESDAY, December 2.

SAMUEL SMITH, from the State of Maryland, and BUCKNER THRUSTON, from the State of Kentucky, attended.

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

Annual Message.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

It would have given me, fellow-citizens, great satisfaction to announce, in the moment of your meeting, that the difficulties in our foreign relations, existing at the time of your last separation, had been amicably and justly terminated. I lost no time in taking those measures which were most likely to bring them to such a termination, by special missions, charged with such powers and instructions as, in the event of failure, could leave no imputation on either our moderation or forbearance. The delays which have since taken place in our negotiations with the British Government appear to have proceeded from causes which do not forbid the expectation that, during the course of the session, I may be enabled to lay before you their final issue. What will be that of the negotiations for settling our differences with Spain, nothing which had taken place at the date of the last despatches enables us to pronounce. On the western side of the Mississippi she advanced in considerable force, and took post at the settlement of Bayou Pierre, on the Red river. This village was originally settled by France, was held by her as long as she held Louisiana, and was delivered to Spain only as a part of Louisiana. Being small, insulated, and distant, it was not observed, at the moment of redelivery to France and the United States, that she continued a guard of half a dozen men, which had been stationed there. A proposition, however, having been lately made by our Commander-in-chief, to assume the Sabine river as a temporary line of separation between the troops of the two nations until the issue of our negotiations shall be known, this has been referred by the Spanish commandant to his superior, and in the mean time he has withdrawn his force to the western side of the Sabine river. The correspondence on this subject, now communicated, will exhibit more particularly the present state of things in that quarter.

Having received information that, in another part of the United States, a great number of private individuals were combining together, arming and organizing themselves contrary to law, to carry on a military expedition against the territories of Spain, I thought it necessary, by proclamation, as well as by special orders, to take measures for preventing and suppressing this enterprise, for seizing the vessels, arms, and other means provided for it, and for arresting and bringing to justice its authors and abettors. It was due to that good faith which ought ever to be the rule of action in public as well as in private transactions, it was due to good order and regular government that, while the public force was acting strictly on the defensive, and merely to protect our citizens from aggression, the criminal attempts of private individuals to decide, for their country, the question of peace or war, by commencing active and unauthorized hostilities, should be promptly and efficaciously suppressed.

In a country whose constitution is derived from the will of the people, directly expressed by their free suffrages, where the principal Executive functionaries, and those of the Legislature, are renewed by them at short periods; where, under the character of jurors, they exercise in person the greatest portion of the judiciary powers; where the laws are consequently so formed and administered as to bear with equal weight and favor on all, restraining no man in the pursuits of honest industry, and securing to every one the property which that acquires, it would not be supposed that any safeguards could be needed against insurrection, or enterprise, on the public peace or authority. The laws, however, aware that these should not be trusted to moral restraints only, have wisely provided punishment for these crimes when committed. But would it not be salutary to give also the means of preventing their commission? Where an enterprise is meditated by private individuals against a foreign nation in amity with the United States, powers of prevention, to a certain extent, are given by the laws; would they not be as reasonable and useful where the enterprise preparing is against the United States? While adverting to this branch of law it is proper to observe, that, in enterprises meditated against foreign nations, the ordinary process of binding to the observance of the peace and good behavior, could it be extended to acts to be done out of the jurisdiction of the United States, would be effectual in some cases where the offender is able to keep out of sight every indication of his purpose which could draw on him the exercise of the powers now given by law.

The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, for exploring the river Missouri, and the best communication from that to the Pacific Ocean, has had all the success which could have been expected. They have traced the Missouri nearly to its source, descended the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, ascertained with accuracy the geography of that interesting communication across our continent, learnt the character of the country, of its commerce, and inhabitants; and it is but justice to say, that Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, and their brave companions, have, by this arduous service, deserved well of their country.

I congratulate you, fellow-citizens, on the approach of the period at which you may interpose your authority, constitutionally, to withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our country, have long been eager to proscribe. Although no law you may pass can take prohibitory effect till the day of the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, yet the intervening period is not too long to prevent, by timely notice, expeditions which cannot be completed before that day.

The receipts at the Treasury, during the year ending on the 30th day of September last, have amounted to nearly fifteen millions of dollars, which have enabled us, after meeting the current demands, to pay two millions seven hundred thousand dollars of the American claims, in part of the price of Louisiana; to pay of the funded debt, upwards of three millions of principal, and nearly four of interest; and, in addition, to reimburse, in the course of the present month, nearly two millions of five and a half per cent. stock. These payments and reimbursements of the funded debt, with those which had been made in the four years and a half preceding, will, at the present year, have extinguished upwards of twenty-three millions of principal.

The duties composing the Mediterranean fund will cease, by law, at the end of the present session. Considering, however, that they are levied chiefly on luxuries, and that we have an impost on salt, a necessary of life, the free use of which otherwise is so important, I recommend to your consideration the suppression of the duties on salt, and the continuation of the Mediterranean fund instead thereof, for a short time, after which that also will become unnecessary for any purpose now within contemplation.

