a law authorizing him to surrender his patent for a section of land west of the Mississippi, and that scrip may be issued to him therefor. By Mr. ROBIE: The petition of Lyman N. Cooke, asking an increase of pension. By Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky: The memorial of Gregory Ennes, executor of Philip Ennes, deceased, asking payment of a balance due hun on contract for work done on public grounds, and damages for the arbitrary recission of said contract by the Commissioner or Public Buildings. By Mr. ROBBINS: A memorial of citizens of Pennsylvania, signed by Arthur B. Colin and twenty-one others, praying Congress to crect substantial piers on the eastern side of Reedy Island, is the Delaware river, for the purpose of making a harbor to protect and shelter the vessels navigating said river. IN SENATE. TUESDAY, January 6, 1852. Prayer by the Rev. L. F. MORGAN. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS. The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by a memorial addressed to the President of the United States by the petty officers, seamen, and marines, attached to the United States squadron in the Pacific, asking an increase of pay; which was read. Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. REPORT OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. Another reason for the change suggested, is the saving of the expense of printing volumes of useless matter. It may be necessary that the proposed abstract or compendium should be prepared by the head of one of the_Departments-perhaps the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of the Interior. It can hardly be expected that it could be conveniently done by the Secretary of the Senate or a committee of either House. The subject has been brought to the attention of the Senate somewhat unexpectedly, as I was not aware that a question of this kind would come up at this session. I throw out these suggestions for the attentive consideration of the Senate, and hope they may lead to the adoption of a system by which the evils of the present may be avoided, and we may be able to condense into a single volume what is material for general information. By so doing we can greatly increase the circulation of all the important matter, and at a great saving of expense. I throw out these suggestions, not with the view of interposing any objection to the motion of the honorable Senator from Virginia, [Mr. HUNTER,] inasmuch as the report under consideration is one of the most important of our public documents, but rather as a notice that I intend to call the attention of the Senate to the subject hereafter. The question was then taken on the motion of Mr. HUNTER, and it was decided in the affirma The PRESIDENT. The Chair has received the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury || tive. on the state of the finances, which will be read. Mr. HUNTER. I move that, without reading, it be referred to the Committee on Finance, and that it be printed. The report was so referred, and it was ordered that it be printed. Mr. HUNTER. I move that ten thousand extra copies be printed for the use of the Senate. Mr. BRADBURY. It was my purpose, Mr. President, had I been able to take my seat here before the extra copies of the public documents of this session had generally been ordered to be printed, to have offered a resolution providing that a COMPENDIUM or ABSTRACT of the annual public documents be prepared and printed. It has long appeared to me that something of this kind is imperiously demanded. By the mode of printing the public documents now adopted, large numbers of volumes of the President's message and the ac companying documents are printed for general circulation, containing, with a great amount of valuable matter, a still greater amount of no public interest whatever. These documents sometimes THE CUBAN PRISONERS. The following message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. M. P. FILLMORE, his Private Secretary: To the Senate of the United States: I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State Mr. WHITCOMB presented the memorial of David A. Cameron, representative and heir of James Bell, deceased, and assignee of the other heirs of said Bell, praying payment of advances made to the American Army during the revolu tionary war; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. Mr. BRODHEAD presented a memorial of citizens of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, praying the construction of piers and harbors in Delaware river and bay; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. Mr. BORLAND presented the petition of John McVey, a soldier in the last war with Great Britain; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. Also, the petition of L. M. S. Holleville, praying a modification of the laws relating to the disposition of the public domain; which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands. Mr. DOWNS presented a petition of citizens of Washington, in the District of Columbia, praying that Pennsylvania avenue, east of the Capitol, may be improved and lighted; which was referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia. Mr. FISH presented the memorial of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, praying the completion of the light-house on Sand Key, on the coast of Florida; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. Also, the memorial of Thomas B. Cottrell, and the memorial of Frederick Bange and Albert Southmayd, praying the establishment of a tribunal for reviewing the decisions of the late Board of Commissioners under the treaty with Mexico; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Also, a petition of the assistant marshals for relative to the persons belonging to the expedition of Lopez, taking the Seventh Census in Dutchess county, who were taken prisoners in Cuba and afterwards sent to Spain, and who have now been pardoned and released by her Catholic Majesty. The appropriation, the expediency of which is suggested in the report, I cordially commend to the consideration of Congress, with the single additional suggestion, that to be available it should be promptly made. MILLARD FILLMORE. WASHINGTON, January 5, 1852. The message was read, and it was Mr. SEWARD presented a petition of merchants, underwriters, and others, of New York, praying a survey of such parts of the China seas, the Straits of Gaspar, and the Java sea, as lie directly in the tracks of vessels proceeding to and from China; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. Also, a petition of citizens of Rochester, New York, praying that the bill now before the Senate, giving further remedies to patentees, may become a law; which was referred to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office. extend to three or four or more large volumes at a single session. By a reference to these books, it will be seen that hundreds of pages are occupied He also submitted a statement showing the amount of gold bullion received at the port of with mere details and estimates, of no earthly service except to members of Congress, or possibly December 1, 1851; which was referred to the ComNew York from California, from January 6 to for deposit in the public libraries. What possi-mittee on Finance, and ordered to be printed. ble interest can it be for us to print and send abroad amongst our constituents, the minute estimates for the various items of provisions and clothing required at our various naval and military stations? With this mass of useless detail we bury the valuable information which the documents otherwise contain. We should