V. A letter from the Treasurer of the United States, transmitting the annual statement of his accounts; which was read, and laid upon the table. A communication was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Donelson, his private Secretary; which was read, and is as follows: To the House of Representatives: In addition to the general views I have heretofore expressed to Congress on the subject of internal improvement, it is my duty to advert to it again in stating my objections to the bill entitled "An act for the improvement of certain harbors, and the navigation of certain rivers," which was not received a sufficient time before the close of the last session to enable me to examine it before the adjournment. Having maturely considered that bill within the time allowed me by the constitution, and being convinced that some of its provisions conflict with the rule adopted for my guide on this subject of legislation, I have been compelled to withhold from it my signature, and it has therefore failed to become a law. To facilitate, as far as I can, the intelligent action of Congress upon the subjects embraced in this bill, I transinit, herewith, a report from the Engineer Department, distinguishing, as far as the information within its possession would enable it, between those appropriations which do, and those which do not, conflict with the rules by which my conduct in this respect has hitherto been governed. By that report it will be seen that there is a class of appropriations in the bill for the improvement of streams that are not navigable, that are not channels of commerce, and that do not pertain to the harbors or ports of entry designated by law, or have any ascertained connection with the usual establishments for the security of commerce, external or internal. It is obvious that such appropriations involve the sanction of a principle that concedes to the General Government an unlimited power over the subject of internal improvements, and that I could not, therefore, approve a bill containing them without receding from the positions taken in my veto of the Maysville road bill, and afterwards in my annual message of December 19, 1830. It is to be regretted that the rules by which the classification of the improvements in this bill has been made by the Engineer Department are not more definite and certain, and that embarrassments may not always be avoided by the observance of them; but as neither my own reflection, nor the lights derived from other sources, have furnished me with a better guide, I shall continue to apply my best exertions to their application and enforcement. In thus employing my best faculties to exercise the power with which I am invested, to avoid evils, and to effect the greatest attainable good for our common country, I feel that I may trust to your cordial cooperation; and the experience of the past leaves me no room to doubt the liberal indulgence, and favorable consideration, of those for whom we act. The grounds upon which I have given my assent to appropriations for the construction of light-houses, beacons, buoys, public piers, and the removal of sand bars, sawyers, and other temporary or partial impediments in our navigable rivers and harbors, and with which many of the provisions of this bill correspond, have been so fully stated, that I trust a repetition of them is unnecessary. Had there been incorporated in the bill no provisions for works of a different description, depending on principles which extend the power of making appropriations to every object which the discretion of the Government may select, and losing sight of the distinctions between national and local character, which I had stated would be my future guide on the subject, I should have cheerfully signed the bill. December 6, 1832. ANDREW JACKSON. Ordered, That the said message be referred to the Committee on Roads and Canals. On motion of Mr Wickliffe, Resolved, That the Committee of Claims be instructed to inquire into the propriety of paying Samuel Overton for a horse lost in the service of the United States. Mr. Everett, of Massachusetts, submitted the following resolution; which was read, and laid on the table, viz. Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to communicate to this House, as far as the public service will permit, such portions, as have not heretofore been communicated, of the instructions given to our ministers in France on the subject of claims for spoliations, and of the correspondence of the said ministers with the French Government, and with the Secretary of State of the United States, on the same subject. A motion was made by Mr. Clay that the House do reconsider the vote of this day, by which the message of the President of the United States returning, with his objections, the enrolled bill passed by the two Houses at the last session of Congress, entitled "An act for the improvement of certain harbors and the navigation of certain rivers," was referred to the Committee on Roads and Canal: Whereupon, it was Ordered, That the consideration of the said motion be postponed until to-morrow. The House then proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Sergeant-at-Arms to supply the vacancy in that office, occasioned by the resignation of John Oswald Dunn; and, upon an examination of the fourth ballot, it appeared that no choice had been made; and then, On motion of Mr. Ward, it was Ordered, That when this House shall adjourn to-day, it will adjourn to meet again on Monday next. And then the House adjourned until Monday, twelve o'clock meridian. MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1832. Several other members, viz. From New Hampshire, John W. Weeks; From Virginia, Robert Allen; From South Carolina, William Drayton and George McDuffie; From Indiana, Jonathan McCarty; appeared, and took their seats. The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a report containing a revision of the acts of Congress, so amend ed and altered as to render them better adapted to the military establishment of the United States, and digested into one act; prepared in obedience to an orcer of the House of May 7th, 1832; which letter and report were referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Lowrie, their Secretary: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed the resolution for the appointment of two Chaplains of different denominations, to serve during the present session of Congress, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly. Mr. Wickliffe moved the following resolution; which was read, and laid on the table, viz. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be instructed to communieate to this House the report of the person or agent employed by him to make an inquiry into the solvency of the Bank of the United States, with a view of enabling the department to determine whether the Bank of the United States be a safe deposite for the public revenue. The House again proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Sergeant-at Arms to supply the vacancy in that office occasioned by the resignation of John Oswald Dunn; and, upon an examination of the ninth ballot, it appeared that Thomas B. Randolph was duly elected: Whereupon, Thomas B. Randolph appeared, when the Speaker administered to him the oath required to be taken as Sergeant-at-Arms, by the rules of the House, and entered upon the discharge of his official duties The House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union; and, after some time spent therein, the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Taylor reported that the committee had, according to order, the state of the Union under consideration, and came to sundry resolutions thereon; which he delivered in at the clerk's table, where the same were read, as follows, viz. 1. Resolved, That so much of the President's message as relates to the political relations of the United States with other nations, be referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 2. Resolved, That so much of said message as relates to the commerce of the United States with foreign nations, be referred to the Committee on Commerce. 