MAY, 1822.] Cumberland Road Repair Bill-President's Veto. [H. OF R. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That if any person who shall use the said road, shall, with a view to evade the payment of the tolls required by this act, leave the said road, and go round the said gates, every such person shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay to, and for the use of, the United States, the sum of twelve dollars. number of wheels and horses drawing the same. For | established, he shall, for each and every such offence, every cart or wagon, whose wheels do not exceed forfeit and pay, to the party so aggrieved, the sum of the breadth of four inches, six and one-fourth cents ten dollars. for each horse or ox drawing the same. For every cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed in breadth four inches, and not exceeding six inches, three cents for every horse or ox drawing the same; and every other cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed six inches, shall pass the said gates free and clear of toll: Provided, That the President of the United States may authorize the superintendent of the road to commute the rates of toll with any person, or persons, by taking of him or them a certain sum annually, in lieu of the tolls aforesaid: And provided, also, That nothing in this act shall be construed so as to authorize any tolls to be received or collected from any person passing to or from public worship, or to or from his common business on his farm or woodland, or to or from a funeral, or to or from a mill: And provided further, That no toll shall be received or collected for the passage of any wagon or carriage laden with the property of the United States, or any cannon or military stores belonging to the United States, to any of the States composing this Union, or any person or persons on duty in the military service of the United States, or the militia of any of the States. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the toll gatherers on the said road shall, respectively, receive compensation for their services at the rate of twelve per cent. on the amount of tolls by them respectively collected: Provided, That the annual compensation of any toll gatherer shall never exceed the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars, nor shall the same be less in any one year than one hundred and twenty dollars; and in case of any deficiency in the amount collected by any toll gatherer, below the sum of one hundred and twenty dollars, the residue shall be paid out of the tolls collected at the other gates on the said road. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That, for repairing the Cumberland road, the sum of nine thousand one hundred and ninety-four dollars and twentyfive cents, (being an unexpended balance of money SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said appropriated by act of third March, one thousand toll-gatherers shall settle their accounts quarterly eight hundred and nineteen, for completing the same,) with the superintendent of the road, and at all other be, and is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of times when thereunto required, and shall, at all any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropritimes, pay over to him, on demand, the amount of ated: Provided, however, That all expenditures aristolls by them collected; and it shall be his duty to ing under this act, or connected with the support or account for the same with the Secretary of the repair of said road, beyond the sum herein approTreasury, once in each year, and quarterly, if re-priated, shall be defrayed out of the tolls collected quired. And the said superintendent and toll-gath- under said acts, and from no other fund. erers shall govern themselves by the rules and regulations which the President of the United States may from time to time prescribe. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the amount of tolls, after deducting therefrom the expenses and charges of collection, shall be applied, under the direction of the President of the United States, to the repairs and preservation of said road, in such manner, and under such regulations, as he may from time to time prescribe, and to no other purpose whatever. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That directors shall be erected at proper and convenient situations, to caution all conductors or drivers of carriages on the road aforesaid, that they shall at all times pass on the left of each other, under the penalty of three dollars for every offence. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to increase or diminish the tolls established by this act, in case it should be found upon trial that the sum collected is more, or less, than is necessary to keep the said road in repair; and to increase or lessen the tolls from time to time, on any particular kind of travelling or transportation, so as to preserve an equitable scale of rates, and to increase or diminish the tolls at such seasons of the year as he may direct: Provided, however, That the items of tolls shall not, at any time, be increased to more than double the rates herein established and allowed. