North Carolina Newspapers

'fcONniJKPS. IiOUSEOF REt'UF.SKNTATrVES.' STCKDAY, FEB. 9 Mr. Newton, from the committee of "Commerce and Manufactures, report ed a bill ' to continue in force, from and arter the 50th' of June 1819, until th ;oth June 1826, the fourth para frrao i of the fist section of the act to regulate the duties orv imports and t mnae which was twice read and committed. Mr. Newton also reported a bill 4 to increase the duties on iron in bars and boTis, iron in pigs castinp, nails and allum ; and to disallow the drawback; of duties on the exportation ofgun-j powder. The duties to be substitu-l 'ted for the now existing are, on iron j pig, fty cents per hundred weight, ; oa iroii casting seventy-five cents perl hundred weight, on nails four cents j Der utund, u iron in bars and bolts- and committed T e Speaker laid before the House the annual report, of the Commission ers .of the Sinking Fund ((he Presi dent of the. Senate, the Chief Justice xf the Ur.ied States, the Secretary of-the -Treasury and the Attorney -General.) Th amount of the. public debt on t' e f'rst day of the present year stands .at 99.004.800 51-100 1 And hen, pn bablv on account of the excessive. cold, which made it in conven'ent to attend, properly to busi ness, the, -house adjourned at an early hour. TUESDAY, FEB. 10. The. following message was receiv ed from the President of the United States bv Mr J. J. Monroe. To the Senate and House cf Refiresenta tives cf tkeUnited States. As the House appropriat d frrthe Pre sident ot the United States will be fjinsh- cd this year, it is thought to merit the at-1 tendon of Congress in what manner it f should be furnished, and what tneaMiri.'3 : on?rht to be adopted for the safe keeping ' Oi the furniture in future. All the public furniture provided before 1814, having S been destroyed with the public building in ! that year, a'nd little afterwards prucured, owing to the inadequacy of the ippn pri- " ation, it has beconv necessary t provide almost every article requisite for such n establishment : whence, the sum to be ex - pended r:v le nm h "eater than a any , former pevi- d. The furniture, in iis kind ! and extern, is thc uc;ht to be an object not j less descrviuir attention.' tlian the building j ft r 'which it 1v inrvnded. BotJv being na t: nal object . eacli -ceres to have an e qw:i ci m to legislative sanction. The ihursc:!jent-of the public moiity, too, ouht, it is presumed, to be in like mu n-r provided f;:r by law. The person who may hapuen tt be placed, by tin scfFrage cf his fellow-citizens, in this, high trust, having no personal interest in these concerns, should be exempted from Undue responsibility res; .t:c isig them. For a building so eUiii-ie, initnded for a purpos exclusively n i , nal, in which, in tle ferniture provided f r it, . 'mingled regard is due to liie. simplicity cno puritv of our iiiStituiionv, and to ibe rharactcr of the people vvh. are repre sented in it, the sum already apiiropnatccl has proved altoget'.n : uvtcequaie. i we ....,,,r thprefort. a nr neiMiiiie tor a - r ill v. . .reioie, u H V 1 r 5 1 Comrresstotake tne suojcci liiio cc nsuie-j ridon with a view to the objects ria imine attention, and to regulate it by iaw. On a knew ledge of the furniture ! procured, and the sum expended for it, a-j just estimate may be I-riaeu, rrgaixung the extent otthe oui.cnng, oi : ; -.;! wantina: to turnish the Uonse. n Manycf he artfcles being of a durable na-! tim? ' m.-y be handed down through along! serie's i.f service ; and being of e.reat va- , lue, as Pla cuihi not to be left al ; t e d':?, and at all times t the care of j It.'fv:i!i' alone. It seeing to be adyisea-.J I . . r i. ... .Ml . Lie t: ed a public .gent n. it CiuriHg the occasional absence-.; President, an have authohtv to it fVf.m one Pi t-sidt-nt to another, trai in vise to mke reports of occasion- . .. l. !U r al dt : cieacies, as the basis n which fur-t!i-i ; i. s'.-u.v. be u.ide. It iii also ii.ent criisx Elation, whe tin r k I'iay : re OC pP.-u.-l . v.unint ine curt of the p-.iblic buihllngs, lw V: taidtiit's Ik.UM. and particularly 1 tlie Capitol- i i " . : i n"-- ... '.4 it-. lmr rit-i.iniriiiir 10 uieiii. in- ; c!uT.,'- i;keL-c il.e tunii.ure of the lat-; ; tcTt'i:, a moie especinl niapuci , to a pub- ! ; lie aV-i- Hitherto the charge of hisva-l This gu hf hi I lid bp b.oldings are hi ashed, at wi cii time i hf ii.nesrin them will be pr p rtiona uiy . - , - trust :ss n a tci ian. U :bre. at least, li.c- fi,tal otne cner dulie. or n.t :.uj . j. cnd'.ii ot ihepuDiic uuiumigs, uuiu u:uj tnei it consideration whether it will, li bt '.iVper to charge h.m wiih it mere ex phciti), and to give him authority to c:i. pjnv or more persons under him, tor tuclc "purposes. 1 JAMES MONKOK. IValungton, Feb 1U, 1818. The message was read and referred ' . m f m m to the committee or tne whole to whom is retWred the bill to provide for eucnng ?(litiorial buildups lot the at commode lion o: the several Ex CA'Utive I)epf?"