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CHRONICLE SENTINEL.
BY J. W. 8c W. S. JONES.
DAIL I 7
OFFICE IN RAIL ROAD HAWK BUILDING
TERMS— Daily Paper, per annum, in advance.-$lO
‘ T ri-Weekly Paper, “ “ “ "’ “ \
Weekly, (a mammoth sheet) ».
(’ASH SYSTEM. —In no case will an order for the
p. per be attended to, unless accompanied with Uie
money, and in every instancewhen the time for w ic
any subscription may be paid, expires before the re
ceipt of funds to renew the same, the paper, wi e
discontinued. Depreciated funds received at va u*> in
this city.
REPORT OP THE SECRETARY OP
treasury.
Treasi/R* Department, Dec. 8, 1847.
In obedience to law, the following report is
respectfully submitted. _ ,
The Receipts and Expenditures for the fiscal
y ea r ending on the 30lh June, 1847, were —
From customs -•523,747,864 66
From public lands 2,493,355 20
From miscellaneous sources 100,570 51
From avails of Treasury nates and
loans 25,679,199 45
Total receipts $52,025,989 82
Add balance inTrea’ry July 1, 1846 * 9,126,439 08
Total means $61,152,428 90
The expenditures during the same pe
riod were 59,451,177 65
Lear’g balance inTrea’ry July I, ’47-$1,701,251 25
The estimated Receipts and Expenditures
for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1848, are—
RECEIPTS, VIZ .*
Prom customs, Ist quarter, by actual
returns $11,106,257 41
Prom customs, 2d, 3d, and 4th quar
ters, as estimated 19,893,742 59
$31,000,000 00
Prom sales of public lands 3,500,000 00
Prom miscellaneous sources 400,000 00
34,900,000 00
Prom avails of Trea’ry notes and loans- 6,285,294 55
41 185 294 55
Add balance in Treasury July 1, ’47. 1,701,251 25
Total means as estimated - • • -$42,886,545 80
EXPENDITURES, VIZ :
The actual expenditures for Ist quarter
ending Sept, 30, 1847, were $16,469,194 69
The estimated expenditures for the
public service during the other three
quarters, from October 1, 1847, to
June 30, 1848, are—
Civil list, foreign inter
course, aod miscel
laneous $5,486,180 42
Army, proper, includ
ing volunteers 19,080,865 58
Fortifications, ordnance,
arming militia, &c • • 2,036,446 50
Indian department-• = 1,720,660 26
Pensions 1,063,523 66
Naval establishment •• 10,241,072 47
Interest on public debt
and Treasury notes- 2,250,577 18
Treasury notes outstand
ing and payable when
presented 267,139 31
$58,615,660 07
Excess of expenditures over means
July 1, 1848 $15,729,114 27
The estimated Receipts , Means, and Expen
ditures for the fiscal year commencing July 1,
1848, and ending June 30, 1849, are—
From customs $32,000,000 00
Prom sales of public lands 3 000,000 00
Prom miscellaneous sources-- -. ... 100,000 00
Total revenue 35,100,000 00
Deduct deficit July 1, 1848• • -15,729,114 27
means avaiiame tor service ot nscat
year ending June 30, 1849 $19,370,885 73
The Expenditures during the same period .
as estimated by the several Departments of
State, Treasury, War, Navy, and Postmaster-
General, are—
The balances of former
appropriations which
will be required to be
expended this year-$1,475,210 77
Permanent and indefi
nite appropriations*. 4,587,577 82
Specific appropriations
asked for this year-49,582,153 13
This sum is composed of the following :
Civil list, foreign inter
course and roiscella
neous» $5,613,061 52
Army proper, volun
teers, and Milkary
Academy 32,007,028 42
Fortifications, ordnance
arming militia, &c- 2,045,169 90
Pensions 1,694,318 84
Indian department 926,401 81 *
Naval establishment.. 10,905,558 55
Interest on public debt
and Treasury notes- 2,453,402 68
$55,644,941 72
Deduct ineans remaining applicable to
service of fiscal year ending June
30 - !849 19,370,885 73
Excess of expenditures over ineans
July 1, 1849 $36,274,055 99
It will be perceived that if the war is contiu-
ued until the Ist of July next, and no addition-
M al reven,le provided by Congress, nor any sums
W received from military contributionsin Mexico,
there would be a deficit in the Treasury on that
day Os $15,7*9,114 *7. For the reasons here
alter stated, under the operations of the Con
stitutional Treasury, it will not be necessary
hereafter to retain in the Treasury, to meet the
wants of the Government, and afford a con
stant supply for all their enlarged operations to ,
themmtand branch mints, a sum exceeding
$3,000,000. Adding this to the deficit in ih«
Tron-rurj- on me Ist ot July next, it makes the
sum of $18,729,114 27 to be supplied during
that period ; to meet which, if the expenditures I
authorized and estimated should take place
prior to that date ; a loan for that sum would
be required, if no additional revenue was de
rived from any source whatever. It is be
lieved, however, that if Congress would adopt
the following measures, which are recommend
ed to their favorable consideration, additional
revenue to the amount of $4,500,000 per an
num might be realized. First, from a duty on
tea and coffee of 25 per cent, ad valorem,
$3,000,000 per annum ; from the reduction and
graduation in the price of the public lands,
$1,000,000 per annum : and from the extension
of the pre-emption privilege to every bona fide
settler on our unsurveyed lands wherever the
Indian title may be extinguished, $500,000 per
annum. Should these measures be adopted
by Congress, die loan might be reduced to a
sum not exceeding, at the most, $17,000,000.