When both of these branches of revenue shall in this way be relinquished, there will still, ere long, be an accumulation of moneys in the Treasury beyond the instalments of public debt which we are permitted by contract to pay. They cannot, then, without a modification, assented to by the public creditors, be applied to the extinguishment of this debt, and the complete liberation of our revenues, the most desirable of all objects; nor, if our peace continues, will they be wanting for any other existing purpose. The question, therefore, now comes forward: To what other objects shall these surpluses be appropriated, and the whole surplus of impost, after the entire discharge of the public debt, and during those intervals when the purposes of war shall not call for them? Shall we suppress the impost, and give that advantage to foreign over domestic manufactures? On a few articles, of more general and necessary use, the suppression, in due season, will doubtless be right, but the great mass of the articles on which impost is paid are foreign luxuries, purchased by those only who are rich enough to afford themselves the use of them. Their patriotism would certainly prefer its continuance and application to the great purposes of the public education, roads, rivers, canals,[41] and such other objects of public improvement as it may be thought proper to add to the constitutional enumeration of federal powers. By these operations new channels of communication will be opened between the States; the lines of separation will disappear; their interests will be identified and their Union cemented by new and indissoluble ties. Education is here placed among the articles of public care, not that it would be proposed to take its ordinary branches out of the hands of private enterprise, which manages so much better all the concerns to which it is equal; but a public institution can alone supply those sciences which, though rarely called for, are yet necessary to complete the circle, all the parts of which contribute to the improvement of the country, and some of them to its preservation. The subject is now proposed for the consideration of Congress, because, if approved by the time the State Legislature shall have deliberated on this extension of the federal trusts, and the laws shall be passed and other arrangements made for their execution, the necessary funds will be on hand, and without employment. I suppose an amendment to the constitution, by consent of the States, necessary, because the objects now recommended are not among those enumerated in the constitution, and to which it permits the public moneys to be applied.

The present consideration of a national establishment, for education particularly, is rendered proper by this circumstance; also that, if Congress, approving the proposition, shall yet think it more eligible to found it on a donation of lands, they have it now in their power to endow it with those which will be among the earliest to produce the necessary income. This foundation would have the advantage of being independent on war, which may suspend other improvements, by requiring for its own purposes the resources destined for them.

TH. JEFFERSON.

DECEMBER 2, 1806.

The Message and documents therein referred to were read, and ordered to lie for consideration, and three hundred copies thereof printed for the use of the Senate.

WEDNESDAY, December 3.

DANIEL SMITH, from the State of Tennessee, attended.

THURSDAY, December 4.

JAMES HILLHOUSE, from the State of Connecticut, attended.

FRIDAY, December 5.

JAMES TURNER, from the State of North Carolina, attended.

TUESDAY, December 9.

ANDREW MOORE, from the State of Virginia, attended.

THURSDAY, December 11.

JOHN MILLEDGE, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Georgia, in the place of James Jackson, deceased, took his seat, and his credentials were read, and the President administered the oath to him as the law prescribes.

FRIDAY, December 19.

The credentials of STEPHEN R. BRADLEY, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Vermont, for the term of six years, from and after the third day of March next, were presented and read; also, the credentials of JOHN MILLEDGE, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Georgia, for the term of six years, from and after the third day of March next.

Ordered, That they lie on file.

MONDAY, December 29.

The PRESIDENT communicated a letter from ROBERT WRIGHT, stating that he had resigned his seat in the Senate.

PHILIP REED, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Maryland, in place of Robert Wright, resigned, produced his credentials, and took his seat in the Senate.

HENRY CLAY, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Kentucky, in place of John Adair, resigned, produced his credentials, and took his seat in the Senate.[42]

The credentials of Mr. CLAY and Mr. REED were severally read, and the oath was administered to them as the law prescribes.

Mr. REED also produced the credentials of his appointment to be a Senator of the United States, from the State of Maryland, from the third day of March next, until the fourth day of March, 1813, and they were read, and ordered to lie on file.

JAMES FENNER, from the State of Rhode Island, attended.

MONDAY, January 12, 1807.

JAMES A. BAYARD, from the State of Delaware, attended.

TUESDAY, January 20.

The credentials of ANDREW GREGG, appointed a Senator of the United States by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for six years, commencing on the 4th March next, were presented and read, and ordered to lie on file.

THURSDAY, January 22.

Burr’s Conspiracy.

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

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

Agreeably to the request of the House of Representatives, communicated in their resolution of the 16th instant, I proceed to state under the reserve therein expressed, information received touching an illegal combination of private individuals against the peace and safety of the Union, and a military expedition planned by them against the territories of a power in amity with the United States, with the measures I have pursued for suppressing the same.

I had for some time been in the constant expectation of receiving such further information as would have enabled me to lay before the Legislature the termination as well as the beginning and progress of this scene of depravity, so far as it has been acted on the Ohio and its waters. From this, the state of safety of the lower country might have been estimated on probable grounds; and the delay was indulged the rather, because no circumstance had yet made it necessary to call in the aid of the legislative functions. Information, now recently communicated, has brought us nearly to the period contemplated. The mass of what I have received in the course of these transactions, is voluminous; but little has been given under the sanction of an oath, so as to constitute formal and legal evidence. It is chiefly in the form of letters, often containing such a mixture of rumors, conjectures, and suspicions, as renders it difficult to sift out the real facts, and unadvisable to hazard more than general outlines, strengthened by current information, on the particular credibility of the relator. In this state of the evidence, delivered sometimes, too, under the restriction of private confidence, neither safety nor justice will permit the exposing names, except that of the principal actor, whose guilt is placed beyond question.

Some time in the latter part of September, I received intimations that designs were in agitation in the western country unlawful and unfriendly to the peace of the Union; and that the prime mover in these was AARON BURR, heretofore distinguished by the favor of his country. The grounds of these intimations being inconclusive, the objects uncertain, and the fidelity of that country known to be firm, the only measure taken was to urge the informants to use their best endeavors to get further insight into the designs and proceedings of the suspected persons, and to communicate them to me.

