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PUBLIC INTELLIGENCER. Joi. 11. No. 84.] THE INTELLIGENCER, .SHfELISHEB ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS , By NORMAN M‘LEAN, GN THE BAY, iT SIX DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE ONE HALF IN ADVANCE. CONGRESS OF THE U. STATES. IN SENATE. Mr. GILES’S SPEECH, On the bill more effectually to en force the embargo laws. Mr. President , I am sensible that I ewe an apol. Ogy to the senate, as chairman ot the committee, for not having made an exposition of the objects anti princi pies of the bill reported for considera tion, at an earlier flage of the discus, fion. 1 his oin>ln on has not in the ! smallest degree been influenced by ! any apprehension, that these objects | and principles are indeLnfible; but | in fome degree from a desire to fereen : myself as much as possible, from in termixing in discuflions; a talk which is never agreeable, but is at present peculiarly distressing and afflicting to my feelings. I also thought, that the i fdlion had already been fufFiciemly fruitful of difeuffions intimately con ned with the bill before us : and i that the public intcrefh at time requited cfltxon. I know too, fir, that 1 owe an apology to the fen ate, for the great number of amendments which, under their indulgence, has been made to this bill after it was fuff presented to their consideration. But hr, you will fi id fome apology in the intrinfle difficulty and delicacy of ihe fubjett idelf, and also in the disposi tion manifefted by the committee, to give to the objections made by the opponents of the bill, that refpeaful attention, to which many of them were certainly entitled; and to accom modate its provisions as far as possible, to tne views of thole gentlemen. Af ter every effort, however, to effect this obj .Ct, it ftii! appears that the bill prints temptations for addre fling the popular fenfibiiuy, tco (trong to be refilled by gentlemen in the opposition. They have accorcingiy with great zeal anvi ability, dcfcribed the provisions of this bill as dangerous and alarming to the rights and liberties of the peo ple. This, fir, is the common coutfe i of opposition, and applies to everv urong measure requiring the exercise of much executive diferetion. I think, however, l shall be able to shew, that there is no new principle contained in the provisions of this bill; but that every provision it contains, is amply juftified by precedents in pre-extfting Jaws, which have not been found to be so defbudive to the rights of the people, as gentlemen ftrenuoufiy in fifl similar provisions in this bill will be, if they receive the fanttinn of law. In performing this talk I shall bring into view oniy such parts of the bill, as have been objected to by gentle men, preluming, that as their objec tions have evidently been the refuit of great mduftry and deliberation, all o ther parts of the bill remain unobjec tionable. Ifh dl also, perhaps, avoid fome of die observations refpe&ing nuuute details; apply mv remarks generally to principles; and thus bring my observations and replies into as ihort a compuls as possible. ‘I he gentleman from Conneßicut, (Mr. Goodrich) commenced his re run ks by uechuing the embargo to be a permanent meature, and depreca i.ng its effects, as ruinous at home and SAVANNAH, FRIDAY, Januakj 20, 1809. ineffectual abroad. Thcffi cbferva ’•it n; have be n repeatedly made by ‘hers, and already replied toby feve *l gentlemen, as well as myfdt; and I am fhengthened in ihe correctness • f hole replies by all the fuitber re flations 1 have been enabled to be llow upon them. This part of the fub je£t will, therefore, be pafled over without further notice, except to re mark, that perhaps one of the causes of the inefficacy of the measure abroad has been the unprincipled violations of its proviiions at home ; and tfie great and leading objett of the present bill, is to prevent loch violations,— Upon this part of the fubjed, I am happy to find that one of its moft strenuous and judicious oppofers ( Mr. Hillhoufe) has informed the senate, that the provisions of ihe bill are admirably calculated to eff ct the object—and if in their practical ope ration, they should realize the charac ter anticipated by the gentleman, I shall feel no regret fur that portion of labor I hve bdtowed upon them.