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That if any of the toll gatherers shall unreasonably delay or hinder any passenger or traveller, at any of the gates, or shall demand or receive more toll than is by this act Mr. BASSETT, with a view to such a consideration of the subject as its importance appeared to him to require, moved to refer the bill and objections to a Committee of the Whole; but the House refused to commit the bill. Mr. WRIGHT expressed in strong terms his approbation of the Message of the President, particularly on the ground that, to impose a toll on this particular road, while other roads were free, would be an unequal and oppressive tax, &c. He was, however, in favor of keeping this road in repair at the expense of the United States. The question was then taken, "Shall this bill pass, notwithstanding the objections of the President of the United States?" and the vote was as follows: YEAS.-Messrs. Barstow, Bateman, Blackledge, Burrows, Campbel lof Ohio, Cassedy, Chambers, Cocke, Cook, Cushman, Cuthbert, Darlington, Denison, Dickinson, Durfee, Eddy, Edwards of Connecticut, Findlay, Fuller, Hardin, Hemphill, Hendricks, Hill, Hooks, Hubbard, Jackson, F. Johnson, Jones of Tennessee, Kirkland, Leftwich, Littie, McCarty, McDuffie, Mercer, Metcalfe, Milnor, Montgomery, Moore of Pennsylvania, Moore of Virginia, Neale, Newton, Patterson of Pennsylvania, Plumer of New Hampshire, Plumer of Pennsylvania, Rankin, Reid of Georgia, Rich, Ross, Russ, Saunders, Sawyer, Scott, Sergeant, Sloan, S. Smith, W. Smith, Stewart, Stoddard, Swearingen, Tod, Tomlinson, Trimble, Upham, Vance, Walker, Walworth, Williams of Virginia, and Woodson-68. NAYS.-Messrs. Speaker, Alexander, Allen of Massachusetts, Archer, Ball, Bassett, Blair, Borland, Burton, Butler, Cambreleng, Campbell of New York, Cannon, Colden, Conner, Crafts, Crudup, Edwards of North Carolina, Eustis, Farrelly, Floyd, Gilmer, Gist, Gross, Harvey, Hawks, Hobart, J. S. Johnston, Jones of Virginia, Lincoln, Litchfield, Long, McCoy, McSherry, Matlack, Matson, Mattocks, Mitchell of Pennsylvania, Moore of Alabama, Morgan, Murray, Nelson of Massachusetts, Nelson of Virginia, Overstreet, Patterson of New York, Phillips, Pitcher, Reed of Massachusetts, Reed of Maryland, Rhea, Rogers, Ruggles, Arthur Smith, Alexander Smyth, Spencer, Sterling of Connecticut, Tatnall, Taylor, Thomson, Tracy, Tucker of Virginia, Tucker of South Carolina, Van Wyck, Whipple, White, Williams of North Carolina, Williamson, Wilson, Wood, Woodcock, Worman, and Wright—72. Two-thirds of all the members being required to carry this question, and a majority having voted against it, it was of course not carried; and the bill was rejected. On motion of Mr. MALLARY, (Mr. TAYLOR being temporarily in the chair,) it was Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of this House be presented to the honorable PHILIP P. BARBOUR, for the assiduity, promptitude, and ability, with which he has administered the duties of the Chair during the present session. Mr. HILL and Mr. LITTLE were appointed to announce to the President that the House had got through their business, and were ready to adjourn. The committee having a little before three o'clock stated to the House, that the President had informed them he had no further communication to make Mr. Speaker BARBOUR rose and addressed the House as follows: At the commencement of the present session, when I was unexpectedly called by you to the Chair, I expressed the profound sense of gratitude which I felt for that distinguished mark of your confidence; at the close of the session, I have to acknowledge a new and increased weight of obligation, arising from the resolution which you have this day adopted. I should not, under any circumstances, have been vain enough to suppose that I could have passed through the long and laborious session, which is just about to [MAY, 1822 be terminated, without falling into some error; still less could I have hoped for it, under the consciousness which I felt of my inexperience in relation to the duties of my office; if, however, I have erred, I trust it has been in points not material; I know it has been unintentional; and the approbation which you have to-day expressed of my conduct affords to me a gratifying proof, that, whilst you have given me a generous credit for the purity of my motives, whilst you have, with a kind indulgence, overlooked my defects, you have done more than justice to my best efforts to merit your good opinion. The recollection of these things will long be cherished by me as a source of pleasure; it will add to a sense of duty, a new motive to endeavor, by every possible exertion, to acquit myself of the high responsibility of my office, in a manner satisfactory to you. At this moment of approaching separation, permit me to assure you of my friendship and good feelings to you all, and to express the sincere desire, that, upon retiring from the toils of legislation, you may have a safe and happy return to the bosoms of your respective families, and that, when you have arrived there, you may enjoy the happiness and peace which ought to belong to the domestic state. The SPEAKER then adjourned the House until the first Monday in December next, the day for the annual meeting of Congress. fixed by the Constitution of the United States SUPPLEMENTAL SPEECH. [From the National Intelligencer, October 16, 1855.] all the distinguished men who have passed periods of their lives in either House of Congress there is cer A RELIC OF THE LATE WILLIAM LOWNDES.