In estimating the loan at $17,000,000, allowance
is made for the fact that these measures for ad
ditional revenue could not all go into effect, so
as to produce the full amount during the time
intervening between the present period and
the Ist of July next; after that date, it is not
doubted that they would produce the full
amount of $4,500,000 per annum. The Pres
ident of the United States has, however, di
rected contributions to be levied in Mexico in
every form that may be sanctioned by the law
of nations. These contributions consist, first,
in diminishing the estimated expenditures, by
obtaining, as far as practicable, supplies for the i
army in Mexico; second, by duties upon im- i
ports, as a military contribution; third, by en- 1
forcing the Mexican duty upon exports; fourth,
by directing the seizure and appropriation to
the support of the war and the army of all the
internal revenues of Mexico, except transit du
ties, whether assessed by the General Govern
ment of Mexico, or by any department, city or I
town thereof. By the acts of September 2 i
1789, and the 10th of May, 1800, it is the duty
of this Department to report to Congress esti
mates of the probable amount that will be de
rived from all sources combined, in order that
no larger loan may be asked or effected than
would be requisite after deducting the amount
thus estimated. The sum to be realized from
these military contributions will depend upon
future contingencies. If our armies are with
drawn from the capital and ports of Mexico,
nothing would be received from such contribu
tions. If they were withdrawn from the capi
tal, retaining the ports, no safe transit being
open for imports into the interior, and to the
rich and populous portion of the country, in
cluding the mining region, a very small revenue
would be derived from this source, as shown
by past experience—probably not exceeding
$1,000,000 per annum. If, however, the ports
at present occupied by onr forces be retained,
and all the rest seized or blockaded, so as to
prevent the carrying of imports into the interi
or, through any other ports than those held by
our forces; if the roads were then opened into
the interior, through the city of Mexico and
the mining region and the route of commerce
across the isthmus rendered secure, it is my
conviction that the revenue from ail these
sources above specified ought not to be less, so
far as the duties on exports and imports are
concerned, than has heretofore been collected
by the Government of Mexico.
I have not been able to obtain any reliable
statement of the amount of duties realized in
Mexico upon exports; if, however, it were
fairly collected upon all the exports of specie
from Mexico, it would probably not amount to
less than $1,000,000 per annum, ft is not
known, however, thatso large a sum as realized
from this duty was ever recorded in the custom
house returns of Mexico. Under these circum
stances, it is extremely difficult to estimate the
amount of duties which could be derived from
this source, but they ought not to fall below
$500,000 per annum. The receipts from duty
on imports collected by Mexico have varied
from six to twelve millions of dollars per an
num; and 1 think it ought not to be less with
the ports and interior and the roads in our pos
session, and rendered secure for exports and
imports.
There are many reasons why it ought to be
greater.
The present duties are framed so as to yield
the largest revenue; whereas the Mexican ta
riff was in the highest degree protective and
prohibitory ; the duties, even when the goods
were admitted, being generally adverse to re
venue. There were also sixty articles, the im
portation of which was prohibited altogether,
among which were sugar, rice, cotton, boots
and half boots, coffee, nails of all kinds, leather
of most kinds, flour, cotton yarn and thread,
soap of all kinds, common earthen ware. lard,
molasses, limber of all kinds, saddles of all
kinds, cotton gnnds or textures chiefly such as
are made in the United States; pork, fresh or
salted, smoked or cured; woollen or cotton
blankets or counterpanes, shoes and slippers,
wheat, and grain of all kinds. The admission
of the prohibited goods at reasonable rates, the
change of the protective into revenue duties,
and the abolition of the heavy transit charges,
must of course increase imports and revenue,
and greatly enlarge our trade with Mexico,
bringing back specie in return for our goods
imported there. No nation, in proportion to
its wealth, can afford to import more than Mex
ico, because her great staple export, being spe
cie, is sought by all nations in exchange for their
goods imported there. Under onr brave offi
cers the money will not be lost, as it was to a
great extent by speculation under the Mexican
Government, and the lower duties will to a
great extent prevent smuggling. The duties,
also, being collected on the goods imported
from one Mexican port into another, will be
an addition to the amount exacted by the Mex
ican Government.
On the whole, I cannot believe that, under
the circumstances andcondition of things above
suggested as the most favorable to augment
these contributions, that the duties on imports.
our military possession, would be less than it
was under the Government of Mexico—espe
cially under the guaranty already given, that
in any treaty of peace it will, as announced, be
provided that the goods imported should neither
be confiscated or subjected to any new duty by
Mexico.
