- Onrs arc the plans of fair delightful peace, unvrarp'd by party rage, to live like brothers.'
vol.. XXXIX.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1S37.
IV. S.
1,-3 'n
KDIT0R8 AND PROPRIETORS.
glB-cniPTioH, three dollars per annum one
JwlfiH advance.
5 fry- Person? residing without the State will be
w-oquirci? to pay the-whole amount of the year's
inscription i advance,
liA TBS OF AD VERTI&ING.
ir every 16 lines (this size type) first insertion
ot,o dollar ; each subsequent insertion, 25 cents.
Court Orders and Judicial Advertisements will
be cfoarfred 25 per cent, higher; and a deduction
of 33 per cent, will be made from the regular
prices, for advertisers by the year. -
j LuttkIis to the Editors must be post-paid.
Politics of the lay.
One of the'proprietors of this paper haying occa
sion, a few days since,to write to an old and valued
friend in a neighboring County, on matters of busi
ncss, took occasion to ask his opinion as to the me.
rits of the Suli Treasury Scheme contemplated by
the Administration. This enquiry elicited the fol
lowing reply,! which we publish with pleasure
without yielding our concurrence to all the posi
tions of the writer.
Dear Sir- In a late Letter, you ask me
what 1 think of the Sub Treasury Scheme ?
1 have to premise in reply, that the expres
sion has now become ambiguous. So ma-
nv plans have been proposed, which seem
to be considered under this, appellation, that
a simple approval or disapproval cannot be
given without risk of error; and it is wor
thy of note, that the opponents of the pre
sent mischievous Administration are in dan
ger of being led astray by a general hostility
to all that is! called Sub Treasury, and car
ried into the ranks of Consolidation.
The Sub Treasury Scheme of the Presi
dent's Message, is one of the most outrage
ous that could well have been imagined.
The control of the specie circulation to be
thrown! into the hands of the Government
officers, whereby they may embarrass and
direct at will all the currents of trade and
exchange, is utterly at war with the liberty
and independence of the People.
The Sub Treasury Scheme of the head
of the Department of Finance, is a mongrel,
which professes one thing, and does another.
It ,is pure 'Jacksonism A hard money
humbug, to make paper available in the
shape of Treasury notes and drafts, for pay
ments ; with an unlimitted authority in the
power of the Government officers to exact
specie in the receipts : to speculate, shave
and defraud; the community, as their avarice
or political schemes may require.
The Sub-Treasury scheme of Mr. Cal
houn is of a different character ; and pre
sents the question of expediency, in oppo
sition merely toother plans of fiscal arrange
ment. It proposes a Sub Treasury agency
for the receipt and disbursement of public
money ; with a paper medium in the shape
of Treasury! notes, fixed in amount, and re
ceivable an4 payable in all the transactions,
together with specie,as the parties interested
may choose.
The first part of this plan cannot be ob
jected to, unless we suppose the officers of
the General Govornment are made up
of knavery :jfor there can be no reason why
Bank Directors and Cashiers should be
more trust-worthy than they, if the govern
ment is administered with fidelity .We are not,
indeed, to judge of the propriety of trusting
(iovernment officers, as a general rule, by
the corrupt principle that he is chosen for
his boisterous services in elections, instead
of his honesty and fitness, as has been the
ease for some years past.
The second part of this plan admits of
discussion, f It is a question, whether any
better mode can be found for transacting the
business of the Government, without either
enabling it to control and embarrass the mo
netary affairs of the country, or giving it an
improper influence over the institutions
which furnish a paper circulation. Here,
there is a simple floating capital, sufficient,
and not too much, for effecting the receipts
and paymerits, with a small addition of spe
cie. The general receipt by the Govern
, ment of this, paper, guoranties its continued
circulation throughout the Union in prefer
ence to any other ; and for the prevention
of embarrassment to the holders, when con
stant necessity to make payments for duties
&c, will be aided by the certainty, that
whenever specie is most in demand, the cre
ditors of tmj Government will prefer it to
their paper ;! and thus the surplus in the
Treasury will be made up of specie or pa
per, as the bne or the other may be least
desirable for a medium of trade. I will sup
pose that twenty-fi ve millions of Notes shall
he issued. That sum will form a regulator
of exchanges,, without having the power of
controlling the operations of the Bank.
