S Hi31 JSHK
5 tLblE3iL
Xo. 48.
HALIFAX, X. CL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1825.
rat J.
tan n i"
iLiVs f-ri.J
THE "FREE PRESS,'
By George Howard,
Is published .every Friday, at
THREE DOLLARS per year,
consisting bf 52 numbers, and in the
same proportion for a snorter pe
riod. Subscribers at liberty to dis
continue at any time, on paying ar
rearages. Advertisements inserted at fifty
cents per square, or less,' for the
first insertion, and twenty-five cents
Mch continuance.
Letters addressed to the Editor
must befiost fiaid.
Congress of the U S
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Thursday, Feb. 3.
The Speaker (Mr. Clay) rose
from his place, and requested
the indulgence of the House for
a few moments, whilst he asked
its attention to a subject, in
which he felt himself deeply
concerned. A note had appear
ed this morning, in the Nation
al Intelligencer, under the name,
and with the authority, as he
presumed, of a member of this
House from Pennsylvania, (Mr.
.Kremer) which adopted, as his
own, a previous letter, publish
ed in another print, containing
serious &. injurious imputations
against him, and ivhich the au
thor avowed his readiness tosub
,stantiate by proof. These chnr-
res implicated his conduct, in
regard to the pending Presiden-
tial election; and the respecta- Mr. Livermore, of N. II. ob
hility of the station which the! served, that he did not see how
member holds, who thus Gpen-J it was possible to enter the coi i
y prefers them, and that of the munication of the Speaker on
people whom he represents, en- the Journal, since it was merely
titled them to grave attention.; verbal: and he moved to lay
It might be, indeed, worthy of:
consideration whether the char-j
ficter &. dignity of the House it-j
self did not require a full inves-j
gation of them, & an impartial
decision on their truth, for if
they were true, if he was capa
ble, and base enough, to betray
the solemn trust which the Con
stitution had confided to him;
if yielding to personal views
and considerations, he could
compromit the highest interests
of his country, the House would
Jdc scandalized by his continuing
to occupy the ehair with which
he had been so long honored in
presiding at its deliberations, &
lie merited iustantaneous expul
sion. Without, however pre
suming to indicate what the
House might conceive it ought
in do. on account of its own pu-j
ritv and honor, he honed that)
he should be allowed respect
full v to solicit, in behalf of
himself, an
truth of the
, - - j
mauirv into the!
charges
to which
he had referred,
the relations to
Standing in
the House,
which both the member from
Pennsylvania and himself did
it appeared to him that here was
the proper place to institute the
enquiry, in order that, if guilty,
here the proper punishment
might be applied, am), if inno
cent, that here his character and
conduct may be vindicated.
He anxiously hoped, therefore,
that the House would be pleas
ed to direct an investigation to
be made into the truth of the
charges. Emanating; from the
source which they did, this was
the only notice which he could
take of them. If the House
should think proper to raise a
Committee, he trusted that some
other than the ordinary mode
pursued by the practice and
?ules of the House would be
adopted to appoint the Commit
tee. The Speaker having conclu
ded his observations, and called
Mr. Taylor to the chair in his
place
Mr. Forsyth, of Ga. rose,
and said, ho hoped that the ad
dress of the Speaker would be
entered on the Journal, and
that the document, to which he
had referred, should be laid on
the table; and that the address
and the document would be re
ferred to a committee of nine
members, to be chosen by ballot.
Mr. Kremer of Pennsylva
nia, rose, and said, if, upon an
investigation being instituted,
it should appear that he had not
sufficient reason to justify the
statements he had made, he trus
ted he should receive the mar
ked reprobation which had
been suggested by the Speak
er. Let it fall where it will,
Mr K. said, lie was willing to
meet the inquiry, and abide the
result. Mr. K. moved, that
the "card" of the honorable
Speaker, referred to in "another
card,'' should also be referred
to the committee and entered
on the Journal of the House.
On the suggestion of the Ac
ting Speaker,
withdrew his
Mr. Kremer j
ir.ciion to refer
the "e.-.rd," the proposition not
hein before the House to refer
"another carj.5
the motion of the gentleman
from Georgia, (Mr. Forsyth,)
on the table, until the House
should be in possession of that
communication in a written
form.
The question on Mr. Liv
ermore's motion was put, and
negatived.
After some observations by
Messrs. Forsyth, Livermore,
Foot, Lincoln, &c.