- Indeed, I shall congratulate the com mittee as we!) as my fell in having been so fortunate as to find a competent re medy for so great an evil. The gentleman from Connecticut, (M. Goodrich) informed us, that the public councils are pteffmg on to mea. futes pregnant with ihe moft alarming re fulls. I hope the gentleman is mil taken in his appiehenfions, and l should have been much pleated if the gentleman had been good enough to point them to a better cou ff—but. fir, lie lias not done so, nor has any gen tleman on the fame fide of the quefh en. Indeed, sir, it would give me great pleasure to do something that would be agreeable to our eastern friends; but, unfortunately, arftidft ail the innniic difficulties, which ptefs upon us, that feeins not to be amongfi the lea ft of them. The genii men themselves will not exoliciily tel! us, what would produce that effect —and I am inclined to think, that nothing short of putting the government in their hands would do it. Even this would not be ex- mpt from difficulties. The gentlemen from that part of the U. States, re nearly equally divided among!! themselves respecting the proper course of measures to be pur sued, and there is an immense majority in every o<her part of the U. States, in favor of the measures proposed ; we are therefore surrounded with real and intrinsic difficulties from every quar ter, and those of a domeflic nature an infinitely the molt formidable; and the moft to be deprecated. Indeed, fir, under present circuuiftanc.es, the administration of the government can not be a pleasant task ; ami in my judgment, it requires a great effort of ! pamotifm to undertake it, not on ac count of external pressure,., but on ac count of internal aifeontents, ftimuia ted too by so many deplorable passions and so many artful intrigues. Tut for these unfortunate c ire inn fiances, every gentleman would feel an honor able pride in contributing his efforts to devtfc measures for repelling for eign aggreffion*, and he would court ths relponfibiluy attached to his fia lion : I would not, Mr. President, give up a scintilla of that portion of responsibility which the crisis imposes upon me. Indeed, fir, to have the honor of beaiing my ffiare of it, is the only inducement I have at this mo ment for occupying a place on this floor. Without that consideration I should now be in retirement. But when I turn my eyes upon internal di visions, difeontents and violations of law, and am compelled to think of measures for their luppreffion, it pro- due :s the mod painful fedfations and diltrdfing reflections. The gentleman from Connecticut (Ms Goodrich) has been pleased to remind me of my opposition to for mer adminillrations; and he has thought proper to aflfln me a higher place in the ranks of the opposition than I ever aspired to. If the gentle man will review the proceedings of forracr days, he will probably find that my opposition, was and untied more to the objects contemplated by former admm’ftrationS, than to the means of effecting objefls generally approved. (Mr. Goodrich rose to explain. He said that he did not mean to refer to the gentleman’s opposition to those adminillrations generally, but to the transfer of legiflativc powers to the executive particularly.) I under flood the gentleman differ ently, but {land corrected by his ex planation, and will wave the intended reply. 1 am now, however, unwill ing to look into retrofpeOion; it could only produce an unpleasant and unprofitable examination—it is new as n has been from the beginning of the ftffion, my unceasing effort to take a profpedtve view of measures: I would rather follow the example of a celebrated Roman conqueror. It was his maxim always to forget the last defeat, and to turn his whole tho’ts upon the belt means of obtaining vic tory h the next battle. Stimulated then, fir, solely by a folicitudc to dis cover what the public interests prof pe&ively require, I will proceed, with the molt rcTpectiul attention to the gentlemen in the opposition, to exam tne objections urged again!! this bill, both generally and particularly. ihe great principle of objection, the gentUmen tell us, con lifts in the transfer of the legifl dive powers to the executive department. This is an old and abftratl quedion, often heretofore brought into view, and leads to enlefs difeuffion. 1 think I shall be able to fliew, that the bill in troduces no tier/ principle in this ref pe£t, hut only applies an cflabiifhed principle to new practical objects.