?i:jfitfa. :r. Fobci'-o- , f LoU. from the vno.win.r ir.m nt a mi f a r to rpii n v roi i - ! ncers ana soiuiers who were xujr, otie dollar per hundred weijrht ; i r who icd of wounds received in i jniiorc , a i'ui'n battle, or who died m the militarv ser- and on allum. tuo dollar per hun- . StatM "dlirine- th-e lite Ired weirht.l Ihe bill was twice read :,i ..in k., luabk property stems luua e xri. -uu-, of the whle house. ftecteci.-ftiui 3; ; ' The House then took up i nmi:ieu to tiiose eiiplo Lw in it. j . . . r . " -i. . ..... . ot th rnnimittpp. nf t ip w in lrfl Will IlLL-L'AI ilV Vtu' "UCH " ...... bill supplementary to Iho several ts for the adjustment of land claims a ts for the adi in the state of Louisiana and territo ry of Missouri ; which was twice read and committed. On motion of Mr. Hopkinson, it was Resolved, That the committee on the Judiciary be directed to enquire into the expediency of increasing the salaries of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. The House resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on thr, bill fci concerning hallpay pensions, &c. and for otl-er purposes' The first section of the bill soes to equalize the pensions allowed for ser- vices in the Revolutionary and late ! war, and to assimilate the mode of j tli em. Mr. Burwell moved to strike out the second section of the bill which is in the following words : ' That in all cases where provisions has been made by law for five years' I half-pay to the widows and childien ot ot killed in for the additional term of five j t ars, to commence at the end nt the f.rst termof five years in each case respectively, ma king the provision equal to ten years half pay." This motion was negatived, ulti mately, bv a considerable majority. f Mr. Hitchcock 'mured to amend the section so as to extend the continua i tion of the pension to motherless chil- dren of deceased soldiers under six- teen years of age, as well as to the widows. This motion was negatived. The third section is in the following words : " That in all cases where any soldier of the regular arm v shall have died while m r he jprvin nt the United States, m the r laxe war, or m returning uuuir iron i service, leaving a widow; such widow shall be entitled toreceive the sum of for ty -eight dollars innualh , for the term of five vears, as a half-pay pension - and in case of the death or intermarriage of said j widow,' befare the expiration ot the term of five years from the death of the has- ; band aforesaid, the ialf-pay for tlie re- j niainder of the term shall ce it-." Mr. Cobb moved to strike out the above section from the bill ; which motion wa supported by himself, and opposed bv Mr. Harrison, and was lie- j;aived bv a very small majoiity. The fourth section is in the following ; a bill u orus : . j following resolution for consideration : "That in all cases of half-pay pensions, . i ..ftf, That the committee on Mili embr. cedby this act, and all other acts j . Ury Affairs be instrucu ,1 to enquire into of Congress u.uking provision for half- ' the expc(iit ncy 0f making s,me provision pay pensi .ns, the same shall extend to all : for lhe widows of sv.ch so'ldiers of the mi cases 'vhere the party died within six i ijtja as 'died after reaching their homes in montns auer n is return uoiue, oi uiseas- es c.ntracieu in uie scrvnr uunwg tne late war with (i?-eat-Britain." Mr. Linn moved to strike out this section ; wn.cn motion was opposed . l . til bv Mr. tSarhour, and Mr. coinstock, I and uas negatived by a large majority. The fifth section of the bdl provides that the widow of any officer or sol dier killed in battle or who died in service during t!ie Revolutionary' war'' 'hall have a pennon, if of a soldier, of SOIMier, OI ; 48 dollars per annum, if an officer, of ' Jj 100 dollars per annum. The sixth section provides that in ; all cases where an indigent mother 1 h a lost her son in battle, if he has no . widow or children,, she shall receive ' a pension ot 48 dollars per annum tor , five years. No attempt was made to strike out After having j-one through the de- , n r , . ta'Is t he comn.Htee ro,e and reort- eM the bill to the house,and the house adjourned. Wednesday, feb. 11. The s k.r ,ai(i be,ore the HouS(k the Secretary ef War, . . , transmitting a report, m obedience to a resolution oi the Hou.se, concerning contracts for the supply of fire arms, .t ! . i r" .i . ine supplies at eacn or tne national armories, and the number, species, and quality of arms manulactuied aud re paired at said armories. The bill for the remission of duties on stereotype plates and upon Bibles and Testaments in foreign languages, imported by Bible Societies, was, on motion, re-committed to a committee the report le on the bill concerning half pay pensions, &.C. ana areeH, successively, to ail tne a iMendments thereto reported by the committee. Mr. Harrison then moved to strike ut the 3d section of the bdl, but subse quently withdrew it ; v)fen Mr. Colston