Mr. Cook, of Illinois, said he
took it for granted, that the
Speaker had presented to the
House as specifically as he could,
the nature of the charges which
he had asked the House to in
vestigate. It was not the ad
dress of the Speaker, but the
letter which contained thechar-
- ges against him, that was to be
the
?ubject
01
investigation.
Tin
inquiry
which
was asked
bv the Speaker was proper, in
relation to the character of this
House, and the interest of the
country. The letter referred
to in the Speaker's address, did
not operate, in its accusatory
propcrty, on the Speaker alone,
but on a portion of the other
members of this House. Let
gentlemen turn to that letter,
and they would find that it con
tained charges as penicious to
the character of this House and
of the nation generally, as to
the Speaker.
Mr. Webster here interposed,
he said, with great reluctance,
to call his friend from Illinois to
order. He submitted to him
whether, on a motion to refer
the letter, &c. it was proper to
p.nter into an investigation of
-
the nature of the charges con
tained in it, Sic.
Mr. Cook disclaimed any de
sign to violate order in his ob
servations, and desisted.
The question was loudly cal-
led for, and was taken on or-,
dering the address of the Spea-i
ker to be entered on the jour
nal, and decided in the affirma
tive. !
Mr. Condict, of New Jersey,
moved to postpone the. further
consideration of the remaining
proposition (for the appoint
ment of a committee, &c.) until
to morrow.
Which motion was agreed to,
and the subject postponed until
to-morrow.
Friday, Fcl. 4. I
On motion of Mr. Condict,
ofN. J. the House resumed the
consideration of the motion of
Mr. Forsyth to refer the com-!
munication of the Speaker to a
select committee, on which
there arose an animated debate,
which occupied the House till
half past four o'clock; but was
finally adopted ayes 125, nays
69.
The committee was ordered
to consist of seven, and to be
appointed by ballot.
The following extract from the
Speech of Mr. MACON, on the
motion of Mr. Tazevell to strike
exit the third section from the bill
for the suppression of piracy, is full
sound sense, however homely the
style. Norfolk Herald.
Mr. Macon, after some ob
servations expressive of his
dissent from the opinion of his
friend from Virginia, last up,
(Mr. Barbour) in relation to the
question of order, remarked,
that there was something or
other in the bill that he did not
understand. The Secretary of !
the Navy had told us that in-
surance could ne obtained, on
11 ... 1
vessels going through the Gulfiwasa faint dapping, once: But
of Mexico, for one and a half
per cent; and how this could be
so low, when there were so
many piracies, he did not un
derstand! He did not under
stand, either, how the necessity
of the case gave us a right to
make a breach in the public
law, and contended that nation
al character was like individual
character; that it ought to be so
pure as to commanu respect
He thought it would be a cun -
ous question, to decide upon the i graceful manner, bowed to the
condition of a vessel that hadjaudience all around. The sen
been taken for attempting to timent of esteem evinced for
go into any of the ports which
were blockaded by our vessels,
and brought in for condemna
tion. It was as evident as day,
to him, that it was in the pow
er of our Navy to extirpate pir
acy; at least our agent, Mr. Ran
dall, had told us so, and when it
could be effected in this way,
he was opposed to using any
other means, that were of a
doubtful
and
dangerous
9
char-
acter.
He thought that a single cause
produced all the evils that we
had to deplore; and that, our
carrying money from one island
to the other. As. to this follow
ing of pirates on land, said Mr.
Macon, it is rather difficult.
How will you know them on
shore? They may swop clothes,
and otherwise change their ap
pearance. The true way is to
catch them on the water; and
when caught, hang them all,
and have an end to them, Why
do gentlemen want to go far
ther than is necessary? Thev
seem as if they were afraid of
not being thought wjlling to
put down this banditti. Mr.
Macon went on to contend that
our Navy was sufficient to put
a check to the evil in question,
and that it was a strange doc
trine, that all our vessels could
not keep four or five hundred
pirates off the water.
Spain, he asserted, was out
of the question. He hated to
scare one that could'nt take care
of herself. And what, he as
ked, was now the situation of
Spain? There were people
there, but were kept down by
the French troops. In relation
to the trade with the West In
dies, he believed it was profita
ble, but he thought it was im
possible for such a population
to have existed since the days
of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Washington City, B. C.)
February 8. Mr. Cooper,
that veteran performer, had a
Benefit last night, and we were
gratified to observe that the au
dience was as respectable and
distinguished as
it was numer-
ous.