— The general piinc/ple of *.f.e fe para non of departments is readily admit ted in the abftraft ; and the difficul ties in this difeuffion arise from ap plying the principle to practical ob jects. The great difficulty cxifls in the attempt to fix on the precise boun dary line between legitlauve and exe cuuve powers in their pra&ical opera ion. This is not poflible. You might attempt a Larch for the phiio fopher’s flone, or the difeovery of perpetual motion, with as much pros pect of success. The reason of this difficulty is, that the praAical ohjefcis and events, to which this abflrabl ptin ciple is attempted to be applied, are perpetually varying according to the practical progreilion of human affairs, and therefore cannot admit cjfany uni form flandard of application. ‘This reflection might have saved the gen tleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lloyd) the trouble of reading to us the conltitution or bill ot rights of Massachusetts, in which the principle of the reparation of departments, is very elearly and properly hull down, and which will be very readily alfent cd to in the abftrabt; but which forms ro part of’ the queition jn dispute. It cannot, however, elcape observation, that this principle is not laid down even in theabftratt in the conltitution of the United States ; and although it is the leading principle of the conftt tution and probably was the principal guide in its formation, it is neverthe lcfs in several refpefts departed from This body itfclf partakes essentially both of the legifUuve and executive [Whole No. 2io] powers of the government. The cxe* cuttve depaitmentullo partakes ot the legifl 4 ttve poweis, a? tar at flail as m approbation of, and a qualified nega tive.upcn, ihe laws extend, Sic. I make thel'e obleiv.tiotis, however, not in derogation of the general prin ciple of the separation of powers a mongst the several drpait|i>ents, as far as is practicable, but merely to shew that there muff ncceffatily be fome b mutations in its practical operation, Pernaps the bt ft gentral rule tor guid ing our diferetion up n this subject, wid be found to consist in this; That legislation ought to extend as far as de finition is practicable; when definition flops, execution muff necessarily be gin. But fome f the particular pro visions of this bill, will furnilh more precise illuminations of tnv opinions upon this queition; it will therefore be waved, until I shall come to their consideration. 1 will now proceed to examine the more particular objections urged a gainil the detail of this bill. Its pro visions respecting the coafling trade, are fLid to be objectionable in the fol lowing respects First objection- the penalty of the bonds required, is laid to be cxceffive. To enable us to decide correctly up on this point, the object proposed tt> be effected, and the penalty required, should be confiden and in reference to each other. ‘1 he object is to prevent by means of coafling vcfltls, domes tic articles from being carped abroad. Flour, for inflance, to the Welt In dies. Ihe price of that article here, is less than hve dollars; in (he VVeff. Indies, ir is Uid to be thirty and up wards. The penalty of the bonds re quired is fix times the amount of the value of vtffel’ and cargo. Is any gentleman prepared to lay, a fmaiffr penalty will effect the object? I pre sume not. Indeed, the committee were disposed to put it at the lowt ft possible point, confidently with an tf 'ecteration o! the object : and probab ly it is rather too low tor that purpose. As to the penally, according to the tonnage of vefflls, it is believed, no al teration in the exifitng laws, is made in that re!pect. These penalties will appear the more reasonable, w hen it is • ecollected, that through the indu]-. genee given the coafling trade, most of the violations of the embargo law 6 have been contrived and effected. Second objection—The collectors may be influenced by party spirit in the exercise ol their discretion. It is hoped that tins will not be the and if it were, it would certainly be much to be regretted. It may, how ever, probably happen, and is one of the inconveniences of the system. Third objection. The high penal ties of the bonds, will drive many per sons of small means from t.ieir accus tomed occupations. 1 hey will not be able to procure the competent securi ty 1 Tor their prosecution. It is not to be presumed that this will be the effect to any great extent. If the owner is known to be honest, and nas in view lep-al and honest objects, I ha\c very little apprehension of his not being able to get the security required. But hete the question recurs, are these appre hended inconveniences, ox such a na ture as to render it necessary to aban don a great national object, lor the ac commodation of the few individuals affected by them ? Is the last effort to preserve the peace of the nation, to be abandoned from these considerations - I should conclude, certainly not. The next objections are made to the 7th section of the bill, which provides that stress of weather, and other una voidable accidents at sea, shall not be given in evidence in a trial