Alexandria gazette. [volume], April 21, 1834, Image 2

About Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974

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THE GAZETTE:
By EDGAR SNOWDEN.
Terms.
Daily paper - - - - $3 per annum.
Country paper - - - 5 per annum. ^
The ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE for the coun
try is printed on Tuesday, Thursday, and
Saturday.
All advertisements appear in both papers, and .
are inserted at the usual rates.
* --
WHIG CELEBRATION.
'
Tuesday last was the day appointed for hold
ing the Whig Jubilee to celebrate their victory,
in New York. Castle Garden was appointed as
the scene ofaction, andViither three fourths ot
the citizens repaired during tire day. Such on
ly as had tickets and had fought in the great
battle were admitted, but these amounted to an
immense multitude. The Castle was decorated
with a variety of Flags surmounted by the na
tional colors. Over the entrance on the left was
a portrait of Washington holding a roll with the
inscription, “ Beware of executive usurpation;”
on the other side was a portrait of Lafayette,
holding a paper on which was inscribed, a Lib
erty or Death.” On the roof of the Castle was
stationed the little frigate Constitution, which
had been drawn through the streets during the
election. On her decks small cannon were
mounted, which were now and then fired du
ring the fete.
On entering the interior of the garden, we
found it and the larger galleries which surround
it filled with thousands of people. Tables were
laid round the. garden, furnished with good
cheer, at which every one that chose might re
gale himself. Twelve casks of wine, thirty bar
rels of beer, and cider in abundance, were serv
ed out to all who called for them. There were
no spirituous liquors furnished—a proof that at
least some men, while celebrating their triumph
over one oppressor, are not to be led by any
notimw nf nolirv to rplav thpir ornsn
----r ✓ ; w *
upon another enemy of a most dangerous char
acter,
A band of music attended and played during
the greater part of the day, and during the inter
vals the people were eloquently addressed from
the balcony by Messrs.Graham, Wells,Hoxie and
others. A patriotic song was afterwards sung
by amateurs, with whom the entire assembly
joined in chorus. About three o’clock one of
the Austrian frigates, which lies off the battery,
fired a salute in honor of the occasion. In short
no sort of rational excitement was wanting, and
the whole affair formed u a feast of reason and a
flow of soul.”
It was known that the Great Expounder of the
Constitution was in the city, and an expecta
tion went abroad that he would be at the garden.
The citizens being disappointed in this repaired
in great numbers in front of his lodgings. Mr.
Webster then presented himself and made an
address which was received with great cheering
and the crowd dispersed.—jV, Y. Jour, of Com.
The following letter from Mr. Webster, in re
ply to the invitation to be present at the Celebra
tion at Castle Garden, addressed to him by the
Chairman of the Committee of Arrangement,
was read at the meeting by Mr. Maxwell:
Washington Hall, April 15, 1S34.
My Dear Sir:
I have received your note, in behalf of the
Committee of Arrangements, inviting me to be
present at the meeting of the Whigs of New
York, this afternoon, called to celebrate their
late triumph in this city. This invitation,
and the expressions of regard which accompa
ny it, demand my most grateful acknowledge
ments. Although circumstances do not allow
mo to enjoy the pleasure of seeing together those
of my fellow citizens who will be assembled at
this meeting, yet I cannot altogether refrain
from expressing those sentiments, which the oc
casion naturally calls forth. So far as your tri
umph is local, or so far as the city of New York
is alone concerned in the result, it does not be
come me to enter into the feelings which it ex
cites.
Butknowingthat it is onan all-important ques
tion of general politics, interesting alike to the
whole community, that the election has mani
festly turned, I cannot but rejoice, as a citizen
of the republic, at the manly, vigorous, and suc
cessful support which has been given to the
Constitution, to the Laws,’and to the interests of
the country, by this great city. •
The son of a father, who acted a zealous and
patriotic, though humble part, in establishing
the independence of the country, I have been
educated, from my cradle, in the principles of
the WHIGS OF 177G. Hiper years have ena
bled me to learn, that in those principles is to
be found the source of our own republican lib
erty, as well as of all that degree of freedom
which exists on the other continent.