renewed the motion to expunge the section ; on which consi derable debate took place. The... motion was finally negatived 09 to 48. Mr. Harrison then moved to amend the section, by making tlie nension eommence from t!i first of March lb 17, instead of from the death of the husband ; on the ground that it would be more beneficial to the widow and nore convenient to the Treasury to pay the five years' pension gradually. Viaa iji a gross sum,, which would be payable under the section as it stood: .This motion was negatived ayes 44. j Ilr. IlllCIlCUCN. piWJW3CU mend the bill, as to confine the pen isions to the widows of such soldiers as If. T T X t- j - -wl rs n 4 rk 1 ! enlisted prior to the 10th of December, 1514 ; wincn motion was agrccu uu without opposition. , The question was then taken on or dering the bill to be engrossed and read a third timi l am1 decided in tlie negative, 79 to 65. Messrs. Bryan, Forney, & Walker, from this state, voted in favor of the bill ; & Messrs. Edwards, Hall, Mum ford, Slocumb,JS Settle and Williams, against it. Mr. Storrs, under a belief that the bill had been rejected from a dislike to the 3d section, or some othtr fea tu re, and that, divested of the objec tionable provisions, the bill would pass, moved to reconsider the vote just taken, that the bill might be mo- dined and rendered acceptable to the House.- -. This motion, after some discussion, was negatived ayes 53, noes 86 ; and I the House adjourned. THURSDAY, FEB. 12. Mr. Lowndes from the committee of conference oh the disareein? votes of the two Houses on that part of the 1 general military appropriation bill ! whicli respects extra pay to officers of breet rank when on separate service . : made a detailed report, stating the views of this House adverse to that appropriation, and the arguments bv which the conferees on the part of the i senate sustaineu ineir preierence or it. It appears that the committees of the two Houses parted without being able to come to an agreement?' each re-. . taining its ow n opinion, t ' After the reading of the report Mr. 'Lowndes, remarking that the views taken o the subject by the committee rendered unnecessary the attempt to elucidate it by any further remarks from himself, moved that this House do adhere to its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate which pro poses an appropriation for the brevet extra p ty. Mr. Mercer, suggesting that the length of the report was such as to prevent a due comprehension of the Ifuce and scone of its. "reasoning;' bv I hearing it oure read, therefore moved tiiat the rejiort lie on tlie taole and be printed : which motion was agreed to. Mr. Kd wards, of N. C. offered the . c)nsequence of diseases contracted whilst in tne ervice. M r. E. said, that a principle similar to that contained in this resolution ; waft contained in the bill which was yesterday rejected, and he believed a large maioritv of the house were in favor: of that provision, but had voted against the bill on account of other provisions, highly objectionable, which it contained. His motion was intend- IpfI trthrino- tlp ianlnort bpfnr tlia The motion was agreed to. :ir. liurweu, in rising to make a it motion, said that there was a subject j referred to the committee of Vays and Means, which would probably ex- jcite some notice when the general an- iprorriation bill should be reported, ami respecting wnicn nis motioc was intended to procure some information which mi:ht be necessary to a correct understanding of it. Under the trea ty of Ghent, certain Commissioners j h.d been appointed to ascertain the boundary lines between the United ! States arid the British Northern pro ; vinces. By the estimates of appro priations submitted to the House, it appeared that the House wa9 called upon to appropriate 82,666 dollars, to ! defraj (he expences of these Commis sioners for the present year, of which fifty thousand dollars was for " con tingent expences,". for the present and past year. At the last session there had been appropriated thirty-four thou sand some odd hundred dollars for this object.- He thought he was per fectly warranted ii saying, that it would require, under the present plan, from five to ten years to complete the survey of the boundaries. If so, the expences of ascertaining them would amount to a larger sum than the object could be worth. There was another point on which the House would pro bably desire information ; which was the appointment of Agents to the three Commissioners, with "salaries equal to (those of the Commissioners. Now, ! At T ' I i. i , ' j.mr a. saiu. ne nan examined the dit jferent articles of the treaty ; and he j could find in it no authority given to jthe cnmmissioners to appoint these, j though a power was expressly given to them to appoint Secretaries. One iof these boards also had ceased to ex- jist, he presumed, as the gentleman j who had been the commissioner on ; the part of the United ta es, was now a member of this Hoc.se : notwithstan i'ding which the House was called up- oa to appropriate for the three Boards. To obtain information oijtnese points, he moved the fllowinsr resolution : Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to by before this House a statement of the mmes paid for defraying the expences cf(me Commis sioners under the 4th, 6th find 7th arti cles of the treaty of Ghent pecifying the items of expenditure and tie claims at this time presented for payaent. The resolve was agreed to, nm. con. On motion of Mr. Cushnan the com mittee on Military Affairs were in structed ta enquire into te eypelieni cy of making further provision by law to enable any soldier enfHed to boun ty land who has received an honora ble discharge or a miliU'v land war rant, &. is unable to prodace the same to obtain a patent. ; Mr. Serjeant called the attention of ! the House to a resolution .'aid on the table by Mr. Trimble a few days ago, j and now lying there, tccher with !certain documents transmUtd to the , House by the Eiecntive ,n the case ;of Mr Meade. This quet tion was of higher importance than repectel Mr. Meaile merely ; as it involved the whole question of the capacity of the government to extend protection to its citizens and certair'v no ques- tion of greater moment'coild ever pre sent itself. Questions o this sort might sometimes lead to great nation al consequences, and ougit therefore to be closely investigate 1 and accu rately examined. It wis with this 'view i in which he had the concur rence of the mover of the resolution) the moved that the resolu -ion and the documents'. relating, to th? case f H. W. Meade be referred to select com mittee, to examine and report the facts, &c. Mr. Trimble assented tithis course. It was perhaps proper, thar there should Ibe a report of a committee stating all !the facts, and bring them into one point of view ; and he va 6atisnel with a course having that object in view. The House then resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the fol lowing resolutions, submitted by Mr. Johnson, of Ky. at an tarl v period of the session, and now for the first time taken up : ! 1. He salved. That it is expedient to provide by law, f r t"e wilows of soldiers of the regular army, who were killed in battle, or who died in serrice, during the late war wit:. Great Briuin. 2. Resolved, That it i s expedient to provide bv law, for the dhbanded and de ranged officers f the amy of the United States, who served in the late waragairi9t Great Britain, by donatbns in land, vLz ; to a major general, 123C acres ; it hriga dier general, 1120 acm ; colonel and lieutenant colonel, 960 acres ; major S00 ncres ; captain 640 acre ; and subalterns 430 acres. 3. Resolved, That it is expedient to establish by law three alditioaal military academies, viz r one in tie vicinity of Fort Dearborn, in South Carolina ; one in the vicinity of Newport, Kentucky ; and one in the vicinity of Harper Y. Ferry, in Vir ginia: one third of the cadets to be the soaS of the officers nd soldiers of the late army, who died in the service of the Uni- ited States in the late war. j 4. Resofocd, That it is expedient to es tablish by law an additional national ar jmory,to be located on the western waters. 5. Resolved, Thai itis expedient toor- jganize by Kw a corps of invalids, to be composed of one thousand men. 6. Resolved, That it is expedient to provide by law, for the repeal of so much of the act of Congress of the 6th of July, 1812, as authorizes a-'ditional pay andc moluments to brevet rank, in the annyof the United States. 7. Resolved, That the military peace establishment of the United States stall consist of eight thousand men, including the corps of invalids, provided thai the corps of engineers, the general staff and the ordnance department, shall be retain ed as at present established. Provided also, that no part of the army shall be disbanded, in consequence of sai? reduc tion ; but the same shall be effected by permitting vacancies as they occur, to re main. 8. Resolved, That it is eipedient to provide by law, for jpc additional ration, for each of the com Vissioned officers of the army of the Unit li States. 9. Resolved, That! the Committee on tlie subject of militamaffahis be instruc ted to report bills, en J raciig the objects of the foregoing resoh l ons. No debate took p 5 ice on these reso lutions, but the qui I.tiou was succes sively taken on the. 5. They were all re lecled, except the 4th, which was pasid over, (on ac- i count of miormatitUi on that subject j having been called fjf from the mili itary department) aifd the 6th, which was agreed to, by as large a majority las there was for rejcting all the o- tners. y The following resolution had also been referred to th)-- same committee, jon motion of Mr. TiValter of N. C. Resolved, That i J is expedient to pro vide by law, that alminors who were re gularly enlisted in Jue late or present ar- Imy of the United States, and who served twelve months anI upwards, and