JVo. 7.
HALIFAX, JV. 0. FRIDAY, MAY 7, issi.
TOL I.
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COWGllESSIOXAL
II. of REPRESENTATIVES.
edwards's memorial.
Tuesday, April 20. Upon
the reading; of the journal of
yesterday, it appeared that the
following gentlemen had been
appointed to compose the com
mittce on the memorial of Ni
nian Edwards, late a Senator of
the United States from the state
of Illinois, yesterday presented
to the House, viz: Messrs.
Floyd, Livingston, Webster,
"Randolph, Taylor, McArthur
and Owen.
Mr. Forsyth submitted the
following for adoption by the
House :
"Resolved, That the President
be officially informed that this house
has ordered an investigation of the
memorial presented to this House
cn the 19th instant, by N. Edwards
lately appointed Minister to Mexi
co that the said N. Edwards may
be instructed not to leave the Uni
ted States before that investigation
his taken place."
The question of considera
tion of this motion being called
for, it was decided negatively.
Mr. Moore, of Alabama, then
rose, and said, that connected
with the subject, he would take
occasion to say, that the gentle
man from Virginia, (Mr. Floyd)
was absent from the House this
morning, when that part of the
Journal was read, which an
nounces the names of the per
sons appointed on the committee
to consider Mr. Edwards's me
morial. As he believed that,
from considerations of delicacy,
the gentleman from Virginia
would not wish to be a member
of the committee, Mr. M. took
this mode of apprizing him of
the fact, that he might have an
opportunity of asking to be ex
cused from serving upon it.
M. Floyd rose, and requested
the gentleman from Alabama, if
his allusion was to him, to re
pest his statement. Mr. M. ac
cordingly, substance, repeated
his statement
Mr. Floyd then said that, in
a c;ise of delicacy concerning
him, (Mr. F.) he had hoped that
the gentleman from Alabama
'as the last man in this nation
to undertake to make sugges
tions, and he did not think his
doing so shewed any delicacy
on his (Mr. M.'s) part I am,
said Mr. F. the sufficient judge
t my conduct in such a case.
Perhaps the rentleman from A-
labama may be acquainted with
some circumstances of the A.
Y. plot, so called in the discus
sion last winter, and snbsenuent
ly. If I know any thing of
miii, nowever, I am capable
of doing justice to every indi
vidual in this nation, whose con
duct may be presented to me in
my official capacity for exami
nation. When a specific charge
is made against a public officer,
after the friend? of that officer,
,and myself by name, hav6 been
called upon, through that paper
which is the channel of every
thing but truth, to propose an
investigation, I thought it be
came peculiarly my duty to in
vestigate the charge. What I
think of the accuser in private
life is for me to consider, and
does not touch my public duty.
Mr. F. here alluded to a friend
of the gentleman from Alabama
(as we understood him) who had
for several successive sessions
called upon this House for the.
impeachment of a Judge, whom
it seemed, he had attempted
previously to bribe, &c; and
here, he said, were charges, one,
two, and three, asserting certain
accusations against the Secreta
ry, and calling for an investiga
tion. This, surely was suffi
cient for an investigation being
pressed by those thus called up
on. The Devil himself might
prefer charges here it would
not change our opinion of that
personage but it would surely
be a particular reason for an in
vestigation by those who are
implicated. So far as the gen
tleman from Alabama is con
cerned, said Mr. F. perhaps
there may be other reasons for
consulting motives of delicacy.
When I do want suggestions of
that sort, I should think very
differently of myself from what
I have been accustomed to do,
were I to be obliged to go to
him for them. j
The Speaker said there was
no question before the House,
and the suggestion of the gen
tleman from Alabama having
been made and answered, the
conversation must drop.
Mr. Moore then rose, and
moved that the gentleman from
Virginia should be excused from
serving on the Committee.
The question of coiisidera
tion being called on this motion,
the mover withdrew it.
Mr. Moore then asked to
make a remark in reply to Mr.
Floyd; but the Speaker declared
it to be out of order. Mr. Moore
wished to know if it would be
in order to ask leave of the
House to speak in reply. The
Speaker thought not.
Mr. Moore then renewed his
motion, in the following words,
with a view in this way to have
an opportunit' of addressing the
House:
"Resolved, That John Floxjd, a
member of this House, be excused
from serving on a committee ap
pointed yesterday, on the subject of
the memorial of Ninian Edwards."
