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•nrv/culnn tucoll>iou w; U -'ho Linton Status,
nml with iho provisions ol‘lro:itiw, they must bo
answerable for the consequences;
Ami, Sir, is thcro no [icril but on 0110 side
oftiiis question; The Government. «f the U-
ni.r.l S ates in '.ttrs the same liability that a
State incurs—;hc liability oV having acted im
properly, and ind ited the Constitution ol the
country. Sir, until I lose my own sense of self
respect, 1 bclicvo that I shall be incapable of
usin<», towards-any State, any language imnni-
patilde witlrihc respect which I owe to tuyself,
n nil the deep respect which I very sincerely
feel towards all ilio Suites. Mr. \V. conclud
ed by saying, that if ibis communication should
not go to omi of the Standing Committees of
the House, lie should then move that it go to a
Select Committee, but most certainly with tin
wish that he should be one of .hut Comniitice.
GEORGIA MILITIA CLAIMS.
Saturday, February 10.
Mr. Vance, from the Cnniinitteo on Milita
ry Adairs, to which the subject bad been re
feree.), made the following Report:
The Coin ri nee on Military Affairs, to whom
was referred the memorial of the Legislature
of Georgia, relative to the claims of llip citi
zens of that state for Military Services, per
formed in the years 1792, .1703 and 179-1,
have performed the duty to them assigned,
uud submit die following report: c, *
Your committee are aware that the longtli of
time since die performance of those service*,
togodier with -lie relations that have existed
between tlio Unit."! States and Georgia, rela
tive to tho cessiou of certain territory by that
State to tin: United States, and the payment of
certain money by the United States to the
Staio of Georgia, lor die Terri.ory thus ceded,
has -ended much to embarrass the settlement
of ihuio claims.
On the part of the United States, it has been
coiiieuded by the former reports made on this
subject, that die payments for those services
veto merged in, ami apart of the $1,250,000
paid by the Uuited Slates to die state of Geor
gia, ,igreoibio io iho Convention, be tring die
Ittjc ,1802, and in the follow'iig words:
l a console.utmii for the expenses incurred
" the said state m relation to die s i,d Territo
ry.” This die state of Georgia contends was
not die fact; uud that the obligation of the U-
utteil S ates to her citizens for military services,
in me m inner before sttuod, has never been
cancelloJ.
In the examination of this subject, tho first
inqu.i'v w.U be: Wore those sortuses perforin-
oo Oy iiio citizens of Georgia? The second:
We.-c they authorized by tlio United States?
And thirdly: If authorized, has the U. States
ruiici-Iled tlioir oblig .non to die citizens of that
st - e by paying for the services thus per-
foi iticu?
, Tile evidences of tlio performance of those
services are so ahumlant througlloui die whole
of die documents and correspondence, 'official
and otherwise, that u particular reference is
deemed oiiiiecess iiy. The odier I:ranchos of
The inqu.ry an: entitled to more consideration;
and wo will firsi commence by asking, were
those services authorized?
in tile examination of this subject, it is not
the purpose of your committee to acknowledge
the power of the governor of a state unreasona
bly to commit the. National Government, by
cailiiig into its service a mditiiry force dispro
portionate to the evidence of danger; nor ure
they prepared to say this was tho case in this
instance. On the contrary,' quite the reverse
appears to have boen tho true situation of tiiis
lronacr at the tnuo those services were per
formed; mid notwithstanding tlio groat solici
tude of the executive of.ho United States to
preserve peace on the borders of Georgia, and
tho dilleieut communications made to tho Ex
ecutive of that state,' enforcin'* thoso views,
and tlioir importance to the Federal Govcrn-
men , yet wo find that so strongly was ho im
pressed wait the danger that threatened tho-
frontier settlements of Georgia, in Juno 1793,
. ho culled on the Governor of Soudi Carolina
■ j support,by military force, the State of Goor-
<;m n defending herself against tho thtcatonod
invasions of the enemy in that quartor.