These principles teach us that Government is
a trust, that those who administer it are but
nnH curvants: thill nffinpi! arp rrpatpH
not for the benefit of the holders, but for the
good of the people; and that public office is
grossly abused, and its uses corrupted, when it
seeks, mainly, not the benefit of the community,
but its own emolument and perpetuation, and
that the whole essential character of Represen
tative Government is dangerously perverted
and its true manner of operation reversed, when j
the opinions, which the people are expected to
receive, are prescribed to them, by those whom !
they have appointed to places of power, instead
of being the spontaneous result of their own in
- telligence and their own patriotism.
These principles teach us, also, that all politi
cal power should be subject to constitutional
and legal restraint; that it is not enough that le
gislators and magistrates be elected by the peo
ple, but that when elected, they must be subject,
- also, in the exercise of their several functions,
to the rule of the constitution and the laws.—
When republicans appoint men to office, they
are choosing agents, not electing masters, Mi
serable indeed is the condition of the communi
ty, where all power, or any unlimited power, is
placed in the hands of one, in whatever form,
or for whatever merits, that one may be select
ed.
* An Elective Despotism,’ said Mr. Jefferson,
“ is not the government we fought for;J I will
add, it is not a government to which the people
of the United States will ever submit.
The principles of 1776 further teach us the in
dispensable necessity of maintaining, in the
hands of the immediate representatives of the
people, the control over the public revenues.—
In no country, and at no time, has there been
found any other adequate security for liberty, j
than the withholding both the right of taxation,
and the control of the public treasures from the '
Executive Power. This principle is fundamental, I
and any thing which attacks it strikes against I
the foundation stone of the sacred temple of po
litical freedom. Every appearance of encroach
ment, on this branch of the popular right, ought
to be received by all true whigs with unflinching
spirits. , ■ ,
So far as I am acquainted with the sentiments !
of the whigs of New York, in the present state
of the country, and its deep and wide spread
distress, I cordially concur in those sentiments
one and all. I think this distress has its origin,
directly, in injurious and disastrous measures of
Government, and that the only remedy is the
repeal and reversal of those measures. The
laws must be re-established, in their just autho
rity, and the public treasures restored to the
guardianship of the nation’s Legislature, before
confidence or prosperity can return.
The Experiment under which we are suffer
ing, and at which the world is gazing, some with
unfeigned sorrow7, some with sneers at the wis
dom of Republics, and all with w’onder and
amazement, is now felt severely by the nume
rous classes of those in active employments.
It diminishes the value of property, it cuts oft
income, it prevents employment, by inspiring
fears of the future in those whose business, if
confidence were not destroyed, would naturally
furnish employment. It ties up the hands of
labor, and robs it of the bread of its mouth.
The case is not one wiiich is to be relieved per
manently by loans of money from any quarter.
What the industrious classes desire is, not to
borrow’ but to earn, they ask not for bounty,
but for the return of their usual occupations.
They solicit no favor, they demand a right; and
no right is dearer in a Republican Government,
than that of living under the protection of wise
laws, steadily administered. They demand a
restoration of that confidence in the Govern
ment and in the law's, which shall excite the in
dustry, awaken the activity, and reward the ho
, nest labors of all; and in this demand, I trust
they will persevere until their object be attained.
I pray you, my dear sir, to present to the Com
mittee, and to the meeting, my hearty congra
tulations, and may the principles ol the Whigs
prevail forever! DANIEL WEBSTER.
Benjamin G. Wells, Esq. (
Chairman, &c. * $
IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN.
The debate which took place in the British
House of Commons on the 4th ultimo, relative
to Impressment of Seamen, has particular in
terest for an American reader. Mr. Bucking
• A I ____a. J ^ Ant
Hull), IUC UlUVCi, umuc lino oiui«.uivut
“ One of the late causes of the dispute which
had occurred between this country and the Uni
ted States, was that we impressed Americans un
der pretence that they were English counterfeit
ing to be so. It was well known that during the
last war there were on board our ships many bo
na fide American citizens, who were compelled
to fight against their own country, because the
British officers ether did not believe, or would
not believe, that they really w ere Americans.
