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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday, December 4. The fe!lowing committees were announced, having been appointed bjr the speaker, in pursu ance of the oriler of yesterday : Committee ofWays&'Meuns—Messrs.Lowndes, Smith of Md. Burwell, Pitkin, Abbott, Sergeant and Trimble. Of Elections—Messrs. Taylor, Tyler, Merrill, Shavv, Ross, Whitman and Strong. Of Commerce <Sj' Manufactures—Messrs. New- ton,Seybert, Moseley, irving, M’Laue, Craw ford and Kinsey. Of Claims—Mesars. Williams ofN.C. Rich, Bateman, M‘Coy, * 1 Huntingdon, Schuyler and Walker of Ky.. Of the District of Columbia—Messrs. Herbert, Miller, Peter, Boden, Strother,Claiborne 3j"Cobb. On the Public Lands—Messrs. Robertson of L. Anderson of K. Mercer, Campbell, Hendricks, Terry and Marr. On the Post-office and Post-roads—Messrs Ing ham, Blount, Barber of O. Townsend, Nelson ol M ass. Colson and Terrell. On Pensions A Revolutionary Claims—Messrs. Rhea, Wilkin, Uuggies, W.P. Maclay, Sherwood, Ellicott and Owen. On Public Expenditure—Messrs. l)e ha,Ander son of Pa. Harnett, Cushman, Culbreth, Hunter and Holmes of Con. On the Judiciary—Messrs. Nelson of Va. Hop- kinson, Spencer, Edwards, Beecher, Livermore and Hale. On Accounts— Messrs. Little, Bennett and Al len of Mass. Of Hevisal and unfinished business—Messrs Savage, Whiteside anti Westerloo, On Private Land Claims—Messrs. Herrick II eister, Pindall. Hogg and Tompkins. Committees of investigation iut ) expenditures cjj'c.—Fur the Department of Stute—Messrs. For syth, Hasbrouck ami Scudder. Fur the Treasury—Messrs. Lowndes, Allen of Vt. and Marchand. For the Department of War—Messrs. Johnson pf lv. Tucker, of S.C. and Harkimer. For the Xavy Department—Messrs. Pleasants. Stores and Sampson. For the General Post-office—Messrs. Ingham, JIubbard anti Huntingdon. For the Public Buildings—Messrs. Tucker of Va.^Drake and Orr. On so much of the President's Message as re lates to Foreign .If airs—Messrs.Forsyth,Holmes of Mass. Barbour of Va. Robertson of L. Porter. Orr and Goodwyn. On Military A[(fairs—Messrs. Johnson ofK. Bloomfield, Heed, T.M. Nelson, Nesbitt, Fornc and Gage. On the Militia—Messrs. Harrison, Smyth of Va. Quarles, Williams of Ct. Jones, Lynn anil Morton. _ On Xaval Affairs—Messrs. Pleasants, Silsbee, Wend over, Parrott.Ringgold,Savage A Schuyler. On Indian Affairs—Messrs. Southard, Wil liams of N.Y. Murray, Slocumb, Butler, Richards anti Parr. On Internal Improvement—Messrs. Tucker of Va. Talmadge, Ingham, Storrs, Claggett, Robert son of K. and Lewis. Respecting Amelia Island—Messrs. Middleton, Smith, Upham, Sawyer,Ball, Muinford and Cook. On the Public Buildings—Messrs. Parris, Bas sett, Bellinger,'Taylor, Forsyth,Crafts and Folger. Respecting the surviving Revolutionary Pairi- flts—Messrs. Bloomfield, Reed, Stuart, Rhea, Smith of Md. Wallace and Hall. Friday, December 5. Mr. Robertson ol L. ottered the following reso lution for consideration : Resolved, that the Pre- rlent of the United States be requested to lay be fore the House of Representatives such informa tion as he may possess and think proper to com- lnviicate, relative to the independence anti polit ical condition of the provinces of Spanish Am erica. The resolution having been read—Mr. Robert son saitl, that he supposed there would be no ob jection to t ie adoption ot the resolution which he And just submitted to the consideration of the House. He found, from the late message of the President, that toe attention of the House, as well as of the nation, had been, in a general way, di rected to the situation of (he provinces of Spanish America. The President hail observed too, and very truly that the citizens of the United States Sympathised in the events which affected their neighbors. Mr. R. said, that, as far back as tin- year 1811, this subject had excited considerable interest 5 that a committee had been raised ; the declaration of independence and the consti tution til \ enezueln, with other information, laid before it by the then President, and a report on them submitted to the Ho-.sc. The report a- other things, expressed much good will to- menls across the Ailantir, the situation of this people be thus interesting, surely it is not a mat ter of surprise that the citizens of the United Stales should with some solicitude turn their at tention towards them. Every republican in the United States must lament their disasters and ex ult in their triumphs : they tlo but follow the ex ample we have set them: we owe our glory and our fame to resistance to arbitary power, and the people of Spanish America, and all others, groan ing under oppression must owe their elevation and worth ofcharacter to the same circumstance. They tlo but follow in our