The internal revenue collected by the Mex
ican Government, as well as Departments, was
about $13,000,000 per annum
I do not believe however that any very large
portion of this revenue could be collected un
der our military system; and 1 have no suffi
cient data upon which to base any reliable esti
mate as to these sourcesof revenue.
Under these circumstances, it is impossible
to name any precise sum as that which proba
bly would be derived from military contribu
tions in Mexico. The more complete, howe
ver, the possession of the country by our
troops, the larger would be the revenue. Thus
much 1 have thought it incumbent on me to
say ; and, without being able to fix any precise
sum, it is my conviction that the revenue deri
ved from these various sources in Mexico
would be very considerable, and augmenting
from time to lime. In view, however, of the
uncertainty of the amount of these contribu
tions at present, and the delay in carrying them
into effect, if the measures proposed for aug
menting the revenue by duties upon tea and
coffee, the reduction ol the price of the public
lands, and the extension ol the pre-emption pri
vilege, should not be adopted by Congress, I
recommend that authority be granted to nego
tiate a loan for the sum of $18,500,000, upon
the terms authorized by the act of 28th of Jan
uary last. Should the war be continued until
the Ist July, 1849, an additional loan, amount
ing to $20,500,000, would be necessary if no
additional revenues be granted by Congress,
and no contributions were levied in Mexico.
As it is believed, however, that a considerable
sum must be derived from these contributions,
no further loan beyond the amount of $18,500,-
000 is asked al this period ; and it is believed
that this sum is all that will be required, iu all
/-» K /»Kl ll «/* Ooiigrcns, iu
December, 1848. It is possible, however, that
a further loan for a sum not exceeding $6,000,-
000 may be required before that time. Should
this be the case, there will be ample time to
communicate the information to Congress, and
ask a further provision for that amount.
A duty of twenty-five per cent, ad valorem on
tea and cofiee is again respectfully recommen
ded. By reference to tables. RR 1 and RR 2,
it appears that the aggregate value of onr im
ports of tea and coffee is progressing, and that
the impost suggested would probably yield an
annual revenue of $3,000,000, reducing the
loan, aiding the credit and finances of the Gov
ernment, and, with our other resources, secur
ing prompt payment to our gallant army and
navy, who are vindicating the rights, sustaining
the honor, and elevating the character of our
country. The experience of the last year
proves that no additional revenue, or none ex
ceding a few thousand dollars, could be obtain
ed from any augmentation of duties upon the
dutiable imports. No such augmentation is re
commended; and scarcely any revenue could
be derived from the few remaining articles on
the free list, exclusive of tea and coffee.
It is a sound rule, when contracting a public
debt, to provide, at the time, such revenue as
will be adequate for the prompt payment of the
interest, and the graduulbnt certain extinguish
ment of the principal of the debt. So long as
this rule is pursued, there is no danger of any
alarming accumulation of public debt, nor any
apprehension that the public credit will be im
paired or embarrassed. To refuse the tax at
this lime, would be to accumulate a large debt
with an augmenting amount of interest, and
with no certain means provided for the liquida
tion of such engagements. The credit of na
tions is best maintained when, for all their ob
ligations, adequate provision is made at the
time; and there is danger that increasing debts,
without any additional revenue, might expose
our finances to great hazard.
Diminishing expenses being one of the best
means of improving the finances, the charges
of collecting the revenue from customs have
been carefully examined, and every retrench
ment made compatible with the public interest.
The saving thus effected, notwithstanding the
vast increase of business, will amount, it is be
lieved, to nearly $500,000 per annum; not by
reducing wages, or reasonable compensation,
but by dispensing with every officer or agent
not absolutely required for the public service;
by curtailing the expenses of the revenue ma
rine; by introducing a more rigid and perfect
system of accountability; by classifying the ex
penditures, and arranging them in tables under
distinct heads; and, above all, by subjecting
them to the same checks, under the supervision
of the accounting officers of the Treasury, as
apply to appropriations made by law ; in regard
to which, Congress will, no doubt, be guided
by that wise and enlightened economy so im
portant at this time to the maintenance of the
public credit.
[continued to-morrow.]
Chronicle emit Sentinel.
AUGUSTA, GA:
THURSDAY MORNING, DEC. S 3, 184 T.
On First Page, Proceedings in the Legisla
ture on Monday.
Tine Mails.
The missing Northern mails came through
last night, but they reached the city also late an
hour that they could not possibly be distributed.
We were only enabled to obtain a few of our
exchanges, from which we have culled the cur
rent news. Our Telegraphic letters failed en
tirely to reach us.
We however learn from the Baltimore Ame
rican of Monday morning the 20th inst., that no
tidings had been received of either the English
or French steamers at New-Yorkat 10 o’clock
on Sunday night.
Improvement of Navigable Rivers.
We copy below, a message from the Mayor
of the city of New York, to its Common Coun
cil, on the interesting subject of improving the
Harbors and navigable Rivers in the United
States :
Mayor’s Office, New York, >
Nuv. 29th, 1847. S
To Ike Hon. the Common Council:
Gentlemen—l have received from the Atlantic
Harbor and River Committee, appointed by the Gen
eral Harbor and River Convention, assembled at Chi
cago Uuring mo present year, a cuniiiiuiiicauuii which
I transmit herewith to the Common Council.