On the other hand, many ofour best sailors went
to other coutries—to France—to Russia—to
! America—and helped to discipline the Navies of
those Powers. It was well known that in the last
war Commodore Decatur declared that he
had not the Captain of a gun who was not an
Englishman. The bargemen of his ships—the
picked men of the crew—were also generally
Englishmen; and thus in time of war was the
strength of our enemies increased by Bri
tish seamen chased from our own shores by
the practice against which his motion was di
rected.”
We doubt that Commodore Decatur ever de
i dared what is thus ascribed to him. The speech
of the distinguished Admiral Sir Edward Cod
rington, on this occasion, is one of the most re
markable and characteristic. We subjoin a part
of it.—Nat. Gaz.
“It was his decided opinion that if seamen
were fairly treated they would enter the royal
navy in preference to engaging in the merchant
service, and it would not happen that they would
refuse the royal service if they were well treated,
and received proper indulgencies. The bad
treatment they had received was in a great
measure the consequences of the system of im
pressment. In the merchant service seamen
underwent double the labor they did in the na
vy, but then they were more kindly treated—
they were allowed to go on shore, and to com
municate with their families, whilst in the royal
navy those indulgencies were not extended to
them. He remembered that at the battle of
Trafalgar he had in his ship an excellent sailor,
an American, who was a pressed man. This
man had been pressed into the Terrible; in order
to get home to his country, he went to the West
Indies in an English ship as an Englishman; he
was there pressed again,came back to England,
and was eventually sent to him. This man said
that he would be glad to remain in the English
navy, but that he had a wife and family in
America w’ith whom he could not communicate
because he had been impressed. The truth was,
that in consequence of the odium attendant on
the system of impressment in the eyes of fore
igners, it was difficult to get them to have any
thing to do with the service.
“ There was another evil attendant on this
system, namely, that a bad set of fellows were
often picked up and sent among the fleet. He
would mention an instance in which 27 fellows
picked up in London had been forced upon him.
He would rainer 1101 iiave uuu uuyuiuig iu uu
with them, for he was sure they would demoral
ize his men, and he was very glad to find a way
of getting rid of them. They were only look
ing for an opportunity, and the very first one
they had, they profited by. One fine day-they
manned the boats, and every one of them ran
away, (laughter). The House might believe
that he was not sorry for their desertion. With
respect to the way sailors used to be paid, he
always objected to the power of paying them in
paper money. In consequence of their being
paid with paper money, they received 6s. in the
pound less than their due, and whenever that.
particular question should come fully before the
House, he should claim for the whole navy 6s.
in the pound as being still due to them on the
whole amount oftheir wages(laughterand hear!)
He begged to mention what occurred to him on i
this subject once when he was stationed oft'Gib- i
raltar, where the men received in dollars four
teen shillings for their pound of paper money.—
The men came upon the quarter deck, and ask
ed him what was to be done? His answer was,
that the thing could not be helped. So the men
went away contented. But if he had told the
men that paying them in this way—with paper
money—was a robbery on the part of the Go
vernment, it would have caused a mutiny in the
fleet (hear! and laughter.) Though he had
men that had been pressed in his shin, he had
never, himself, pressed men in his lire; and he
knew several instances of men returning on
board ship from foreign countries, allow them
selves to be headed up in casks, and undergo
other hard privations, rather than submit to im
pressment. It was a well known fact that dur
the war the sailors returning in fleets from the
West Indies, the South Seas, and other parts,
used, on their arrival off the coast ol England,
to be taken out of their ships—sent on board
the Royal Navy, without having been allowed
to touch shore, or to communicate with their
families—and that other men used to be put on
board the returning trading vessels, to navigate
them up the Thames.”
Arrival of the United Slates schr. Enterprize.
—The U. S. schr. Enterpize, Lt. Com. Downing,
37 days from Rio Janiero, arrived at the Naval
anchorage this morning.—Officers and crew all
well. , .
The United States ship Peacock, Capt. Gei
singer, and schr. Boxer, Lt. Com; Farraugt,
were at Rio 8th March, all well—the former
waiting the arrival of the Natchez—the latter re
pairing.
The United States ship Ontario, Capt. Salter,
had sailed for the River La Plata.
