THURSDAY, February 21.

Mr. BOUDINOT, from the committee appointed, presented a bill making an appropriation to defray the expense of a treaty with the Indians Northwest of the river Ohio; which was received, read twice, and committed.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a Letter from the Secretary of War, accompanying his report on the petitions of Rawleigh P. Downman and Oliver Towles; and the same being read,

Ordered, That so much of the said report as relates to the petition of Rawleigh P. Downman be referred to Mr. PARKER, Mr. SUMPTER, and Mr. WARD; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

Ordered, That so much of the said report as relates to the petition of Oliver Towles do lie on the table.

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill for the following purposes: To regulate the mode of taking bail in certain cases; to regulate the recovery of costs against informers or relators, in certain cases; to point out the mode in which suits for penalties under the revenue laws of the United States shall commence; to extend executions on transcripts of judgments from one district to another, and to regulate the costs and fees in cases of the commitment of witnesses; and that Mr. MURRAY, Mr. BOUDINOT, and Mr. JEREMIAH SMITH, be the said committee.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a Letter from the Secretary of State, communicating certain reasons for delaying his Report on the nature and extent of the privileges and restrictions of the commercial intercourse of the United States with foreign nations, as directed by the order of the House of the twenty-third February, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, and suggesting that he is now ready to report on that subject, if the House shall be pleased to direct him so to do.

Ordered, That the said Letter be referred to Mr. GILES, Mr. LAURANCE, Mr. WILLIAM SMITH, Mr. BALDWIN, and Mr. BENJAMIN BOURNE; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon to the House.

A memorial of Eli Elmer, late a Captain Lieutenant of Artillery in the Army of the United States, was presented to the House and read, praying the liquidation and settlement of a claim for depreciation of pay, supplies of clothing, and other stores, due to him for military services rendered during the late war.

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Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the Secretary of War, with instruction to examine the same, and report his opinion thereupon to the House.

Mr. GILES, from the committee appointed, presented a bill directing the officers of the Treasury to pass to the credit of John Banks the sum of nine thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight dollars and ninety cents; which was received, twice read, and committed.

SETTLEMENT OF STATE ACCOUNTS.

The House went into Committee of the Whole on the bill received from the Senate, entitled "An act in addition to and for amending the act, for extending the time limited for settling the accounts between the United States and the individual States.

A motion was made to strike out the first section of the bill. This section goes to repeal the second section of the former act, which makes the State of Vermont a party to the accounts between the United States and individual States. In support of the motion it was said that Vermont, participating in all the advantages of the independence of the country, and, being a member of the Union, is justly chargeable with its quota of all the expenses that have been incurred; that as, on the one hand, were she a creditor State, she doubtless would come in for her proportion of the balances which shall appear to be due from the United States to the creditor States; so on the other, if she is a debtor State, it is but reasonable that she should be liable to pay her proportion of those balances; a contrary principle, it was said, will increase the burdens of other States. It was further said, that in all the great questions relative to the finances and accounts of the United States, the voice of Vermont has had its proportional influence; and she is therefore on every principle to be considered as a constituent part of the Union, and liable to all the disadvantages resulting from the connexion.

In opposition to the motion, it was said that Vermont, as a Government, bore her proportion of the expenses and sacrifices of the war. She was a frontier State, and the only barrier between the United States and Canada. Her exertions during the war were made by her citizens alone, without assistance from the other States. That, in consequence of the peculiar confusion which prevailed in that State, the accounts of her services and supplies were left in a very deranged situation. That though the former act allowed twelve months for her to bring in her claims, yet it is said the other States have had a much longer time. That, though it should be concluded that Vermont ought to be considered as a part of the Confederacy prior to her adoption of the Federal Constitution, the time certainly ought to be extended for her to bring in her accounts. But it was urged that she could not be so considered; and therefore is not a party to the accounts, prior to that period. Since she came into the Union under the new Constitution, she has borne, and will continue to bear her proportion of the burdens

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(FEBRUARY, 1793.

counts.

