horse or horses and saddle and equipage shall be by affidavit of the quartermaster of the corps to which the owner belonged, if possible, by two other credible witnesses, who are acquainted with the facts by reason of their presence in service at the time. Which amendment was disagreed to by the House. A motion was made by Mr. Thompson to add to said bill the following section : And be it further enacted, That in all cases where horses have been impressed for, or otherwise taken into, the public service and lost, and the allowance made by law for the use of horses employed in the service of the United States has been received by the person using, but who was not the owner of, such horse or horses, that the owner or owners of said horse or horses be paid the amount allowed by law for the use of said horse or horses. * This amendment was disagreed to by the House. On motion of Mr. Lyon, the bill was amended; and it was then Ordered, That the bill be engrossed, and read a third time to-day. The said bill being engrossed, was read the third time and passed. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate therein. Mr. McKennan, by leave, presented a memorial of Thomas H. Baird, a citizen of the State of Pennsylvania, in relation to the deranged state of the monetary affairs and the currency of the country, and containing a plan which, in the opinion of the memorialist, will remedy the evils, in those respects, which the country is now suffering, and praying Congress forthwith, in accordance with his plan, to provide for an issue of a paper currency, in the form of Treasury notes, resting upon a specie basis, and always convertible; secured by a national guaranty; its amount fixed and ascertained by law; and its circulation equally diffused and exactly proportioned to the wants and business of the people. This memorial was laid on the table. On motion of Mr. Bond, leave was given to withdraw the petition and documents of William Pawling and others, of Kentucky, heirs at law of Captain Adam Wallace, of the revolutionary army, presented January 7, 1836; and the petition and papers were delivered to Mr. Bond. The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, communicating the information called for by the House on the 4th instant, in relation to the causes of the delay in the sailing of the exploring expedition, accompanied by the correspondence called for in said order; which letter and accompanying documents were ordered to lie on the table. The bil from the Senate (No. 5) entitled "An act to authorize merchandise to be deposited in the public stores, and for other purposes," was read the first and second time, and committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. The bill from the Senate (No. 7) entitled "An act to restrain the circulation of small notes, as a currency, in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes," was read the first and second time, and ordered to lie on the table. The bill from the Senate (No. 12) entitled "An act for the relief of D. P. Madison," was read the first and second time, and was ordered to be read a third time to-day. The said bill was then read the third time, and passed. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Dickins, their Secretary: Mr. Speaker: In the absence of the Vice President of the United States, the Senate have chosen the honorable William R. King, Senator from the State of Alabama, President of the Senate pro tempore, as the constitution provides. And then he withdrew. A message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Abraham Van Buren, his private Secretary, notifying that the President did, on the 12th instant, approve and sign enrolled bills of the following titles, viz: No. 2. An act to authorize the issuing of Treasury notes. No. 10. An act to continue in force certain laws to the close of the next session of Congress. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Dickins, their Secretary: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed the bill (No. 11) entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to provide for the payment of horses lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States,' approved January 18, 1837." And then he withdrew. The House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and proceeded to the consideration of the bill from the Senate (No. 6) entitled "An act imposing additional duties as depositaries in certain cases on public officers;" and having remained in committee until half past two o'clock P. M., the committee rose, and the House took a recess. FOUR O'CLOCK P. M. The House resumed its session, and again resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union; and, after some time time spent therein, the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Smith reported that the committee had, according to order, had the state of the Union, generally, under consideration, particularly the bill from the Senate (No. 6) entitled "An act imposing additional duties as depositaries in certain cases on public officers," which bill he was directed to report to the House without amendment; when, At fifteen minutes past twelve o'clock at night, the House adjourned until to-morrow, ten o'clock in the forenoon. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1837. Mr. Davis presented a memorial of inhabitants of the city and county of Philadelphia, remonstrating against the annexation of Texas to the Union of these States. Mr. Loomis presented like memorials of inhabitants of the county of Columbiana, in the State of Ohio, praying for the adoption of measures to increase the circulation of the constitutional currency of gold and silver, and, as a measure the most calculated to effect that desired object, they also pray the total separation of the fiscal concerns of the Government of the United States from all banking institutions. The said memorials were laid on the table, under the order of the House of the 11th of September last. On motion of Mr. Patton, Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to cause a ninth volume of the Laws to be compiled and printed, and distributed after the manner of the eighth volume, printed and distributed under the order of the House of Representatives of the 30th of June, 1834, and 26th of June, 1836. Mr. Briggs, by leave, moved the following resolution which was read, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That the Clerk of this House be directed to pay to the Chaplain of this House the usual compensation for his services during the present session, On motion of Mr. Johnson, of Maryland, by leave, it was Resolved, That the Committee on the Public Buildings inquire