The United States ship Natchez, Capt. Zant
zinger, bearingthe broad pendant of Com. Wool
sey, was daily looked for at Rio from Montevi
deo.
The United States ship Lexington, Capt, Mc
Keever, sailed for Portsmouth, N. H. 8 days
previous to the sailing of the Enterprize.
Lieut. Com. William F. Shields, late Com
mander of the Boxer, and Midshipman Wil
liam H. Brown, late acting sailing master of
the Peacock (for his examination) came pas
senger in the Enterprize. The F. left at Rio,
several American vessels, among which were
ships Extio, Walker, for New York, in 10 days,
and brig Sabra, Winslow, for Richmond, in 7
do. The brig Barbary, Brown, after being 10
days out, bound to Antwerp, had put back leaky.
No news at Rio. Markets looking up.
Norfolk Beacon.
Cool Sagacity.—It has already been stated
that during one of the recent affrays, the high
constable was among the sufferers. lie was
knocked down with a bludgeon and for the mo
ment put out of the fight. But it is said that he
followed the ruffian who did the mischief with
his eye, until he attacked another gentleman,
who m a ki ng so m e resista n ce, H ayes came u p an cl
arrested him, good naturedly asking the ruffian
to be kind enough to assist him in taking him to
the police. The gentleman complained that he
should be arrested when he had done nothing
but defend himself. But the high constable was
inexorable, until the parties arrived at the police
office, when begging the gentleman’s pardon he
dismissed him, saying that it was the other man
whom he would retain.—N. Y. Jour. Com.
rv a i r At YY __ yjY S* A 'ITT _ L 1 ^
IseiLUl’UJ llic JlUll. 1UI. wulks.— n cic^icimair
nounce the death of the Hon. Horatio Gates of
Montreal. Mr. G. had, for some days, been la
boring under a severe attack of paralysis, which
terminated in death on Saturday last. Mr. G.
is well known os a merchant of high char
acter and great personal worth, and well known
throughout the United States. The loss of this
gentleman will be severely felt by his amiable
family, and by all those whom pleasure, or bu
sines, calls to the Lower Province erf Canada. In
the common acceptation of the term, we never
knew a better man.—N. V. Com.
.
The Senate.—The administration press is
loud and immeasurable in its abuse of the Se
nate. There is nothing new in this. The or
ganization of that body inevitably exposes it to
such assaults; and they have frequently been
poured upon it. It was purposely organized to
meet and withstand these attacks. The evil of
all the public functionaries acting together up
on sudden impulse, and when high excitement
prevailed in the country, was felt and under
stood in the formation of the constitution. To
impose restraint upon rashness, to preserve the
entire system of government from the fluctua
tions of public opinion, and insure to it stabili
ty, without which its durability could not be
hoped for, different terms of office w*ere appoint
ed for the House of Representatives, the Senate
and the President. They were intended as
checks upon each other, in legislation and ad
ministration. The operation of these checks
must necessarily interfere, at times, with wdiat
may be factitiously assumed as public sentiment,
and which temporarily may be such. The ac
tion of popular feeling is easily excited, and fre
quently it is founded upon momentarydeclusions.
Then it is important to stay its course until
time is given for reflection. Error may prevail
for a season, but according to what may be its
character it passes away. The advantage of in
ducing reflection before action, is, in that event,
made plain. But if public opinion is founded
upon reflection, it endures, and compels the pub
lic functionaries to conform to it. Those wTho
assail the Senate are the very class of politicians,
whose mischievous proclivities the framers of
the constitution meant to counteract.—Cin. Gaz.
Fanny Kemble's Last.—The house w’as not so
crowded nor so brilliant on Friday night as it
has often been on occasions of apparent excite
ment. At the conclusion of the performance, a
ludicrous scene was acted, wThich destroyed the
w7hole effect of the Finale. Before the first burst
of applause had subsided, and in anticipation
of the fall of the curtain, Mr. Kemble led his
daughter forward, and commenced his farewell
speech. At this moment, some one in the pro
cenium box, threw a chaplet on the stage, and
immediately retired behind the window curtain,
as if ashamed of the act. Collinborne, who had
remained on me stage ror me purpose, advanc
ed and picked it up. The speech had com
menced, and it would not do to interrupt it. So
there stood the group—Kemble speechifying—
M iss Fanny making believe weep, and Colly
twirling the wreath in his hands. At last came
the awful moment—the father ended—the house
applauded—the daughter knelt—Old Colly cock
ed his eye to Ostinelli, and placing the chaplet
on her head, retired—whilst the observed of all
observers raised her hand to her brows, adjust
ed the wreath with dressing room nonchalance,
bowed and smiled—and the curtain parted her
arid the audience frrever.— P.o . Trans.