Will assist, :but never embarrass, because
there is no, means and no motive to interfere
with the tracing institutions. The regula
tor of this credit fund will be the surplus
revenue. This must be sufficient to ensure
a constant redemption of the, paper ,by the
indirect operation of the creditor declining
to take the botes when they are not in de
mand ; and,- on the other hand, the officers
paying theni out when they are hi demand,
in preference to specie. I should say, that
a surplus reyenue of five millions would! be
amply sufficient for. an issue of twenty-five
millions, in the present state of the country.
Many years ago, I communicated, thro
the National Intelligencer, a plan of this
kind. It was when the Government had a
heavy debt. I proposed a Government Bank,
simply as a Treasury office, where the paper
of the Government should be issued and re
deemed in specie. I supposed that something
like twenty-five might be issued in paper
and five millions of specie kept on hand.
This would furnish a regulator o;f the cur
rency, without the temptation of doing any
injuryto the State Banks, as might be the
case with an incorporated trading National
Bank. It would pay twenty millions of the
national debt, and after j paying its own ex
pences, save a million a year to the public.
The difference between my proposition and
Mr. Calhoun's, is only in one particular.- !
His plan leaves the surplus revenue to secure
the specie basisof the paper ; and mine pro
vides for the certain retension of specie for
that purpose.
There appears to be another kind of Sub
Treasury scheme afloat. It is to have a
simple Treasury agency in the collection
and payment of the, public monies the
kind of money to be used, being made the
subject of law ; as, for instance, the notes of
specie paying banks. Something like this
seems to be in the contemplation of Messrs.
Tallmadge; Rives & Co.
It is difficult to say, precisely, what may
be the best plan of settling the currency ; but
it is not to say, that there is danger of the
country running into an opposite extreme of
evil to that which it has experienced from
the folly of the ruling experimenters.
In tiie first place, the current now setting
in favor of a National Bank, is not of the
most auspicious character. It seems to be
thought by many that a National Bank is the
panacea to cure all the evils of a distempered
currency. Nothing can be more false.
In the first place, let us look at the theory
of a National chartered Bank. It has not,
from the circumstance of its being the Agent
of the Government, the same uniform credit
as the Government ; because its operations
are mixed up with private transactions which
the public cannot see, as they can the ope
ration of a mere receipt and payment of a
certain sum ot money in a form which is
always uniform, if we suppose it uses a pa- j
per of its own for these purposes. To give
it additional credit, it must be extended in
its capital beyond the amount required for
public purposes ; and, if it is well managed,
prosperous against competition, and liberal
in affording uniform exchanges, it acquires
all the credit necessary. These circum
stances give it great power. This power is
not the simple power of making exchanges
uniform ; because its multifarious operations
require, in order to enable it to preserve the
means of sustaining' its operations, that it
should be able to control all counteracting
operations, that it should, to a great extent,
be able to.rule the monetary institutions of
the country generally. Here lies an evil,
which no free country, as extensive snd va
ried in its interests and policy as our's, can
safely permit.
Let us now look at the history of the late
Bank. It was not, as many suppose, the
cause of bringing order out of confusion,
and making every thing work smoothly in
matters of currency. In its commencement,
it was a mere nuisance. The evil prevailing
at the time of its creation was the exportati
on of specie to India (6 millions a year being
sent out more than came into the country.)
The remedy for this was a heavy duty upon a
trade no way beneficial to the great staple
interests of the country. But the Bank was
established to force specie to come from the
State Banks ; and thp consequence was that
it crippled those Banks, had nearly failed
itself, and for eight years was a sickly incu
bus. By great sacrifices, it surmounted the
storm, and then rose over the conquered in
stitutions of the State, to a controlling com
mand of the currency. 1 It was admitted by
Mr. Biddle, that it had, at that time, power
to break any of the State Banks. It con
ducted wisely, and its moderation was pro
verbial. But all this time, the rest of the
Banks lived by sufferance, until their situa
tion became such as to threaten its power
of control ; and, previous to its expiration,
its friends proclaimed the necessity of in
creasing its capital.- Fifty millions were
spoken of as the smallest sum for a contin
uation, and soon it must nave gone up to
one hundred. Tp regulate the currency,
such an institution must be able to control
all others.