footsteps; it is in vain to leuy or disguise the fact ; it is known throughout the world—whatever of injury despotism or priest craft have sustained, whether from the revolution of Fi ance, or that which now I hope flourishes in our hemisphere, is laid to the account of our glo- revoiution, and the excellent principles of our constitution. It is to be regretted, Mr. Speaker, that our ac quaintance with the people of Spanish America is not more particular and intimate than it is entertain but one sentiment about them—our feel ings are all in unison ; vet we differ ant! dispute on a variety of points, which it is desirable should be no longer suffered to remain in doubt. Vlexict Peru, Chili, Buenos Avres. Venezuela, New Gre nada are they independent ? Are they struggling for independence, or have they yielded to their European tyrant ? Have they made known their situation to the Executive Department? Have they demanded to he recognized as independent sovreignties ? do they govern themselves ? elect their agents,legislature, executive and judiciary ? lay anil collect taxes, raise and support armies anu navies ? It is probable that these facts are in the possession of the President; it is very well known that there have besn agents, men of high respec tability, sent publicly from the governments ot Venezuela, New-Grenada, Buenos-Ayres anil Mexico, to this country, and, for any thing I know to the contrary, from the other provinces. It is probable that they have not remained silent, but whatever they may have saitl has not been made known to this house, or to this nation. As our government is essentially nopular, I wish infor mation to he given to the people. 1 wish informa tion, that our judgments may sanction senti ments our hearts so warmly approve. I tlo not mean. Mr. Speaker, to commit myselfin regard to my future course—it must, to a certain extent, depend upon circumstances. This house wiii act as circumstances may require, but for my I have no hesitation to s 1st. A resolution to make provision by law for the widows of soldiers of the regular army, who were killed in battle or died in the service- ad. To provide for the disbanded officers of the army, who served in the late war by donations of land. , 3d. To establish three additional military ac ademies—one in the vicinity of fort Dearborn in S. Carolina—-another at Newport in Kentucky * and a third near Harper’s Ferry. One third of the cadets to be the sons of officers and soldiers who died in the service of the United States in the late war. 4th. To provide by law a corps of invalids, to consist of 1000 men. 5th. To provide by law for the repeal of so much of the act of congress of the 6th July, 1812. as au thorises additional pay and emoluments to brevet ranks in the army of the United States. 6th. That the military peace est ibliohment of the United States shall consist of 8000 men inclu ding the corps of invalids. Provided that the corps of engineers, the general staff' and the ordnance department shall be retained as at present estab- lised. Provided also, that no part of the army shall be disbanded in consequence of said reduc tion ; blit the same shall be effected by permit ting vacancies as tliey occur to remuiu. rth. That it is expedient to provide by law for one additional ration for each of the commissioned officers of the army -if the U. States. 8th. That the coonnittee on military affairs be instructed to report rules enioracing the objects of the foregoing resolutions. These resolutions were on motion of Mr. John son referred to a committee of the whole house, made the order of tlie day for D/onday, and or dered to be printed. Me. Tucker then off-red the following resolu tion, which was agreed to : Resolved, That the President be required to lay before the house an account of what roads were made over the union ; what roads were in progress—iu what parts par ticularly, and how far they were executed. Several other resolutions were then proposed by different members. Resolved, That the secretary of war be desi red to lay before the house an account of the nu tu ber of warrants issued under any laws lor milita ry bounty lands—of the quantity of laud inclu ded in those warrants—and of the quantity that will be necessary to satisfy the claims uuder those laws. Resolved, That the committee of commerce and Accruing duties. 1814— 3,262,197 12 1815— 6.242,503 55 1816— 4,633,799 34 1817— 3,002,000 00 Total 17,140,500 01 Duties received. 1,910,99501 4,976,529 HG 5,281,111 98 3,000,000 00 15,168,G56 85 Expenses of collection on sums received, 1814— 148,191 78 or 7 8-10 per cent. 1815— 279.277 67 or 5 6-10 1816— 253,440 42 or 4 8-109 1817— 180,000 00 or 6 per cent. i sav, that, if it shall appear I manufactures be directed to enquire into the ex- *.