Gut at the same tinto that your committco
would sustain the doctrine laid down relative to
the powers of the Governor of a state, yet they
can see many reasons why a liberal indulgence
should he extended in favor of, janitor than w
gainst the exctcisu. of a trust so responsible in
its character, and so important in its results.—
It is for the Governor to look to the security
and interest of thoso ovor whom he has been
called to preside, and for whose protection and
defence ho is bound to provide, by tlio most sa
cred obligations. Is it thon reasonable to
suppose that in the execution of this trust, ho
would.be prodigal uftho national resources, for
tho purpose of carrying on an unuccossary and
unprofitable war, ut die expense of the quiet,
comfott, end blood of ins owu People?
Gut, n tho absence of all other proof, rda
tive to those services beng'authorized by the
United Saras, the /act that the Government,
through her agents, did furnish military equip
ments and subsistence to the very troops that
hero cluim, and have boon refused, remunera
tion for tlioir services, would ho, of itself, a*
. bundantly sufficient to establish thoir legality.
Your committee think it would bo a strange
anomaly in tho military history of our country,
to find the Government, through hor agents,
giving every facility to military operations
by arming and subsisting mi army, and subso-
quen ly refusing to pay the very troops of which
it was composed, on the grounds that tho Gov
ernor of the state had pushed his discrotiona
ry powers to an unwarrantable extent.
Gut again; your committee find, on refer-
cnco to tho reports of committees made at the
second session of tho Fourth Congross, that
payment lias boon mado for similar services,
performed under like circumstances, to tho
troops of tho Southwestern Territory, undor
the command of Brigadier General Sevier.—
Thoso troops have not only been paid for de
fensive, but offensive war, and that against tho
fame enemy; while we have hitherto refused
to pay the citizens of Georgia who fought in-tho
same conimon cause, and against the same
common enemy; and your committco can SCO
no good reason wliy tlio citizens of Georgiil
should not be placed on a footing at least e-
qtial to tho citizens of the Southwestern Terri
tory.
The next and most material question tint
presents itself to your conuAlttrc is, did this U-
ultod States, in good faith, pay to the State ol
Georgia; in behalf of her citizens, a remunera
tion for their services; and was tlio amount
thus paid merged in the $1,250,000, as lias
been alleged by former reports made by differ
ent committees on this subject?
For tlio establishment of ibis fact, your com
mittee have cui eftilly examined the documbnts
and reports |o them referred; and it is but jus-
tico to the citizens and state of Georgia to say
that they have examined them in vain; as nei
ther the wording of die Convention, nor a fair
constructioti of the letter of the Attorney Gon-
eral—die principal grounds of evidence relied
on in the former reports on this subject—go to
show that those claims have over been cancel
led and paid.
To say that those claims wore covcrd by the
convention, and not more specially named, so
as to put the matter forever at rest, would tend
to convict tlio distinguished individuals who
were the negotiators in this business, of a negli
gence towards tlio interest of tho United Stales,
which is disproved by their long and faithful
course of public service. It is a fact w 11 as
certained, that at the very time of this negotia
tion, Georgia th ough hor Representatives,
was urging on tho National Government tho
payment of those cl liras to her citizens; and in
a letter, dated the 5th of April, 1802, written
by Mr. Jackson, one of the Commissioners of
Georgia, and directed to tho Governor of that
state, lie mentions the progress of this negotia
tion, an i that Mr. Mlllodge had obtained the
passage of a resolution' referring those claims
to the Secretary of War, which ho thought ve
ry favorable, as that'officer was to collect eve
ry document lie could, oven from tho files of
die executive of Georgia, and submit a report
to the next Congress. And, notwithstanding
tiiis letter was written at tho time of tho nego
tiation, mid but nineteen days before its close,
it.does not contain one syllable relative to the
moigmg of the claims of tho militia, in tlio a-
niomit to be received under this Convention;
but on iho contrary it goes to prove that those
-claims wore turned over.to the Secretary of
War for subsequent investigation and report.
It further appears tjiat, on the 3d of Febru
ary 1803, the Secretary of War did submit to
Congress a favorable report on these claims a-
groeablo to tho resolution beforo alluded to,
and on tlio Kith of Dccomber, 1303, tho Com
mittee of Claims, to whom this report had been
referred, made a report adverse to those claims:
which report appears to have been founded oa
the assumption tint the claims were merged in
.bo $1,200,000, "agreeable to thoir construc
tion of the letter of tho Attorney General.
