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•€ OJSfCi i& M SB*
In Sen February 9.
Tile Senate resumed the oon
'sbleraticm of the bill to reward the
Outers and crew of the late U.
F>. briar Argus (lor services prior
to her capture by the iate enemy}
—and. on motion of Mr. Tait, the
b ll was postponed to the first
Monday m July next (equivalent
to rejection.)
For postponement ——Messrs.
Dibb, Gail lard, King, I.acock,
Macon, Mason, of N. H. Mor
row, Roberts,Talbc , Tait, Tay
lor, Thompson,Turner, Varnum,
1 v eils, Williams, Wilson—>l3.
Against ike postponement \
Messrs. Barry, Brown, Chace, 5
Condit. Daggett, Dana, Fromen
t n, Golds bo rough, Harper, Hor
sey, Howell, Mason of Va. San- :
surd, Tiehenor—l4.
Lite Senate then resumed the
consideration, of the amendments
•<,f the House of Representatives
to the bill concerning the convert* I
non to re.guH.te the commerce be-{
tween the territories of the ; V , j
St. tes and his Britannic Majesty.
Considerable debate took place j
on the subject ; various modiii-i
u
cations were suggested to the a-j
amendments, by those who were*
not disposed to refuse to legislate
vU ah on the subject.
A motion Was made by Mr. j
King to postpone the further con- ;
It ratio nos the amendments and 1
•he bill indefinitely, After d>!
bate, the question on this motion]
was decided as follows :
2 or the postponement for nyec* I
ran) Messrs. Barbour, Brown, I
Chase, Daggett, Fromentin, Gail-j
lard, Goldsborough, Horsey,)
11 owell, Hunter, King, Mason,!
otN.B, Sanford, Talbot,Thomp-1
son, Tichenor, furrier-—l 7.
Against it— —-Messrs. Barry,
Bibb, Campbell, Condit, Dana,’
Harper, 1 .acock, Macon, Mason
•of Ya, Morrow, Roberts, Bug
gies, Tait, Tavlcr, Varnum,
Wells, Williams, Wilson—lß.
The further consideration of
the bill was then postponed.—
The Senate adjourned to Mon
day.
February 12. ‘
The Senate were principally
occupied to day on the amend
ments of the blouse cf Repre
sentatives to their bill concern
inrr the commerc'd treaty—— on j
whtC'i subject a highly interest-!
iiig a bate took place. At. length!
ice Senate by a large majority,!
rejected the amendments of the*
House. The • bill now stands j
precisely in the shape in which it j
passed the Senate; and in thatj
shape returns to the House oi;
Representatives.
House of Representatives, Feb . Q.
CIRCULATING MEDIUM, &CC.
Mr. Ward of Mass. submitted
for consideration the following
resolutions;
Resolved, That ail duties, im
posts and excises laid by Con
gress, ought not only to be laid
uniformly throughout the Uniter
Mates, agreeably to the provi
You m the constitution, but
ought to l a eolk eu ewin ail part*
n . tuv. LTnted in ’-.uics tn die sanx
currency, nrln currencies eqliiva
ent in value.
Resolved, That the Secretary
>fthe Treasury be instructed to
receive, alone, in payment of du
des, imposts and excises and
debts due to the United States,
gold, -silver and copper coin, trea
sury notes, and the notes of such
banks as pay specie for their bids,
[excepting in cases in which it is
[otherwise provided by law.
Mr. Ward briefly assigned his
! reasons for offering these propo
i sitions, which will be found con
cisely and clearly stated in the
first, of the above resolutions.
Mr. Smith of Md. rose to speak
—-but, on motion of Mr. Tucker,
the resolutions were laid on the
table for the present.
E ‘juiry respecting Office. &c.
Mr. Randolph submitted for
consideration his promised mo- [
tion for an enquiry into the con-j
stituiionaliiy of the appointment)
of General Porter, which after aj
long debate, was modified and a-j
greed to in the following words : j
Resolved, That a committee
be appointed to enquire, Whether
the appointment to, and accept
ance by the honorable Peter B
Porter, late a member of this
bouse, from the state of Nevv-
York, of the office of'Commissi
oner under the late treaty at
Ghent, is in contravention of the
constitution of the United States.
THE REVENUE.
| The house then resumed the j
I consideration 61 the report of the I
committee of the -whole on the :
remaining proposition of the corn*,
mittee of Way's and Means.
The proposition respecting the i
duty cn distillation (to repeal the ,
duty on the quantity of spirits r
distilled, arid to add 100 per
cent, to the present tax on the
capacity of the st ill') first came up.
Mr. Throop moved to amend!
the proposition by striking oat
100 and inserting 50 in lieu!
thereof, so as to reduce the t.l- ;
divioual capacity tax from 100 to 1
50 per cent, on the existing duty.
This motion was decided with-”
outdebate. by the following vote A
For the amendment, 75
Against it, 70 !
So the amendment was agreed |
to.
Mr. Goldsborough then mov- ?
ed further to amend the resolve!
so as to exempt from this addi-S
tion to the capacity tax on stffbJ
such stills as shall be wholly em
ployed in the distillation of spirits
derived from fruit and roots.
This motion \vas opposed by
Mr. Lowndes and Mr. Ross (by
the latter on the ground of the!
impossibility of guarding the du* j
ty liius modified, from evasion)!
—and was negatived, by Yeas &
Nays-—lO7 to 36.
February 12.
The Canadian Ref ugees*
The House resolved itself into
a committee of the whole, Mr.
Condit in the chair, on the bill
‘or the relief of certain refugees
from the British provinces during
the late war.