The President of the li
nked States honored the The
atre with his presence on the
occasion, as did Ger. Jackson,
Mr. Secretary Crawford, Mr.
Secretary Adams, and the Na
tion's Guest, Gen. Lafayette,
together with a great number
of other public men and man
private citizens of the first stan
ding. The feelings of the Audi
ence, in this instance, were
manifested in a most unequivo
cal way in favor of the Hero of
New Orleans. On the entrance
of the President and General
Lafayette there was some clap-
ping of hands, perhaps twice.
ITTI T I a lil
vvnen lur. xitiams eniereu mere
when JACIvSON was announ
ced, he was received with three
successive, general, loud, and
hearty clappings of the hands,
which, re-echoing, shewed at
once who was the Man of the
People. Jackson's March
was then called for, and played,
with cheering, until the perfor
mances of the stage commenced.
In acknowledgement of so mar
ked a compliment, Gen. Jack
! son rose, and, in the most
him was universal among those
present.. ..Gar.
Gen. Jackson.-
-We are not
in the habit of
eulogising
this
distinguished man; he is notour
choice as the president of these
U. States no more is Mr. Ad
amsbut his present deport
ment is so much commended
in various letters from Wash
ington, that it is but justice to
notice it. The wrjter of a let
ter to Philadelphia states, that
he was present when Gen. Jack
son was informe"4 of Mr. Clay's
intention to support Mr. Adams.
The General was unimpassion
ed; and coolly observed, that
there two things of which Mr.
Clay could not deprive him
one was the honor he had al
ready received in the votes of
the people; the other was the
pleasure of spending his life on
his own farm in Tennessee.
Another letter, now before
us, states that Gen. J. advises
his friends "to be calm and let
the election result as thepeople's
representatives choose to make
it," declaring his determination
jo be defeated, rather than make
compromises, or coalitions of
any kind whatever.
Another letter states, that
when it was suggested to him,
by a friend to see Mr. Crawford,
he replied that he thought it
wrong at this juncture of time.
This, we understand from un
questionable authority is Mr.
Crawford's opinion.
Mr. Crawford's course, thro?
out these trying times, has
been precisely such as it ought
to be firm, high-minded, a-
bove the breath of suspicion it-
It. ii any thing were want
ing to raise him in our esteem,
and to attach us to the interests
of the man whom we have so
ardently supported, it is the de
portment which he now exhib
its. He has declined all nego
tiations he will make no bar-
ins for office he will accept
no office under Adams or Jack
son. We do not speak upon
this subiect at random hut
most advisedly. Were we at
liberty, . to develope the facts,
which have reached us from un
questionable sources, we should
satisfy the people that he was a
man ivhom they would delight
to honor. Enquirer.
Of Canals, A town meet
ing was neiu in rniiadelphia on
Monday last, the principal busi-
ncss of which, the Freeman's
Journal says, was the consider?
ation of submitting to the citi
zens of Pennsylvania the pro
ject of a canal tQ unite the -Al
leghany and Delaware rivers.
Mr. IngersolJ stated that in the
great canal of Europe, "the mo
ther of canals," a railway is e
rected to supercede the canal.
He mentioned that in a letter
lately received from London, his
correspondent informed himthat
Mr. Huskisson, one of the most
intelligent men in England in
these matters, had stated to him
his belief that in twenty -Jive
years there would not be a
Canal in use in Europe.
Mr. Sergeant in reply stated
the fact that the railway from
Mersey to Manchester cost up
wards of fifty thousand dollars
per mile and that there had
not been, in fact, sufficient ex
perience in this new mode of
conveyance to be enabled to
determine on its adoption to the
purposes spoken of. Ours is a
canal country; and it would be
Quixotic to attempt any expen
sive experiments. Alex. Her.
Fire.... On Saturday, the 15th
inst. nearly a whole square of
buildings in Columbia, the sea$
of government, (S. C.) was des
troyed by fire. Among the
sufferers, says the' Charleston
Courier, are Mr. Snowdcm,- his
house burnt but his goods saved;
Mr. John BlaGk's house burnt;
Mr. Hatier's. goods nearly all
lost.
Imprisonment for debt....
An unsuccessful attempt has
has been made in the Legisla
ture of Ohio, to abolish impri
sonment for debt. In the re
port of the committee, they
frankly and clearly give it as
their opinion, that the law is
unjust and impolitic-, but from
its deep connexion with the
whole system of civil jurispru
dence, they consider that to ex
punge it, would require much
labor, as it would become neces
sary to change nearly the who!
code.