I regard the objects embraced in that communica
tion as intimately connected with the commercial pros
perity of this city, and deserving the earnest and re
spectful attention of our municipal authorities. It will
be seen that the Convention was very numerously at
tended, by delegates not only from this city, but from
nearly all the other important cities and states of the
Union—that its objects were of no narrow, local or
partizan character, but that seeking the welfare of
the whole American people, it asks from the Nation
al Government the adoption of a just and liberal sys
tem which shall secure the improvement of the har
bors and rivers of the whole country in all its parts.
To prosecute these objects more efficiently, and to
concentrate the action of the different sections of the
country, an executive committee was appointed by the
Convention consisting of tw r o delegates from each of
the eighteen States represented. That Committee has
deemed it important to attain the most recent and ac
curate information as to the exisiting trade and naviga
tion of our harbors and navigable rivers ; and for that
purpose to apply directly to the municipal authorities
of the cities in the districts more immediately adjacent
to those waters.
To facilitate these inquiries the Union has been di
vided into several large districts, one of which em
bracing the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida in
clusive, has been assigned to the Ior«' from
——- ...v w.uuiunrothion in question nan been receiv
ed. It will be seen that its objects are to obtain from
the public authorities of this city authentic official in
formation as to —Ist. The extent of its trade present
and prospective. 2. The situation of the harbors and
rivers with which that trade is more particularly con
nected. And 3. The obstructions, ifany, to the per
fect navigation of those harbors and rivers and the pro
per means of improving their capacity, security and
means of access.
I am informed by the chairman of that committee
that similar inquiries have been addressed to the
Mayors of all the Atlantic cities, and to the public au
thorities of all the important trading towns on the coast
—and that it is deemed important not only to procure
the desired information in this authentic and official
form, but also to obtain the public actions and co-op
erations of those cities and towns, so far as it may be
thought proper, by petitions, memorials or otherwise,
in urging upon the general government the speedy
adoption of a just, constitutional and systematic plan
for the improvement and security of our navigable
waters, and such as our rapidly increasing commerce
so imperiously demands.
Without presuming to anticipate the action of the
Common Council on this interesting subject, 1 shall
nevertheless rely on their intelligence in believing that
they will regard it as a matter deeply atfecting the
interests and general welfare of our city, and that we
shall cordially unite with the municipal authorities of
our sister cities in such efforts as may be requisite to
induce the general government fully to discharge this
portion of its public duty.
In regard to our own municipal proceedings, the dif
ficulty, ifany, will be found in defining the limits with
in which its action and co-operation should properly
be confined. The commerce of our city, as the general
emporium of the Union, is co-extensive with the Union.
The property of our citizens will be found afloat on all
its waters, whether in the harbors of the Atlantic—
the ports of the Lakes —or the great navigable streams
of the West. No measure of improvement, increas
ing the security of any of those waters, can be adopt
ed which will not as directly affect the commercial in
terests of this city as if applied to the very harbor or
wharve s within our municipal limits.
Without entering, however, into these more gener
al views, it appears to me evidently proper and de
sirable, that the Common Council should furnish, in
an accurate and authentic form, the information sought
as to our own particular harbor ahd the navigable wa
ters with which it is immediately adjacent, and in so
'•"'"ff 1 ' *"■««--* **»»•
and usefully unite with the public authorities of Al
bany and Troy in such official statements and memo
rials in respect to existing obstructions in the Hudson
river, as may present that particular portion of the sys
tem to the consideration of Congress, with the force
which its importance demands.
I need hardly add that in furthering these objects it
will afford me much gratification to unite in any official
action which the Common Council may deem most
proper and expedient. William V. Brady.
The citizens of Savannah and Augusta are
as directly interested in the removal of all ob
structions in the navigable waters of the Savan
nah, as are the citizens of New-York and Alba
ny in improving the navigation of the Hudson.
The cases are precisely parallel. The Hon.
T. B. King, of this State, is a member of the
Atlantic Coast Committee, appointed by the
National Convention held at Chicago last Au
gust, as he is also Chairman of the Committee
on Naval Affairs in the House of Representa
tives. This gentleman will doubtless gladly re
ceive any information relating to the obstruc
tions. navigation and commerce of the Savan
nah between this city and the seaboard. If the
city authorities do not move in the matter, our
business men should at least lose no time in col
lecting and arranging statistics on the subject
and forwarding them to Mr. King.
The navigation of the Hudson has given to
the cities of Albany and Troy a population of
about 70,000. Improve the Savannah as it
should be, and you will at once reduce the
price or freights upon it, one-half, and add four
fold to its commerce. This done and the
same trade which has given to Augusta its pre
sent population, will augment its inhabitants
and wealth in a ratio equal to that ofits increas
| ed advantages. The commercial advantages
j of this city when fairly developed, wi|l be found
j far greater than most men are aware of. One
of these days the discovery will be made that
Augusta has advantages fully equal to those of
Cincinnati, for packing and exporting pork,
lard and beef. The large production of these
staples in the region north of us for 300 miles
I is an event which we confidently anticipate.