In this construction of tho letter.of tho ^.t-
tornoy General, your committco does not ac
cord, the evidence contained in that paper is
wholly-negative, whilst that of tho commission
ers of Georg’m'nf-'affiffnatircVlttrtl of Iho rtiast
positive character.
Lot us, for a moment, examine this matter.
The Attorney GonerM, to 1 bo sure, recollects
that, in the progress of this upgociation, con
versations were hold rolativo to the military
services of tho citizeus of Goorgia; but lie does
not say whedibr they roforred to sorvicos per
forated beforo or after the adoption of tho fed
eral Constitution ; nnd ho further recollects,
dint it was said, in thoso conversations, that the
Unitod' States had refused to pnv for-those ser
vices; but ho docs not stnto at what stage of the
negotiation thoso conversations wore hold, nor
tho aniount that ut that time was demanded by
thoCommissioners of Goorgia. It might have
boon that tho Commissioners of that Stato, <n
certain stages of the negotiation, asked n suffi
cient'sum, over and ubovo that received to
Imvo covered those claims, for tho benefit of
hor citizons, und subsequently, for the purpose
ofbringing the business to u closo abandoned
that ground; nnd acceded to tho propositions
of the United States’' Commissioners. ' All this
might have taken‘place and probably did ; but
to take this testimony vague und uncertain as it
is, against the positive declarations of two indi
viduals, equally rospcctablo with the Attorney
General himself, und made within nine days af
ter the date of his loiter, is, in the opinion o(
your Committeo, wholly inidmissablc.
But again: Doos it not appear that the citi
zens of Georgia did, in good faith, perform
thoso services ? Does it not further appear
lint, whilst performing them, they wore armed
and subsisted by tho agents of the General
Govorument? And is it not n matter ofliisto-
ty, that to this hour, they remainod unpaid ? Is
it then reasonable to-suppose, if. thoir pay had
heen-jrofitted in.the 1^0,000^dojlurs^as ah
ledgod by tbrmor reports, that men of the stand-
lug-and reputation of Baldwin and Jackson,
would have so far disregarded privnto right, tis
to misinform their State in this mntter; or cun
we, for a moment, suppose, that any Stato in
this Union would, for the purpose of falling her
coders or enriching her treasury, commit nu
act that would ruin even to bonkrupty, that por
tion of her citizons that had come forward in
tho hour oialanger to defend hor soil from the
inroads of an invading euemy ?
In ovory view that your Committco has
been ablo 10 take of this business, they aro de
cidedly of opinion, that justice to the citizens
of Goorgia, who performed those sorvi ccs, ns
well as to tho State, which, it has beon alleged,
has received and withheld tho amount paid for
them, domands of tho Nation a speedy adjust
ment of these claims; and, in accordance with
this opinion, they submit tho following resolu
tion : *
House of llejjresenlatioer, February 13.
THE VICE PRESIDENT.
Tlio Select Committee to whom was referred
the communication of tho Vico President of
tin: 29th December lust, respectfully report:
That, immediately after they assembled,
they informed the Vice President of their be
ing organized, aud of their reudiuess to re
ceive any communication which lie might see
fit to make. On the receipt of his-reply, da
ted the 3d of January, mid which accompanies
.liis report, Mr. M'Duffie, as the friend and
representative of the Vice President, was ad
mitted before- the committee, and attended
throughout tho‘'examination which followed.
The first object of inquiry, ill proceeding to
business, was to ascertain whether any charges
against the Vice President Had boen placed a-
moug the public records of the War Depart
ment. After an examination on this , (joint,
tho committee became satisfied that no such
charges were, or had been,- among the records
or papers of that Department. But, as the let
ter from Elijah Mix, addressed to Major Satcr-
lee Clark, under tho name of “ Hancock,”
had been published in tho Alexandria Phoenix
Gazette, Htf thozH li December, which publi
cation the Vice President had’ particularly re
ferred to, m his no'o to the committeo, they
felt bound to examine fully and freely into the
truth or falsity of the blatters contained itf that
letter.
