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an-1 another in which it ha* been omitted or
mfcaiicd) and the return* of the officers
who wrie charged with this duty, which will
be laid before you, will give you the pleating
a.Tuance, that the present population of the
Uuited States, borders on fjur millions of
persons.
It is proper also ro inform you, that a fur
ther loan of two millions and an half of flo
rins, has been completed iu Hodand ; the
terms of which are similar to those of the
one last announced, except as to a small re
ducVion of chafes Another, on lrke terms,
for fix millions of flirins, had been set on
foot, under circumstances that alfuted an im
mediate completion.' J
Gentlemen of the Senate,
Two treaties, which have been provisional
ly concluded with the Cherokee®, and Six Na
tions of Indians, will be laid before you for
your coofideration and ratification*''
Gentlemen oj the Hvufe of '
Rep> e,ematives.
In entering upju the discharge Os your le
gifiative trull, you u»uftanticipate with plea
sure, that many of the difficulties, neteirari
ly iocident to the arrangement of a new go
vernment for an ex enfive country, have been
happily surmounted by the zealous and judi
cious exertions of your predecelTots, iu co
operation with the other brauch of the legis
lature. The important objects which remain
to be accomplice I, will, I am persuaded, be
conduced upou principles equally comprehen
sive, and equally well calculated for the ad
vauceinent of the general weal;
The time limited'for receiving fubfcriptiwnS'
to the loans piopofed by the ad making pro
vision for the debt of hr United States, ha
ving expired, ftatetnen s from the proper de
pjitment, will as foil as poifible, apprize
you » f the exad result.- Enough, however,
is already known to asst-rd an aflurance that
the v ews ot that ad have been fubflautially
fulfilled. The fubfeription in the-domcftic
debt of the United Stares has embraced, by
far, the gteatell proportion of that debt, af
fording, at the fame time, pro* f of the ge
neral fatisfadion of the public creditors with
the fyflem which ha* been proposed to their
acceptance, and ot the spirit of accommoda
tion to the convenience of the government
with which they are aduated.
The fubferiptions in the debts of the re
fpedive dates, as far as provisions of the law
have permitted, mat be laid to be yet more
gei.e-al. The part cf the debt of the Uuited
States which remains utifubfcribed, will na
turally eugage yi>u r lu'ther delibetatious.
It is partKuhriy picjfing to me, to be able
to ar.uouuce to you, that the revenues which
have been established, piomife to be adequ te
to their objeds, and may be permitted, if no
unforfeen exigency occurs, to loperfede for
the ptefent, the necefluy of any new burthens
upon our condiments.
An ohjed which will claim your early at
tention, is a provilion for the current fcrvice
of the eniuing year, together with luch af
cc taioed demand* upon the Treasury, as re
quite to be immediately difehatged, and luch
casualties as may have anfen in the execution
ol the public bufiuefs, for which no fpecific
appropriation may have yet been made ■, of
all which, a proper efiimatc will be laid be
fore you.
Gentl men of the Senate, 'and of
the tioi'Jeof Reprejentattves ,
I shall content mvlelf with a general refe
rence to former con mutlications for fcveral
objeds, upon which the urgency of other af
fairs hathuheito postponed any definitive re
folutiou —their importance will recall them
to your attention ; and I cruft that the pro
gicfs al/eady made iu the nvoft arduous ar
rangements of the government, will afford
you Jeilute to rrfume them with advantage.
Thereai e,however,lomc ofthem which I can
not forbear paitiiularly ton.entn n. Thefeeie
militia—-the p‘>fl*oflue and post-roads the
mint— weights and meafiMes—-a provision for
. the fate of the vacant lauds of the Uuited
States.
The fir ft is certainly an objed of primary
importance. whethei viewed iu lefeteure to
ti e national feunity, to the fatisf/idiou of the
ci n muuity, ot to the preleivatioo of oidei.