It was not till the latter part of October, that the objects of the conspiracy began to be perceived; but still so blended and involved in mystery, that nothing distinct could be singled out for pursuit. In this state of uncertainty as to the crime contemplated, the acts done, and the legal course to be pursued, I thought it best to send to the scene, where these things were principally in transaction, a person in whose integrity, understanding, and discretion, entire confidence could be reposed, with instructions to investigate the plots going on, to enter into conference (for which he had sufficient credentials) with the Governors and all other officers, civil and military, and, with their aid, to do on the spot whatever should be necessary to discover the designs of the conspirators, arrest their means, bring their persons to punishment, and to call out the force of the country to suppress any unlawful enterprise in which it should be found they were engaged. By this time it was known that many boats were under preparation, stores of provisions collecting, and an unusual number of suspicious characters in motion on the Ohio and its waters. Besides despatching the confidential agent to that quarter, orders were at the same time sent to the Governors of the Orleans and Mississippi Territories, and to the commanders of the land and naval forces there, to be on their guard against surprise, and in constant readiness to resist any enterprise which might be attempted on the vessels, posts, or other objects under their care; and on the 8th of November instructions were forwarded to General Wilkinson, to hasten an accommodation with the Spanish commandant on the Sabine, and as soon as that was effected, to fall back with his principal force to the hither bank of the Mississippi, for the defence of the interesting points on that river. By a letter received from that officer on the 25th of November, but dated October 21st, we learnt that a confidential agent of Aaron Burr had been deputed to him with communications, partly written in cipher and partly oral, explaining his designs, exaggerating his resources, and making such offers of emolument and command, to engage him and the army in his unlawful enterprise, as he had flattered himself would be successful. The General, with the honor of a soldier and fidelity of a good citizen, immediately despatched a trusty officer to me, with information of what had passed, proceeding to establish such an understanding with the Spanish commandant on the Sabine, as permitted him to withdraw his force across the Mississippi, and to enter on measures for opposing the projected enterprise.

The General’s letter, which came to hand on the 25th of November, as has been mentioned, and some other information received a few days earlier, when brought together, developed Burr’s general designs, different parts of which only had been revealed to different informants. It appeared that he contemplated two distinct objects, which might be carried on either jointly or separately, and either the one or the other first, as circumstances should direct. One of these was the severance of the Union of these States by the Alleghany mountains; the other, an attack on Mexico. A third object was provided, merely ostensible, to wit, the settlement of a pretended purchase of a tract of country on the Washita, claimed by a Baron Bastrop. This was to serve as the pretext for all his preparations, an allurement for such followers as really wished to acquire settlements in that country, and a cover under which to retreat in the event of a final discomfiture of both branches of his real design.

He found at once that the attachment of the western country to the present Union was not to be shaken; that its dissolution could not be effected with the consent of its inhabitants, and that his resources were inadequate, as yet, to effect it by force. He took his course then at once, determined to seize on New Orleans, plunder the bank there, possess himself of the military and naval stores, and proceed on his expedition to Mexico, and to this object all his means and preparations were now directed. He collected from all the quarters where himself or his agents possessed influence, all the ardent, restless, desperate, and disaffected persons, who were ready for any enterprise analogous to their characters. He seduced good and well-meaning citizens, some by assurances that he possessed the confidence of the Government, and was acting under its secret patronage, a pretence which procured some credit from the state of our differences with Spain; and others by offers of land in Bastrop’s claim on the Washita.

This was the state of my information of his proceedings about the last of November, at which time, therefore, it was first possible to take specific measures to meet them. The proclamation of November 27th, two days after the receipt of General Wilkinson’s information, was now issued. Orders were despatched to every interesting point on the Ohio and Mississippi, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, for the employment of such force, either of the regulars or of the militia, and of such proceedings also of the civil authorities, as might enable them to seize on all the boats and stores provided for the enterprise, to arrest the persons concerned, and to suppress, effectually, the further progress of enterprise. A little before the receipt of these orders in the State of Ohio, our confidential agent, who had been diligently employed in investigating the conspiracy, had acquired sufficient information to open himself to the Governor of that State, and apply for the immediate exertion of the authority and power of the State to crush the combination. Governor Tiffin and the Legislature, with a promptitude, an energy, and patriotic zeal, which entitle them to a distinguished place in the affection of their sister States, effected the seizure of all the boats, provisions, and other preparations within their reach, and thus gave a first blow, materially disabling the enterprise in its outset.

In Kentucky a premature attempt to bring Burr to justice, without a sufficient evidence for his conviction, had produced a popular impression in his favor, and a general disbelief of his guilt. This gave him an unfortunate opportunity of hastening his equipments. The arrival of the proclamation and orders, and the application and information of our confidential agent, at length awakened the authorities of that State to the truth, and then produced the same promptitude and energy of which the neighboring State had set the example. Under an act of their Legislature, of December 23d, militia was instantly ordered to different important points, and measures taken for doing whatever could yet be done. Some boats (accounts vary from five to double or treble that number) and persons (differently estimated from one to three hundred) had in the mean time passed the Falls of Ohio, to rendezvous at the mouth of Cumberland, with others expected down that river.

Not apprised, till very late, that boats were building on Cumberland, the effect of the proclamation had been trusted to for some time in the State of Tennessee. But, on the 19th of December, similar communications and instructions, with those to the neighboring States, were despatched by express to the Governor, and a general officer of the western division of the State; and, on the 23d of December, our confidential agent left Frankfort for Nashville, to put into activity the means of that State also. But by information received yesterday, I learn that on the 23d of December, Mr. Burr descended the Cumberland with two boats merely of accommodation, carrying with him from that State no quota towards his unlawful enterprise. Whether after the arrival of the proclamation, of the orders, or of our agent, any exertion which could be made by that State, or the orders of the Governor of Kentucky for calling out the militia at the mouth of Cumberland, would be in time to arrest these boats, and those from the Falls of Ohio, is still doubtful.

On the whole, the fugitives from the Ohio, with their associates from Cumberland, or any other place in that quarter, cannot threaten serious danger to the city of New Orleans.