-Of tainly no one, of any thing like equal ability, who has left fewer traces on the page of history, or on the records of Congress, than WILLIAM LOWNDES, the eminent Representative for several years of the State of South Carolina. Not that he was less honored and respected, as well for his elevated patriotism and his fine intellect, as for his high moral qualities and his social virtues, than any one of his contemporaries in public life. But that so few of his eloquent speeches are to be found on record is attributable, in part, to his unfeigned diffidence, which placed less than their true value upon his own exertions, and in part to an objection which he had, on principle, to the practice, then general, of writing out speeches for publication, either before or after the delivery. A sketch, however, of one of the briefest of the speeches of this eminent statesman, (who but for his retiring modesty might, to our knowledge, have worn the highest honors in the gift of his Government,) we are now enabled to present to our readers, through the kindness of a friend, into whose possession it came by the death of a relative. Besides the rarity of this production, as an exception to Mr. L.'s rule to decline writing out his speeches, the subject to which it relates cannot fail to interest every reader who rightly appreciates the memory of PERRY, the renowned naval commander, whose victory on Lake Erie, during the war of 1812, gave safety to the exposed frontier of the country, and greatly contributed, with the subsequent events, to bring about an honorable and happy peace.-Editors Nat. Int. Endorsed in Mr. Senator SILSBEE's handwriting, "SPEECH of Hon. W. LOWNDES, for the Relief of the Family of Commodore PERRY, written off by Mr. L. at my request." Session of 1820-21.-Jan. 23-24. [H. OF R. I am not which it is wiser to elude than to resist, his example shall rebuke our weakness and enlighten our feeling. You will rally the desponding spirits of the country by his name. willing to speak of the battle of Lake Erie. It Mr. Chairman: I could wish, but I dare not is a theme for pride and emulation, and that hope, that the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. temper is subdued in me now, by the condition HARDIN,) by withdrawing his amendment, will of that man's family, to whom we owe the vicafford to the committee the opportunity of giv-tory. But, though I cannot describe, never ing a direct vote on the bill which is before shall I forget the circumstances of that battle. them. If the health of my friend from Vir-Courage might have saved your fleet from capginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) had allowed him to ex- ture, not from destruction. The highest praise plain his views to the committee, I should have been entirely silent. As it is, I shall say but a few words. We do not object to the law which defines the cases in which pensions may be given by the Executive Government, and limits their amount. It is right that there should be a general rule, and that prescribed by the law is a safe one. It is a law to the Executive Goyernment. But it does not withdraw from Congress the power. It cannot supersede the duty of expressing our gratitude for signal services, and of providing (where the letter of the law does not do so) for the family of the man who lived and died for his country. of other men would have been to take refuge from captivity in honorable death. The battle was already lost; and it was at a moment when the rarest union of skill and courage could not have effected a retreat, that the genius of Perry gave you a victory. You all remember the deconfidence which followed it. It gave a new, spondence which preceded that victory, the and, I trust, a permanent direction to the naval policy of this country. I know of no action of modern or of ancient times where success has I make no invidi resulted more undeniably from the personal conduct of the commander. Two of the greatest actions of our day have been decided by the arrival of an unexpected reinforcement.* But who will tell me of another commander, who, The gentleman from Kentucky says that Commodore Perry did not die of a wound. It in the most desperate peril of his battle, left the was his last regret that he had not fallen on the command which he could not otherwise save, quarter-deck of his own ship. But the disease and brought back with him the reinforcement which carried him off was one to which he which saved his victory? The naval glory of could not have been exposed but in obedience the country is without spot. to the orders of his Government. He died not ous demonstration. I apply no prism to the only while he was in service, but because he ray to separate the different colors whose genewas in service. Shall we aggravate the irre-ral character is light. But the Navy which has parable loss of his family by leaving it in hopeless poverty? Gentlemen are unwilling to grant pensions. They are granted now. They fear, from the example of other nations, that we shall become profuse in our generosity. No Government has been lavish to the dead. Postpone the remuneration for the highest military services until the man who rendered them is no more, and the most suspicious economy may hug itself in confidence that the hour of dangerous extravagance has passed. done so much for the nation feels how much has been done by the battle of Lake Erie for its character and its prospects. There is not a seaman whose homely meal would not be embittered by the reflection that the family of his old of his Government. If, Mr. Chairman, that commander had been excluded from the bounty commander had longer lived, if