Jo connesion with this, the eflahlithuieut of
<<mpc'ct;t roagsfirt# and •ifcnali, and the
fut flea*ion of iu<h plates is ate peculiajly
imfort-nt snd viih.fiat.lt, uaiuully pu lent
ihcmicivti to cvuhucuuou.
The fafety of the United State?, under di
vine ptotedion, ought to left on the basts of
fyftei«a*rc and solid arrangements; exposed
as little as pi.fl b'e to tLe li&zaids of loi
tuitous cii cu tr.ftantes.
The importance of the pofl-office and poft
roads, on a plan (efficiently liberal and com
prehensive, as they refped the expedition,
fafety and facility of communication, is in
creased by the inftrumentaiity in differing a
k owledge of the laws and proceedings t f the
goveri men?; which, while it contributes to
the security of the people;ferves also to guard
them against the effeds of mifreptefentation
and misconception. The eftabliftmient of ad
ditional croft-pofts, especially to some of the
important points in the weftern and northern
parts of the union, cannot fail to be of ma
terial utility.
The disorders in the exifling currency, and
especially the scarcity of small change, a
scarcity so peculiarly diflrefling to the poorer
clalTes, ftronglj; recommend the carrying in
to immediate effed the resolution already en
tered into concerning the eftablnhment of a
mint. Measures have bvCn taken purfu?nt
to that resolution, for procuring some of the
mod necessary articles, together with the re
quisite apparatus.
An uniformity in the weights and measures
of the country is among the important objects
submitted to you by the Constitution ; and if
it can be derived from a ftandaid at once in
variable and universal, mud be no less ho
norable to the public councils, than conducive
to the public convenience.
A provision for the sale of the vacant lands
of the United" States is particnlarly urged,
among other rtafons, by the important confi
detations—that they are pledged as a fund to
reimburse the public debt ; that if timely and
judiciously applied, they may save the necefi
litr of burthening our citizens with new taxes
for the extinguilhment of the princ pal; and
that being free to difeharge the principal, btit
in a limited proportion, uo opportunity ought
to be loft for availing the public of its rights.
G. WASHINGTON.
United States* GSober x 5, 1791.
After the delivery of the aiove address,
Mr. Speaker and the Members returned to
the House, when, on motion of Mr. Law
rence, the speech was refered to a committee
of .he whole House to-morrow.
Mr. SMITH,
I HAVE just been looking over the Charge
delivered by the Honorable James Iredell,
Efqnirej to the Federal Grand jury for the
diftrid of Georgia ; as also the Grand Jury’s
Preientments following the fame
His Honor Teems to have been so intent on
fhewi/g the Grand-Jury the white fid* of the
Constitution, and palliating the conduct of the
Supreme Legjiature* in their partial excise
ad, that he f »rgot to point out to them the
principal intention of Grand Junes; that is,
to present all breaches of the penal laws, by
way of guarding the morals of the people,
and preserving good order in society.
Though I perfectly coincide with the Grand •
Jury in every fewtinfeut expressed in their
Prefen'.mems, (and wirti the fif:b had been
more potent and pointed) yet I think the
whole of them would come much more pro
perly before a committee of propositions and
grievances, in a legillative capacity, than be
fore a Grand Jury, or any other branch of
the Judiciary department. —Let us humbly
hope the Legislature will profit by the hints
the Grand Jury have afforded them.
The best and most sensible of men may be
misled by sophistical arguments: Hence we
fee his Honor labouring to reconcile-the Grand
jury (and through them the bulk i f the peo
. pie) to a nteafure which flared them in the
face, as ** partial and uujufl iu the highest de
gree.”—From the candor and uprightoefs of
the general tenor of his Charge, and from the
eucrai traits of patriotism and conlcieuciouf*
ueft exhibited therein, I have not a doubt but
be laboured to difeharge. agreeable to the
dictates of confiience and the tiue iuterefts
1 f his country, the important duties of the it a.
non in which he ad* 1 Rut haviug (as 1 (up
pole) been only conversant with thole who
weir in favor of the law, he has not attend
ed to thepoweiful objections made to it 1 mi
>t wlmh, the Gtaod Juiy haa very judictoul
!/ taken noun of.