The motion for striking out the first section was negatived. Some further amendments were moved, but disagreed to. The bill was reported without amendment. In the House, Mr. W. SMITH renewed the motion for striking out the first section, and called for the ayes and nays, which were-yeas 17, nays 39, as follows:

YEAS.-Robert Barnwell, Elias Boudinot, Shearjashub Bourne, Benjamin Bourne, Abraham Clark, Jonathan Dayton, Elbridge Gerry, Nicholas Gilman, Daniel Huger, John Wilkes Kittera, Richard Bland Lee, Samuel Livermore, William Smith, Jonathan Sturges, Thomas Tudor Tucker, Abraham Venable, and Francis

Willis.

NAYS.-Fisher Ames, John Baptist Ashe, Abraham Baldwin, Egbert Benson, Thomas Fitzsimons, William B. Giles, Benjamin Goodhue, James Gordon, Christopher Greenup, Andrew Gregg, William Barry Grove, Thomas Hartley, Daniel Heister, James Hillhouse, William Hindman, Aaron Kitchell, John Laurance, Amasa Learned, George Leonard, Nathaniel Macon, James Madison, John Francis Mercer, John Milledge, Andrew Moore, William Vans Murray, Nathaniel Niles, Alexander D. Orr, John Page, Josiah Parker, Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, Theodore Sedgwick, Israel Smith, John Steele, George Thatcher, Thomas Tredwell, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Artemas Ward, Alexander White, and Hugh Williamson.

Ordered, That the said bill be read the third time to-morrow.

The House went into Committee of the Whole on the bill for exempting from impost duties useful beasts imported for breed.

The bill being read, it was moved to add after the words "for breed," or on rags.

Mr. LIVERMORE objected to this motion. He observed that the object of the bill is to encourage the importation of stallions, bulls, and boars, for the purpose of improving the breed of useful animals. These, he said, ought to stand alone; he thought it would be a very odd association to connect them with rags. Besides, said he, I do not conceive there is any necessity for bringing in the article, for when the rage of calling for information is abated, there will be such a diminution of the business of printing, that he doubted not a sufficient quantity of rags might be obtained in the country by the paper-makers.

Other objections were made by several members, and the motion being put, was lost. The bill was then reported without amendment. Some verbal amendments were made in the House. The bill was then ordered to be engrossed.

FRIDAY, February 22.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to Mr. FITZSIMONS, Mr. THATCHER, and Mr. HINDMAN; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

A memorial of John Ross, of the city of Philsdelphia, merchant, was presented to the House and read, praying that a claim for a balance due to the memorialist by the United States, for sundry pur chases of merchandise in Europe, on commission, and for which he rendered an account to the late Congress, in the month of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, may be considered and decided on.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to Mr. GERRY, Mr. HUGER, and Mr. TUCKER; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

A memorial of Hugh Hughes, of the State of New York, was presented to the House and read, praying the liquidation and settlement of a claim for services as Commissary of Military Stores, and Assistant Quartermaster General in the Army of the United States, during the late war.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the Secretary of the Treasury, with instruction to examine the same, and report his opinion thereupon to the House.

A memorial of the Society "for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, for the relief of persons unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the African race," in the States of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, was presented to the House, and read, praying the attention of Congress to the subject of their memorial, presented the eighth of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, relative to the slave trade.

Also, a petition of Elizabeth Fish, late relict and widow of Lieutenant Colonel George Derrance, of the county of Luzerne, in the State of Pennsyl vania, deceased, praying relief in consideration of the loss of her late husband, who was killed in an engagement with a detachment of British troops and Indians, whilst in the militia service; as also, that she may be reimbursed for the loss of property belonging to the deceased, which was plun dered or destroyed by the said detachment, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy. eight.

Also, a petition of Patrick Jack, of Franklin county, in the State of Pennsylvania, praying that the title to a tract of land of fifteen miles square, on the south side of the Tennessee river, granted to the petitioner, by the late Province of North Carolina, the seventh of May, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-two, and which has since been

ceded to the Cherokee Indians, by the United States, at a late treaty, may be restored to him, and himself and his friends permitted to settle thereon, with the consent of the said Indians.

Also, a petition of sundry inhabitants of Nine Mile and Baker's Creek, on the frontiers of the Territory of the United States south of the river, Ohio, to the like effect.

Also, a memorial of John Parker, of the city of Philadelphia, praying that such alterations may be made in the act establishing the Post Office, as to place the transmission of monthly publications on the same footing with newspapers published within the United States.

Ordered, That the said memorials and petitions do lie on the table.