3. Resolved, That so much of said message as relates to the finances, and to such further reduction in the revenue as may not be required for objects of general welfare and public defence authorized by the Constitution; and, also, so much of said message as relates to the sale of bank stock owned by the United States, be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. And then the House adjourned until to-morrow, twelve o'clock, meridian. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1832. Another member, viz. from North Carolina, John Branch, appeared and took his seat. Mr. Burges presented a petition of Michael Anthony, of the State of Rhode Island; Mr. Ellsworth presented a petition of Elijah Blodget, of the State of Connecticut; Mr. Ellsworth presented a petition of James Staples, of the State of Connecticut; Mr. Jewett presented a petition of William Collins, of the State of New York; Mr. Wheeler presented a petition of John Moore, of the State of New York; Mr. Maxwell presented a petition of Jesse Cunningham, and a petition of John Patton, both of the State of Virginia; Mr. Maxwell also presented a petition of Jesse Lowther, Stephen Jackson, Benjamin Coplin, Robert Stewart, David Cain, Jonathan Hacker, Samuel Bonnett, Jacob Bonnett, and Adam Flesher, all of the State of Virginia; Mr. Elisha Whittlesey presented a petition of Bazlee Porter, of the State of Ohio; praying that their names, respectively, may be placed on the pension list of the United States. Orderea, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. The undermentioned petitions, heretofore presented, were again presented, and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, viz. By Mr Evans, of Maine: the petition of Robert McCausland, presented February 13, 1832. The petition of Abner Merrill, presented April 30, 1832. By Mr. Anderson: the petition of Joseph Knight, presented January 3, 1832. By Mr. Briggs: the petition of Benjamin Burlingame, presented December 12, 1831, and the petition of Daniel Fuller, presented February 6, 1832. By Mr. Ellsworth: the petition of Asher Huntington, presented December 12, 1831. By Mr. Maxwell: the petition of William Howell, presented December 12, 1831. 1832. By Mr. Arnold: the petition of James Fuller, presented February 10, By Mr. Elisha Whittlesey: the petition of Ephraim Shaler, presented December 16, 1829. Mr. Nelson presented a petition of merchants and other citizens of Newburyport and its vicinity, in the State of Massachusetts, praying that a new and an enlarged building may be erected as a custom house in said town. Mr. Wayne presented a petition of Andrew Low, of the late firm of Andrew Low and Company, of Savannah, in the State of Georgia, praying that the sum of $20,207 68, paid by the said firm as duties on goods which were destroyed by fire, may be refunded. Mr. Wing presented a memorial of merchants and other citizens of Detroit, in the Territory of Michigan, praying that the port of Detroit may be made a port of entry for foreign merchandise. Mr Davis, of Massachusetts, presented a memorial of merchants of the city of Boston, representing the injustice and injury that will result from the construction that has been given by the Treasury Department to the 18th section of the tariff act of July 14, 1832; and praying such relief in the premises as the circumstances of the case may require. Ordered, That the said petitions and memorial be referred to the Committee on Commerce On motion of Mr. Burges, Ordered, That the petition of Ephraim He vard, executor of Caleb Howard, presented January 30, 1832, be referred to the Committee on Com merce. On motion of Mr. Everett, of Massachusetts, The undermentioned petitions, heretofore presented, were again presented and referred, viz. The petition of Juliana Birchmore, widow of William Birchmore, presented December 12, 1831, to the Committee on Naval Affairs. The petition of Thomas Hopping and others, heirs at law of Thomas Frothingham, presented January 3, 1830, to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. The petition of John McKim, presented December 23, 1830, to the Committee on Naval Affairs. The petition of Mary Emery and others, widows of officers of the army of the revolution, presented December 12, 1831, to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions. On motion of Mr. Burges, Ordered, That the memorial of officers and soldiers of the Rhode Island brigade of the army of the revolution, their heirs and representatives, for further compensation for services of said brigade, presented January 27, 1817, and which, at the last session of Congress, was referred to the committee appointed on the memorial of Thomas W. Gilmer, agent for the State of Virginia, in relation to certain claims for revolutionary services of officers of said State, and on which no report was made by said committee, be referred to said committee, viz Mr. John S. Barbour, Mr. Nuckolls, Mr. Kendall, Mr. A. H. Shepperd, Mr. John King, Mr. Burd, and Mr. Marshall. On motion of Mr. Anderson, Ordered, That the petition of Nathaniel Blake, presented January 22, 1827, be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. On motion of Mr. Huntington, Ordered, That the petition of Russel Hunt, presented February 13, 1832, be referred to the Committee of Claims. On motion of Mr. Newton, Ordered, That the petition of Richard Bagnall, presented December 13, 1830, and the petition of John Thompson, presented December 21, 1831, be referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. Burges presented a petition of David Bartlett, of the State of Rhode Island, praying to be paid a balance which he states to be due him for services and advances in the years 1812 and 1813, while a captain in the army of the United States. Mr Campbell P. White presented a petition of M. Gelston, executor of the last will and testament of David Gelston, late of the city of New York, deceased, praying that the proper accounting officers may be directed to settle the accounts of the said David Gelston, as collector of the customs for the port and district of New York, on the principles of justice and equity. Mr Cambreleng presented a petition of William Eaton, praying that the proper accounting officers may be directed to settle his various claims against the Government on the principles of justice and equity. Mr. Wardwell presented a petition of Samuel F. Hooker, of the State of New York, praying to be paid for sundry merchandise which was captured by the British forces on Lake Ontario, in the late war, and condemned by reason that there was public stores on board the vessel; which stores had been placed on board said vessel by public officers, against the remonstrances of the petitioner. Mr. Verplanck presented a petition of A. D. Ostrander, clerk in the purser's department at the navy yard at New York, praying that a balance, |