Every man, pofleflVd of the true amor pa
tna, rauft be con erned at lUppoling the final
left occasion for arraigning any of .he mea
furca of .he government under which he lives:
Rut if he withe? to prevent future measures
bciug more repreheufible than past ones, per*
haps it is his duty to exp >fe his ideas to pub
lic view. On that thesis I proceed.
I, like most other thougb'lef* fellows, when
I pick up a news-paper, read it cursorily, and
then throw it away. This prevents my col
leeting intd one view, the various objection*
I have read against the excifc lawj but such
as occur to rat, I will let down in my own
loose manner.
Some of our government gentlemen tell us,
the bate of Georgia is the last that ought to
complain ; because but little spirits are distil
led here.—Tbofe are narrow politicians in
deed ; They only look at the present moment,
and trample justice under foot —The state of
Georgia is perhaps the best calculated foe
railing peaches, of any state in the Union;
and all the phvlkians tell us that spirituous li
quors are necessary in this warm climate ;
and the boasted exccife law obliges us to give
an advanced price for this necessary of life,
only to aggrandize the fortune of jpecious de~
magogu /, and iucrcafe the influence of s he
Suprente Executive, to the annihilation of the
phantom, Liberty.
Tne owners of ftHls in the northern dates,
can keep them employed all the year; con
fejuently, by paying their excise duty agree
able to the content# of the (till, can reduce it
to less than one cent per gallon on the quanti
ty made; whereas in our warm climate,
where our dills are principally intended foe
diflilling brandy, they can be employed but a
few weeks in the year ; so that the poor plan
ter is obliged to give iu the quantity made,
or pay higher than if he did. His lowed ex
cise duty is nine cents per galloa; at lead
nine times as much as his northern brethren
pay.
It his been aliened by many who have
pried into the fyflem of finance in Great-
B'iiain, that the excise iu that kingdom never
produced as much money as paid the excise
officei s their salaries
The pteteuce fur an excise is the exigen
cies of government; but if no other exigent
cy is to be auftfered by it, than ilrengthen-’
mg the hands of the Supreme Executive (al
ready too strong) jurely ihe several state Le
gillatures will protelt and remonstrate, in the
moft Joltmn\manner* against thewahton and un
n.ceffary exercile of a power, delegated to
the general governmen’ far better purposes.
PHILANTHROPOS.
AUGUSTA, November 26.
HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES.
W'ednefday , November 24.
THE House proceeded to take up the Re
port of the Committee to whom were referred
the several papers and documents prefeuted
to the present Legislature, relative to the
election of a Member to reprefeot tht Lower
Diftrid of this state iu the Congtefs of'the
Uuited States; and the fame being read and
amended, is as follows :
That it appears from the affidavit of Jeffs
Bell and others, that tb-? ele&ibn in the county
of Effingham for a Member to represent the
Lower D'ftrid of this state in the Congress
of the United States, held on the 3d day of
January lalt, was contrary to the law of this
state, two of the persons, presiding at the
fame, not being qualified jurtices, and there
appearing to have been nine votes more than
voters at the fame ; and that-the proceedings
at the said election, are highly censurable.
That tile return if the eledion of Glynn
county was fupp* effed, a measure dangerous
in its confeqi eucea, an infringement on the
privileges of the county, and the liberties of
a free people.—That, from the affidavit of
Alexander lohnftou Speirs, it appears that
the Honorable Judge Ofb »rue undertook to
convey the said return to the Executive; but
that the lame, together with the return of the
county of Camden, from the affidavit of Sa
muel Hammond, weit lent to General An
thony Wayne, which last return ouly was de
livered to the Fxerutivc in due time.
It lurihn appear! to your committee, front
ibl lulitft I'twolf, that the Jfjtal poll for the