By the same express of December 19th, orders were sent to the Governors of Orleans and Mississippi, supplementary to those which had been given on the 25th of November, to hold the militia of their Territories in readiness to co-operate, for their defence, with the regular troops and armed vessels then under command of General Wilkinson. Great alarm, indeed, was excited at New Orleans by the exaggerated accounts of Mr. Burr, disseminated through his emissaries, of the armies and navies he was to assemble there. General Wilkinson had arrived there himself on the 24th of November, and had immediately put into activity the resources of the place, for the purpose of its defence; and, on the 10th of December, he was joined by his troops from the Sabine. Great zeal was shown by the inhabitants generally; the merchants of the place readily agreeing to the most laudable exertions and sacrifices for manning the armed vessels with their seamen; and the other citizens manifesting unequivocal fidelity to the Union, and a spirit of determined resistance to their expected assailants.

Surmises have been hazarded that this enterprise is to receive aid from certain foreign powers. But these surmises are without proof or probability. The wisdom of the measures sanctioned by Congress at its last session, has placed us in the paths of peace and justice with the only powers with whom we had any differences; and nothing has happened since which makes it either their interest or ours to pursue another course. No change of measures has taken place on our part: none ought to take place at this time. With the one, friendly arrangement was then proposed, and the law, deemed necessary on the failure of that, was suspended to give time for a fair trial of the issue. With the same power friendly arrangement is now proceeding, under good expectations, and the same law deemed necessary on failure of that, is still suspended, to give time for a fair trial of the issue. With the other, negotiation was in like manner then preferred, and provisional measures only taken to meet the event of rupture. With the same power negotiation is still preferred, and provisional measures only are necessary to meet the event of rupture. While, therefore, we do not deflect in the slightest degree from the course we then assumed, and are still pursuing, with mutual consent, to restore a good understanding, we are not to impute to them practices as irreconcilable to interest as to good faith, and changing necessarily the relations of peace and justice between us to those of war. These surmises are, therefore, to be imputed to the vauntings of the author of this enterprise, to multiply his partisans by magnifying the belief of his prospects and support.

By letters from General Wilkinson, of the 14th and 18th of December, which came to hand two days after the date of the resolution of the House of Representatives, that is to say, on the morning of the 18th instant, I received the important affidavit, a copy of which I now communicate, with extracts of so much of the letters as comes within the scope of the resolution. By these it will be seen that of three of the principal emissaries of Mr. Burr, whom the General had caused to be apprehended, one had been liberated by habeas corpus, and two others, being those particularly employed in the endeavor to corrupt the General and Army of the United States, have been embarked by him for ports in the Atlantic States, probably on the consideration that an impartial trial could not be expected during the present agitation of New Orleans, and that that city was not as yet a safe place of confinement. As soon as these persons shall arrive, they will be delivered to the custody of the law, and left to such course of trial, both as to place and progress, as its functionaries may direct. The presence of the highest judicial authorities, to be assembled at this place within a few days, the means of pursuing a sounder course of proceedings here than elsewhere, and the aid of the Executive means, should the judges have occasion to use them, render it equally desirable for the criminals as for the public, that, being already removed from the place where they were first apprehended, the first regular arrest should take place here, and the course of proceedings receive here their proper direction.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 22, 1807.

Ordered, That the Message, and documents therein referred to, lie for consideration; and that five hundred copies thereof be printed for the use of the Senate.

FRIDAY, January 23.

Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

On the motion of Mr. GILES,

Ordered, That Messrs. GILES, ADAMS, and SMITH of Maryland, be a committee to inquire whether it is expedient, in the present state of public affairs, to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise.

Ordered, That the Message of the President of the United States, of the 22d instant, together with the documents therein mentioned, be referred to the same committee.

Whereupon, Mr. GILES, from the committee, reported a bill to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus for a limited time, in certain cases; and the rule was, by unanimous consent, dispensed with, and the bill had three readings, and was amended.

Resolved, That this bill pass as amended, that it be engrossed, and that the title thereof be “An act to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus for a limited time in certain cases.”

The committee also reported the following message to the House of Representatives; which was read and agreed to, to wit:

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

The Senate have passed a bill suspending for three months the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, in certain cases, which they think expedient to communicate to you in confidence, and to request your concurrence therein, as speedily as the emergency of the case shall, in your judgment, require.

Ordered, That Mr. SMITH of Maryland be the committee to deliver the message to the House of Representatives.

MONDAY, January 26.

Burr’s Conspiracy.

A Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, as follows:

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I received from General Wilkinson, on the 23d instant, his affidavit, charging Samuel Swartwout, Peter V. Ogden, and James Alexander, with the crimes described in the affidavit; a copy of which is now communicated to both Houses of Congress.

It was announced to me at the same time, that Swartwout and Bollman, two of the persons apprehended by him, were arrived in this city, in custody, each, of a military officer. I immediately delivered to the Attorney of the United States, in this district, the evidence received against them, with instructions to lay the same before the Judges, and apply for their process to bring the accused to justice; and put into his hands orders to the officers having them in custody to deliver them to the Marshal, on his application.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 26, 1807.

The Message and papers therein mentioned were read and referred to Messrs. GILES, BAYARD, and ADAMS, together with the Message and papers heretofore communicated to the Senate on the same subject, to consider and report thereon; and five hundred copies of the Message of the President of the United States and documents communicated this day, were ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

TUESDAY, January 27.

JOHN SMITH, from the State of Ohio, attended.

WEDNESDAY, January 28.

Sundry written Messages were received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, by Mr. Coles, his Secretary.

The bill to prevent settlements being made on lands ceded to the United States, until authorized by law, was read the second time, and made the order of the day for Friday next.

The Senate resumed the second reading of the bill, entitled “An act authorizing the erection of a bridge over the river Potomac, within the District of Columbia,” and the motion that it be postponed to the next session of Congress; and, after debate, the Senate adjourned.