separate that which is of public interest from that which is not, and print for general circulation only that which is of general interest. I can perceive no way in which this can be accomplished, except by the preparation of a COMPENDIUM OF ABSTRACT of the public documents. I believe it to be practicable to condense all that is valuable for general use, into a single volume of reasonable size, suited for circulation, and with a good index, made exceedingly valuable and convenient. Every individual to whom such a volume should be sent, would have the substance of the documents, showing the operations of the Government, and all that is of value to him, in a convenient form. It would be a volume which, for its compactness and convenience, would be worth more to the general reader than the whole set of annual documents, as now published. But it is known to every Senator that the sets, as now distributed, are very generally broken. One volume is sent to one constituent, and one to another. If the full set is sent to each person to whom the first is forwarded, the circulation is necessarily confined to a small number of persons, and they have a small library of the valuable and the worthless bound up together. Also, a petition of the assistant marshals for taking the Seventh Census, in Ulster county, New York, praying additional compensation; which was referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. WADE presented the petition of Zebulon Parker, praying the renewal of his patents for certain improvements in hydraulic power; which was referred to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office. Mr. ATCHISON submitted documents in relation to the claim of Henry C. Miller, Philip W. Thompson, and Jesse B. Turley, to indemnity for cattle stolen by the Osage band of Indians; which were referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs, with the papers on file relating thereto. Mr. SUMNER presented two petitions of citizens of Massachusetts, a petition of citizens of New Jersey, and a petition of citizens of New Hampshire, praying that the bill now before Congress, giving further remedies to patentees, may become a law. Ordered, That they lie on the table. Mr. BRODHEAD presented a memorial of citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, praying indemnity for French spoliations prior to 1801; which was referred to the select committee on French spoliations. New York; and a petition of the assistant marshals for taking the Seventh Census in St. Lawrence county, New York, praying additional compensation for their services; which were referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. PEARCE presented the petition of Sally J. Matthews, praying compensation for the services of her late husband, as clerk in the Treasury Department; which was referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. FISH presented a petition of citizens of Albany, and a petition of citizens of Brooklyn, New York, praying an appropriation for paying the expenses of the American contributors to the World's Fair at London; which were referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. GWIN presented the memorial of Charles D. Arfenedson, praying compensation for services as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at the Court of Stockholm; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. PAPERS WITHDRAWN AND REFERRED. On motion by Mr. WHITCOMB, it was Ordered, That the memorial of the heirs of James Bell, deceased, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. On motion by Mr. BRADBURY, it was Ordered, That the memorial and petitions on the files of the Senate, on the subject of indemnity for French spoliations prior to 1801, be referred to the select committee on French spoliations. On motion by Mr. ATCHISON, it was Ordered, That the memorial of D. D. Mitchell, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. On motion by Mr. RUSK, it was Ordered, That the memorial of J. Smith, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. On motion by Mr. McRAE, it was Ordered, That the petition of George Poindexter, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. On motion by Mr. BRADBURY, it was Ordered, That the memorial of J. K. F. Mansfield, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. On motion by Mr. PEARCE, it was Ordered, That the memorial of the Association of the Defenders of Baltimore in 1814, and the memorial of Edward Thompson and others, calling themselves "Old Defenders" of Baltimore in the war of 1842, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Public Lands. On motion by Mr. DODGE, it was Ordered, That the memorial of Edwin James, Sr., on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Public Lands. On motion by Mr. SHIELDS, it was Ordered, That the Committee on Military Affairs be discharged from the further consideration of the memorial of F. Hultman; from the further consideration of the petition of Joseph Byrd; and from the further consideration of documents relating to the claim of Mariano G. Vallejo. On motion by Mr. SHIELDS, it was Ordered, That the Committee on Military Affairs be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of James R. Browning, and that it be referred to the Committee of Claims. NOTICE OF A BILL. Mr. BERRIEN gave notice that he should ask leave to introduce a bill to be entitled "An act to provide for the removal of obstructions in the river Savannah, in the State of Georgia." BILL INTRODUCED. Mr. SHIELDS, agreeably to previous notice, asked and obtained leave to bring in a bill to increase the efficiency of the Army by a retired list for disabled officers; which was read a first and second time by its title, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. FLOGGING IN THE NAVY. Mr. GWIN. There was a memorial laid upon the table some time ago, which I promised to call up to-day. It relates to flogging in the Navy. I move that it be taken up and disposed of. Mr. BRIGHT. A week ago this morning, the joint resolution in relation to the printing of the returns of the Seventh Census, was made the special order for to-day, and the morning hour has now passed. The PRESIDENT. That is the first special order. Mr. BRIGHT. I hope there will be no objection to proceeding with its consideration now. Mr. SHIELDS. But committees have not yet been called upon for reports, and I have one which I wish to present. The PRESIDENT. The hour of one o'clock has arrived, and if the Senator from Indiana calls for the special order, that will be the next business for the consideration of the Senate. Mr. BRIGHT. I withdraw the call for the special order, to give the Senator from Illinois an opportunity of presenting his report. Mr. GWIN. If the call of the Senator from Indiana for the special order is withdrawn, I must insist upon my motion. The Senator from New Jersey Mr. STOCKTON] wishes to make some remarks, and I also wish to offer some observations on this subject. I hope, therefore, that the memorial will now be taken up. Mr. STOCKTON. So far as I am concerned, I am quite willing to be satisfied so long as this memorial is allowed to lie upon the table; but as soon as it puts its head above the table I shall talk about it. The PRESIDENT. The Chair will not call for the special order until reports are made, if the Senator from Indiana wishes to withdraw his call for the special order. Mr. BRIGHT. I withdraw the call for the present. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES. Mr. GWIN, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill to establish a navy-yard and depôt on the Bay of San Francisco, in California, reported it with amendments. He also made a report on the subject; which was ordered to be printed. Mr. CLEMENS, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred a bill to indemnify the State of South Carolina for money expended for the use of the United States in the war in Florida with the Seminole Indians, reported it with amendments. Mr. DAWSON, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill to provide for the payment to the State of Georgia for moneys expended by the State for horses and equipments lost by volunteers and militia whilst engaged in the suppression of the hostilities of the Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee Indians, in the years 1836, 1837, and 1838, reported it without amendment. DESTRUCTION OF THE CONGRESSIONAL Mr. HUNTER, from the Committee on Finance, to which was referred the bill from the House of Representatives making appropriation to meet the expenses incurred in consequence of the late fire at the Capitol, and the amendment of the Senate appropriating dollars for the increase of the Library, reported them back, and recommended their passage. He presumed there would be no objection to the immediate consideration of the bill, and he therefore asked the unanimous consent of the Senate to take it up. The motion being agreed to, the bill was considered as in Committee of the Whole, and the blank in the amendment was filled with $10,000. The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill as amended was subsequently read a third time and passed. Mr. HUNTER submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to: Resolved, That the Committee on Public Buildings be instructed to inquire into the expediency of appropriating a sum not exceeding dollars, to fit up the document room near the Library and a part of the adjoining passage, for the temporary reception of the books of the Congressional Library. MARINE COrps. Mr. CLEMENS submitted the following resolution for consideration: Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of adopting a separate code of regulations for the government of the Marine Corps of the United States. Be it further resolved, That said committec be also instructed to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the President of the United States to appoint annually two cadets to the Military Academy at West Point, to be educated with a view to appointment in the Marine Corps. WIDOW OF GENERAL BELKNAP. Mr. SEWARD submitted the following resolution for consideration: Resolved, That the Committee on Pensions be instructed to inquire into the justice and propriety of awarding a pension to the widow of the late Brevet Brigadier General Belknap, who served during the late Mexican war with distinguished fidelity and ability, and recently died while actively engaged in the public service. PRINTING OF THE SEVENTH CENSUS. The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to consider the following resolution, intro duced by Mr. BRIGHT, and reported back by the Committee on Printing: Be it resolved, &c., That the Joint Committee on Printing be directed to contract with Donelson & Armstrong for printing the census returns, upon such terms as the committee may deem reasonable. Mr. BORLAND. When this resolution was before the Senate on a previous day, I stated that I should offer an amendment to it. I now propose to strike out the words "Joint Committee on Printing," and insert "Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives." I shall also move further to amend it, by striking out the word "committee," in the latter part of the resolution, and inserting "Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives," so as to make it read consistently with the first amendment. The PRESIDENT. If the former amendment is adopted, the latter follows as a matter of course. Mr. BORLAND. I do not offer this amendment with the view, as some might suppose, of defeating the resolution. I offer it in good faith, for the purpose of putting the resolution in what I consider the proper form. I am in favor of the purpose of the resolution; but I deem it due to the Committee on Printing, to myself particularly as chairman of that committee, and still more due to the Senate, that this alteration should be made in the resolution as reported from the committee. In its present form the resolution proposes to impose duties upon the Committee on Printing which I do not think ought to be imposed upon it, and which I think calculated to do injury rather than good to the public service. It requires executive, or rather administrative duties of the committee-a class of duties which are not required of the other committees of the Senate. It constitutes them an executive board, and imposes upon them duties analogous to those which are performed in every other Department of the Government by a bureau, at the other end of the avenue. I am not opposed to performing any duty which the Senate may impose upon me, as the member of any committee. I think I have labored faithfully; I know I have labored industriously and assiduously in the performance of duties which have been imposed upon the Committee on Printing, and those duties are well known to be arduous. But, sir, I am opposed to being burdened || by duties which I have neither the time nor competency to perform in a manner or with results satisfactory to myself or useful to the public; and which, even if I had the time and competency to perform ever so well, were never intended to be performed by any Senator, and are not contemplated or provided for in the organization of the committees of this body. This resolution requires the Committee on Printing to go out into the streets, as it were, and engage in chaffering and bargaining with those who wish to do this portion of the public work. The mere statement of this fact, it seems to me, shows that the resolution is wrong in this respect, and imposes duties upon Senators which would carry them beyond their legitimate and proper sphere, and utterly incompatible with their other and appropriate duties. I have said that I do not feel competent to perform the duties required by this resolution. I repeat it with emphasis, and in all sincerity and candor. There are details in the proposed arrangement of this business which I do not understand, and which I have neither time nor inclination to learn. But the persons whom I propose to substitute in the place of the committee, have the qualifications which I do not possess. It is in the line of their duty-a duty which they have habitually performed for years past. I am not a practical printer, though I have some knowledge of the printing and publishing business, from having heretofore been engaged in it; but I do not know enough about it to do this work as it ought to be done, and as it must be done, if the public interest is to be taken care of. To require it of me is to require impossibilities at my hands; and I now notify the Senate and all concerned, that if, notwithstanding what I have said, the resolution shall pass in its present form, some other member of the committee will have to perform the duties it imposes, if they shall be performed at all. But who is the member who will or who can perform them? Sir, I turn to my associate on the committee, the Senator from Maine, [Mr. HAMLIN,] who alone may be supposed to be competent to perform these duties, and he says that, like myself, he is not. I am sure then no other member of the committee is competent. In justice to the other members of the committee and to myself, I must say, I do not oppose the imposition of these duties upon us, because we are unwilling