The following petitions and memorials were laid upon the Clerk's table, under the rule: By Mr. Grow: The petition of merchant tailors of Boston, Massachusetts, for certain amendments to the internal revenue laws. By Mr. Arnold: The petition of the college of pharmacy, at Chicago, Illinois, of like import. By Mr. Vallandigham: The petition of coopers and manufacturers of kegs, of Butler county, Ohio, of like import. By Mr. Ward: The memorial of Galway Casado and Teller. Ordered, That the said petitions and memorial be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. By Mr. Arnold: The petition of G. H. Dodd; which was referred to the Committee of Claims. By Mr. Ward: The memorial of William H. Chester, captain in the Excelsior brigade, Sickles's division, United States army; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. By Mr. Frederick A. Conkling: The memorial of Horace H. Day, praying for the continuation of a ship canal around Niagara Falls; which was referred to the select committee on that subject. The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House resolutions of the legislature of the State of Kansas, in regard to an appropriation for public surveys in said State; which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands and ordered to be printed. The Speaker also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House executive communications as follows, viz: I. A letter from the Secretary of War, in answer to a resolution of the House of the 30th ultimo, in regard to paroles granted rebel officers since the proclamation of Jefferson Davis refusing paroles, &c.; which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed. II. A letter from the Secretary of War, relative to the claim of John Hutchinson, for damages sustained at the hands of the government; which was referred to the Committee of Claims and ordered to be printed. III. A letter from the Postmaster General, transmitting report of fines and deductions from pay of contractors for the last fiscal year; which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed. Mr. Sargent, by unanimous consent, from the select committee on the Pacific railroad, submitted a supplemental report to accompany the bill of the House No. 620; which was ordered to be printed and recommitted to the said committee. Mr. Stevens, by unanimous consent, from the Committee of Way's and Means, reported bills of the following titles, viz: H. R. 731. A bill making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30, 1864; and H. R. 732. A bill making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the year ending June 30, 1864; which were severally read a first and second time, and committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, and ordered to be printed. Ordered, That the former bill (H. R. 731) be made a special order for Thursday next, the 12th instant. Mr. John H. Rice, by unanimous consent, presented joint resolutions of the State of Maine relative to the defences of our northeast frontier; which were laid on the table and ordered to be printed. Mr. Dawes, from the Committee on Elections, to whom was referred the claim of John B. Rodgers to a seat in this house as a representative from the State of Tennessee, made a report thereon, accompanied by the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That John B. Rodgers is not entitled to a seat in this house as a representative from the State of Tennessee. Ordered, That the said report and resolution be printed. Mr. Dawes, from the same committee, to whom were referred the credentials of Lewis McKenzie, claiming a seat in this house from the State of Virginia, made a report thereon accompanied by the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That Lewis McKenzie is not entitled to a seat in this house as a representative from the seventh congressional district of Virginia. Ordered, That the said report and resolution be printed. On motion by Mr. McKnight, Ordered, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of Wm. W. Richmond, and that the same be laid on the table. Mr. Dunn, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolu tion; which was read and referred to the Committee on Printing, viz Resolved, That 20,000 extra copies of the Mechanical Report of the Patent Office department be printed for the use of this house. Mr. Clark, from the Committee on Printing, reported the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That there be printed, under the direction of the Superintendent of the Census, and bound for the use of the present members of this house, ten thousand (10,000) copies of the several parts of the Eighth Census, as the same may be supplied to the Superintendent of Public Printing; also, two thousand five hundred (2,500) copies thereof for the use of the Census Office. Mr. Granger, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee did on the 7th instant present to the President of the United States a joint resolution and bill of the following titles, viz: H. Res. 112. Joint resolution tendering the thanks of Congress to Commodore Charles Henry Davis, and other officers of the navy, in pursuance of the recommendation of the President of the United States; and H. R. 137. An act to authorize the raising of a volunteer force for the better defence of Kentucky. A message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Nicolay, his private secretary, notifying the House that he did on the 7th instant approve and sign the said joint resolution and bill, viz: H. Res. 112 and H. R. 137. The Speaker having announced, as the regular order of business, the bill of the House (H. R. 718) to construct a ship canal for the passage of armed and naval vessels from the Mississippi river to Lake Michigan, and for the enlargement of the locks of the Erie canal and the Oswego canal, of New York, to adapt them to the defence of the northern lakes-the pending question when the House adjourned on Saturday being on ordering the main question The question was put, Shall the main question be now put? Yeas.. And it was decided in the affirmative, {Nays 61 49 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are Mr. Cyrus Aldrich Mr. Thomas M. Edwards Thomas D. Eliot Samuel C. Fessenden Mr. Dwight Loomis Joseph Segar William P. Sheffield Socrates N. Sherman A. Scott Sloan Elbridge G. Spaulding So the main question was ordered to be now put. The Speaker having stated the question to be first on the amendment of Mr. Albert S. White to the amendment of Mr. Stevens, Mr. White, by unanimous consent, withdrew the same. The amendment of Mr. Stevens having been read as follows: Insert at the end of the bill: "Provided, That before the United States proceed to make any expenditure under this act, the State of New York shall make a conveyance and grant of jurisdiction to the United States in the same manner as is provided for in the first section with regard to the State of Illinois; and all the provisions relative to reimbursement of the sums expended by the United States by the State of Illinois shall apply to New York, so as to require her to make similar reimbursement for sums expended on the New York canals;" And the question being put, Will the House agree thereto? It was decided in the negative, {Nays. 63 64 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are— So the said amendment was disagreed to. The amendment, in the nature of a substitute, submitted by Mr. Diven, was then read as follows, viz: "Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: "That if the State of New York shall, within three years from the passage of this act, so construct, alter, and enlarge her canals as to pass a vessel two hundred feet in length and twenty-five feet in width, of six feet six inches draught, and eighteen feet in height, measuring from bottom of keel, from the Hudson river to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and shall grant to the government of the United States the right of passage through said canals of vessels-of-war, boats, gunboats, transports, troops, supplies, or munitions of war free of toll or charge, upon its being certified by the Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary of the Treasury, at any time within the three years aforesaid, that said canals are so constructed, altered, and enlarged, and that vessels of the foregoing dimensions have passed, or can pass, through the same, and upon the execution of a grant from the State of New York to the government of the United States, approved by the President, authorizing, upon the requisition of the Secretary of War or of the Navy, the use of the said canals as hereinbefore provided, the Treasurer of the United States shall execute and deliver to the said State of New York bonds of the United States in sums of one thousand dollars, each bearing six per centum interest, redeemable in not less than twenty years, with semi-yearly interest |