into the propriety of making such alterations in this Hall as will promote the convenience and comfort of its members; and report to this House. Mr. Cambreleng, by leave, moved the following resolution, viz : Resolved, That the Clerk of the House and his assistants, the sergeantat-arms, the principal doorkeeper and assistant doorkeeper, the postmaster, and the messengers, and other attendants on and about the House, be allowed, each, two months' pay for services during the present session; and that the police and lamp-lighter of the Capitol and Capitol square be allowed one month's pay, each. A motion was made by Mr. Briggs to amend the resolution, by inserting after "the postmaster," "the librarian of Congress, the assistant librarians, and the messenger of the library." A motion was then made by Mr. McKay, that the resolution and proposed amendment be referred to the Committee of Accounts, to consider and report thereon; which motion was disagreed to. A motion was made by Mr. Ewing, that the resolution do lie on the table; which motion was also disagreed to. The amendment moved by Mr. Briggs was then agreed to. And the resolution, as thus amended, was agreed to by the House. Mr. Legare, by leave, submitted the following resolution; and the rule which requires the same to lie on the table one day being dispensed with, the resolution was read, and agreed to, viz : Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be directed to report to this House, at its next session, his opinion as to the expediency of establishing a navy yard for sloops of war and other ships of a similar class, at Charleston, in South Carolina, or some other port on the Southern coast, together with any information he may possess on that subject. Mr. Everett, from the Committee on Public Buildings, reported the following resolution:..:: Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to lay before this House, at the next session of Congress, a plan of the Treasury building now being erected, showing its location in reference to the adjacent streets and public square on which it is located; its elevation; the number and size of the rooms it will afford suitable for office business, and the number and size of those suitable only for the deposite of records; with a statement of the sum then expended on said building, and an estimate of the further sum that will be required to complete the same; and to state whether it is contemplated, in the completion of said building, to take down the building of the Department of State, or so to repair it as to render it fireproof and to make its outside conform to the other part of the Treasury building; and what will be the difference of expense between those two modes of completing said building; and whether the public interest requires any change in the location or plan of said building; and, also, to state whether it is contemplated to appropriate any part of said Treasury building to the use of any other Department; and, further, that he be requested to cause to be prepared by the heads of Departments statements of the number and size of the rooms that are necessary for their respective Departments, for office business, and for the deposite of records; and that the same be communicated to this House at the next session. The rule which requires the said resolution to lie on the table one day for consideration being dispensed with by consent, it was read, considered, and agreed to. Mr. Yell, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee did, on the 12th instant, present to the President of the United States an enrolled bill (No. 11) entitled "An act to regulate the fees of district attorneys in certain cases." Mr. Yell, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee had examined enrolled bills of the following titles, viz : No. 11. An act to amend an act, entitled "An act to provide for the payment of horses. lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States," approved January 18, 1837; No. 12. An act for the relief of D. P. Madison; and found the same to be truly enrolled; when The Speaker signed the said bills. A message from the Senate by Mr. Dickins, their Secretary : Nr. Speaker: The Senate have been notified by the President of the United States that he did, on the 12th of October instant, approve and sign an enrolled joint resolution, directing the postage of letters sent by the express mail to be paid in advance; also, an enrolled bill (No. 11) entitled "An act to regulate the fees of district attorneys in certain cases." The Senate have concurred in the amendment of the House of Representatives to the bill (No. 3) entitled "An act authorizing a further postponement of payment upon duty bonds ;" and the Senate have also passed a joint resolution "that the sixteenth and seventeenth joint rules be suspended for the remainder of the present called session;" in which resolution I amd irected to ask the concurrence of this House. And then he withdrew. On motion of Mr. Lincoln, Ordered, That the Committee on the Public Buildings and Grounds be discharged from the further consideration of the inquiry directed on the 4th instant, in relation to the Treasury building. Mr. Yell, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee did this day present to the President of the United States enrolled bills of the following titles, viz: No. 11. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the payment of horses lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States," approved January 18, 1837. No. 12. An act for the relief of D. P. Madison. The House resumed the consideration of the resolution moved by Mr. Wise on the 19th of September, for an inquiry into the causes of the Florida war, and into the causes of the extraordinary delays and failures and the expenditures which have attended the prosecution of that war," and into the manner of its conduct and the facts of its history generally. The question recurred on the motion of Mr. McKay of the 11th instant, that the further consideration of the resolution be postponed until the first Monday in December next. And, after further debate, the House, on motion, proceeded to the orders of the day. The House then proceeded to the consideration of the bill from the Senate (No. 6) entitled "An act imposing additional duties as depositaries in certain cases on public officers." A motion was made by Mr. Clark, that the said bill do lie on the table; when A motion was made by Mr. Connor, that there be a call of the House. And the question being put, It passed in the affirmative, {Xeas, 184, 5. The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative, are, Mr. John W. Crockett Edward Curtis |