to perform any amount of labor, assume any responsibility which may legitimately fall to our share. But, sir, because I am convinced that these cannot properly be required of us; and even if they could be, they exceed our powers of performance. The passage of the resolution, then, in its present form, will, in my opinion, result in confusion in the public business, and, in all probability, defeat the object sought to be accomplished by its introduction. On the other hand, if the gentlemen I propose to substitute for the committee, be charged with these duties, there is the best reason for believing they will be faithfully and efficiently performed. Mr. CASS. I desire to say one word upon this subject. It seems to me, that under any view which we can take of it, this committee is quite as competent to perform the duty as the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House; the members of the committee are as much practical printers as they are. I believe the committee has a clerk, who could collect all the necessary facts. There is a good deal of responsibility about the matter, and it seems to me that it will be much safer with the committee than with the Secretary and the Clerk. I wish, for myself, that the Committee on Printing may go on with it; and if they do not, I would much prefer the appointment of a select committee to attend to it. I think the responsibility had better be assumed by a committee of this body than by the Secretary and Clerk. Mr. BRIGHT. The practical effect of the amendment proposed by the Senator from Arkansas would be to let out this contract to the lowest bidder. That, for one, I wish to avoid, for the reason that experience has proved that under that system we cannot get our work done in a suitable and proper manner, and in reasonable time. It is clearly demonstrated that this work, to be valuable, should be performed promptly, and for its prompt and proper execution we are willing to pay a fair price. Hence, the resolution was framed to pay a fair price, and to give it to gentlemen who, we knew, were able to go on immediately with the work. I am sorry to hear the honorable Senator say that he is unwilling to undertake the labor of making the contract and disposing of the work. It is a duty which belongs legitimately to the committee of which he is the chairman. This is a legitimate method of disposing of this branch of the public business. There are precedents on the Journal showing that, heretofore, we have authorized public printing to be done through the medium of the Committee on Printing; and I hope the honorable Senator will reconsider his determination. The Joint Committee on Printing of the two Houses can afford to do that which the officers of this body dare not do. They can afford to say that they will give to gentlemen who are ready and qualified to do this work, a fair price for it; and they would not be censured for doing so; but if the officers of the two Houses should do that, they would subject themselves to censure; and it is for the purpose of relieving them that I object to the amendment. I feel quite sure that the Joint Committee would be sustained in giving a fair price, provided the work were done immediately and done well. For these reasons I object to the amendment, and hope it will not be agreed to. Mr. BORLAND. I repeat that it is not to avoid either labor or responsibility that I proposed this amendment. I am as ready to perform labor or to assume responsibility, here or elsewhere, as any other Senator. I have never shrunk from either. I would remind the Senate, however, in support of what I have already said, that the Committee on Printing are acting under the joint resolution of 1846, which prescribes their duties. When that committee was appointed they looked to that resolution for the rule and prescription of their duties; and I hold that it is not proper or competent for the Senate to change that resolution and make the committee a pack-horse-if I may so express it-to perform any drudgery which it may please the Senate to have performed in the dispatch of its business. Why, sir, if you may legitimately require us, under a resolution of this sort, to do what it proposes, you may also require us to go out into the streets and bargain for the wood with which we make our fires; or you may require us to establish a public printing office, and then give all our time and attention to the details of a printer's business. This might all seem very right and proper in the eyes of the Senators who are urging the adoption of this resolution. But for myself, as a Senator, and as member of the committee, I protest against it, and against everything of like character and tendency. The Senator from Indiana [Mr. BRIGHT] says that the committee can perform this duty in a manner, and give "a fair price" for the performance of this work, which the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House "dare" not do. Why "dare" not do it? Does the Senator mean to say, or does he think, that the committee could or would give more than "a fair price," and that if they did, they would be censured, and justly censured, for doing so? Surely he does not. And if not, why would not the Secretary and Clerk "dare" do the same thing? A "reasonable "that is, a "fair"-price is what the resolution provides for. Let the Secretary and Clerk give that as I am sure they would-and who would, who dare," censure them? If any one, his censure would be harmless. I do not seek to save the committee from such responsibility as that. The Secretary and Clerk need not fear to incur it. Some Senators seem to think it an easy task to perform the duties of the Committee on Printing. The duties may seem simple, and the matters referred to them very trivial. True, the matters referred to them are often very trivial; but they are, nevertheless, very troublesome, and require much time in attending to them. Senators can convince themselves of this by undertaking for a short time some of the duties they are so anxious to impose upon others. and which not only permits, but encourages bad faith in the execution of the public work. And the second obstacle-the most pertinent, perhaps, to be mentioned here, has been found in the action of the Senate itself-in this: that when the committee have time and again faithfully performed their duty, in requiring the terms of the contracts to be complied with, the Senate, instead of sustaining the committee, and thus insuring the proper execution of the public work, have (invariably, I think I may say, for I can recall no instance of the contrary) abandoned and overruled the committee, and sided with and sustained the faithless contractor. This was the case during the last Congress, as most of the Senators well know; and unless some radical change be speedily made in the system I have spoken of, and also in the practice of the Senate, there is reason to fear that the same things will be done over again during the present Congress. In view of this state of things, consider, sir, the position of the Committee on Printing! It surely is bad enough, and the burdens you have already imposed upon us are heavy enough, to entitle us to be spared that which this resolution proposes to add. The advocates of this resolution seem to agree with me in condemning the contract system, and speak of this as if it were a remedy for the evils of that system. In this, I beg leave to say, with all respect, they are widely mistaken. The proposition of the resolution is, that a contract be made, and it differs from the present evil system in no material particular. It differs only in changing the parties