——————————————a
FOR RENT,
MThe three story fire proof WAREHOUSE
corner of Prince and Union streets, now
occupied by the subscriber. If not rented be
fore the 1st of May, it will then be offered for
rent at public auction.
JOSEPH H. MILLER.
apr 9—eotlstMay
TO RENT,
And possession given on the 1st May next,
MThe DWELLING PART of the HOUSE
of the late Mechanics’ Bank of Alexandria.
It is pleasantly situated, and conveniently ar
ranged for the accommodation of a genteel fa
mily; with a good Stable, Carriage House, &c.
&c. For terms apply at the Office of the Fire
Insurance Company of Alexandria.
apr 9—eotf
CEDAR POSTS.
Good Cedar Posts wanted.
apr 14 A. C. CAZENOVE & CO.
ALEXANDRIA:
MONDAY MORNING, APRIL 21, 1834.
CONGRESSIONAL.
Our notice, in Saturday’s Gazette, of the pro
ceedings of Congress the day before, was ne
cessarily a brief one, our columns being occu
pied with the President’s protest. As, however,
•they were important, wTe make now a more ex
tended notice of them:—
In the Senate on Friday.
The Senate was crowded at an early hour.
Hundreds went away unable to obtain admit
tance. After the presenting ofsome memorials,
&c. the President’s Protest was taken up, or ra
ther Mr. POINDEXTER’S motion not to re
ceive it. Mr. LEIGH took the floor. After a
solemn and impressive exordium, in which he
spoke of this new contest causelessly commenc
ed by the Executive, as another of that scries of
strides to conquest and power which had mark
ed the career of the President; confessed that i
he felt deep indignation at this “ declaration of j
war upon the Senate;” and that he now seemed I
to be walking amidst the splendid ruins of this
magnificent Constitution; he proceeded, with
masterly skill and ability, to examine and dis
sect the Protest. He combatted, successfully,
the argument of the President, that the Senate
had no right to act legislatively upon his con-!
duct, because they were to try him if he should
be impeached. The Parliament of England had
often passed such resolutions in relation to the
Crown as the Senate had in relation to the Pre
sident, but no Monarch there would think of
| sending a “ Protest”! What was the history of
Mr. Dunning’s famous resolution, that “ the in
fluence of the Crown had increased, was in
creasing, and ought to be diminished”? No le
gislative action followed this; and yet did
George the 3d complain of it as a breach of
law? The Senate had carefully abstained from
charging any criminal intent upon the Presi
dent. They had acted purely in their legislative
capacity; and if the President ever should be
impeached, they would be prepared to try him
just as fairly as if no such resolution had passed.
Mr. Leigh then examined the circumstances at
tending the Removal of the Deposites, and
showed that it was the bounden duty of Con
gress, or either of its branches, to notice the
conduct of the Executive; and then proved that
the resolution the Senate had passed was just
and true and proper. The power claimed by
the Executive, in the Protest, over the public
treasure, was then examined, and refuted most
triumphantly. Mr. Leigh then spoke of the ex
ertions for Power used by the President; denied
that he had been successful in, or desirous of,
destroying the system of Internal Improvement
by the General Government; and scouted the
idea of his having been instrumental, in the
smallest degree, in settling the Tariff'question.
No, said he, that honor (and I speak it ill the
absence of one of the gentlemen, and without
flattery, for to him do l render the meed of my
gratitude and admiration,) belonged to Mr.
Letcher, of the House of Representatives, and
HENRY CLAY, of the Senate.
