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FACE EIGHT I
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H^&Bf O. P. APSTIN
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SUlMtUan. The National Gfe Bank
Ju$t 131 yar&. ago thft Congress
of the, United, States was bidding
MJLitu to Wall Street, where it had
associated with the "money power"
for five-year period, returning
ieinppraryy to its scenes of former
activity Philadelphia, whisncft it
was to finally rimave to the new
capilol to jMtabU|e4 qnv the
Potomac. 't
Few pf fhe thousands of people
Who pas
S the historic spot at the
corner *of Wall and Nassau streets,
but ,a few* feet from the doors of
tkt Rational Cit of Ne
YpfHi
arP mindfuly oBank the stirrinw
evfiltft which occurred during the
(tvf years in which it wasVthe abid
ing pfece of Congress.-
Nftw York Eighth Capitol
It was in 1785 that the Congress
of the. Confederation, after a de-
c$d$ pf wandering in search of a
oej-fnanent abiding place, estab
lished itself in the modest old City
J$J|t which then stood at the cor
ns^ of Wall and' Nassau streets.
During the period of its existence,
which began at Philadelphia in
17/N. it had held session in no. less
thatt seyen different cities and
toxins, thus making New York the
eighth capitol of the United States,
while Washington became in its
turn the ninth capitol.
Kept on the Run
The. peripatetic life which Con
gress had led during the decade be
fore settling down in New York
haibeen in large degree due to the
ajiteftssity of hurried moves to pre-
ventAhe Capitol and the Congress
falling into the hands of the British.
,*Pne: first movement from the
original meeting place, Philadel-
phia)- occurred in 1776, when the
British were preparing to move up
ojl .that town, and the December
session of that year, 1776, wis hel
at Baltimore.
Wjjtfj the, danger of an immediate
o^qi^atiort of Philadelphia tem
P0fary removed, however, the
CfflB^risS returned to that city in
ftfarjchj \777. But with another
Jtt^yfment of the British in that
dr ecttbn^ it hastily removed to
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where it
remained but for three days, re
tifoymg thence to'York an the op-
pOSite. side of the Susquehanna,
where, it spent all of that terrible
winter in which Washington was
at VWef Forge.
Returns to Old Quarters
,0n the evacuation of PliiLvlrM
jnUa by the ttritish in 1778, con-
gress'.'returned to its old quarters
in that city, rcnra.nimj there until
1783. Owinp .to pomp mifcundfir
t.ifttf'ntf witK" the 'PlilladcrjJhJa,
to
Princeton,'i$.../.
ff.':
PI
i\i
a'wi'lctpU tsriMfsi*?)).pH.nt^H ioid l^or
ndpptBiK a pinri lor'-'tfuVci:crit
t, tj
W
i
pprpjsj^t capitol CJ&R,...
one he located'.on the Pplomac
vq4L and tUik other on the-
'$:'&
TSS^f^SF/'
ware the sessions pending the con
struction of the proper buildings at
the new capitols to be held alter
nately at Annapolis and Trenton,
i $ Lure of Great .City'.'.' .M
The session of 12JR3 was held-ft
Annapolis arid "that of 1784 at Tren
ton, whre it appears thai the lure
of the great city i New York,
which had then a population of
33,000, overturned the double capi
tol plan, and in January. 1785, the
Congress removed to New York,
where it was granted the use of the
City Hall.
All of the. meetings up to this
time had, of course, occurred .under
the Articles of Confederation,
which, however, had proven un
satisfactory, and when the ninth
state ratified the proposed Constitu
tion, in 1788, the Congress, then in
session in New York, hastily passed
a measure requiring that the vote
for the President, provided by the
new Constitution, should occur on
"the first Wednesday in January^
1789," that the electoral votes
should be cast on "the first Wed
nesday in February," and that the
President should be inaugurated cn
"the first Wednesday in* March."
As it happened that the first Wed
nesday in March fell upon the
fourth day of that month, the date
"March 4th," as the beginning of
the term of".the President and Con
gress, was thus permanently estab
lished. ./^Sj!
Inauguration is Delayed
With the limited facilities of corrj
municatiori and travel which char
acterized those days in which the
telegraph, the wireless, the railroad
or the flying machine had not yet
been dreamed of, the official report
of the election did not reach Gen
eral Washington, at his home irt
Virginia -until April''14, 1789, and
because of the time occupied by his
journey thence to New York, his
actual inauguration did not occur
until April. 30, 1789. Meantime, the
enterprising citizens of New York,
realizing that the dignity of Con
gress and President under the new
Constitution required more suitable
surroundings tlinn those offered by
the old City Kail, had contributed
$32,500 for the improvement of that
building, and it was re-named "Fed
eral Hall" and thus became the
meeting place of the First Congress
under the Constitution and the
place in which Washington took
the oath of office as the first Pres
ident of the United States.