Look now, sir, at the tremendous power
which such a Bank must ere long possess
in this growing country ; and consider, that
its energies may be, in the hands of design
ing men, concentrated at any given point
where a great object is to be effected. You
form a very incorrect judgment of what may
be, in looking at the j history of the late
Bank in its latter days. It was the folly
and ill-luck of the Jackson men to attack the
conduct of the Bank, instead of examining
the possible effects of such an institution.-
Had Jackson been a iaesar, msteaa 01 a
Cataline, we might have seen different re
sults from the power of the Bank. y
Figure to vourself the Bank of the Unit
ed States and its friends in full cry for Jack
son, after his ever-to-be condemned Pro
clamation of Consolidation principles ; and
then (contrary to the fact) that he is a keen,
prudent, designing mari, even and unruffled
in course , and that the Bank, Embracing
his views, is led on by! smooth artifices to
lend itself to the views or the Party in sa
crificing the commercial interests of the
Resolved, That the Lincoln Transcript, & Re
publican, the Carolina Gazette, the Watchman,
the Register and Star, be requested to publish an
account of these proceedings.
These resolutions were unanimously a
dopted; when, on the motion of David F.
Caldwell Esqr. the Meeting adjourned.
country, to throw its resources into the
scale of land speculators and shavers ; that
it enters into all the electioneering schemes
of the plotters : gets re-chartered with an
immense increase of capital ; is the holder
of the surplus revenue, and gives all its
strength to the powers that be ; and what
will you suppose the condition of the coun
try at this time ? '
There is another argument against the
establishment of a National Bank. It inev
itably tends to the concentration of capital.
What makes London the centre of trade and
exchange in England, but the Bank of En
gland ? And what has tended so much to
make all the commerce of this country pay
tribute to New York as the operations of
the Bank ol the United States being con
centrated there. For there, is the principal
mart of its exchanges ? 1
Too much is said against the State Banks,
and too little thought about the best mode
of making them what they might or ought
to be. The charters are granted to State
Banks, like licences to retailers, that there
may be competion in trade. Instead of this,
no State ought to have more than one char
tered Bank. Its capital might then be suf
ficient to enable it to effect foreign and in
land exchanges, as well as circulate notes.
1 T ' Tl 1 rV 11CS VI 1 1 f'tll T T liitnnninl i
i i and turning, and involving and comphcat
let me now imlulop in snms rrrn?irL-! nn thai . . ' ' . 1
&
subject of Government.
REPORT OF THE SEGRETARY OF THE
TREASURY.
For the benefit of the general reader, who
may not have time or patience to wade
through the intricate document, we propose
a condensation of -the more important por--
i i i
iiims. iu arrange ami condense a volu
minous paper, filled with details, is at no
time a very pleasant undertaking it is
peculiarly irksome io clarify the muddy
effusions of the wool-gathering intellect of
the First Lord of the Treasury. It has not
been our fortune to peruse the writings of
any man who possessed, in so eminent a
degree, the provoking art of using language
to obfuscate his ideas. His composition
does not partake of the amusing character
of Mrs. Malapropos, who was in the habit
of pressing words into her sentences, that
would get their habeas corpus from any
Court in Christendom ; but he seems to
take an ill-natured pleasure in so twisting
the banks, some of them since September
have paid over all the public money which
then stood t the credit of the Treasurer.
Others are supposed to have executed bonds
according to one of its provisions, and sev
eral are preparing to do so with a view to
receive further indulgence. The remain
der are expected to discharge, -without suit
or bond, the amounts they respectively owe,
as may, from time to time, be needed to
meet the public exigencies.