THURSDAY, January 29.

Burr’s Conspiracy.

The Message yesterday received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES was read, as follows:

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

By the letter of Captain Bissel, who commands at Fort Massac, and of Mr. Murrell to General Jackson, of Tennessee, copies of which are now communicated to Congress, it will be seen that Aaron Burr passed Fort Massac on the 31st December, with about ten boats, navigated by about six hands each, without any military appearance; and that three boats with ammunition were said to have been arrested by the militia at Louisville.

As the guard of militia posted on various points of the Ohio will be able to prevent any further aids passing through that channel, should any be attempted, we may now estimate with tolerable certainty the means derived from the Ohio and its waters, towards the accomplishment of the purposes of Mr. Burr.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 28, 1807.

The Message and papers were read, and ordered to lie for consideration.[43]

MONDAY, February 2.

Death of the Representative Levi Casey, Esq.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate of the death of General Levi Casey, late a member of the House of Representatives, and that his funeral will take place this day at one o’clock.

Whereupon, Resolved, That the Senate will attend the funeral of General Casey.

TUESDAY, February 17.

Virginia Military Land Warrants.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have passed a bill, entitled “An act to extend the time for locating Virginia military warrants, and for returning the surveys thereon to the office of the Secretary for the Department of War.”

WEDNESDAY, February 18.

The credentials of the Honorable JOHN SMITH, appointed a Senator of the United States for the State of New York, for the term of six years, commencing on the 4th day of March next, were presented and read.

THURSDAY, February 19.

Tennessee Lands.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the report of the committee, appointed on the 17th of December last, “to inquire what further proceeding is necessary to carry into effect the provisions of an act, entitled ‘An act to authorize the State of Tennessee to issue grants and perfect titles to certain lands therein described, and to settle the claims to the vacant and unappropriated lands within the same.’”

And the report was agreed to.

WEDNESDAY, February 25.

Salt Duty.

The Senate resumed the third reading of the bill, from the House of Representatives, entitled “An act repealing the acts laying duties on salt, and continuing in force for a further time the first section of the act, entitled ‘An act further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary Powers;’” and on the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined in the affirmative--yeas 15, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS.--Messrs. Bradley, Condit, Giles, Howland, Kitchel, Logan, Maclay, Milledge, Moore, Reed, Smith of Maryland, Smith of Tennessee, Smith of Vermont, Thruston, and Worthington.

NAYS.--Messrs. Adams, Bayard, Gilman, Hillhouse, Mitchill, Pickering, Plumer, Smith of New York, Sumter, Tracy, Turner, and White.

TUESDAY, March 3.

Adjournment.

Mr. MITCHILL reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, who informed them that he had no further communications to make to the two Houses of Congress.

The Senate took into consideration the resolution of the House of Representatives for the appointment of a joint committee to wait on the President of the United States to acquaint him with the intended recess of the two Houses of Congress, and agreed thereto; and Messrs. MITCHILL and ADAMS were appointed the committee on the part of Senate.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House, having finished the business before them, are about to adjourn. The Secretary was then directed to inform the House of Representatives that the Senate, having finished the business before them, are about to adjourn, whereupon the Senate adjourned without day.

NINTH CONGRESS.--SECOND SESSION.

PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MONDAY, December 1, 1806.

This being the day appointed by the constitution for the annual meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, and took their seats, to wit:

From New Hampshire--Silas Betton, Caleb Ellis, David Hough, Samuel Tenney, and Thomas W. Thompson.

From Massachusetts--Joseph Barker, Barnabas Bidwell, John Chandler, Orchard Cook, Jacob Crowninshield, Richard Cutts, William Ely, Isaiah L. Green, Seth Hastings, Jeremiah Nelson, Josiah Quincy, Ebenezer Seaver, William Stedman, Samuel Taggart, and Joseph B. Varnum.

From Vermont--Martin Chittenden, James Elliot, James Fisk, and Gideon Olin.

From Rhode Island--Nehemiah Knight, and Joseph Stanton.

From Connecticut--Samuel W. Dana, John Davenport, jr., Jonathan O. Mosely, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Lewis B. Sturges, and Benjamin Tallmadge.

From New York--John Blake, jr., Silas Halsey, John Russell, Peter Sailly, Thomas Sammons, Martin G. Schuneman, Philip Van Cortlandt, and Killian K. Van Rensselaer.

From New Jersey--Ezra Darby, Ebenezer Elmer, John Lambert, James Sloan, and Henry Southard.

From Pennsylvania--Isaac Anderson, David Bard, Robert Brown, Joseph Clay, Frederick Conrad, William Findlay, John Hamilton, James Kelly, John Pugh, John Rea, Jacob Richards, John Smilie, Samuel Smith, John Whitehill, and Robert Whitehill.

From Delaware--James M. Broom.

From Maryland--Charles Goldsborough, Patrick Magruder, William McCreery, Nicholas R. Moore, and Roger Nelson.

From Virginia--Burwell Bassett, John Claiborne, John Clopton, John Dawson, John W. Eppes, James M. Garnett, Peterson Goodwyn, David Holmes, Walter Jones, Joseph Lewis, jr., Thomas Newton, jr., and John Randolph.

From North Carolina--Willis Alston, jr., Thomas Kenan, Duncan MacFarland, Nathaniel Macon, Speaker, Richard Stanford, Joseph Winston, and Thomas Wynns.

From South Carolina--William Butler, Robert Marion, Thomas Moore, and David R. Williams.

From Georgia--Peter Early, and David Meriwether.

From Ohio--Jeremiah Morrow.

From Kentucky--George M. Bedinger, John Boyle, and Thomas Sanford.

From Tennessee--George W. Campbell, and John Rhea.