The question being taken on
considering this motion, was
decided in the negative, almost
unanimously; and so this matter
ended.
Wednesday ', April 21. Mr.
McDuffie offered the following:
"Resolved, That the Clerk of
this House be directed to furnish
the President of the United States
with a copy of the memorial of Ni
nian Edwards, recently presented
to this House, containing certain
charges against the Secretary of
the Treasury. "
Mr. McDuffie said, that he
regretted that the subject had
been presented to the House at
all; but, since it had, he thought
the fact should be submitted to
the President of - the United
States, that he might take such
course as he might deem proper
in this matter, it being a dispute
between his own officers.
Mr. Saunders accorded in
the propriety of the resolution,
and suggested an amendment,
that the President be informed
of the organization of a commit
tee, by this House, to investigate
the case. This course, he said,
would not surprize the Presi
dent. If the President should
choose to recal Mr. Edwards,
he would have it in his power
to do so. He might be permit
ted to say, that the course of Mr.
Edwards was not the same as
that pursued towards Mr. Ham
ilton, then becretarv of the
Treasury, in 1794. Mr. Giles
called for information, and bold
ly offered and supported his mo
tion, and did not throw charges
into the House, and leave them
to pursue them if they could.
The same course ought to have
been pursued by Mr. Edwards
in this case, instead of which he
has departed hence on his way
to a foreign station, and thrown
his charges back upon those he
has left behind.
Mr. Webster said, he hoped
he might be excused for making
a single remark, without going
farther. It was obvious that the
committee, which had been ap
pointed, had no time to make
any progress in investigating the
charges of Mr. Edwards, at this
session. He hoped the House
had confidence enough in the
committee to agree to the' mo
tion he should now make, which
was, to defer acting upon this
motion until to-morrow morn
ing. With this view, Mr. W.
moved that this motion lie on
the table.
This course was agreed to,
without a division.
Thursday, April 22. Mr.
Floyd, from the committee toi
whom was referred the memori-i
al of N. Edwards, vindicating;
himself and accusing Mr. Secre
tary Crawford, pursuant to the
instructions of the committee,
communicated the following mi
nutes of its proceedings, viz:
"The committee to whom was
referred a communication from Ni
nian Edwards, report the following
minutes of their proceedings to the
House of Representatives:
Present, all the members of the
committee:
Voted, That the committee ought
to proceed to make inquiry into the
matters contained in the memorial,
and connected therewith.
Voted, That, for the purpose of
such inquiry, the attendance of the
said Ninian Edwards upon the com
mittee, to be by them examined, is
requisite; and that this attendance
be accordingly ordered.
Voted, That the Chairman do in
form the House of the foregoing re
solutions of the committee, and in
asmuch as it is suggested that the
said Ninian Edwards is about to
leave the United States on foreign
diplomatic service,
Voted, That the Chairman do
move the House that information of
said communication, of the votes of
the House thereon, and of the fore
going resolutions of the committee,
be communicated to the President
of the U S."
The latter proposition having
been put in the form of a mo
tion by Mr. Taylor, of New
York, and the question being
upon agreeing thereto
Mr. McLane moved to re
commit the report of the select
committee.
Mr. Randolph said, he hoped
the motion for re-commitment
would not prevail: and he rose
for the purpose of calling the
attention of the House to a fact,
that the select committee hdve
acted, by the authority and in
the name of this body, and that.
J -J i
whether gentlemen think that:
Mr. Edwards ought to be bro't
before the committee or not, the
writ is now on its way; that it
will be served upon him; and
that he will be brought here,
whether we vote in one Way or
another, on this qyestion. In
case this enquiry is to be prose
cuted, said Mr. R. I cannot con
sent to act, on that committee,
except by the imperious man
date of this House, without the
presence of the informer. The
committee having first resolved
that this inquiry should be pro
secuted; that the informer should
be brought before the Grand Ju
ry, have reported the fact for
what? That the House, being
one of theeo-ordinate branches
of this government of ours,
should communicate1 to the other
co-ordinate branch, that which,
in courtesy, the other branch
ought to be put in possession of.
What do we ask of the Presi
dent? To aid us to bring this
minister before us? No: we
need no authority from him.
We will, in despite of any man
in this land, have him before us.