The payments which will probably be
longest postponed, will chiefly be from
some institutions situated in the west and
southwest." ,
a p rided by Mr.Clay aa to discrim n te be
tween the expense bore by the Govern-
ment and that by the people. I fear that
all attempts to break it-jup will be of; no a
vail. Mr. Atlen'i mndjified resolution to
propose certain alterations in the Constitu
tion of the United States as regards the e
lection of President ami Vice President,
will go the way of the rjiany similar resolu
tions accruing for the lat foiirorfive years.
Correspondence of the Bait. Cbidnicle.
Washington, Dec. 12, 1837 ,
The Senate sat but a f little while to-day.
A large part of the day vas occupied in the
The Secretary has instituted an inquiry presentation of petitions, which were ap
It has vexed many a high-minded Amer
ican that some foreigners have said, the
Government of the United States is only a
Monarchy in disguise. But what else has
iug his phraseology, as to put his meaning
beyond the reach of the most grasping rea
der. Many passages on first reading, you
think you indistinctly comprehend read
them again, and you think your first im
pression was erroneous a third reading,
: a x i - nr i t i
u proveu io oe . vve nave a rresiuent ; increases your doubts a fourth provokes
who, as Executive Magistrate, has all the j you to denounce the author as a fuddled
patronage, and, by his Veto power, stands j brain fool.
beyond control. This is by the Costitu- I ' ct rep0rt of the profoulKi filuUI.
Hon. uesiaes mis, me senate has surren-; cier, though not so full of provoking passa
dered to him the appointing power, by suf- j s of this character as some ol his previous
tenng him to dismiss officers by the unlaw- documents, has yet enough to vindicate its
uiui yjt iiiiiiiii. jiunn in mo uAttu- j paicruuv ami puzzle the reauei
tivc I he advocates of limited construction There was in
have denied to Congress a power, which
the Constitution confers, to provide for the
general welfare (a power too indefinite,
certainly, but it is given,) and the Execu
tive is left to a latitudinarian construction,
which the exercise of that power might
somewhat control.
You may talk of men and measures as
you please ; but until the Constitution is
restored as to the appointing power, ami
limited and defined in others, the liberties
of this country are but ideal. A few more
bold strokes, and the Monarchy is fixed.
The Veto power should-be taken away; the
power of making treaties limited; the whole
control should be firmly fixed in the
Legislature; and the extent of the action
into the condition of all the banks, some
since the suspension of specie payments, j
The exhibits which have been made to him
show some improvement in the affairs of
the banks in the aggregafe. They furnish
at'the same time, new confirmation of the
eat excesses in issues, which in some
places have been indulged in. " They
how, too, says the Secretary, that the
whole reduction in the active circulation.
had not at their dates, equalled by, nearly
twenty millions the amount which, as long
ago as last December, it was computed by
this Department would be required to re
store the paper currency generally to a safe
basis, and make it, with the specie in ac
tual use, bear a just proportion to the real
wants of the community'
The Secretary asks Congress to grant
him the power to :issue Treasury Notes
for mere temporary purposes" to meet con
tingencies. We hope Congress will grant
no such power. -I Richmond Whig
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
the Treasury on the 1st
day of January, 1837, 45,9G8,523 the
i . .1 r ii
rvceipis uuring me year irom an sources,
23,499,981, which together make an
aggregate of 69,408,504
Of ihisenormous sum, the Administration
-this economical Administration, has ex
pended 35,000,000 being 12,000,000
more than the income.
This unparalleled extravagance, the sim
ple Secretary confesses, was induced, as it
was justified, by the overflowing Treasury
now that the national fisc is reduced to
beggary, he says they will be mote econo
mical. Deducting the 35,000,000 for expenses,
there should remain in the Treasury on the
1st of January, 1838, 34,000,000. But as
of the General Government more distinctly jill luck would have it, in consequence of
marked, that it may not. trench upon the j the disastrous "Experiment" and other
oiiinal rights of the States. Till these
thingsjare done, all is uncertainty.
incidental causes, only 1,000,000 of this
sum will be available on the 1st of January.
28,000,000 of it are deposited with the
States, and 3,500,000 are in the Hanks.