From the nature of the dutios imposed upon
a committee of inquiry, especially connected
w.tli the distinct w.sjt, as expressed by the Vice
F resident in tho .presein instance, for the
“freest mvbstigatitfu,” it has been impossible
hie the committee fo give to their proceedings
the connexion aitd Conciseness incident to trials,
wnt-ii Uic .testimony is ascertained and nrrang-
on butore it is prdsenicd. • They have, howe
ver, diligently applied themselves to tho subject
lefcrred to them,' aud after a long and labori
ous examination, they are unanimously of tho
op.uinn, that .licit' ore nd facts which vill au
thorize die belief or even suspicion, ilia*, the
Vice President wps ever interested, or that he
participated, uirectly or indirectly, in the pro-
tits ot any contract formed with the Govern
ment through did Department of War, while
iio wUs entrusted! With the discharge of its du
ties, or at any otlker time.
They are also! of opinion, that tlio conduct
of Mr. Barbour, the present Secretary of War,
tnrogard to tholktci of E. Mix, is nothin the
slightest degree,l deserving of censure. The'
accusation contained tu the letter was regarded
by lnm as a- bastj calumny.upon the Vice Pre
sident, penned by a man wholly unworthy of
notice; and the’ committee have no reason to
behove that the Supposed truth of that accusa
tion was at any Line the basis of any act of
the War Department. This publication of the
lottcr appears to have been produced as fol
lows:
In the mcntli of December last, Howes
Resolccd, That an appropriation, sufficient
tq cover the claims of the citizens of Georgia,
for military services, performed as before stat
ed, ought to ho made, and placed at the dispo
sal of tho Secretary of War for tlio accomplish
ment of that cud.
Martin Van Buron lias been rc-elected by a
concurrent voto of the two Houses, U. S.
Senator from Now-York for sixyears from tho
4th day of March next.
F. Thornton, tlio junior Editor of tho Phoenix
Gazottc, on the 27th December, which he pub'
lished the noxt morning in that paper, acconv
panted by his editorial remarks. In this pub-
Iicr- " " ’ ■ * ....
ication Mr. Barbour had no agency, either dh
rect or indirect. Whenjio heard that the let.
ter had beeu mltdc public, he requested Colon,
el IL M. Johnson, of the Senate, to call upou
.the Vice President as a mutual friend; and in
form him of the manner in which the letter hud
come to his (Mr. Barbour’s) hands, and that
the sumo li.ul been subsequently transmitted
‘.hrough the post-office in un envelope to Majoi
Clark, to whom it belonged. This informa,
non was given by Col. Johnson to the V'co
Prcs.dent, in the morning of the 29ih of De
cember, just bolero he transmitted his commu
nication .0 the House.
Tho letter to “Hancock,” us published, and
io which die Vice President had referred, con
tained, among, jjiher (brags, the following ns.
scriion: “And I have written letters of Vande-
ventor’s, which most positively mention that
he, (meaning Mr. Calhoun) was engaged, nnd
received some1 pot tiou of tho contract." As
such letters, if they existed, might lead to fur
ther evidence, and be important to aid the com
mittce in {heir inquiries, they thought proper
in the curly stage of their proceedings, to issue
a subpoena both for Mix and V.indevonter,
with a clause'therein contained, commanding
them to produce any papers in their possession,
tending to prove the accusation which Mix had
made in his letter to Hancock. In obedience
to this summons, the witnesses uppearod, and
7-Mu kraviog-been first culled upon to testify,
produced, during his examination, the letters
from Major Vandeventer, dated August 7th,
1818, September I0ih, 1818, July 8th, 1820,
March 24th, 1821, and tho letter from Col. K.
W. Atmisicad, dated March 24th, 1821. On
his second examination, ho produced tho let
ters from Major Vandevemer, dated August 3d,
1818, September 19th, 1818, nnd Octobci
17th, 1820. When it was perceived that,' in'
one of the letters of Mr. Vandeventer, to wit
the one dated tho 7th of August, 1818, and to
which they hero particularly refer, allusion was
made to a partner in tho contract, whose name
wus to have been kept secret, they felt it to ho
their duty to discovor, if they could, who this
secret partner was, or, at any rote, to push tho
inquiry as far os to leave no room for suspicion
that the Vice President was the one alluded to.