another war, if this course of observation. an Atlantic Navy- But I must not pursue ciently filled with the recollection of what he My mind is suffiYou will not say that our gratitude should was, without reflecting upon what he would have end with the services of Commodore Perry-been. We have, gentlemen, the fullest proof with his life? But, his services have not ended. that the objects of the proposed bounty are enWe have still the inland seas which were re- Will you decide, by your votes, that the children tirely destitute. The question is a simple one. covered by his arms. His example lives; and if, at some period of future depression and dis- of Commodore Perry shall be without educamay, we shall be told that single ships may annoy the commerce of our enemy, but that an assembled fleet would be a prize to a power tion-his wife without a home? * Marengo and Waterloo. SENATE..] President's Annual Message. [DECEMBER, 1822. SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS.-SECOND SESSION. BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 2, 1822. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. MONDAY, December 2, 1822. JAMES LLOYD, appointed a Senator by the The Second Session of the Seventeenth ConLegislature of the State of Massachusetts, to gress commenced this day at the city of Wash-supply the vacancy occasioned by the death of ington, conformably to the Constitution of the HARRISON GRAY OTIS, produced his credentials, United States, and the Senate assembled. was qualified, and he took his seat in the Senate. PRESENT: DAVID L. MORRILL, and JOHN F. PARROTT, from New Hampshire. JAMES LLOYD, from Massachusetts. WILLIAM A. PALMER, and HORATIO SEYMOUR, from Vermont. RUFUS KING, and MARTIN VAN BUREN, from New York. MAHLON DICKERSON, from New Jersey. WILLIAM FINDLAY, and WALTER LOWRIE, from Pennsylvania. CESAR A. RODNEY, and NICHOLAS VAN DYKE, from Delaware. JAMES BARBOUR, and JAMES PLEASANTS, jr., from Virginia. NATHANIEL MACON, from North Carolina. JOHN GAILLARD, and WILLIAM SMITH, from South Carolina. RICHARD M. JOHNSON, and ISHAM TALBOT, from Kentucky. JOHN H. EATON, and JOHN WILLIAMS, from Tennessee. ETHAN ALLEN BROWN, and BENJAMIN RUGGLES, from Ohio. JAMES BROWN, and HENRY JOHNSON, from Louisiana. JAMES NOBLE, and WALLER TAYLOR, from Indiana. DAVID HOLMES, and THOMAS H. WILLIAMS, from Mississippi. NINIAN EDWARDS, from Illinois. A quorum of the members being present, a message was, on motion of Mr. BARBOUR, sent to the House of Representatives, announcing the fact, and the readiness of the Senate to proceed to business. On motion of Mr. BARBOUR, & committee was appointed to join the Committee of the House of Representatives to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that the two Houses are ready to receive any communication from him; and Mr. KING, of New York, and Mr. MACON, were appointed; and the Senate then adjourned. TUESDAY, December 3. DANIEL D. TOMPKINS, Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, attended. Mr. KING, of New York, reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, and that the President of the United States informed the committee that he would make a communication to the two Houses this day. Mr. LANMAN submitted a proposition for the appointment of two chaplains, to interchange weekly between the two Houses of Congress. President's Annual Message. After adopting several orders connected with the despatch of business The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: JOHN CHANDLER, and JOHN HOLMES, from Fellow-citizens of the Senate and Maine. DAVID BARTON, from Missouri. House of Representatives: Many causes unite to make our present meeting JOHN GAILLARD, President pro tempore, re- peculiarly interesting to our constituents. The opesumed the Chair. ration of our laws on the various subjects to which they apply, with the amendments which they occasionally require, imposes, annually, an important duty on the representatives of a free people. Our system has happily advanced to such maturity, that I am not aware that your cares, in that respect, will be augmented. Other causes exist which are highly interesting to the whole civilized world, and to no portion of it more so, in certain views, than to the United States. Of these causes, and of their bearing on the interests of our Union, I shall communicate the sentiments which I have formed with that freedom which a sense of duty dictates. It is proper, however, to invite your attention, in the first in stance, to those concerns respecting which Legislative provision is thought to be particularly urgent. On the 24th of June last, a Convention of Navigation and Commerce was concluded, in this city, between the United States and France, by Ministers duly authorized for the purpose. The sanction of the Executive having been given to this convention under a conviction that, taking all its stipulations into view, it rested essentially on a basis of reciprocal and equal | advantage, I deemed it my duty, in compliance with the authority vested in the Executive by the second section of the act of the last session, of the 6th May, concerning navigation, to suspend, by proclamation, until the end of the next session of Congress, the operation of the act, entitled "An act to impose a new tonnage duty on French ships and vessels, and for other purposes," and to suspend, likewise, all other duties on French vessels, or the goods imported in them, which exceeded the duties on American