If, indeed, he shall have made
his escape from the country, we
cannot follow him to -Mexico;
but, any where short of the I3a
lize, the warrant of this House
is as high authority as any
known in this land, and, as such,
I trust it will be supported. If
I had thought that, in the act of
that committee, the privileges'
of this House the privileges of
the American people in their
Representatives, had been com
promited, no consideration that
man can name, would have in
duced me to give it mv sanc-
tion. It was at mv motion that
the order was passed to bring
the accuser before us. I hope
the House will proceed as pro
posed. The committee have
maintained the authority of this
House, which I never will sur
render, and have, in their re
port, acted to the Executive with
that comity and urbanity which,
when it shall cease to prevail
between the co-ordinate branch
es of any government like ours,
must throw every thing into
confusion.
Mr. Cook, of Illinois, said, it
had been, and should be, his
course, pending this subject, to
abstain from saying any thing
in relation to the merns of it,
and to abstain from exhibiting
any thing like feeling in relation
to it In his opinion, the course
whiCii the committee had pur
sueti, on mis occasion, was a
proper one. The Executive
had probably given its orders to
this individual,and his actual po
sition might not be 60 well
known to any one as to the Ex
ecutive. Mr. C. thought it was
probable that, betore anv nro
cess could reach him, he Would
have left Illinois, and might
have reached New-Orleans, and
the information communicated
to the Executive might be ef
fectuated to answpr thr end of
the process of this House reach
ing him.
Mr. Forsyth asked, if he had
understood the gentleman from
Illinois rightly, when he inform
ed the House that this person
was now on his way to New
Orleans, and about to pass thence
from the United States?
Mr. Cook said, that he had so
stated, presuming it to be the
r
fact.
Mr. Forsyth said, it was on
ly -what he suspected. The
Parthian throws behind him his
poisoned arrows as he retreats,
and then flies beyond the reach
of pursuit But, Mr. F. said,
he could not fortunately leave
the United States before the pro
cess of the United States could
reach him. The vessel which
was to have the honor to bear
him out, had not yet left the
Navy Yard at this place, and,
as he would scarcely venture to
sail without the protection of
the guns of the nation, he could
yet be overtaken.
Mr. Cook said that, when up
before, he had intended to sug
gest, that the vessel which was
destined to carry Mr. Edwards
to Mexico, was yet at this place;
that by this vessel, information
could be given to him of his Dre-
sence being desired here; and
that the only, at least most pro
bable way, in which the process
of this House could reach him,
and he could be recalled for the
purposes of -this House, would
be by means of this vessel.
Mr. Floyd said, that the com
mittee had thought it necessary
that this individual should bo
present during the examination
of h is charges. They were per
fectly aware that the authority
with which they were invested
by the House, was sufficient for
all the purposes of bringing him
here, and, in the course which
they had pursued, had no ob
ject but to give the President of
the United States, in a respect
ful manner, information of the
course which it had been thought
proper, by the committee, to
pursue; and he hoped the oppo
sition to it would be withdrawn.
Mr. McLane said he was not
anxious to embarras the pro
ceedings. He was anxious for
this investigation to go on. To
save trouble to the House, how
ever he would withdraw his
motion for re-commitment
Mr. Floyd then moved that
the Clerk of this House be di
rected to adopt measures to ex
pedite the printing of the Re
port of the Secretary of the
Treasury, upon which the said
communication is founded, and
that the said communication
with its accompanying docu
ments, be printed; which was
agreed to.
Friday, April 23. The fol
lowing Message from the Presi
dent of the United States, by
Mr. Everett, his private Secre
tary, was received, read, and or
dered to lie on the table:
To the House of Representatives:
In conformity with a resolution
of the House of Representatives of
yesterday, I have received a copy
of the proceedings of the commit
tee to whom was referred a com
munication from Ninian Edwards,
lately appointed Minister plenipo
tentiary to Mexico, in which it is
decided that his attendance in this
city, for the purpose of being exa
mined, by the committee, on mat
ters contained in the said communi
cation, was requisite. As soon as
I was apprized that such a commu
nication had been made to the
House, anticipatine: that the atten
dance of Mr. Edwards might be
desired, for the purpose stated, I
thought it proper that he should be
informed thereof, and instructed
not to proceed in his mission, but
to await such call as might be made
on him, either by the House, or its
committee, and in consequence a
letter was addressed to him to th3t
effect, by the Secretary of State. ,
Aprils, 1824.