to the contract, and allowing latitude for paying a somewhat higher price. Instead of putting the work out to the lowest bidder, it names the contractor who shall have it; and instead of making it the duty of our executive officers, the agent of Congress, it imposes that duty upon the Committee on Printing. Supposing the committee to be qualified to perform this duty and the contract to be made, it might be that the work would be better done and furnished in better time than it has been our fortune to obtain under the present system. But all that would depend upon the good faith of the contractor, as it now does, and has done for years past under the present system. Where, then, is the advantage to be gained? Let those find it who can. But, sir, suppose the contract to be violated in this case, as it has heretofore always been, there is this additional disadvantage to the committee: They would then be liable to censure not only for failure to perform the impossibility of holding the contractor to his terms when the contract had been made by another agency, but as the agents who themselves made the forfeited contract. For the committee and myself, I ask to be spared this additional burden. Mr. GWIN. I can appreciate the desire of the chairman of the Committee on Printing to get clear of the labor of making this contract. I can appreciate his feelings. I know that it would take a great deal of his time to attend to that work. But really I do not think his arguments should influence the Senate at all. The Committee on Naval Affairs was raised for the purpose of attending to the business of the Senate pertain ing to the Navy; and we all know perfectly well that they have to attend to business relating to the carrying of the mails. The Senate imposes that duty upon them. One of the most responsible of the duties imposed upon them is the directing or superintending of the great lines of mail steam iers. Mr. BORLAND. I would ask the Senator one question. He alludes to the increased duties imposed upon the Committee on Naval Affairs. I will ask him if, in these increased duties, the Senate have ever directed that committee to contract with individuals for constructing ships or carrying the mail? If they have done that, I will admit that the cases are parallel; not otherwise. Mr. GWIN. The printing is a specific object. We must have it done, and we have appointed a Committee on Printing to attend to it. This is a question pertaining to that subject. We must Even as it is now, and has been for the last two have the census returns printed; and as to the years, it has been difficult for the committee to additional duty which it will impose upon that perform their duties with satisfaction to them-committee, it strikes me that if it is as laborious selves-impossible it has seemed to give satisfaction to the Senate or the country. And why? The first obstacle in the way of success has been found in the "contract system," under which our printing has been, and is now, required to be done, as it is represented, it would impose a duty upon the Secretary and the Clerk which would incapaciate them for the discharge of their present duties, which are onerous. But I am convinced that the labor which will attend this contract is over rated. I take it for granted that the parties who have authorized this application to be made to Congress are prepared to relieve the Committee of this great labor, by laying before them the conditions upon which they propose to do this work. They will do it in a manner so simple that it will be impossible for the committee to misunderstand the contract. I am confident that the labor of making this contract will be taken from the Committee by facts which will be laid before them by the parties. I agree with everything which has been said about the necessity of printing these census returns in a manner that will make them a part of the archives of the country, of which we shall not be ashamed. I hope the Senator will review his determination, and consent to attend to this work, and, if he does, I am sure he will do it as he always does the work which falls into his hands. Mr. CASS. It seems to be conceded on all hands that we have arrived at a position in respect to this business in which there must be some special contract made. The census was taken a year and a half ago. It has not been published and laid before us yet. I do not believe there is another country on the face of the globe in which such a delay would have taken place. The decennial term will almost expire before the people get the information contained in this census. So we are treated in all our printing. Where is the Biennial Register, which should have been laid on our tables? Shall we get it this session or the next? A SENATOR. Who was to print it? Mr. CASS. I do not know who was to print it; but it should be here. The law contains a provision that it should be here. So it is with everything we have. All our printing comes to us after the subject-matter of it has almost passed from the public mind. Here is some printing which is to be done. How is it to be done? The proposition is to refer the making of the contract to a committee of this body. Can it be in better hands? What is the objection to it? The honorable Senator from Arkansas objects to the labor which it will impose upon the committee. I suppose it will not amount to much. They will have to go into no specific details, for the facts will be before them. But the Senator does not like the responsibility; and then the proceedings of the committee have been censured by the Senate! I never knew that they had been censured. But is it not better that this responsibility should be taken by a committee of this body, rather than by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House? What was said by the honorable Senator from Indiana [Mr. BRIGHT] is very true, that they can make a more just contract than the Secretary and Clerk, for the best of reasons. If the Secretary and Clerk should go to every man in the country and ask him what he would do the printing for, and thus bring it down to the lowest bidder, which is the position in which we are now, it would defeat our object, which is to have the work done speedily. It cannot be done unless it is done by persons who are every way prepared to do it; and that preparation is perhaps in the hands of only one or two. I appeal to my friend from Arkansas, whether the responsibility had not better be taken by himself and the other members of the committee, than laid upon the two persons whom he proposes to substitute for the committee, neither of whom, in a practical point of view, has better information than the members of the committee. Why, then, should not the responsibility be with the committee? It seems to me that it would be the better way to treat this very extraordinary case. Mr. BORLAND. I am sorry to trouble the Senate any further. Still I feel it due to myself and to the position I occupy in this matter, to say a few words more. The Senator from Michigan, [Mr. Cass,] I am happy to find, agrees with me upon one point-that responsibility should never be avoided in this body. I am glad to be sustained by his high authority. I certainly never have avoided, nor desired to avoid, responsibility. I hope I shall be joined in that respect by that distinguished Senator always hereafter, and that when questions involving responsibility come before this body, he will, with me, (to use a phrase common in the far West, where I live,) "toe the mark." I must confess that I cannot fully understand one position taken by the Senator from Indiana, [Mr. BRIGHT,] and sustained by the Senator from Michi gan, [Mr. Cass,] to which I have already alluded. It is, that the committee can go further than the Secretary and Clerk, and, in the price to be paid for this work, do what those officers "dare" not do. I cannot understand the precise meaning and force of that position without an explanation. To me, it is an enigma which I am not able to unridde. The resolution provides that the contract shall be entered into at a "reasonable" rate of compensation. No one, I apprehend, who knows the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and who has any knowledge of the proposed work, will doubt that they are peculiarly and eminently qualified to judge of what is "reasonable" in this respect; certainly better qualified than any committee that either House, or both Houses of Congress can appoint. The Secretary of the Senate has for years been engaged in the performance of work of this very kind. It has for years been part of his annual duty. He has become perfectly familiar with it. The committee would have to rely mainly upon him, if they undertook to perform it. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is, perhaps, one of the most experienced men in the business of printing that we can find in this city or elsewhere. He is peculiarly well qualified. But I come back to a point which I wish to insist upon. I said that in the joint resolution of 1846, under which the committee was raised, its duties are prescribed. I hold in my hand the rules of the Senate, from which I will read what are the duties required from the Committee on Printing: "A Committee on Printing, to consist of three members, to whom shall be referred every question on the printing of documents, reports, or other matter transmitted by either of the executive departments, and all memorials, petitions, accompanying documents, together with all other matter, the printing of which shall be moved, excepting bills originating in Congress, resolutions offered by any Senator, communications from the Legislatures, or conventions lawfully two Houses. I will explain what I meant by that The first speech of the honorable Senator is a I have hitherto advocated the letting out of the public printing to the lowest bidders. As a general rule, I approve of that manner of disposing of the public work, but having seen so many practical illustrations, which prove that we cannot get our printing done in a suitable manner under that system, I am now opposed to it. If this work should be let out to the lowest bidder through the officers of the two Houses, I do not believe that it will be done in the manner which the public service requires. If the officers of the two bodies have the matter referred to them, I believe they will have no alternative, and we shall have these important returns printed like every class of public printing for the last few years. Every morning we have public printing laid on our tables. It is done under a law which provides that it shall be executed on paper of fifty pounds to the ream, and at a cost of seven dollars and a half. Now, I presume those who execute our called, of the respective States, and motions to print by printing will not pretend that their paper weighs erder of the standing committees of the Senate; and excepting, also, messages and other communications from the President of the United States, and such reports and communications from the heads of departments, as may be made to Congress, or to the Senate, in obedience to law, or in answer to calls from the Senate; and it shall be the duty of said Committee on Printing to report in every case in one day, or sooner, if practicable." You perceive from this the character of the duties required of the committee. It is to report upon the propriety of printing various papers which come before this body, and we are required to report, certainly in one day, and sooner if practicable. Will any one undertake to say that the committee can perform the duties required by this resolution in one day, or in one week? No one who knows anything about it, would say they could be performed in a week. Even if competent to do it ever so well, I would not undertake to do it in any time less than one month. A practical printer, or one experienced in the performance of such duties, might do it sooner. The joint resolution prescribes also that the committee shall audit the accounts of the public printers. That duty they have been in the habit of performing. But this resolution goes further, and requires them not only to do this, and to make reports, but to go out into the market and make contracts. The Senator from Michigan [Mr. Cass] says this is all very easy and simple, and will require but little time and labor. He surely has never looked into the manner of making the contracts for the public printing. If he had but examined one sheet of the calculations necessary to be made in order to provide for the different classes of printing, he would not, he could not say that it is a simple thing, and one easily done. I insist that the resolution under which the committee was formed, and the rule of the Senate under which they have heretofore acted, shall be adhered to and observed. And I protest against being required to perform these other duties, which are altogether foreign to the purpose for which the committee was raised, and for which it can be legitimately employed. Mr. BRIGHT. The honorable chairman of the Committee on Printing has made a remark which seems to require a reply from me. He says that I made use of an expression which is an enigma to him, particularly when it was coincided in by the honorable Senator from Michigan, [Mr. Cass.] He cannot understand how it is that the Committee on Printing can afford to give a higher price for this printing than the ministerial officers of the over forty pounds to the ream, or that it costs borhood, and which works so well at home, fails in Congress, because we have not virtue and firmness enough to have it executed." I am not willing to go before the country with any such acknowledgment as that. Sir, if we will do our duty-if we will say to these bidders who are endeavoring to get jobs and contracts, Put in such a bid as you can live by, and if you do not, we intend to make you suffer and feel the effects of your own folly; nay; of your own frauds,-if we will do that, my word for it we shall have our work well and promptly done; and we shall have no more complaints about not being able to get it done. These acknowledgments are reflections upon this body, reflections upon the whole country, and reflections especially upon the employees that they are permitted to trifle with their contracts, to impose upon us a fraudulent article in paper, to execute their work in such a manner that when the documents are placed in the archives of the country they will not last perhaps ten years. These avowals are degrading to us and to the country. We ought to enforce the remedy by telling all these people, in the language of the Senator from Arkansas, You must "toe the mark;" you shall "toe the mark;" and if you do not you shall reap the consequences of your own folly and improvidence in making bids by which you cannot stand. It is manifest that it is the conduct of Congress, in endeavoring to patch up those who put in improper and fraudulent bids, that has led to the whole series of mischiefs of which complaint is now made. Mr. BORLAND. Mr. President, the Senator from Kentucky says that these are "precious confessions," which have been made on this side of the House, and that they reflect very injuriously upon members of this body. I am not