Delegate from the Mississippi Territory--William Lattimore.

Two new members, to wit: from Connecticut THEODORE DWIGHT, returned to serve in this House, as a member for the said State, in the room of John Cotton Smith, who has resigned his seat; and, from Virginia, WILLIAM A. BURWELL, returned to serve in this House, as a member for the said State, in the room of Christopher Clark, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced their credentials, were qualified, and took their seats in the House.

DANIEL CLARK, returned to serve as a delegate from the Orleans Territory of the United States, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

And a quorum, consisting of a majority of the whole number, being present, a message was sent to the Senate to inform them that a quorum of the House is assembled, and ready to proceed to business.

A message from the Senate informed the House, that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business.

Mr. DAWSON and Mr. GEORGE W. CAMPBELL were appointed a committee, on the part of the House, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, 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 be pleased to make to them.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have appointed a committee on their part for the same purpose.

TUESDAY, December 2.

Several other members, to wit: from New York, HENRY W. LIVINGSTON, and URI TRACY; from Maryland, JOHN CAMPBELL; from Virginia, JOHN MORROW, THOMAS M. RANDOLPH, JOHN SMITH, PHILIP R. THOMPSON, and ALEXANDER WILSON; from North Carolina, JAMES HOLLAND; and from South Carolina, ELIAS EARLE, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. [For which, see Senate proceedings of this date, ante, page 485.]

WEDNESDAY, December 3.

Several other members, to wit: from New York, JOSIAH MASTERS and DAVID THOMAS; from Maryland, LEONARD COVINGTON; and from South Carolina, LEVI CASEY, appeared and took their seats in the House.

Another new member, to wit, EDWARD LLOYD, from Maryland, returned to serve in this House as a member for the said State, in the room of Joseph H. Nicholson, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, December 15.

Two other members, to wit: GEORGE CLINTON, junior, from New York, and WILLIAM DICKSON, from Tennessee, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

Coast Survey.

Mr. DANA, of Connecticut.--In 1802, an act was passed, authorizing a survey of Long Island Sound. In pursuance of that act, the Secretary of the Treasury caused a survey to be taken by two men, who appear to have been, what the act intended, intelligent and proper persons. And there has since been published a chart of the Sound, handsomely executed, on a large scale, which must, I presume, be regarded as convenient and valuable by those concerned in that branch of navigation.

At the last session of Congress, an act was passed for another survey. It made provision for surveying the coast of North Carolina between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear, with the shoals lying off or between those capes. I understand that measures have been taken for executing this act, but that the vessel employed in the service, and all the papers respecting the survey which had been made, had been lost near Ocracoke Inlet, in one of the desolating storms experienced on the coast in the course of the present year.

The surveys, which have thus been authorized, were perhaps of the most urgent necessity; but other surveys of the coast are desirable. What has already been done may be regarded as introductory to a general survey of the coasts of the United States under authority of the Government. With a correct chart of every part of the coast, our seamen would no longer be under the necessity of relying on the imperfect or erroneous accounts given of our coasts by foreign navigators. I hope the lives of our seamen, the interest of our merchants, and the benefits to the revenue, will be regarded as affording ample compensation for making a complete survey of the coasts of the United States at the public expense.

The information which may be obtained will also be useful in designating portions of territorial sea to be regarded as the maritime precincts of the United States, within which, of course, the navigation ought to be free from the belligerent searches and seizures.

It is proposed to extend the survey to the distance of twenty leagues from the shore. This distance is mentioned with a view to the second article of the treaty with Great Britain in 1783, which describes our boundaries as “comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States.”

The resolution, which I propose for the consideration of the House, is expressed in these words:

Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expediency of making provision for a survey of the coasts of the United States, designating the several islands, with the shoals and roads or places of anchorage within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States.

WEDNESDAY, December 17.

Two other members, to wit: PELEG WADSWORTH, from Massachusetts, and DANIEL C. VERPLANCK, from New York, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

THURSDAY, December 18.

Another member, to wit, ANDREW GREGG, from Pennsylvania, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

Importation of Slaves.

The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill prohibiting the importation of slaves.

Mr. BIDWELL observed, that there were strong objections against the forfeiture of persons of color imported into the United States. As the bill stood, the forfeiture was to be followed by a sale of these persons, as property, as slaves. On this point there was a great diversity in the laws and habits of the respective States; to avoid an interference with which, it appeared to him most advisable to do away the forfeiture, leaving their disposition to the provisions of the laws of the several States. If this part of the section should be struck out, those laws would operate on this point.

There would, he said, be a serious difficulty in adopting the principle of forfeiture accompanied with a sale. In some of the States, the idea of such a species of property was excluded by their constitutions; in those States there could be no such thing as a slave. It was true, that the constitutions and laws of such States did not go the length of interfering with the laws of other States, where slavery was permitted. If fugitives from them sought an asylum in the State of Massachusetts, for instance, they were faithfully restored, under the provisions of the Constitution of the United States. Neither did the laws of Massachusetts interfere with travellers passing through it with slaves; but so far as it respected persons coming to reside in the State, they were manumitted, as a matter of course.[44] He believed that no contract for their sale within the State would be of any validity; nor did he believe any power had been given to the United States to render such sale valid. If there were such a power, its tendency would be to introduce into that State persons contrary to its laws. If such a sale were valid, it would interfere with those laws; and if not valid, it would be a perfect nullity, and the provision be thus altogether inoperative. It was admitted that there was no probability of such an importation into States where slavery was not allowed; yet such a thing might take place, and Congress ought not to legislate under the idea that it would not take place.