* 1 • 1 r nn.C.w.n.. .A* I... I 4* I 1! wards the Venezuelans, and an infection to ac knowledge their independence whenever their in dependence should be achieved. From that time to the present, silence had been observed in re gard to the a.tail's ot that part of the continent. The reason was obvious : we were soon after en gaged in war with England, and since the peace our own pressing concerns had occupied our at tention. The President has spoken, sir, of the interest and the sympathy we feel in the affairs of our southern neighbors. Perhaps it may he said with truth, that no subject pxcit.es throughout the civi lized world a stronger interest than the contest in xwiich the provinces cl-spanish America are engag ed. Every wind that blows wafts to our shores the schemes anil speculations ot Kuropean states* nicn ami politicians; Irom the frozen regions of tne north to the milder climes of the peninsula, it elicits remark & commands attention. liven Alex ander, he who indites epistles about peace and bible societies, while he wlicls the sword of Kit tle anti prepares the weapons of destruction, he, it is said, is about to furnish his Cossacks to' add to the horrors of, as it is called, the war of death, ibis thunders of the Pope too, the head of the Christian Church, began to be heard, and no doubt we shall soon see his anathemas giving up tlue peo ple ol South America, body and soul, to the pun ishments due here and hereafter to the crimes of rebellion and republicanism. If, then, to goreru- tliat the provinces of Spanish -America, or any of them, are really independent, no e i’ thy consider ation shall prevent me, in my public* chaiacter, from acknowledging them as sovreign states. jtlr. Forsyth said, he was too well acquainted with the temper ot_the people of the United States on this subject, to oppose any montion for enqui ring into it; such was not his object ; but he knew from experience, that some enquiries were pro per and some dangerous. In this ease, he though that all which could be known ought to he known : but he suggested to the mover of the resolution, whether it was not too broad in its call on the ex ecutive, &. whether it ought not to contain the usual qualification of excepting such information as the President might deem the communication of in compatible with the public interest. Mr. F. pre sumed the President had communicated all that he knew, or that he wished Congress to know on object ; and as it was usual in requesting information of t ie executive, to ask lor such onlv as the public interest would in his opinion, permit to lie disclosed, he proposed so to modify this motion, in which shape only could lie consent to vote for it. Mr. Robertson signified his ready assent to Mr. Forsyth's proposition. The resolution pass ed ncm. con. as modified, and a committee of two was appointed to wait upon the President with it. On motion of Mr. Seybert, resolved. That a committee he appointed to enquire into the expe diency of revising and amending certain acts concerning the Mint establishment of tiie United States, and that they have leave to report by bill. Monday, December 8. On motion of Mr. Rhea, resolved, that the Pre- sitlunt be requested to lay before the House of Representatives any information he mav possess, and thinks proper to communicate, relative to the proceedings of certain persons who took posses sion til Amelia Island at the mouth of the St. Ma ry’s river, near the boundary of the st ite of Gear- gia, in the summer of the present year, and made an establishment there; and also any information he hath, and may think proper to communicate, relative to an establishment made at an earlicf period, by persons of the same description, in the gull of Mexico, at a place called Galveztun, with in the limits ot the United States as we contend, uudi r the cession of Louisiana, together with the reasons inducing him to issue orders to suppress the saitl establishments. Alter some discussion the resolution was pass ed, and a committee ordered to wait on the Pre sident. On motion of Mr. Forsyth, the committee of commerce and manufactures were re-instructed to enquire into the expediency of making Darieu in the state of Georgia, a port of entry and deli very. Wednesday, December 10. Yesterday was the day of resolutions. There passed the house of representatives in that short sitting, besitles resolutions of inferior importance* no less than 15 of high consequence to the Union ; all without opposition. After a bill to repeal the the internal taxes, reported by Mr. Lowndes from the committee to which that subject of the Presi dent’s message had been referred, had been twice read, referred to a committee of the whole, and ordered to be printed. Mr. Johnson of K.brought forward a string of no less than eight resolutions on the subject of military affairs, all of them con- ducting to the effectuation of a permanent military establishment in this country. Most of the mat ter embraced in these resolutions was from time to time brought in one shape or other before the house, but was not brought.to maturity, owing to the scantiness ot time. They were yesterday brought forward in their incipient stages in the follow incipie several resolution .