This branch of die subject has been tho prin
cipal cause of their consuming so much timo in
the investigation; they found that* they were
here led into a wider field than could havo
been at first anticipated, and that it was ne-
«n order to got a full view of the
whole ground, to go thoroughly into the origin
and histoty of what is comnjouly called tho Mix
Contract. The letters of Major Vundovcuter,
above referred to, appear to relate principally
to the private and confidential transactions be
tween him and Mix, in regard to the contract;
. and there.is-mo reason to believo or presume
j that the Vice President was ever made ac-
1 mu tiled with their contents. The letter from
quai — ... ,
Col. Armistead, written .while he was at the
head of the Engineer Department, although it
wears the appearance of an official paper, and
was improperly intended, as the committee be
lieve, to bring the weight ol the official influ
ence to bear upou the private transactions be
tween Vandovontcr and Mix, was not written
with the sanction or knowledge of the Vice
President, and no copy of it was ever entered
in the letter book of the Department.
The pommitteo will here remark, that they
pl.tco no reliance whatever on the testimony of
Elijah Mix. From .the self-conlradictioife, ap
parent on tho face of - his testimony, and winch
it is unnecessary -here to recapitulate, aside
fropi tlie infamy attached to liis character, the
committee were satisfied that ho ought not to be
’believed, on liis oath. The letters, howevor,
just referred to, and produced by him during
his examination, do not rest for their authenti
city on his testimony. Thoso from Major
Vandeventer, excepting such parts as had been
defaced or obliterated, were acknowledged by
.himself :o be genuine; and he was. requested,
111 every instance, to state, with tho letters, be
foro him, what names or wordsOccupied the
obliterated places, when the letters were writ
ten. The letter from Col. Armistead was al
so acknowledged by that officer to be genuine.
But the three papers purporting to he copies
or the substance of a loiter 1'ioni Major Van-
dcvetitcr to Mr. Calhoun, rest for their authen
ticity on the unsupported testimony of E. Mix,
and are regarded by the committee us having
been fabricated by him.. They are. also of o-
pitiion that the words or names defaced from
the letters of Major Vandeventer were so de
faced by E. Mix: and the committee havo
been unable to ascertain with certainty, either
from Vundeventer, the admitted author of.the
letters, or from any other source, what the
words or names were, which have been thus
obliterated.
The offer for the contract appears to have
been made by E. Mix, on tho 23d of July,
1818, and proposes to deliver at Old Point
Comfort, “from ono to one hundred and fifty
thousand perches of stone, at three dollars per
porch.” The coutract, as furnished from tho
War Department, boars date tho 25th of Ju
ly, 1818. It stipulates for the delivery of one
hundred und fifty thousand perches of stone, at
three dollurs a perch—is drawn up in the hand
writing of Major Vandeventer, and by him a-
lono witnessed, and is signed by General Jo- 113 co,ucnis *
soph Swift, then chief Engineer, and by Elijah
Mix. Although Mix here appears to have
been the only contractor, yet, from tho evi
dence, there is reason to behove, that at the
tunc tiie contract was made, or soon after, ami
before the execution of any valid bond for the
performance thereof, it was divided into shares,
and that one-fourth belonged to Major Vande
vemer, one-fourth to Elijah Mix, one-fourth
to It. C. Jennings, and the remaining fourth
Qoldsborough r and~EliUh"M\"x were comnetill 11 P^ott whose uanic wo* notto havo boon 1
tors in « contract with We WaTPepartmeHt? mcrnmncW. -rTO vnte-t*f rmigev e nTei ■ urfc1ishB^f a NaVM P Ac^mv* K1,|
Uoldsborougy soon after hi* arrival in Wash- *>««*» nt ‘K time above icferrod to, appears South Car i lin ” mnv „^®^;
ingtoii, obtained fi0111 Major S. Clark'a'copy
of the letter, with a view to uso tho same a-
gutnst Mix, should he find it necessary. From
tiiis copy a transcript was obtained by William .
1? ti.«—.— — o".. <• - n ' • - the whole contract. Howes Goldsborough &
to have rested on a verbal and confidential a-
gi cement between him und Mix, and so re
mained till the 24lh of April, 1819, w)icn he
received a written bill of sale of ono half of.