Mr. EARLY observed, that this motion could only be viewed as an old thing offered in a new shape, intended to have the same effect as the motion offered the preceding day declaring persons of color imported into the United States free. He thought it betrayed great inconsistency. Those who advocated it had yesterday supported an amendment which, by declaring all such persons free, went directly to interfere with the laws of States where slavery was permitted; to-day they gravely maintained the inexpediency of any such interference whatever. The great difficulty insisted upon was, that the operation of this law in States where slavery was not permitted, would contravene the existing laws by forfeiting the imported slaves. But this difficulty had no solidity in it--it was altogether ideal, as from the nature of things the case of an importation in such States could not occur; at all events, it was among the most improbable events in nature.

Mr. BIDWELL moved to strike out all that part of the fourth section which related to the forfeiture of negroes.

Mr. EARLY asked, what substitute was intended.

Mr. BIDWELL replied, that he should move that the committee rise, and that the bill be recommitted.

Mr. QUINCY, of Massachusetts.--I am opposed to the motion of my colleague, (Mr. BIDWELL,) to strike out the forfeiture. The United States ought to retain the control of them. What is to be done with them, is another question. But for the United States to divest the old owners of their right, and provide no means for their protection afterwards, appears to me cruel and dangerous. They are helpless, ignorant of our laws, and of our language and manners. How are they to be supported? If imported into the South, they will be slaves; if into the North, vagabonds. My colleague ought to show what is to be done with them. I am not prepared with a plan, but I should suppose that they might be disposed of in service, in such States as would admit them, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. If forfeited to the United States, we can, by a general provision, do what we please with them. And I have no doubt that what we do will be both prudent and humane.

Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS.--I agree with the gentleman from Massachusetts, who spoke last, that the amendment ought not to be adopted. It is incumbent on the gentleman who introduced it, (Mr. BIDWELL,) to tell us what is to be done with these negroes, if they are not to be forfeited. I say, it is his duty to inform us how they are to be disposed of. Give up the idea of forfeiture, and I challenge the gentleman to invent fines, penalties, or punishments of any sort, sufficient to restrain the slave trade. The same identical persons will break this law who have broken the act of 1794. And who are these persons? They are the gentleman’s own countrymen; they are the people of Rhode Island, who are concerned in this business. You cannot stop the trade by penalties. I have myself seen a ship of more than three hundred tons, the George Washington, sold for five dollars. Nobody would bid. The gentleman over the way shakes his head; he acknowledges the truth of my remarks on his countrymen.

Mr. BIDWELL knew nothing of the New England men being concerned in this trade. He lived in the interior of the country, and had little acquaintance with mercantile men. If they were concerned, he was willing that they should be punished by fine and penalties, and to any extent; but he was still opposed to a forfeiture of the negroes generally by a law of Congress. The States may determine, perhaps, whether it shall be done.

Mr. QUINCY, of Massachusetts.--I think I now understand the plan of my colleague, (Mr. BIDWELL,) and I like it less than before. It is “to leave them to the operation of the laws of the respective States.” This is only another form of expression of leaving them to be slaves. It is leaving the title of these persons according to the laws of the State into which they are imported. Is the gentleman sure this will not be an encouragement? It certainly will be, if the importer can find means to evade the penalty of the act; for there he has all the advantage of a market enhanced by our ineffectual attempt to prohibit. If he relies upon the penalty, I have no doubt it will be evaded. Persons without responsibility will be made captains of these ships, or other means devised to escape the penalty, and as his property is, by this amendment, secured to the owner, great profits will result from the traffic.

Mr. EARLY.--I did suppose that the United States would pass a law themselves, as soon as they had the power, to prohibit the slave trade effectually. But the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. BIDWELL) proposes that Congress shall relinquish all the credit of this measure, and resign it up to the States. This, I hope and trust, Congress will never agree to.

If the amendment prevails, I tell you that slaves will continue to be imported as heretofore. I tell the gentleman from Massachusetts, what every man in the Southern States knows already, that slaves will continue to be imported, unless you forfeit them. You cannot get hold of the ships employed in this traffic. Besides, slaves will be brought into Georgia from East Florida. They will be brought into the Mississippi Territory from the bay of Mobile. You cannot inflict any other penalty, or devise any other adequate means of prevention, than a forfeiture of the Africans in whose possession they may be found after importation. I tell you this is the only effectual method. I implore Congress to look seriously on this subject. I implore them, if they do any thing, to pass a law which will not disgrace themselves.

Mr. PITKIN, of Connecticut.--Mr. Chairman, I rise, sir, for the purpose of making a motion, which, I trust, will supersede the one now before the committee. It is, that the committee should rise, and that the bill before them be referred to a select committee. Under this motion, I presume it will be in order to state my reasons, generally, without being confined to the question of amending the fourth section of the bill, which is now before the committee.

As the persons thus brought into the country contrary to law, are to be “forfeited,” they are to be proceeded with, as appears by a subsequent section of the bill, “in the manner prescribed by the act, entitled, ‘An act to regulate the collection of duties on imposts and tonnage.’”

What, sir, is this process? They are to be seized by the revenue officers as goods, wares, and merchandise, imported contrary to law. They are to be libelled in the federal courts, are to be condemned, and then sold to the highest bidder by an officer of the court at public auction, and one-half of the avails, at least, is to be paid into the Treasury of the United States. This, sir, is a proposition, this is a mode of proceeding against those persons, to which I cannot bring my mind to consent, unless absolute necessity should require it. What, sir, shall we, in a law made for the express purpose of preventing the slave trade, declare that these unfortunate blacks, brought into this country, not only against their own will, but against the express provisions of the law itself, shall be sold as slaves for the benefit of the United States, and the price of their slavery be lodged in the public coffers? I trust not, sir; I believe some other mode may be devised to prevent the slave trade. While I am unwilling to give my assent to this mode of disposing of them, I am free to confess that I feel the force of the remarks made by the Southern gentleman, that, unless some care should be taken of them after they are landed, the property, and perhaps the lives of those who live in States where slavery is permitted, would be insecure. And here, sir, I would suggest, whether, instead of selling those unfortunate beings as slaves, provision might not be made, that they should be disposed of for a term of years; say seven, eight, or ten years, until they should be able to support themselves, and at the end of the term they should be free. If Congress have power to prohibit their importation, they certainly have power to say, that the imported shall have no right or claim whatever in them; and also to declare what shall be their state and condition when imported. Indeed, sir, Congress have already determined this principle in May, 1800. They passed an act, in addition to an act, entitled “An act to prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from the United States, with any foreign place or country.”