[A simultaneous burst of applause here fol
lowed from the audience. The order was given
to clear the galleries; but the public feeling
could not be repressed, and again and again a
round of applause was given. Mr. BENTON
moved to take the offenders into custody. Some
conversation ensued, as to the impropriety of
executing the order, and the illegality of issuing
such a general warrant. In the mean time, the
galleries were cleared, and Mr. Benton with
drew his motion.]
Mr. Leigh then resumed and concluded his
speech, by referring to that part of the Presi
dent’s Protest where he speaks of himself. He
described it as the artful appeal of a dema
gogue, to excite the passions and work upon the
feelings of the people, and enlist them in a war
fare against a constituted branch of the govern
ment. An appeal was made to the people
against the Senate! And the people are to be
excited against that body which is the greatest
check against the Executive which the Consti
tution has created! Again are we referred to
his military exploits. Surely never did a single
battle cover a man before with such a blaze of
glory! But because General Jackson fought at
New Orleans, are we to submit to every en
croachment of power, and suffer our liberties to
be trampled on? God forbid! He sneaks, Said
Mr. Leigh, of the honorable scars he received in
the Revolutionary War—of course he is to be
believed—but the fact is mentioned in no record
of the times, and it is well that he lives to tell
his own story. But his grey hairs! ’Tis true
the frost of ages has whitened his locks, but they
have not cooled the fires of his passions. The.
President’s reference to hereafter, he left to his
conscience and his God!
When Mr. LEIGH concluded, Mr. EWING
of Ohio took the floor and the subject was post
poned to Monday.
Mr. WILKINS then moved to go into Exe
cutive business for the purpose of ratifying a
treaty.
Mr. CLAYTON opposed it. He would be
opposed to transacting any business until the
President’s Protest was disposed of. That pa
per he regarded as a manifest breach of the pri
vileges of the Senate. Let us, -said he, imitate
the glorious example of the British Parliament,
who, when Charles I sent an illegal message to
them, refused to transact any business till the
breach of their privileges was repaired. We
have dared to question Executive power, and
we have been lectured and insulted!
Mr. CALHOUN expressed his hearty con
currence in the sentiments expressed by Mr.
CLAYTON*. Our privileges are invaded
he. Let us do nothing till we vindicate I
rights. Are we at the footstool of the E °U> I
tive, or are we an independent and co-ord*^1'
branch of the Government? That . * matc
must be settled before we do any thing Pi § 101
Mr. WILKINS then withdrew his n*‘.
giving notice that he should renew it 0ft °x!°^
day, after the Senator from Ohio should * ^
concluded his remarks. *ldv
The Senate then adjourned to Monday
day.)
In the House of Representative.
Mr. HEATH rose and remarked, that
of the guardians of the Peopl e’s interest ?,n.e
floor, he felt it to be his duty to make an ^ i!s
secure their money, and which induced
offer a resolution. As to the money Jlm to
taken from the United States Bank he ^
expected its return, and his object now V.neve'
secure all that would be received here;-ftS to
He therefore asked leave to submit the ft n
ing resolution: J,l0w
*Resolved, That the Secretary of the Tj>-V
be directed to deposite in the Bank of the tv
ed States and its Branches, from the first d !
May next, and until the expiration of its ch01
ter, all the accruing resources of the (jOV '?r‘
ment. rn'
Objection being made to granting leave y
II. moved to suspend the rules for the pui|('f ‘
of enabling him to offer this resolution. 1
Mr. WILLIAMS demanded the Yeas
Nays; which were ordered, and being tab
stood as follows: Yeas 82, Nays 89. Notbeb
two-thirds, the House of course refused to v|,’~
pend the rules, to allow the resolution of }
Heath to be proposed.
Mr. LINCLON asked leave to offer a resobiti.
calling for information on the | Apprpriat;o
tion Bill. The resolution was read asfollouv '
Resolved, That the Postmaster General be d
rectedto lay before this House, a statement o*
the number and names and dates of the appoty.
inents respectively, of the clerks, agents. a, *
other officers and persons employed in hi-s De
partment, (other than postmasters and person
employed in the respective post offices.) and b
the distribution and assignment of the appro; r
ate duties of each: and especially of the cV.m
acter of the services required of the Solicitor
and clerks of the Solicitor’s office, and the b
ties and official employment of each of the • n
sons who in the Register of the officers ai.d
agents of the Government, are denominated
Clerics of Appointments. And that he also in
form the House from what fund or appropria
tion all the officers and persons afoi>s:mi
ployed in his Departmets have received thei,
compensations.