The receipts for the year 1838 are esti
mated at 3 1,959,787. The expenditures
ut i 1 CHMi. 1 him in tlt iii'W cr: U iif
T A-i - Al I ' II , ' "
erts, r,sq. Attorney ai x.aw, nis nu.m. ;cilhComy promised by the Secretary, the
For the Register.
; Intelligence having, been received at
Morgan tun of the death of Peregrine Rob-
Judire Settle and all those members of the
bar who were in attendance on the Court
then in session, on the 24th inst. assembled
ill' the Court House. On motion of A. M.
Burton Esq., Robert Williamson, Esq.
was called to the chair. William J. Alex
ander moved that T. L. Clingman, Esq.,
expenditures will fall below the increase
about 30,000. In this aspect of the case,
the learned Secretary considering the
fluctuating condition of our receipts and
expenditures," very gravely doubts whe
ther the receipts iu 1838 will exceed the
expenditures, so as to, produce any surplus,
De requested to act as pec eiary io me , which can bc jeposited with the States for
David l. Caldwell, Lsq. then , , kcei)m!r UM tne lst 0f January. ' 1 839.
meeting.
moved that Joseph M. Carson, Alexander
F. Gaston and 1. L. Clingman, Esqrs.,
be appointed a committee to prepare reso
lutions expressive of the sense of Lhe meet
ing. Alter a short interval, Alexander F.
Gaston, Esq., on part of Hhe committee
after appropriate and feeling remarks, sub
mitted the following preamble and resolu
tions: I We have learned with sentiments of the
as required by the existing laws.
We notice iu the list of expenditures for
1838, an item of 11,000,000 for 'military
service." This, vve suppose, is the dis
graceful Florida war, which is to be conti.
nued throughout the coming year.
The diminution of exports and imports
show the severe shock which trade has re
ceived from the financial experiments of
the party. Thu exports during the year
most profound sorrow the decease ot our amounted to 1 16,000,000, being about 34,
Currespondence of the Bait. Com. Transcript.
Washington, Dec. 11,' 1837.
This has been a very busy day in both
Houses of Congress. Most of the sitting
of the House was consumed in the election
of a Chaplain to that body, the result, of
which was, the Rev Mr. Reiss, of the Me
thodist persuasion, was after the fourth bal
lot the successful candidate. Now it hap
pens that the Rev. Mr. Sheer, who is Chap
lain to the Senate, is of the Methodist per
suasion also ; but as the ioint resolution
of CTmgress requires that Chaplains be of
different sects, many or the members to-day
thought Mr. Reiss an ineligible candidate
The objection however, was overruled by
one of the legal members explaining that
Mr. Reiss was a Radical Methodist, where
as, Mr. Sheer was one of the Protestant
genus, and therefore the two Reverend
gentlemen were as different in their religi
on as a Catholic and a Protestant, which
nice distinction having both convinced the
House and amused it, Mr. Reiss was final
ly elected. There were lour other candi
dates, and you have no idea of the regular
scramble that ensues here every session a
niong the aspirants for this holy but very
easy office. Formerly it was generally con
ferred on preachers residing in this city,
but in these days of office hunting, even
the pulpits have been seized with a craving
for the loaves ami fishes of the Government,
and hence every winter behold a number
of the Ministers of the Gospel Hocking from
all points . ol the compass, to struggle lor
this easy situation, lor which they Irequent
ly electioneer in a bold, persevering man
ner, that reflects but little credit upon their
profession.
The Chaplain's compensation for the ses
sion is 500, and for this, tmo opens the
proceedings of Congress every morning
with prayer and preaches every fortnight.