Why Congress Moved
It was during the second session
of that first' Congress under the
new 'Constitution that the. evepisi
occurred^ which rcs.tjtt?!d in, the dcr
parturc :t the ,Cp6hg^ss",from New.
York and the cstahliiUrjeaf-'pf the
permaiicnt capitotof tnp nation at
the spot ndw". designated as 'the
District of Coluinbia and the city
A MAN OR BOY UKES TOOLS
-3#%i
^^KV"
Boy Scout Axes $1.25-$1.50^2,00
Hammers 90c-$t.60-$1.75
Saws Pliers .25c-50c-$1.25-$1.85
Chisels .90c tg $1.50
Screw Drivers 25c to 75c
CARVING SETS FOR XMAS
MAY WE SUClCEist OR MEN
WINCHESTER SHOT GUNS, AMMONmON FLASHLIGHTS
FISHING RODS SKATEV SKATING SHOES
SKIS AND SNOWSHOES GUN CASES BICYCLES
TOOL CABINETS GOLF BAGS, CLUBS, BALLS
WINCHESTER AXB HUNTING AXE
RIFLES POCKET KNIVES RAZORS
REVOLVERS VACUUM BOTTLES
FISHING TACKLE, LUNCH POXES
WATCHES TOOLS
AUTOMOBILE ACCESSORIES Wti AUTOMOBILE TIRES
AUTOMOBILE WRENCH SETS
GIVE DAD A GOOD RAZOR
Like Master Barbers use, that will make a joy
of shaving, at
*PPfP
jyn*.
___ ._.~'^. -^.-^ULL .11
I
Especially if they are good
Tools. Help "Him" get a
vl^ple setone tiling nq\V
and then soon accum-ulates a
fine chest of needed articles.
:4$?.Q0-4?.7SrV$4.5P
Every household should possess a good
Carving Set. What better time than
now to buy the whole family a present,
$3.75 to $12.00
$2.60
to
lllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^
CONGRES S
Aft^r five ye^rs in old Federal Hall it was
'^:?'.^r'^'^''i'-
of Washington. 0e of the first
important questions laid before the
Con.gre.ss ihait been that of the as
stmiptioy by the Government of the
existing debts of.the Confederation
and those which the/"states-: had
created during the revolution. The
fpiteiffn debt amounted to $12,000,-
1
1
us
^i C. W. Vandersluis
CORNER 4TH and MINNESOTA AVE.
THE BEMidJl DAILY PIONEER
The'American Congress/bad.fen meeting places Up until the time It was permar.*ntly located in Wash-
Tee pictures reproduced here are from rare old* prints and original drawings ^collected ington in 1800,
by Mr.. Austin, They are listed below in the order'in which the buildings were occupied by Congress:
8: Carpenter's'Hall, Philadelphia, 1774
10. Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 1775, 1777-78,
1790-1800.
6. Baltimore, December 1776.
9. Court-house, Lancaster, Pennsylvania* 1777.
2. Court-house. Yqrk, Pennsylvania, 1777.
1. Nassau Hall, Princeton, N, J.. November, 1783.
3. State-house, Annapolis, Md., 1783.
5. Court-house, Trenton, New Jersey, 1784.
000, the domestic debt pf the Con
federation $42,000,000 while the
debts of-the various states incurred
during the Revolutionary War ag-'
gregated ,,$2.6,000.000 making the
grand total of $80,000,000, a sum
which then sounded'large, no mat-
MET,-IN jPfll
packingWashington.
its bags Just 131 years._ago^ to move to
Philadelphia, thence to f^^iP^$^^^iSr,-
4. Old City Hall, New York, "Wall arid Nassau
Streets, 1785-88.
7., Federal Hall, New York (reconstructed City
Hajl), Wall and Nassau Streets,, where -the first
.'Congress under the Constitution met, and-Prcs
ident Washington was inaugurated.
11. First Capitol building at Washington, D. C.,
1800.
#Gif4i
'OUXL be surprised at the great number of
really useful things to be had here for Gift.
Giving. What.will surprise you most is the mod-
erate' prices on goods of very evident merit
"Whatyou buy here must give serviceor we want
it back!
WE ARE IN OUR NEW HOME!
Shopping: here will be a pleasure for you and far
serve youHve^y handily without the
usual hurry and crowding of Christmas time.
SPECIAL, WHILE THEY LAST
A FIVE-^If CE,ALUMINUM
ular $2.85 valuftr^
mm mmm
WiM
these days'in'which we count gov
ernmental appropriations in^terms/
of billions.. 'S'''' i
'i^|/^'
Hamilton's Three Proposals
The proposition submitted to the
Congress by Hamilton included:
Csst^ the assumption of the foreign
ii yij^"
f*
BAKING SET reg-
s/i* &&**
At..^ .$1.95
Also a few ALUMINUM KETTLES, DOUBLE
BOILERS and PERCOLATORS left over from our
Grand Opening^l^at Saturdayr-pr & &
At:..... $1.95
Ladies' Ret R^om^Make Use Of It!