- pedieucy of providing by law for apprehendiu mil securing foreign seamen, deserting from fo reign vessels in our ports, contrary to their en gagements to serve on board such vessels. Resolved, That it is expedient to provide by law that all minors who were regularly enlisted in the army of the U. States during the late war, hail served 12 months, and were honorably discharg ed, shall be entitled to claim bounty in lands, or in money, by way of commutation for it. Resol veil, That the committee on public lands be instructed to enquire into the expediency of exempting from taxation the military bounty lands in the Illinois territmy. Resolved, That the committee of ways and means do enquire into the expediency of repeat ing the law laying a duty on salt—granting a bounty oil pickled fish exported, and allowances to certain vessels employed in the fisheries. Resolved, That the judiciary committee be in structed to enquire whether any, and if any, what alterations are necesrary in the judiciary. Repeal of Internal Duties.—The House resolv ed into a committee of the whole on the bill to abolish the internal duties, Me. Desha being call ed to the chair. The report of the committee of ways and means, which accompanied the bill is in the following words : The committee of ways and means, to whom has lieen referred so much of the president’s message as respects revenue, report— That they have supposed that they should best comply with the intentions of the house, by direct ing their first attention to the repeal of the inter nal duties, which occupied its deliberations during the latter part of its last session, and has been since recommended by the president. From the report of the secretary of the treasury, it appears that the clear revenue which will have accrued during the year 1817, will be about twenty-four millions and a half of dollars, while the ordinary annual expenditure, (including the provision for the extinguishment of the public debt) is estimat ed at less than twenty-one millions and a half.— While the committee do not consider the impor tations of the three last years as furnishing a cer tain criterion for those of future years, they believe that without a diminution of our exports, which is not to be anticipated, ora very considerable reduc tion in their value, the estimate of a revenue un der the present laws, of 824,325,000, as made by the secretary of the treasury may be safely relied on for many succeeding years. No doubt can be entertained under the circumstances of the Unit ed States, as to the propriety of reducing a reve nue so far exceeding their ordinary expenses, and the committee recommend a general icpeal of the internal duties, lliis will leave, according to the estimates of the secretary, a revenue of a- bmit twenty-two millions, exceeding the ordi nary expenditures by something more than half a illion. Some difficulties will always be found in deter mining the period at which the collection of a tax shall cease. The consideration, however, of the large proportion of the internal duties which will become payable in Jan’y, induces the committee to recommend that all internal duties should ter minate with the year 18l!”. The entire amount which will have accrued to the government on account of the internal duties, exclusive of the direct tax, from the 1st of Jan’y, 1814, to the 31st of December, 1817, may be esti mated at more than seventeen millions, and the receipts for the same time, at upwards of fifteen minions. The following statement will show the receipts of each of the three first years, with an estimate uf those of the 1th year e Total, 861,709 87 or 5 7-10 per cent. The charges of collection upon this revenue have certainly been higher than those upoa the impost. They have, however, been verv dif ferent at different times. Mr. Gallatin estimated them, in 1800, at something less than 6 per cent, on monies collected from the people. Mr. Dallas in one of his reports, supposes them, includin'- fees, to be about 5 per cent, and they have beea still lower in the three last years. This differ ence in the expense of collecting internal and fo reign duties, will not appear extraordinary, when we remember how few are the domestic products, which are subject to duty, and of foreign, which