Mr. EARLY.--In answer to the gentleman from Connecticut, I will acknowledge that there is an inconsistency in this bill. But it seems very wonderful that the gentleman has at last found it out. I offered an amendment, a short time since, in order to obviate this inconsistency; but, unless I am much mistaken, that very gentleman voted against it.

In the name of all the friends of this bill, I offer my most grateful acknowledgments to the gentleman for proving, in the most incontestable manner, the absolute necessity of that very provision in the bill which he opposes. He has shown, most undeniably, that you must forfeit the negroes, that you cannot possibly get at the vessel or the captain, to operate on them. In the name of common sense, I ask you, then, what can you find to operate on, but the negroes imported? and yet, with these truths staring them in the face, gentlemen are opposed to the measure. I wish the gentleman from Connecticut, from the immensity of the resources which he has displayed on this subject, would tell us what, beside the negroes, can be found for the law to operate upon.

I am willing that the committee rise, but not for the purpose mentioned. The gentleman moves you to rise, and refer the bill to a select committee; and for what? To determine the principle of the bill; not to specify the detail. What can the select committee report? Unless instructions are given them, they must report the same bill, and then you will be just where you are now.

The question being taken on the committee’s rising, it was carried--ayes 72.

Mr. PITKIN hoped they would not have leave to sit again.

Mr. SLOAN.--Notwithstanding the very high respect I entertain for the gentleman who reported this bill, I think it is easier to make an entire new one, than to undertake to amend this, so that it will answer.

The question being taken on the committee having leave to sit again, it was lost--ayes 45, noes 57.

The bill was then recommitted to a committee of seven, consisting of Messrs. EARLY, T. M. RANDOLPH, KELLY, J. CAMPBELL, KENAN, COCKE, and VAN RENSSELAER.

FRIDAY, December 19.

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

MONDAY, December 22.

Manhattan Company.

Mr. CLINTON presented a petition from the President and Directors of the Manhattan Company in New York. The petition states that the law which directs that custom-house bonds shall be exclusively deposited in the United States Bank, affects their interests very injuriously; that the monthly deposits at New York amount, on an average, to $250,000. That the merchants dealing at the Manhattan Bank, make in Manhattan notes large payments on account of custom-house bonds into the United States Bank, which, by means of their notes; draws largely on the Manhattan Bank for specie; that, by these and similar means, the United States Bank regulates the discount, and contracts the business of all the other banking institutions in the city. That the reasons which once existed for giving the United States Bank a preference, have since ceased, by the sale of the public stock. But the stockholders in the United States Bank are now almost entirely foreigners, which circumstance is favorable to the erection of foreign influence in this country, and ought to excite alarm.

Mr. QUINCY was personally indifferent whether the petition was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, but, as the subject manifestly affected the revenue, it was proper to refer it to that committee. It was a question very material to the revenue, whether the custom-house bonds should be deposited in the United States Bank. The contrary supposition implies that all banks are solid and secure.

Mr. CROWNINSHIELD conceived that the subject of the petition had no more relation to the Committee of Ways and Means than to that of Commerce and Manufactures, or any other standing committee of the House. Its object was, to procure relief against an injurious monopoly, possessed by a particular banking company. It neither proposed to give or take away one shilling of the public money. The Committee of Ways and Means were already pressed with a great deal of matter. Mr. C. did not wish to trouble the House with the United States Bank, but more than sixteen years they had enjoyed an exclusive monopoly, which has been very injurious to all other banking institutions, as has been very properly detailed in the petition. He meant to propose a plan for equalizing the benefits of the deposits. This is a subject which deeply interested the constituents of his colleague, (Mr. QUINCY.) The merchants of Boston cannot procure any large sums except from the United States Bank, which controls all the other banks in that town.

The SPEAKER informed Mr. CROWNINSHIELD that it was improper to speak of any gentleman’s district.

Mr. QUINCY observed, that all subjects relating to the revenue properly belonged to the Committee of Ways and Means. The present subject deeply implicates the revenue, because it all depends upon being safely deposited. His colleagues seemed to have a great fellow-feeling for the Committee of Ways and Means, and appeared to be anxious lest they should be pressed with too much business; but that committee had sufficient time to consider all the business referred to them.

The question being taken on referring the petition to the Committee of Ways and Means, it was lost--ayes 32. It was then referred to a select committee of nine.

TUESDAY, December 23.

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

FRIDAY, December 26.

Another member, to wit, MATTHEW CLAY, from Virginia, appeared and took his seat in the House; and another new member, to wit, DENNIS SMELT, from Georgia, returned to serve in this House, as a member for the said State, in the room of Joseph Bryan, who has resigned his seat, appeared, produced his credentials, was qualified, and took his seat in the House.

MONDAY, December 29.

Several other members, to wit, from Massachusetts, PHANUEL BISHOP; from New York, GURDON S. MUMFORD and NATHAN WILLIAMS, from New Jersey, WILLIAM HELMS; from Kentucky, JOHN FOWLER; and the Delegate from the Indiana Territory, BENJAMIN PARKE, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

Importation of Slaves.

On motion of Mr. EARLY, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for the prohibition of the slave trade.

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