The attention of Gcit. Swift was partial
ly directed, before the cotumiyeo, to the f'
crcpancies in the bonds, aud also; to the w
letters from tlio Engineer Department *
which the contract is alludpd to. Tho oi D u
nation which he gives will oe'folmd in.hijw
tnony, to whiclf the committee refer. '
During an investigation relative to th'u coa.
tract, by a committee of the .'house of rejw
sentatives,in 182$, a-copjr dCil}e-Bpnd \nsdi
quested by that coininitlqe." In ai)s\v Cr |
which the Engineer -Department, furnished
copy of tlio. second bond; which has been sak
s itmed-for. the One first grvtm—but as the rc
no certificate of the. Recorder of..New Yo
approving the sju£tics .on the second, bond
copy of the certificate annexed to the cincdi
bond, was made, and attached to the coiSyl
the bond furnished: - Copt- Smith of the JA
gincer Department,.who ajtosted these copi C!
has explained thorcauso bf his certifying to ^
inaccuracy, and to his t'ostimoby, in that
cnlar, (Ik; < 01 unlitteeTheM 'J .
The question still remains, who was the
cret punier? But the ccxrpmftteo being entirtii
;vP L ;— — 7—vfM—"— -.t—e vmi vut
satisfied that the s&lret’toardter '?Qs. not £
Vice President, which was tho main questjp,
to be decided, will leave the conflicting testimol
ny on the oilier point with the house, withoj
attempting to decide bpdri its relative weight.
On the 27th January, 1827, the comaiiticj
closed tho examination of witnesses 011 thy
part, except as to one or two, who had been
summoned, but had not attended. On that d»
tho friend uud representative of the Vice Pt^
sident was advised that the committee had »
closed iheir examination; and he was also in.
formed by a member of the committee, in fo
presence, that tho committee were unanimous;
ly of opinion that the Vice President wai in,
nocent of the charge of having participated fo
any manner in any confract mado with the
War Department while ho- wiB Secretary
War. Tho same day, at tho instanco of Mr.
M'Duffie, subpoenas Were issued for witnesses
to appear and testify on behalf of tho VicePns
sidenr. On the 29th of January, tho commit,
tee received from the friend and represent*
tive of the Vice President, a paper protestinr
against the previous proceedings of the com’
tnittce. Considering this papor as preps,•ed
nnd presented under tho sanction of the high
ulficer, in whose behalf it protests, the commit
co have doomed it their duty to transmit it ta
the House, but they forboar all comment 01
IN SENATE,
Friday, February 16.
The bill to amend “an act to establish tin
Judicial Courts of the United States, passd
the 24th of September, 1789,” was read a
second time, considered, and aftor some debate,
laid 011 the table. The senate resumed the
bill lor the gradual improvement of the Nav;
of the United States—contemplating the csial>
hshment of two Dry Docks, the collection ani
Co. subsequently bocaino the Ownors of one-
fourth, by purchase from Samuel Copper,.who
had previously purchased from Major Vande
vemer; and they (Goldsborough & Co.) were
.recognized at the War Department, by tho
consent of E. Mix, expressed in a letter scut
by- h:m to the Secretary of War, and dated the
13tli of April, 1821.
Tho first bond, received by tlio Engineer
Department, on the contract, is datod 5th Au
gust, 1818, and describes the contract as hav>
ing been made by Elijah Mix and George
Cornier, for tho delivery of one hundred thou
sand |>orches of stone, being fifty thousand loss
than Mix was entitled to deliver. This bond
is signed by E. Mix and George Cooper, as
contractors; and by Samuel Cooper and James
Oakley, as sureties: the sureties wore regularly
approved by R. Rikcr, Recorder of the City
of Now York, as appears by his certificate fol
lowing immediately after the signatures, and
dated the same as tho bond. It will be
perceived, at once, that thero is an obvi
ous and fatal variance between this bond and
the contract. In an official letter written from
tho Engineer Depart mem, on tho 11th day of
August, 1818, to Lioutenant George Blaney,
and copied into the letter-book of that depart
ment, the contract is described as for oqo hun
dred thousand porches of stone. Tho language
of the letter is as follows: “You will inform tho
Agent that a contract has been mado with Cap
tain E. Mix, to deliver, as soon as practicable,
a *. Rjp jUfig*jjt£ Jiundjed thousand perch
In a subsequent - letter, written to James
Maurice, also copied into the same letter-book,
and dated tho -21st day of August, 1818, the
contract is described as being for two hundred
thousand perches. Tlio languogo of this lotter
is os follows: “Mr. E. Mix will spon-com
mence to deliver stono at the Rip Raps, under
contract with tiiis Department, for two hun
dred thousand porch."