, With ordinary skill in grazing and tillage, pork,
beef, tallow, wool, mutton and pelts can be
produced and delivered in this market at a
round profit, for export. A great many thou
sand bales of cotton have been shipped from
Augusta to Liverpool. The day for exporting
thence wheat, flour, corn meal, provisions and
wool, is close at hand.
Some may smile at this prediction: but they
know nothing of the agricultural capabilities of
Northern Georgia, South Carolina and those
portions of North Carolina, Tennessee and
Alabama, whose farmers may be seen in our
market selling the fruits of their industry, and
buying their groceries and dry goods. The
extensive regions referred to, are now but
sparsely settled; but they are remaikably
healthy, reasonably fertile and rapidly filling up
with an industrious and most enterprising peo
ple. The intelligent citizens of this city know
well how to concentrate the trade of this rural
population at their own doors. No effort of
their’s will be wanting to render the navigation
of the Savannah all that can be desired. Pos
sessing an immense Hydraulic Power, now
ready for use, and soon to be set at work in the
most profitable manner, Augusta will pre
sent a market for every thing which the farmer
raises, that will tell most advantageously on all
the surrounding country. All the benefits of
skilful agriculture, manufactures, inland and
foreign commerce, are placed within the reach
of our citizens. We will not doubt that they
will make the necessary personal efforts to turn
these local advantages to the most useful ac
count.
Mr. Olidclon’g Second Lecture.
Those of our readers who attended Mr.
Gliddon’s first lecture on the Hieroglyphical
Researches in Egypt, will not need reminding
that another takes place this evening, in contin
uance of the subject. We have rarely seen an
audience so deeply interested. The Lecture
will compare the records on me Monumems or
the Nile, with Scriptural History, and elucidate
the religious creed of the Egyptians 3,500 years
ago, in regard to the immortality of the soul,
future state of rewards and punishments, and
the resurrection of the body. As there is no
question of the accuracy of the reading of
these by far the oldest Hieroglyphical records
of our race, no subject can well exceed it in
interest. A full house is confidently predicted.
to tike Dead Sea.
A paragraph in the New York Herald, some
time since, stated that a party of naval officers,
under the command of Lt. W. F. Lynch, would
shortly sail from that port, in the United States
store ship Supply, to the Mediterranean, for the
purpose of making an exploration and survey
of the Dead Sea. The editor has since receiv
ed the following interesting communication re
lative to the expedition:
To the. Tldilor of the Herald :—
la reference to the proposed surrey ot me £/eaa
Sea, several of the newspapers have asked, “ cui bo
no ?”
As the first public intimation was given, without
my knowledge, through your columns. I ask permis
sion to avail myself of the same medium to answer ,
briefly, to the point of abruptness, questions at once so
natural and so reasonable.
Although most reluctant to parade my insignificant
name in print, I take this step without an instant’s
hesitation, in justice to the enlightened statesman
whose mind in an instant grasped the importance of
the questions at issue and foresaw the credit to be ac
quired by his country in their solution.
For upwards of four thousand years, the Dead Sea
has laid in its deep and wondrous chasm, a wither
ing record of the visitation of God’s wrath upon his
sinful creatures. Itself once a fertile vale, teeming
with population and redundant with the products of a
favored clime, it no.v lies inert and sluggish, a mass
of dark and bitter waters, with no living thing upon its
shore, or above, or beneath its surface. Receiving at
one extreme, the mighty volume of a swift and unfail
ing river, and the numerous torrents that plunge into
it through the clefts in its sides, it slowly rises ard falls
in its own solitary bed, with no visib e outlet for its
tributary waters. Its lofty and fretted sides riven by
earthquakes —here blanched by the rain, there black
ened by the tempest, —rise perpendicularly fifteen
hundred feet on one side, and two thousand feet on the
other ; while from the summit the awe-struck specta
tor beholds floating upon its surface huge masses of
bitumen, thrown up from its mysterious v. rtex. —
Mount Lebanon is 9000 feet above the Mediterra
nean, and 10,300 above the Dead Sea, which is little
more than one hundred miles distant from it. The
“ Corral ” in the Island of Madeira is wonderful, for
it is the bed of a crater nearly level with the ocean ;
but here i* a sea, forty miles distant from another sea,
and upwards of thirteen hundred feet below it. The
unhappy Costigan, the only man who has undertaken
to circumnavigate this sea, and who perished in the
attempt, could, in one place, find no bottom, and it was
indicated by incessant bubbles and an agitated sur
face. Whether or not this be the crater of a sub
merged volcano, forming a subterraneous aqueduct
with the ocean, who can tell ? This unfathomable
spot, whether or not through an extinct volcano, in
connection with the depression of surface and the
height of a contiguous mountain, forms the most ex
iraordinay fault, orfissure, in the known world.
One great object of investigation will be to ascertain
wttetner tins sea and its shores are of volcanic or non
volcanic origin, and to refute the position of infidel
philosophers with regard to its formation. The eluci
dation of this subject is a disideratui» to science, and
would be most gratifying to the whole Christian world.