having jbeen honorably discharged, shall be, euti i tied to an adequate bounty of land or a commutation for juch bounty m money. This resolutiXi; after a good deal of debate and nnrlment. in which Messrs. WalkAiStorrs, Cobb, Ed wards, Littie.Ld Rhea took part, vtas rejected. i I There had been referred to the satr. stocl, of N. Y. a resolution, that it ;s expedient to allow a pension to offi cers' of "the present army who were woctded in tne service during the late war. This motion was also rejected by a large majority. Th? committee then rose and re. ported its proceedings to the Hup. The question beinp; on concurrence in these several votes Mr. Johnson, in a speech of half an hour, entered his protest against the several decisions of the House. The votes in corrimirte? oH!p whole were then severally concurred in. When the sixth resolve was under. consideration, Mr Robertson, of Lou. invirtd to amend it bv addinjr to it a proposition to this effect; that the com mittee be instricted to enquire into th expediency of educating at the Military School of the United States, the ?ons of ail officers, non-commit-sioned wfltcer or privates, who have fallen in fihtinix for their cnuntrv. After considerable discussion, t! amendment wa neitived. not, it i3 believed, frcm au objection to.th& principle it embraced, but to its irjf traduction in this manner. After the whole of the resolutions had been disposed of. and the 6th re ferred to the Military committee, t brim; in a bill . yir. Robertson renewed, in a sepa rate form, the proposition he had faiU ed just now in carrying by way of a mendinent ; but it j;rew late, and he House adjourned without coming to a decision unit. FRIDAT, FEB. 13. Mr, Iownde from the commitf&e of VVav3 and Mc.ins, reported a hill making appropriations for the support of the navy of the United States for the year 1818; which bill was twice read and committed. Mr. Johnson of Ky. from theom mittee on military atfairs, reported a bill repealing so much of the act July 6, 1812, as allows extra pay aud emo lunients to brevet rank ; which waj read, and (after some conversation on the course it should take, and nffor once deciding against a commitment, but which decision subsequently was considered and reversed) was commit ted to a committee of the whole house. On motion of Mr. J. S. Smith, the Secretary of the Treasury was reques ted to lay before the House, a state- merit oi tne numDer oi ions or oar iron, iron in pii;s, and cast and rolled iron!, that has been imported into the Unit ed States annually, and from what countries, from the first of May. 131-!r to the first of May, 1817, and if anv, what quantity has been exported du in the same period. Mr. Johnson of Kentucky, oflVred the following motion for consideration,: Resolved, That the Secretary of . War be (iirectcd to report to the House c f Ke--preventatives, his opinion as to the propri ety' of continuing the office of claims for tteterm of one year, from the 9th of -pril next, and if, in hi oivihn thut ojjice thohld not br continued, to what branch tf the War Department would it be fir tier ta transfer the duties of the Cu:umh xiontr, t) investigate the claims fjr lout firofierti. Mr. Poindexter questioned the pro prietyof calling on tlie Head of a De partment for his opiuion as to the ne cessity or expedience of continuing an office. Mr. Williams, of N. C. remarked that a similar resolution was already referred to the committee of claims, and if they had deemed it expedient to call on the Secretary of War, they would have done so. . It was proper to call for facts from a Department, but not for opinions, and the House was as well qualified to judge of the propriety of continuing this office as the Secretary of War. The course proposed was ii regular, and he disap proved of it, though it wa with re luctance that he opposed a call for in formation. Mr. Johnson, of Ken. said this reso lution was ditTereot from that which had been referred to the committee of claims, and there was no irregularity in calling upon a department to know what branch of it a particular business could best be referred to. The Secre tary of War had a control over this business to a certain extent, and he was best able to give information on the subject. The office of claims hal been created for certain purposes ; this office was about to expire by law. and he thought it perfectly proper and regular to call on the Secretary of NYar, as one particularly qualified by his acquaintance and control over the claims concerns, to say whether ti e further continuance of the office was necessar y, and if not, to what branch of his department it could most pro perly be referred. At any rate, MrJ. said, he should deem it his duty to bring this subject forward in ota5 way or other. After establishing an office for the settlement of claitus. would it be proper, he asked, at the end of two vears, to close the door a- gainst all which may not have been brought forward So partial and u;