responsible for the inferences which may be drawn from what he calls "confessions" on this side of the House. I have always acted upon the rule, that truth should be told, and I have told it. Mr. UNDERWOOD. I thank you for it. Mr. BORLAND. I am not responsible for the inferences which may be drawn. I based my statement upon what I know to be facts, and I will give the case to which I particularly referred at the time I made the remark. During the last Congress the public printing was let out by contract. As chairman of the Committee on Printing, I examined that contract; and my knowledge of the printing business, though not extensive or minute, was sufficient to satisfy me that the contractors had taken the public printing at prices at which, if the contract should be faithfully executed, they would lose a large amount of money. Before any of the public printing was done, I notified them that this was the opinion of the committee-I reminded them of the fact that the contractors of the preceding Congress had come before us and exhibited a loss of about twenty thousand dollars; and I knew that they (the new contractors) had taken the work at about twentyfive per cent. lower, and that it was impossible for the work to be performed according to contract without heavy loss. By authority of the committee, I accompanied this notice with the assurance, in advance, that they would be held to a faithful performance of their contract, and that no work below the contract standard would be received or paid for. Well, the work came in; it was at first a little below the standard; it became worse; it got to be very bad; it became intolerable; I rejected it. What was the consequence? Was I sustained? In despite of my rejection of it, the work continued to be done in this inferior, this miserable style, and was sent here, and piled up in the document room, till it reached the ceiling. I was called upon every day by Senators, who requested me to receive the work. I refused. I said it was done in violation of the contract; that I could not receive it, nor approve any account for its payment. The contractor came to the Senate, and made his appeal here; and the consequence was that I was overruled, and the work was received. Senators had the documents folded and sent to their constituents. But the contractor never sent his bill to the committee while I remained in the city. He retained them till after I had left. Mr. UNDERWOOD. These are very precious confessions which the gentlemen are making. The gentleman from Indiana tells us that the contract system of letting our printing to the lowest bidder, has proved a failure; and the gentleman from Arkansas says that one reason of that is, that the Senate will not sustain the Committee on Printing in its efforts to prescribe a remedy for the evil. What does all that mean? Why, that we have not the virtue and the firmness to rein up those persons who make contracts with us to perform their duty. That I understand to be the plain English of it. I, for one, am not willing to bear any imputation of that sort. I wish to sustain the Committee on Public Printing in its efforts to make the undertakers, these employees of the Government who make contracts with us, perform their duty. I am not willing, for one, to say to my constituents, that "that rule by which all your bridges are built, by which all your jails I was complained of, I was censured, but I and your court-houses and public works are stood upon the contract, and insisted upon its erected, by which you do everything in your neigh-being executed. Senators know that. I make no random assertions. I state what is known to be true by all who were here at the time. Work of an inferior quality, not half up to the contract standard, was received. And not only was the proposition made here, but it actually passed this body, to pay the contractor a profit of ten per cent. upon the whole amount of his expenditures. That failed in the other House. But at the last session the House of Representatives passed a joint resolution, not only receiving all his work, but providing for paying him a profit of nearly two hundred thousand dollars on that work. It came to the Senate at the close of the session, and was not passed. If it had come earlier, I cannot say what would have been its fate. The resolution, as it passed the House of Representatives, allowed a profit, as I can show any one by a simple calculation, of very nearly two hundred thousand dollars on the work. Was that no censure on the Committee on Printing that had performed their duty in rejecting the work? Was it no censure on the committee to receive the work and to pay the contractor a profit in double the amount of the contract, for a violation of that contract? These are the facts to which I alluded; and they are facts which cannot be controverted. Call them "precious confessions," or what you please; let them reflect injuriously upon whom they may, I appeal to the Senate for their truth, and am not responsible for them or their consequences. I did all in my power to prevent their occurrence. Had I been sustained in that attempt, the Senate would have been spared these "confessions," and have avoided any censure they may imply. Mr. PRÁTT. Mr. President, the proposition under consideration is, as I understand it, that the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be substituted for the Committee on Printing, and that the same powers shall be given to the Secretary and the Clerk, which this resolution proposes to give to the committee, to make this contract. My friend from Indiana says the object of this amendment will be to put this printing out to the lowest bidder. I cannot see that that is to be the legitimate result of the amendment which has been proposed. What is to be the effect? The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives would be directed, if this amendment should prevail, to make this contract; they would be directed to make it in the same words in which the resolution directs the committee to make it. Why, then, are we to assume that the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House would let this work out to the lowest bidder, if the committee are not bound to do so? The gentleman tells us, that it is because the committee would assume responsibilities which the Secretary and Clerk would not assume. The argument of the honorable Senator from Michigan [Mr. Cass] is, that the Secretary of this body and the Clerk of the House will employ persons who are not prepared to do the work. His whole argument is predicated upon that assumption. Mr. CASS. If the Senator will allow me, I will correct him. I meant to convey no such idea. I merely meant to say that the Secretary of this body and the Clerk of the other House might conceive it to be their business to go to every printer, and ask the lowest price at which he would do the work, and take that as a standard. That was my idea. formance of the work will be better secured than I can see no reason why the committee should Mr. HAMLIN. Mr. President, I only desire to state, in addition to what has been said by the chairman of the Committee on Printing, in relation to the vote which decided this matter, that I am, myself, the individual upon that committee who withheld his vote. I withheld it for this reason: I was in favor of giving the contract to the persons named in the resolution; and so I am now; but I was not in favor of making any committee a "pack-horse" for the Senate, nor was I in favor of making any committee of Senators go out into the streets and chaffer for the Senate, while they had ministerial officers to