So you see that upon the whole it is an ea
sy berth, and it excites no wonder to see
It
much respected brother Peregrine Roberts
; It seldom falls to our lot to deplore the
loss of one who united in a more eminent
degree those qualities of the head and
heart, which command respect and con
ciliate affection Distinguished for legal
attainments for unwearied and perserver
ing application to the arduous duties of his
profession he promised fair to become one
of its brightest ornaments. Open, manly,
and ingenuous in all the courtesies of life,
he commanded the esteem of his fellow-men-and
won the friendship of all who
knew him; ardent in his attachment to his
native State, he devoted all the energies of
an intellect, seldom equalled, to the promo
tion of her interests and the advancement
of her honor. Though possessed of a large
share of that ambition which is the friend
and auxiliar of virtue he never sacrificed
to that ambition the free manlinesss of his
character, or the pure impulses of his heart.j
. . . . f i '
000,000 less than last year. This decrease
the Secretary ascribes to the fall of cotton
mJ
last spring. The import were 140,000,000
being 49,000,000 less lliau last year.
Uuring the last quarter ending the 30th
of September, the imports were 22 millions
and the exports only 19 millions. This un
expected result has surprised the Secreta
ry; but he thinks, notwithstanding the 3
millions which it shews against us, that in
consequence of remittances in stocks of va
rious kinds, " the foreign debt so far from
having been increased within the quarter,
has been lessened some millions, but not to
so great an extent as most persons have
supposed."
To the importation, or rather to the cause
of the importation, of 4j millions of bread
stuff" within theyear, the Secretary ascribes
the most wonderful results. It hasincrea-
i i - . i - ..it
so general a ' oesire among tne unsettled
clergy who are fond ot display, to lionize
for a winter in Washington even as Chaplain.
You will perceive how. resolutions con
cerning the public lands are pouring into
both Houses, certainly promisingmuch im
portant discussion. Who would not re
joice if this topic again elicited the elo
quence that made the winter ot 1830 mem
orable ? I
Among the remarkable items. of business
ilone.by the House in the resolution offered,
by Mr. Adams and amended by Mr. Pat
ton, which instructs the Committee in the
District of Columbia to inquire into; the ex
pediency of reporting a bill to prevent the
banks of this District from making or de
claring a dividend while they suspend spe
cie payments ; while in the Senate, Mr.
Benton offered a! resolution which was a
dopted, that a committee be appointed to
inquire into the condition of the currency
in the District of Columbia. Now leaving
out of the question the policy contained in
these resolutions, is it not amusing to see
sed the cost of bread alone to 100,000,000,
he says, and put an additional tax upon the patriotic vigilance of National legisla
Correct in his private firm and conscien- ; each man of 87. tors venting itself in one concentrated
tious in his public life, he has done nothing j We are informed, that the postponement stream upon the head of these devoted ten
which he himself ought to have lamented of the 4th instalment has ' afforded great miles square r" I have good authority to
when living or that might be a source ot relief to all concerned." 11m will be j believe however, that the banks here will
unavailing regret to those who cherish his news;to all the Sfates, and particularly to
memory. those who have already appropriated the
Resolved, That we lamentthat we deeply de- money, uud who will now have to tax their
plore the loss which we have sustained in the own citizens to raise it.
untimely decease of our respected friend and j 4 It now appears probable, that during
brother, reregnne noDeris. the next year, means will be possessed.
in the end survive all this blustering, be
w v r,i . 1 rf 1 .1
Ketolvea, mat we .sincerely ieei me oereavc- w:thollt nv n,rmnn(nt hns : rPrah of
Py of f L r ..r
these resolutions be forwarded to them as a token ',u.u,cl F' incrense oi inies, Mo
ment of his afflicted relatives, and that a copy
XZ..L. A. . - 41. 'I ..
of our sympathya testimony of our regard for "-:ui iu reueem seaaouauiy me ireasury
his memory. notes that become payable, as well as to
Resolved, That we will wear the usual badg of meet all the ordinary appropriations. "
mourning for thirty days. I "In respect to the act lor settling with
re-chartered and get along as well as ever.
Vigorous efforts are now being made to
break up the Express Mail, an institution
which many Presses in the country seem
opposed to. Mr. Crittenden brought be
fore the Senate to-day a bill which Ihas for
its object the suppression of this establish
ment; it was twice read and referred.