It is a mystery which has remained impenetrable since
the awful moment when the waters of that wondrous
sea first rose above the smouldering ruins of the vale
ofSiddim. The configuration of one-half of its shores,
and its very extent, are unknown. Its waters, of a
petrifying quality, and limpid as a mountain stream,
doubtless hold within their bosom, and holding will
reveal those ruins, upon the non-existence of which the
unbeliever states his incredulity.
Strabo, Diodoros, Pliny and Josephus among the an
cients—and Maundrell, Pococke, Abbe Martine, Cha
teaubriand, LaMartine, Stephens and Robinson among
the moderns, all differ as to the extent, and many of
the peculiarities of this sea. Considerable streams are
said to empty into it, the very names of which are un
known. Some have heard the gambolings of fish
upon its surface, while others deny that any animated
thing whatever can exist within its dense and hitter
waters. Fruits, luscious to the eye, but of nauseous
taste, and crumbling in the grasp, are said to be found
upon its shores. Many travellers deny the existence
of all vegetation, and Chateaubriand asserts that he
found branches of the tamarind tree strewn upon the
beach. Its southern coast is said to consist of masses
of solid salt; while, as far as the eye can reach from
its northern extreme, it beholds only the washed and !
barren hills of Judea on one side, and those of Arabia
Pclrea on the other. All is vague, uncertain and mys- |
terious. j ;
Are the questions answers'? Or, shall a small pecu- j
niary consideration withhold a country such as this, i
from such an undertaking 1
1 admit that it is not a summer’s excursion, and that
British officers are said to have twice failed in a like
attempt. Should that circumstance deter us? I ven
ture to say, that within the broad periphery of this
land, which, cradled between oceans, stretches from
the frigid zone to the topics, there is not one native
born or true hearted adopted citizen who will answer
in the affirmative. We owe something to the scien- 1
tific and the Christian world, and while extendiug the
blessings of civil liberty in the south and west, may
well afford to foster science and strengthen the bul
warks of Christianity in the east.
W. p. Lynch, U. S. N. \
W k understand that the Governor has ap *
pointed Col. Wm. W. Williamson of Chero
i kee, Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary.
Tornado in Alabama. — The Mobile Tribune
says: —We find another item of news respect
ing the tornado, in the Wetumpka Guard. Its
direction was from Southwest to Northeast.—
Some damage was done in the neighborhood of
Prattville, Autauga county. It passed through
Coosa county, doing great damage to proper
ty, but fortunately no lives were lost. It struck
the Tallapoosa river at Young’s Ferry, in Tal
lapoosa county, near which several wagoners
were encamped on the road to market, and two
of the wagoners and some dozen mules were
killed by the falling timber.
It is asserted that in all Italy, containing a
population of 22,000,000 souls, there are not
as many newspapers printed as would emanate
from the single city of Boston or Philadelphia ;
and they are small “7 by 9 sheets,” contain
ing little else than advertisements and the de
crees of government.
Out-Polking Polk. —The Mobile Advertiser
says:—The Register of yesterday has the fol
lowing :
A letter from Montgomery to a friend of ours in this
city, speaking of the Senatorial election, says —
“ You need have no fear of Lewis’s support of the
administration. He out-polked Polk in his Polkery.
His only objection to the territory indemnity is, that
Polk has not asked enough!”
We know that such was the general impres
sion at Montgomery at the time the Senatorial
election took place, and we have no doubt of
its truth. Mr. Lewis was understood to have
gone farther than Mr. King in his pledges for
ultra democracy. “D nhim,” said an in
veterate ‘ old hunker’ to us, *• Lewis gulps
down every thing in the shape of Democracy
without stopping to taste it. He is more of a
Polk man than Polk himself.” It was the
opinion of the said “ Old Hunker” that Lewis’s
democracy might possibly last him to Wash
ington city, but it would be a tight fit.”
From the Baltimore American of the 20 th inst.
The Flood in the West*
The papers received by last night’s Western
Mail are filled with accounts of the disastrous
effects produced by the recent severe freshet
in the Western River. The Sciota River has
overflowed its banks, washing away the turn
pike, bridges, culverts, &c. On this as well
as on the smaller streams emptying into it, vast
amounts of hogs and other stock have been
washed away.
ti.« latoar Cincinnati papers received are
those of Monday last, and we arc therefore
without any fartiier accounts of the effects of
the freshet in that city than those received by
telegraph.
The Pittsburgh Gazette of the 17th inst. con
tains the following notice of the flood in the
Ohio and Muskingum Rivers.
By the politeness of Capt. Gray, of the Cin
cinnati packet Pennsylvania, which arrived at
this port last evening, we have further particu
lars of the disastrous flood of the last few days.
He says that at no time since the memorable
flood of 1832, has the Ohio river been so high
as at nresent. The destruction of property
along the river and the distress of the inhabi
tants is truly appalling. In the towns of Guy
andotte. Point Pleasant, Pomeroy, Hocking
port, Parkersburg, Point Hanner, Marietta and
Sun Fish, many families were compelled to
leave their dwellings, and others removed to
the upper stories.