With toilet facilities, and where vre will have a Gas Range
installed the use of farmers' wives and families who wish
to heat th)i lunch when they come to the city. Make ap
pointments to meet your "friends here.
THE W/AfOffJWt STORE
t'* JTJL.
debt of the Confederation second,
the''full''payment of the domestic
dbtr which had fallen far below
par in its market value and, third,
the assumption by the Government
of the debts incurred by the re
spective states, during the revolu
tion. The first proposition, for full
payment of the foreign debt met
with no opposition,"and that for the
payment, of "the domestic debt was
opposed.:by many but received a
majority vote.'
Opposition is Aroused
The third proposition, that the
Government of thp Uhited States
sliould assume the debts'created by
the respective -states during the
Revolutionary War was bitterly op*
posed and its final settlement re
sulted incidentally in the good-bye
of Congress to Wall street. The
opposition to payment'by the Gov
ernment of the claims of the re
spective states was bitter and long
drawn out, much _of the opposition
bting based upon the assertion that
the claims had been already bought
up by speculators and that the as
tmption by the Congress under
Wall Street in thTearl days of the Republic. The bnilding with the
"custom house" sign is on the site of the present home of The National
City Bank of New York.
Mat date would not be materially
"beneficial to the states themselves.
Most of these claims were hejd in
the 'North and as a result, the
members from the northern states
favored the proposition, while
those of the South were almost
solidly against it and succeeded in
temporarily defeating this feature
of the measure.
How it Was Settled
."AtV-this juncture, when the as
sumption of the debts of the states
'Cytif i' M^Wmntm.'*
GIVE SKATES
Ma doubt there will be. ample
opportunity to use them be
fore spring, and good skates
lr.st many seasons^here at
BEMIDJI, MINN.
FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1921
seemed likely to fail,' diplomacy got
in its fine work. The question a
to the permanent location of the
Capitol of the Nation was then
pending. New Yqrk, Philadelphia
and Baltimore wanted it. So dd
several other enterprisipg cities and
towns in the middle states and
in Virginia. The South, winch was
opposing the measure for the pay
ment of the claims of the states,
was olidly in fivor of the transfer
of the- permanent seat of govern
ment to that section of the country.
Hamilton favored the payment of
the claims of the states, Jefferson
favored the location of the Capitol
at the South, and these two ext
perienced men, putting tfiejr heads
together, worked out a plan which
-was laid before certain of their col
leagues at a dinner at the home of
Jefferson, where the details were
agreed upon. The next day, to the
astonishment of those not immedi
ately participating in the agree
ment, the hostility of certain South
ern members to the payment pf the
claims of the states mysteriously
disappeared. The bill for payment
of these claims was passed and a
little later the measure establishing
a permanent seat of Government
on the Potomac became a law, with
a proviso that Congress should re
move to Philadelphia before the
daRrset for the next session, the
first Monday in December, 1790,
and remain there until the year
1800, by winch time the Capitol
buildings and presidential residence
would be ready for occupancy.
And this is how it happened that
131 years ago Congress was tear
fully packing its belongings at the
corner of Wall and Nassau streets
preparatory to the trip to Phila
delphia, which was then a matter
of several days instead of a couple.
of hours as at present.
$1.50-$2.25-$5.0O- $S.0a-$12.50
LUNCH KITS
WITH GENUINE ICY-HOT BOTTLES
Special for Shristmas Trade
$3.00
BOYS NEED KNIVES
Even J:he grown-up boys would thank
you for a good Knifeand you can select
here from the best, at
50c 75c $1.25 91.50 $2.00
$3.00 and up
MAY WE SUGGEST FOR WOMEN
ICE SKATES""& SKATING EQUIPMENT VACUUM BOTTLES
SEWING MACHINES ELECTRIC WASHING MACHINES
WINCHESTER SCISSORS
AUTO LUNCH KITS
KITCHEN CUTLERY
PERCOLATORS
FLASHLIGHTS
COFFEE SETS
WINCHESTER SHEARS
PYREX GLASS UTENSILS
ALUMINUM UTENSILS
ELECTRIC TOASTERS
ELECTRIC 1RONERS
BUTCHER KNIVES
WINCHESTER CARVING SETS
ELECTRIC CURLING IRONS
CASSEROLES TABLE SILVER ELECTRIC GRILLS
TEA POTS COFFEE POTS CHOCOLATE PQTS
ELECTRIC HEATERS ELECTRIC SWEEPERS
VALSPAR VARNISH HOUSEHOLD TOOLS
ELECTRIC IRONS CRUMB SCRAPERS
SKATING IS HEALTHY FOR CHILDREN
"Our stock is complete
at all times sizes for
everyone at
$2.50 and $3.50
,-i
w?