Mr. C. moreover offered a resolution call
ing for information as to the postage accru
ing from the Express Mail, and its expense,
propriately referred, and otherwise disposed
of. Some few memorials against the an
nexation of Texas were preserited, and for
the present lie on the table. I
The bill, originally reported by Mr. J)a
vis, of Massachusetts, for the relief of dis
tressed feeamen, which passed at the last
Congress, in the Senate, but was lost, for
want of time; in the House, came up,, final
ly reported upon, froni the committee on;
Commerce and, without debate was order
ed to be engrossed for a! third reading.i This
is a very valuable bill, j and will doubtless
pass both Houses. I
I observed Mr. Cuthfert, of Ga., to-day,
in his seat. So he has not resigned, after
aii. j .
In the House, petitions were mostly the
order of the day. After the roll had been
called, sevexal members from Mainej New
Hampshire and Massachusetts, presented
petitions on various subjects, when, .Mr.
Adams's name being Called, that gentlerriari
moved two or three incidental memorials, to
be referred to different Committees.
Mr. Adams then went on to state that by
the assent and approbation of all his col
leagues, of the commonwealth of Massachu
setts, he would move to take all the memo
rials, against the annexation of Texas to the -Union,
presented at tfie' last session, .by"
them, from the table, and, with one of a'
similar character, which he then offered, to
refer them all to a Select Committee," with
the requisition to report thereon.
Mr. Howard, of Md,, moved to amend
that motion, by substituting the Conimittee
of Foreign Affairs. S
Mr. Adams did noi Jwish to debate this
question, unless it was made necessary for
him to do so, ,by the persistance in his a
mendment, of the Gentleman of Maryland.
He was going on to shbw how it occurred
that he was empowered, to present SUCll a
motion, -when r ,
The Speaker remarked that, if it gave
rise to debate, the motion must be postpon
ed until to-morrow.
Mr. Adams remarked that the question
involved in these memorials was not one of
Foreign Affairs, merely, but was one of ve
ry deep interest to his own constituents, as
well as to those of a large number ofgen
tlemen on that floor.
The Chair repeated his remonstanee a-
gainst debate, at this time.
Mr. Adams then introduced a petition,
praying for the immediate abolition of Sla
very in the District of Columbia. This, he
said, and a multitude of other similar me'-
morials, presented at the last session b' hi
colleagues, and himself, amounting to some
fifty thousand signatures, he would -move,
(at the requst of his colleagues,) to refer to
the Committee on the District of Columbia,
with orders to report thereon.
Mr. Wise moved to . lay this motion on
the table, and Mr. Potts; of Pa. demanded
the Yeas and Nays, which being ordered,
the vote stood -Yeas, 135, Nays, 70.
Mr. Adams proceeded ; and after the
reading of the title of another similar paper,
the question on receiving the petition was
raised by Mr. Lawler, of. Alabama :! "Shall
this petition be received ?" which was thus
decided Yeas, 144: Nays, 60
Mr. Wise then gave as a reason why he
had not made such a motion as that just de
cided, that, seeing the votes of Southern
gentlemen on the same question, he: had as
certained the sense of the Hottse upon it,
sufficiently. He moved, as before, to lay
the petition last presented on the table,which
was ordered. ,
Mr. Wise then requested Mr. Adams to
include all the memorials of the same cha
racter in his next motion to refer, by way
of saving time. k
Mr. Adams said it was not for the pur
pose, or with the intention, on his part, of
troubling the House, or of taking up its time,
that he introduced these memorials, singly;
but from a sense of duty to the petitioners!.
He then presented other memorials, a
mong which was one praying the abolition
of slavery and the slave trade iri all the ter
ritories of the United States : and .this he
moved to refer to the Committee on the Ter
ritories : and the question being taken on
laying this motion on the table, it was deci
ded by yeas and nays, as follows ; Yeas 127.
Nays 73. - . . :
The other States were then called, in the
usual order, for petitions, which were nu
merously offered, upon a great variety of
subjects. The roll was not entirely finished
when .the Speaker seeing a disposition to
adjourn, begged leave to lay sundry Execu
tive documents which were on the table, be
fore the House, which was permitted;
Correspondence of the Baltimore Patriot.
Washington, Dec. 13, 1837.
This has been a day of extraordinary ex-