Most of the Islands between Kanawha and
Wheeling, are entirely covered. Fences, corn,
wood and property of all kinds have been car
ried away by the water.
All the people residing in the low lands have
abandoned their dwellings and taken refuge on
the hills, leaving their property to the mercy of
the water, being satisfied to escape with their
lives.
When the Pennsylvania passed Portsmouth
the river was rising at the rate of four inches
per hour, and at Marietta the Muskingum river
was found to have commenced rising the se
cond time, and more rapidly than before.—
Fears were entertained that the ships now on
the stocks at that port, would be carried off.—
The late rains have been very heavy in the val
ley of the Muskingum river. At different points
on their way up, the} saw several houses afloat,
and innumerable quantities of corn, hay stacks,
&c. On many of the farms, the people were
observed gathering their corn, from the fields
in flat boats. At Gallipolis the river lacked but
5 feet of being as high as in ’35 and was rising
rapidly. In many places it was difficult to tell
where the main channel of the river was, the
low ground being overflowed for several miles
in width.
The steamer passed across fields on her way
up fully thirty feet higher than the channel of
the river at low water mark.
Capt. Lucas, of the steamboat Mary Stevens,
reports the distress occasioned by the flood be
low Marietta, as being truly alarming. People
deserting their dwellings in such haste as to be
compelled to leave their property, others taking
what they could in boats and removing to the
hills.
By Telegraph.
Cincinnati, Dec, 17. —The river rose five
inches last evening, and is still swelling. The
weather is clear and cold, which fortunately
prevents the snow now on the ground from
melting to any extent, or the flood would be
greatly heightened.
Dec. 17, 9 P. M. —The flood is subsiding.
The river has been at a stand nearly all day, j
and J am now rejoiced to be able to announce |
that it has fallen one inch within the last few '
hours. The steamer New England, arrived (
from above, reports the waterssubsiding. The
wpatlmr in still pleasant. i
Zanesville, Dec. 17. — The Flood at Zanes
ville.—The Muskingum river has risen two j
feet within the last twenty-four hours, and is
now three feet higher than during the flood of
1832. Part of the town is inundated, the levee I
having given way this morning, and at least a
hundred families have been forced to leave their
dwellings. Extraordinary exertions were made :
to save West Zanesville, together with the '
mills located there, and the bridge, which i
will probably succeed, as the waters now appear
to be at a stand.
- I
Curious Case. —A child about four years
and a half old, son of Mr, J. H. Sweet, of j
South Reading, accidentally swallowed a cop- i
per cent some two months since. Several phy
sicians were called in; and he was made to
vomit at intervals for twenty four hours after
the accident. Subsequently he remained pret
y well, with the exception of a difficulty of
swallowing. Mr. Sweet, suspecting that the
cent was still lodged in the throat, took the
child last Thursday to Dr. Wyman, of Cam- I
bridge, who passed a probing instrument down
the little sufferer’s throat, and distinctly felt the i
cent. The doctor then made a sort of double i
hook of common covered bonnet wire, which
he passed into the throat, and on the first trial I
succeeded in hooking up the cent, which was
lodged in the aeso pha gus, standing edgeways!
The child is now as well as ever.— Boston
Transcript.
Look Out !—There is an impression abroad
that the clan of Horse Thieves has been of late
re-organized in certain sections of Georgia and
Alabama, and that the owners of quadrupeds
should look to their cattle. Within a week or 1
so some daring deeds have been performed, '
and we notice that almost every paper we
open contains divers advertisements of strays |
or stolen animals. We give fair notice that the ,
game is on foot, and warn our readers to look
out for the players.— Columbus Enquirer. ,
| PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS
First Session—Thirtieth Co ntnu.,
j Correspondence of the Baltimore American
IN THE HOUSE Dec. 18.
[The Senate did not sit to day.]
The Speaker announced that the first busi
ness in order was the report of the select coni
mittee upon the Rules of the House.
The question being upon agreeing to the sub
stitute reported by the committee for the one
hour rule, [which substitute extends the time
, which each member may occuoy in debating
I any question in the House or committee to on
hour and a half, and g : ves the member who
reported the measure under consideration f roin
any committee, the privilege of opening and
closing the debate ; and also allows any
ber five minutes to explain the object, nature
and effect of any amendment which he may of
fer.]
Mr. Pollock,-of Pa., moved to amend the sub
stitute by reducing the time to one hour, as al
lowed under the former rule,
Mr. Pollock briefly supported his amend
ment, and expressed a hope that a Whig Con
gress would not abolish a rule which had been
adopted by the Whig majority in the 27th Con
gress, for the purpose of expediting the busi
ness of the House.
Mr. Truman Smith spoke in opposition to
limiting the time to one hour, upon the ground,
principally, that there were many very iinpor
tain subjects which no member could properly
discuss in so short a time,
Mr. Henley, of Indiana, supported the a
mendment of the gentleman from Pensylvania
(Mr. Pollock.) The rule had been adopted as
the honorable member had stated, by the Whig
majority in the 27th Congress, and though the
Democratic minority had opposed it at that time,
it wus found to work so well that the Demo
cratic majority in the 28th Congress had adopt
ed it as one of the rules of the House, and had
continued it in the succeeding Congress.