Several papers were read re
pect-ng their merits Ik services,
among which was • ft-very strong
cstimony to their merits, Lev
:rom Gen. Porter, lately a mem
ber of this house.
This bill gave rise to a rather
animated debate, in which the
claim of the petitioners to indem
niiy-or compensation was sustain
ed by Messrs. Throop, Yates,
Wright, Gold and Johnson of K.
and opposed by Messrs. Huibert,
Webster and Brooks.
This case has been fully pre
sented Yo our readers in the
shape of the petition of the com
j mittee on behalf of these suffer-!
ers. Their claim is precisely ofj
a character, as the reporter un-j
derstands it, with that for which!
ample provision was made for
those at the Revolutionary war
They were natives of this coun
try, and, at the breaking out of f
the war, preferred rangingthem-l
selves under the banners of their j
[native country,than that to which, j
j for the purposes of business they:
| had assumed a temporary alle-j
j giance.
j The opponents of the billj
j (which proposes to compensate
the claimants 5 losses bvdonations
of land) oppose it as rewarding
treachery, as poisoning the foun
tains of morality, and vise those
general expressions cf dislike, &
even detestation, which such a
bill is likely to call forth from
those who view it in so odious a
’% h! - .
I he bill was not decided on ;
but on motion of Mr. Johnson,;
laid on the table.
| The committee then proceed
i ed to the consideration of another
i bill, makihg further provis onfor
,the widows and orphans of those
; who fell in ■’the late war
j T he House were occupied on
[this subject till the usual hour of
adjournment.
ALGERINE AFFAIRS.
Extract of a letter from an Amer
ican Naval officer , to hv f fiend
j in Baltim ore, dated Port Mahon,
’ Nov. Hi. 1315. • !
“When I last wrote yon from
! Cibralter, I had not the least idea
that my next would be from this
pan of the Mediterranean, as I
■ had led you to believe We should
[have sahe-d immediately for France
I to- winter. —But we proceeded
’from Gibralter for Malaga, where
Iwe remained three days, and sail
[ed again on the 16th. uk.—the
! Commodore, with the store ship,
S for Port M anon, and the Constitu-
Ition, with the Ontario, from A1
jgiers, with dispatches from the
Commodore.
“On our arrival off Algiers, on
the Ist inst. Mr. Shaler, our con*
sul came off from the shore, and
S informed us, that the Regency was
[very favorably disposed towards
-us; but that the Dry himself was
[very dissatisfied with respect to
{the prize brig not being returned
as Commodore Decatur had prom
ised him, and alledged, as a sub
stantial reason for his dissatisfac
tion that he had made a peace with
us more favorable to the United
States, than any of his predeces
sors had ever made before with
tny Christian power; observed
-hat the people were not altogether
atisfied with it; and as he was
but young upon the throne, tht
restoration of tlieYvo prizes was
absolutely necessary to his popu
larily ; that he had faithfully ob
served and executed all that part
of the treaty which related to him;
that although the restoration of
the two vessels was not a speci
fication in the treaty, yet he con
sidered Commodore Decatur’s
promise of restoring them, as sa
cred as if it had been; and that
he felt, truly mortified, after a laps
of four or five months, that Mr.
Shaler could give him no satis
factory answer whether the brig
was to he returned to him or rot,
or why she was, with her crew,
detained at Carthagena.
“ True it is, and strange as it
may appear, Commodore Decani •
\ sailed from Carthagena for the U
fnited States without commun*’ca
sting with cur consul at Algiers
‘since the peace, or even letting
him know of the detention of the
Trig by the Spanish government;
| and aitho lie-had staked his pl edge
!of honor, arc- even laying in the
j ve v y port with the detained brig,
did net give himself the least trou
ble to enquire why she was de
tained, ot what was her situation,
“When the Dey was about to
sign the treaty, and wished that
the restoration of the two vessels
should be specified in it, the Com*
modore obj cted to any alteration
being made whatever, but pledg
ed his word, that they should be
delivered at Algiers in their pres*
’ent situation, and would send ves
jsels to escort them over in safety;
that the returning them shotddl
not be considered as a part of the
treaty that the Dey should re
ceive them as a present from the
United States; so that Com mo
de re Decatur has not only left his
’ own promise unexecuted, but has
left our national honor at t-takc, in
the eyes es the world. His indiff
Terence to our Algerine affairs
has been remarked with astonish
’ mem by every commander in the
squadron.
| .“The frigate was given up with*
out any difficulty, but the Span
iards kept the brig under a plea
that she was captured in their wa
ters, and in this situation she re*
. mains at present. But Capt.
: bliaw is himself going to Cartha
genia, to demand an explanation
of the .Spanish Governor as to
I her detention.
: “Mr. Shalt r gives the present
,} Dey the character of a dignified,
■ j noble and intelligent man truly
{honorable in all his public trans
actions, and in his private char
acter worth v of imitation.
i “For my own part, and under
. present circumstances, I think he
II has just cause for his displeasure
\\ —-and most assuredly we ought
>1 to have paid attention to this ma*
Tter, as it contemplates the execu
i ■ tion of the treaty with both par
. ties, and is now the only obstacle
■ (in my opinion) to a permanent
■ peace with the Algerines.
“We are now landing all our
stores at this place, from the store
i ships ; after toe completion of
which the “ United States’* w ill
proceed to Carihagenia ; the Qn-
I tario, with our consuls, Mr.
■ Call and Major Barney, to Lt&
horn, and this ship to Messina fol
[cloathing,* (where it is iQ Life
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