Some time after the delivery at the Engineer
Department bflhe first bond, but at what pre-
ciso time docs not appear, a now bond was
.. signed
by E. Mix ns contractor, and Samuel Cooper
and James Oakley, ns sureties—and it is ante
dated to the Stl* of August, 1818—but no cer
tificate, in regard to the sufficiency of the sure
ties, was attached to this instrument. The com
mittee havo bcca uuablo to ascertain when this
second bond was received at the Engineer De
partment; though tho impression bf General
Swift is, that it was received before ho left {he
office, which “-was on the 11th bf November,
1818. Major Vandeventer also expresses his
belief, that it was delivered during the Fall of
1818. How far his testimony conflicts, if at
air, with his letter to Mix, dated 17th of Octo
ber, 1820, in which he urges upon the lattor to
attend to “the bond," tho committee will not
undertake to determine.
South Carolina moved to strike out that portiot
of the bill which provides for a $<aval.Acatfci
my; which was negatived, yeas .22, nays 24,
and the bill was ordered to a third Leading.
Saturday, February ,17.
The bill authorizing a subscription of stock,
on the part of tho United States in the Colum
bus and Sandusky Turnpike Company, wai
considered, and, as amended, ordered to a third
reading. The bill to establish certain post of*
fices and post roads, was read tho third tin
and passed. The bill for the gradual improve
ment of the Navy of tho United States was
read the third time and passed—Ayes 28, Niw
18. On motion of Mr. Smith, .of South Caro*,
linn, “the bill to provide for the trial of claims
to lands in tho States of Missouri, Louisiana,
Alabama, and Mississippi, and in tho Tcrrito*
rics of Arkansas and Florida, in the cases there*,
in specified,” was taken up and considered.—
Some discussion aroso in coscquonco-of the mo
tion of Mr. Dickenson to lay tlio bill ou the
table, with a view to take up the woollen bill,
The motion being negatived, the provisions ol
tlio bill wero discussed by Messrs. Smith, d
Soutli Carolina, Read, and Kane.
Monday, February. 19.
On motion of Mr. Dickerson, {he Woollen
bill was taken up. Mr. Berrien moved to re
fer it# to tho. Committco on (finance. After
somo discussion, this motion was rejected, aye*
23, noes '24.' Mr. Benton moved to tccoo*
mit the bill to tlio Committeo 011 Manufactures,'
with instructions to amend it so as'to make the
duty on raw wool equal to the highest duty Im
posed op woollen cloth. This motion wasdis-
cussed and rejected, ayes 23, ttocs 24. 3h'
Benton moved to recommit jthe bill with in
structions to amend it so as tb prohihjt the io;
portation of forbigufovool, after tile 1st January,
1828; lost, ayes 22, noes 25. Mr. Reed mov
ed to recommit the bill for an inquiry and re
port, whether tho duties imposod bo prohibito
ry; lost, ayes 22, noos 25. Other molioM
wero raadc.and rejected, when tho bill was 00
motion of Mr. Dtckorson postponed to, aw
made tho special order of tho day for tomorro ,f '
Mr. Rowan presented resolutions of tho Log's*
ltlturo of Kentucky*, approbatory of tho objects
of the Colonization Society. ■ Tlio Senate re
sumed tlte bill providing for the trial of law
claims in tlio several states and territories.
Johnson, of La. moved an amendment, whidt
was discussed at great length.
' . .» . Tuesday, February 20.
Tho Consideration of tho bill providing t° r
tlio trial of land claims in the states of
ri, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, nw
the territories of Arkansas aud Florida, in t" 0
cases_therein specified, was resumed, then 10 *
tion of Mr. Johnson of Kontucky still pciidit'i'
After considerable debate the motion was ca r ‘
fWd, The bill, after further discussion mw
mendment, was reported to the Sonatc,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Friday, February lb
Mr. F. Johnson spokoqu tho subject of
resolution of Mr. Saundors, until tho hour nM
expired. Tho general appropriation bill
passed. The IIouso thon took up the JU
making appropriations for the Military servio;
when somo discussion took place on the cla® 9
si