are exempt from it; how long and regularly the impo t ha ■ been acquiring maturity and improve ment. and how frequent have been the changes, and how short the duration of our system of inter nal revenue. In abandoning that portion of our taxes which is considered as the most inconvenient, neither congress or the nation will form so exaggerated a notion of these inconveniences, as to deter them from again applying to the same resource, when the necessities of the state shall require it. It is one of the duties of congress to provide, when it can do so, that the revenue shall be col lected from sources which may comport with public convenience ; but it is a higher duty to provide, from whatever sources the constitution may have opened to its operation, such a revenue as shall not permit the fate of a war, and the most important interests of the nation, to de pend on precarious ail'd often extravagant loans. I’lie government can have no reasonable fear but that the ciicumstanres which make internal taxes necessary, will find in the people a disposition promptly to pay them. The committee believe that in any future emergency, which shall require a resort to these taxes, the house of represeu. tatives will, unhesitatingly, perform their pecu. liar duty, by instituting them on a scale suited to the occasion. Tuesday December 11. Mr. Ilol mes moved a resolution that the com* mittce on roads and canals enquire into the expe diency of constructing a canal, connecting lake Michigan with the Mississippi : to unite Tenues, see river with the Tombigbee. On motion of Mr. Mercer of Va. resolved, that the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before this house, a return of the present strength of the army of the United •States, with the distribution thereof among the several military post- which it is designed to pro tect. together with any information which he may be able to afford respecting the competency of such force to preserve and defend the fortifica tions among which it is distributed, and to aid in constructing and defend such other military works if any, as it may be in the contemplation uf the government to erect for the more effectual secu rity of the United States, and of the several ter, ritories thereof. FOREIGN. Baltimore, Dec. 22.—By the arrival of t!.e schooner Cuba, captain Clackner, in 12 days from liavniina, we reaeived the Mexico Gazette, con taining the following important information “ Esteemed sir—At last we have obtained the fruits of our labors ; Mina has been taken alive, and is now entering this place. They also bring the head of Moreno. They have taken the two other Herreras, a Frenchman and other officers of their infantry. We killed several when we at tacked them, which was by surprise. A11 this has been achieved by Senior Orrauti. who left here at ten o’clock at night with cavalry for el Baradito, near la H.ichiqueza ; vvhieli news I comiminicale for the satisfaction of your excellency and of all the good and loving subjects of our sovereign, and I shall consider it very complete, if it gets to hand as expeditiously as 1 wish. God preset ve your excellency many years. In, gratio, October 28, 1817. JUAN DE PERGUF.IU. To the Viceroy Don Juan Ruiz dc Apodaea. Summary.—The emperor of Russia has sent general Yarmelow on a mission to the capital of Persia. The British exploring party, intendedta make discoveries respecting the Niger, had re turned to Sire Leone. They werestopped by one ol the chiefs of the interior about 150 miles be yond Nunez. The Russian fleet at Revel, con sisting of six sail of the line and some frigates was to be gqt ready for sea the last dates. It is said England made a loan of 400,000/. to Spain to induce her assent to the article of the treaty of Vienna, abolishing the slave trade. Passengers now sail direct from London for ports belonging to the Spanish Patriots, it is supposed Louis the 18th is abo>t to acknowledge Bernadette as tin legitimate heir of the Swedish throne. The In* dependents of South-Ainerica are now complete masters of both the Guayanas. In the province of Carraccas they are progressing, and hold se veral important ports. Simon Bolevar lias issued a flaming proclamation, dated the first of July- •Uorillo was deleated before the city of Guay ins, with the loss of 600 killed and wounded. Uol. Irvin lias been elected pres! lent of the provision’ al legislature of the Floridas. A weekly news paper called “ the Telegraph of the Florida*- has been established at Amelia Island.' Accounts from France state, that when the resignation »> the due tie Fettre was made known to the dak* ot Wellington, lie protested against the measure* and threatened, that if accepted, it-would he. COB** dered as a measure of hostility to England.