Mr. Woodward, of S. C.. spoke briefly in
favor of the one hour rule, which iie contended,
did not in the ieast abridge the freedom of de
bate.
Mr. Caleb B. Smith advocated the substitute
reported from the committee, and thought its
practical operation w T ould afford satisfaction to
the House.
Mr. Vinton thought that the debates o< the
House had lost character by the working of the
one hour rule, and that the House had also lost
courtesy by it, as it sometimes induced mem
bers to refuse to give way for explanation in
order that they might lose no portion of their
allotted time. He thought that liberty of de
bate should be unrestricted, except in an emer
gency; and that was simply provided for by
the rule allowing the House to fix a period
when the debate upon any measure should ter
minate.
The debate was also participated in by
Messrs. Collamer, Cobh of Ga.: Wick and
others, when a motion to adjourn was made
and lost.
The debate was then resumed by Mr. Thom
son of Pa., in favor of the one hour rule.
Mr. Goggin moved to lay the whole subject
upon the table, which was disagreed to.
After some further debate, Mr. Brodhead
moved the previous question, which was se
conded, and the amendment of Mr. Pollock
was agreed to.
The substitute reported from the committee,
as amended, was then adopted, so that the one
hour rule is retained, with the privilege to the
member reporting the measure to open and
close the debate, and to every member propo
sing an amendment to occupy five minutes in
explaining such amendment.
The rule reported from the committee to au
thorise a register of those who intend to debate
a bill, resolution, or other matter, to be kept
by the Clerk, and the order of their speaking
to be determined by Jot, was rejected.
A rule was adopted that “ members may ad
dress the House or committee from the Clerk’s
desk, or from a place near the Speaker’s chair.”
[This is the plan adopted in the British and
French Parliaments.]
A rule was also adopted that except during
the last ten days of the session, no motion to
suspend the rules shall be entertained by the
Speaker, except on Monday of every week ;
and except also for the purpose of going into
committee of the whole, or for providing for
the discharge of the committee from the fur
ther consideration of any bill referred to it,
after acting, without debate, on all amendments
that may be offered.
A rule was also adopted, that whenever the
Committee of the Whole finds itself without a
quorum, the chairman shall thereupon cause
the roll to be called, and the Committee shall
rise and report the names of the absentees to
the House, which shall be entered upon the
journals.
A rule was also adopted that in Committee
of the Whole, all business shall be considered
and concluded in the order of reference to
them by the House, except general appropria
tion bills, which may be preferred at the dis
cretion of the Committee.
Upon the last resolution reported from the
committee, providing for a committee on the
Smithsonian institution, a debate arose, in
which Mr. Andrew Johnson advocated the ap
pointment of the committee, and denounced
the manner in which the legislation in relation
to the Institution had been conducted.
Before any question had been taken upon the
rule for the appointment of the Smithsonian
Committees, Mr. C. J. Ingersoll offered a
resolution, which was adopted, that the rules
of the last House, with the modifications this
day adopted, be the rules of the House for the
present session of Congress. The House then
adjourned-
From the Washington Correspondent of the
Charleston Mercury.
Washington, Dec. 17.1847.
Both Houses have adjourned in respect to the
memory of Mr. Dromgoole, formerly a Rep
resentative from Virginia. We have done lit
tle yet bat appoint Committees, and are now
engaged in the House in a debate upon Inter
nal Improvements, the interest of which was
heightened by receiving while it was in full
flood the President’s Message vetoing the Har
bor bill of last session.
Resolutions respecting our difficulties with
Mexico ha.-, oeen introduced by Mr. Calhoun
in the Senate, and by Mr. Holmes in the
House. We will have the views of those gen
tlemen more in extenso when they come up
for consideration.
Special Notices.
jjpT An Flection will take place at the several
places for holding Elections in the county of Rich
mond, on the first Monday in January, fora COUNTY
SURVEYOR.
JESSE KENT, j. i. c. r. c.
VALENTINE WALKER, j, i. c. R. c.
JAMES HARPER, j. i. c. r. c.
IGNATIUS P. GARVIN, j. i. c. r. c.
n 25 WM. P. BEALLE, j. i. c. r.c.
Medical Card* --Doctor MEALS lenders
his professional services, in the various branches ol
medicine, to the citizens of Augusta and vicinity.
He may be found either at the office formerly occu
pied by Thos. and J. J. R. Flournoy, Esqs., on
Mclntosh-street, or at the residence of Mrs. Water
man, on Broad-street. dl-6m*
HIT Sands’ Sarsaparilla. --Exhausted by the
heats of summer, the vital function’s at this season of
the year are seldom performed with the vigor and
regularity necessary to perfect health. The secretive
organs but lazily fulfil their duty; the digestive pow
ers become relaxed ; while the surface of the body but
imperfectly exhales the waste water which should
puss off through the pores, and the excretory organ*
do not act with their accustomed vigor. The conse
quences are cutaneous eruptions, running-sores,
glandular swellings, a morbid condition of the liver,
dyspepsia, &c. In some cases one of these results,