Mr. MUHLENBERG, from the committee appointed, presented a bill fixing the time for the next annual meeting of Congress; which was received, twice read, and committed.

Mr. MURRAY, from the committee appointed, presented a bill concerning bail, process, and costs, in the Courts of the United States; which was received, twice read, and committed.

Mr. GOODHUE, from the committee to whom was committed the bill sent from the Senate, entitled "An act supplementary to the act, entitled An act to provide more effectually for the collection of the duties imposed by law on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels," reported an amendment thereto; which was read, and, together with the said bill, ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House to-morrow.

A motion was made and seconded that the House do now adjourn for half an hour.

On which motion, the yeas and nays being demanded by one-fifth of the members present, it was resolved in the affirmative-yeas 42, nays 18.

One o'clock, P. M.

The House met, according to adjournment. Mr. WADSWORTH, from the committee appointed, presented a bill to authorize a grant of land to the French inhabitants of Galliopolis; which was received, twice read, and committed.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, accompanying a further statement in answer to the late resolutions of this House; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

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hands of the Head of the Department; for, although it would be expected that he should apply the money to each particular object of the many expressed in the estimate by him furnished, yet, if they were not also specified in the law, he would not be obligated to pursue this conduct; in fact, he might apply the whole to a few of the objects, perhaps to only one, and leave all the others unsupported. Indeed, it must be granted that there are discretionary powers which ought to be allowed, such as respect particular contingencies, &c., but this should never be permitted to extend to such an extravagant degree as the Senate's amendments would authorize. Several members spoke on the occasion; and it was argued that the items had been already examined and discussed in the House, and that, as the total was not altered by the Senate, there could not be any danger in concurring with the amendments. On the other hand, it was objected that, as there was an expectation of peace with the Indians, and that therefore the recruiting service would be arrested, all these hopes of the public might be frustrated, in case the recruiting service was continued, and larger sums might be applied to it than would be proper, unless the law should expressly limit it. And there was no limitation of specific sums mentioned in the Senate's amendment but the sweeping total of nine hundred and sixty-three thousand dollars, and thirty thousand dollars for contingencies-nearly a round million. again urged by those who wished the House to concur with the Senate that a discretionary power lodged in the hands of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES would be a sufficient check; and it was therefore suggested that a committee of conference be appointed between the two Houses, to introduce a clause in the law for this purpose. A discretionary power must be lodged somewhere to meet contingencies; for instance, it may be found expedient to mount the militia, or to vary the mode of carrying on the war, and therefore in some cases to apply the money, specifically appropriated for some of the objects which might upon trial be discovered unnecessary, to other objects of real utility. The debate was continued for a considerable time; and at length the question for concurring was negatived.

It was

The question was then taken, that the House do agree to the said amendment, and passed in the negative-yeas 30, nays 31, as follows:

YEAS.-Fisher Ames, Egbert Benson, Elias Boudinot, Shearjashub Bourne, Benjamin Bourne, Jonathan Dayton, Elbridge Gerry, Nicholas Gilman, Benjamin Goodhue, James Gordon, Christopher Greenup, Andrew Gregg, James Hillhouse, Daniel Huger, John Laurance, Amasa Learned, George Leonard, Samuel Livermore, John Milledge, Nathaniel Niles, Josiah Parker, Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, Theodore Sedgwick, Jeremiah Smith, Israel Smith, William Smith, George Thatcher, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Artemas Ward, and Francis Willis.

NAYS.-John Baptist Ashe, Abraham Baldwin, Robert Barnwell, Abraham Clark, William Findley, Thomas Fitzsimons, William B. Giles, Samuel Griffin, William Barry Grove, Thomas Hartley, William Hindman,

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[FEBRUARY, 1793.

son.

An amendment to the section which authorizes the President to make a Loan to the amount of $800,000, was arrested by an objection to the section itself, which had already passed the two Houses. Without deciding on this amendment, the House adjourned.

SATURDAY, February 23.

An engrossed bill to repeal the several impost laws of the United States, so far as they may be deemed to impose a duty on useful beasts imported for breed, and for remitting the duties heretofore accrued on such importations, in the cases where they have only been secured to be paid, was read the third time and passed.

An engrossed bill, fixing the time for the next annual meeting of Congress, was read the third time and passed.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have passed the bill, entitled "An act to provide for the widows and orphans of certain persons who were killed by Indians, under the sanction of flags of truce," with several amendments; to which they desire the concurrence of this House.