Objection being made, Mr. L. moved to m;
pend the rules sons to allow him to move i:
but the House refused. Ayes 78, Noes not
counted.
Mr. JARVIS now renewed the request he hau
made yesterday, for leave to introduce a resolu
tion for inquiry into the state ef the Banks with
in the District of Columbia which have suspeih!
ed specie payments.
Mr. HARDIN inquired of Mr. J. Whether hr
would consent to modify his resolution so as tr,
include all the Banks in the District, and the
state of the public moneys therein? If so, be
should have his vote to suspend the rule.
Mr. JARVIS said, that, if the rule should be
suspended, he would extend the resolution as far
as any gentleman might wish.
The question being put, the rules were sus
pended—Yeas 151, Nays 22.
Mr. JARVIS’S resolution was then offered, as
follows:
Resolved, That a Committee he appointed to
investigate the situation of the Bank of Wash
ington, the Farmers’ and Mechanics’Bank oi
Georgetown, the Patriotic Bank, and the Bank
of Alexandria, situated in the District of Co
lumbia, and to inquire into the causes which
have led to the recent suspension of specie pay
ments by the aforesaid Banks, with power to
send for persons and papers, and that the Com
mittee be directed to report the result of tlie'V
proceedings to the House.
Mr. HARDIN said he had an amendments
offer; but before it was read, the morning hour
expired; and the resolution and amendment !:•.
over.
[Mr. Hardin proposed to amend the resolu
tion by adding—tc and to inquire into the picsen:
condition-of the Bank of the Metropolis; and
also what is the amount of its debts and obliga
tions, and the means it has to pay them, and
particularly the species of property it possosse
and what amount is due to the bank from its offi
cers, or any of them.”
Mr. POLK now moved to susptr.d, by gene
ral consent, the consideration of private oi: -
(to which this day in the week is appropriated,
to go into Committee on the appropriation bill
Objection being made, he moved to suspciv:
the rules of the House; but withdrew the motto;
Several of the bills on the Speaker’s tab.*,
having been called, and the consideration o!
them deferred,
Mr. POLK renewed the motion that the run*?
be suspended, for the purpose of going I-''
Committee on the appropriation bill.
On this motion Mr. McKlM demanded t:^
Yeas and Nays. They were taken accoimnc
ly, and stood as follows: Yeas 91, Nays 00
the House refused to suspend the rules.
Mr. WISE, of Virginia, now asked leave io
offer the following resolutions:
Resolved, That the custody and control oi m ‘
moneys of the United States, not appuj1 1
by law, are, by the Constitution, placed unn'1
the order and direction of the Congress 0
United States. ^ ,.fll*iAn
Resolved, That no change of the Constitute:
of the United States is necessary to a‘1,“ V),
the Congress of the United States to entu^
custody of the public money, not appropi*
by law, whenever or however obtained, to
agency than that of the Executive depai w
and that the custody of the public nioney ■ ‘
not be, necessarily, under the Constitute!.
trusted to the Executive department. .
Resolved, That Congress can take out 0 m*
hands of the Executive department tne t •’
dy of the public property or money, witn •
assumption of Executive power, or a sa
sion of the first principles of the Const!M j
by the repeal and enactment of such m
may be necessary to that end. ,.
Objection being made, Mr. WISE _ .
suspend the rules of the House, J nve,i
yeas and nays; whereupon, Mr. LO\ v*_
a call of the House; which was agreed •
The names of the members being ca.lcj !
it appeared that 140 members were PrP&en * t
The absentees were then called over, " ^
appeared that 163 members had ansue
their names. ,
The doors of the House were then clos^, ‘
the names of absentees being again callP > ,s
cusps were offered by their colleagues 0111 f
Most were excused; in a few cases, tne
refused to admit the excuses offered as su
and for some no excuses were given. ^
Repeated attempts were made to *nsp