vessels, and on similar goods imported in them. I shall submit this convention forthwith to the Senate for its advice and consent as to the ratification. Since your last session, the prohibition which had been imposed on the commerce between the United States and the British colonies, in the West Indies and on this continent, has likewise been removed. Satisfactory evidence having been adduced that the ports of those colonies had been opened to the vessels of the United States by an act of the British Parliament, bearing date on the 24th of June last, on the conditions specified therein, I deemed it proper, in compliance with the provision of the first section of the act of the last session above recited, to declare, by proclamation, bearing date on the 24th of August last, that the ports of the United States should thenceforward, and until the end of the next session of Congress, be open to the vessels of Great Britain employed in that trade, under the limitation specified in that proclamation. A doubt was entertained whether the act of Congress applied to the British colonies on this continent, as well as to those in the West Indies; but, as the act of Parliament opened the intercourse equally with both, and it was the manifest intention of Congress, as well as the obvious policy of the United States, that the provisions of the act of Parliament should be met, in equal extent, on the part of the United States, and as also the act of Congress was supposed to vest in the President some discretion in the execution of it, I thought it advisable to give it a corresponding construction. Should the constitutional sanction of the Senate be given to the ratification of the Convention with France, legislative provisions will be necessary to carry it fully into effect, as it likewise will be to continue in force, on such conditions as may be deemed just and proper, the intercourse which has been [SENATE. opened between the United States and the British colonies. Every light in the possession of the Executive, will, in due time, be communicated on both subjects. Resting essentially on a basis of reciprocal and equal advantage, it has been the object of the Executive, in transactions with other powers, to meet the propositions of each with a liberal spirit, believing that thereby the interest of our country would be most effectually promoted. This course has been systematically pursued in the late occurrences with France and Great Britain, and in strict accord with the views of the Legislature. A confident hope is entertained, that, by the arrangement thus commenced with each, all differences respecting navigation and commerce with the dominions in question, will be adjusted, and a solid foundation be laid for an active and permanent intercourse, which will prove equally advantageous to both parties. The decision of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, on the question submitted to him by the United States and Great Britain, concerning the construction of the first Article of the Treaty of Ghent, has been received. A Convention has since been concluded, between the parties, under the mediation of His Imperial Majesty, to prescribe the mode by which that article shall be carried into effect, in conformity with that decision. I shall submit this Convention to the Senate for its advice and consent, as to the ratification, and, if obtained, shall immediately bring the subject before Congress, for such provisions as may require the interposition of the Legislature. In compliance with the act of the last session, a territorial government has been established in Florida, on the principles of our system.* By this act, the inhabitants are secured in the full enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and to admission into the Union, with equal participation in the government with the original States, on the conditions heretofore prescribed to other territories. By a clause in the ninth Article of the Treaty with Spain, by which that Territory was ceded to the United States, it is stipulated that satisfaction shall be made for the injuries, if any, which, by process of law, shall be established to have been suffered, by the Spanish officers, and individual Spanish inhabitants, by the late operations of our troops, in Florida. provision having yet been made to carry that stipulation into effect, it is submitted to the consideration of Congress, whether it will not be proper to vest the No * In contradistinction to the Spanish system, which was only temporary, and to prevail while taking possession of the Territory, and until Congress could have time to organize a regular Territorial Government. The energy with which General Jackson had exercised the powers of Captain General of Cuba, had quickened the diligence of Congress, and the bill, "on the principles of our own system," was passed at the first session of Congress, after the exhibition of that energy. It was the first grade of the Territorial Government, as contained in the ordinance of '87, with so much of the second grade as admitted a resident council to a share in the legislative power-the same that had been allowed to the Orleans Territorial Government when a regular government was given to that Territory in place of the temporary Spanish system, which was continued as it was found until Congress had time to mature a government according to that constitution for Territories-the ordinance of '87, adopted by the Congress of '89. |