whom those duties properly belonged. The Senator from Arkansas will recollect the fact, that I withheld my vote, not because I was opposed to the resolution, but solely because I wished this business to be done by our ministerial officers and not by the committee. Mr. BORLAND. That is the fact. Mr. BADGER. As the yeas and nays have been ordered on this amendment, I wish to say a few words to explain the reasons of my vote. I agree that the duty which the amendment of my friend from Arkansas proposes to impose upon the officers of the two Houses, is at once a difficult Mr. BRIGHT. Mr. President. I certainly felt and delicate one. For myself, I should be per- some delicacy in pressing this resolution after the fectly willing that the resolution should remain in Senator from Arkansas announced that he was its original form; but that the honorable Senator opposed to the performance of the duties imposed from Arkansas, who is at the head of the Printing by the resolution upon the committee; but since Committee, informs the Senate that he is not will- his first speech I have turned my attention to the ing to take the responsibility which it is thus pro- general law under which the printing of Congress posed to devolve upon him. He is not willing to is now done, and I find that this joint resolution become an agent for contracting to let out the work proposes nothing more than is now in force under of the Senate. And when I recur to the rule of a law that was passed on the 3d of August, 1846. the Senate under which that committee was consti- I understand from that law that if a contractor tuted, and find that no duty of the kind was con- should fail to perform the public printing, or any templated to be imposed upon that committee; and part of it, it is the business of the committee of that this resolution, in its original shape, directs the two Houses to select another agent, and make this committee to perform what does not properly full and ample provision for the public printing. belong to the Senatorial duties of members of this But the law does not stop there. It goes on to body, I do not see how I can, with propriety, with say, that these committees shall audit the accounts a just regard for the motives which the Senator of the public printers. There is great force and from Arkansas has stated, and from the circum- || propriety in that law, because the Committee on stances of this case which entitle him to ask an Printing in each House has been furnished with a exemption from having placed upon him a duty clerk; and during the recess of the last Congress, not belonging to his office as a Senator, and not or the Congress before the last, I am not certain belonging to the position which he occupies on which, a committee of Senators sat, and for serthe committee, refuse a vote which is to concede vices which they then rendered as members of the to him what he desires, and what I think he has a Committee on Public Printing, they received their right to ask. I do not see how I can refuse to ex- per diem of eight dollars. empt him from a duty which I think the resolution cannot rightfully impose upon him and his associates of the Printing Committee. For that reason, and that reason only, I shall vote for the amendment. Mr. BORLAND. The statement of the Senator from Indiana [Mr. BRIGHT] has reference to a state of things which existed before I became a member of the committee or of the Senate. Prior to that time it was customary, not for the Mr. GWIN. I wish to make a statement, which committee to remain, but for one member to reI think will induce the Senator from North Caro- main to audit the accounts of the public printers, lina [Mr. BADGER] to change his opinion. I wish presented after the adjournment of the Senate. to ask this question of the Printing Committee: Since I have been on the committee, a different Suppose the present contractor fails to perform his practice has prevailed. Now, instead of any memduty, would it not then be the duty of the Printingber of the committee remaining to audit the printCommittee to make a contract for the printing? I ers' accounts, and drawing his per diem during so understand the law. The very duty which it that period, the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk is said we are now throwing upon the committee of the House of Representatives, and the clerk of is already imposed upon them by law. They are the Committee on Printing, are constituted a now required, if I understand the law, in the event board to audit and settle the accounts of the pubof the contractor failing to perform his duty, to lic printers during the recess. The Secretary of make another contract for the Congressional print- the Senate and the Clerk of the House receive ing. Then this is not a new duty which we would no extra compensation for that service; but the impose upon them. It is merely acting up to the clerk of the Committee on Printing merely reletter and spirit of the law. ceives his per diem. That is the present state of the case. Mr. CLEMENS. I wish merely to get the was submitted to the Joint Committee on Printing, Mr. BORLAND. The Senator from Alabama Mr. PRATT. The idea conveyed to my mind by the Senator's remarks was, that he supposed the Secretary and Clerk, if this matter were left to them, would employ persons who were not prepared to do the work: whilst the Committee on Printing would employ those persons who had their printing presses and paper and everything ready, prepared to go on with the work. It occurs to me, that from the very fact that the persons who would have to make the contract, if this amendment should pass, would not be willing to assume the responsibility which it is supposed the committee would be willing to assume, that they would take care to employ those who were prepared to do the work-persons who would do the work well, and who would do it at a fair price--amendment. If the whole of the committee had because they would act as though they owed responsibility to the respective Houses for which they acted. On the other hand, a committee might aet without any fear of that responsibility. I think, therefore, that we have every reason to suppose that, by the adoption of this amendment, the per voted, I think there would have been a majority Mr. BRIGHT. I do not understand the law, however, to have been changed since the period mentioned. The same law under which Senators and Representatives acted as a joint committee, and drew pay during vacation then, is now in force. The Senator complains of the duty which will be thrown upon the Committee on Printing. I think that the reading of the law will clearly demonstrate that we do not propose to impose any additional duty on that committee. This joint resolution will throw no additional labors on them whatever. The law of 3d of August, 1846, under which the public printing is now done, provides "That a committee, consisting of three members of the Senate and three members of the House of Representatives, shall be chosen by their respective Houses, which shall constitute a Committee on Printing, which shall have power to adopt such measures as may be deemed necessary to remedy any negligence or delay on the part of the contractor to execute work ordered by Congress, and to make a pro rata reduction of the compensation allowed, or to refuse the work altogether, should it be inferior to the standard." This committee, as it is now organized under this law, has large and plenary powers. It has a right to declare a contract under that law abrogated by any non-fulfillment; and I think our committee ought to have declared the present contract |