The bill sent from the Senate, entitled "An act in addition to and alteration of an act, entitled 'An act to extend the time limited for settling the accounts of the United States with the individual States,' was read the third time.

The passage of the bill was warmly opposed. The opposition arose from the idea that if the State of Vermont is not considered as a party in the settlement of the accounts between the United States and the individual States, as contemplated by the bill, it will operate to the injury of the other States. A motion for recommitting the bill was made and negatived.

And, on the question that the same do pass, it was resolved in the affirmative-yeas 39, nays 17, as follows:

YEAS.-Fisher Ames, John Baptist Ashe, Abraham Baldwin, Egbert Benson, Elias Boudinot, Abraham Clark, Thomas Fitzsimons, William B. Giles, Benjamin Goodhue, James Gordon, Christopher Greenup, Andrew Gregg, Samuel Griffin, William Barry Grove, Thomas Hartley, Philip Key, Aaron Kitchell, John Laurance, Amasa Learned, George Leonard, Nathaniel Macon, James Madison, John Francis Mercer, Andrew Moore, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, William Vans Murray, Nathaniel Niles, Alexander D. Orr, Josiah Parker, Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, Theodore Sedg: wick, Peter Sylvester, Israel Smith, John Steele, Samuel Sterrett, Thomas Tredwell, Artemas Ward, Alexander White, and Hugh Williamson.

NAYS.-Robert Barnwell, Shearjashub Bourne, Benjamin Bourne, Jonathan Dayton, Elbridge Gerry, Nicho

APPROPRIATION BILL.

The consideration of the amendments proposed by the Senate to the Appropriation Bill was resection authorizing a Loan, in anticipation of the sumed by the House. The amendment to the funds, was further debated. Their amendment goes to vest a discretionary power in the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES to pay off the Debt due to the Bank of the United States, in instalments not exceeding fifty thousand dol lars, having respect to the public exigencies and the state of the Treasury. The discretionary power hereby proposed to be invested was opposed, as not being properly limited, as the provi sion for paying off the debt in question was irrelative to the proper ideas of an appropriation bill, and as the Legislature ought not to delegate this discretion. It was further opposed, as making an arrangement to pay a debt to a public body before it was due, in preference to paying individuals whose demands are already due. In opposition to this reasoning, it was said that the amendment contemplates a provision in a case which has been the subject of complaint to those who now oppose it; and that is, it vests a power in the PRESIDENT oF THE UNITED STATES to employ, from time to time, the revenues in the Treasury which may not be especially appropriated for other purposes, to pay off its debts; so that the revenues may not at any time lie useless. That the public moneys should lie dormant and useless in the Treasury (which it was denied has ever been the case) has been a subject of declamation; and now that an unexceptionable expedient is proposed to guard against such a contingency as a surplus revenue would present, the opposition is continued from the same quarter. After a long debate, the question on concurring with the Senate was deter mined in the affirmative-yeas 34, nays 25, as follows:

son,

YEAS.-Fisher Ames, Robert Barnwell, Egbert BenBourne, Abraham Clark, Elbridge Gerry, Nicholas Elias Boudinot, Shearjashub Bourne, Benjamin Gilman, Benjamin Goodhue, James Gordon, Christo pher Greenup, Thomas Hartley, James Hillhouse, William Hindman, Daniel Huger, Philip Key, Aaron Kitchell, John Laurance, Amasa Learned, George Leonard, Samuel Livermore, Nathaniel Niles, Theodore Sedgwick, Peter Sylvester, Jeremiah Smith, William Smith, John Steele, Samuel Sterrett, Jonathan Sturges, George Thatcher, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Artemas Ward, and Hugh Williamson.

NAYS.-John Baptist Ashe, Abraham Baldwin, Jonathan Dayton, William Findley, Thomas Fitzsimons, William B. Giles, Andrew Gregg, William Barry Grove, Daniel Heister, Richard Bland Lee, Nathaniel Macon, James Madison, John Francis Mercer, Andrew Moore, William Vans Murray, Alexander D. Orr, John Page, Josiah Parker, Israel Smith, Thomas Sumpter, Thomas Tredwell, Thomas Tudor Tucker, Abrahama Venable, Alexander White, and Francis Willis.