NOVEMBER, 1811.

Reference of the President's Message.

sage not having been accurately dissected; but with ordinary care this might be avoided. He had no doubt if the business was thus divided, it would be done much sooner. Not that he expected Congress would adjourn any earlier; but the reports would be had in less time, and the sooner be got at. He wished that the report might lie on the table until to-morrow, that the resolutions might be examined, and proper amendments prepared.

Mr. SMILIE repeated his reasons for wishing one committee might have under view the whole subject of defence.

The question was put and negatived, 68 to 47. Mr. RANDOLPH moved for the reading of the documents; which being objected to, he called for the yeas and nays on the question; which were taken as follows:

YEAS-John Baker, Abijah Bigelow, James Breckenridge, Elijah Brigham, Epaphroditus Champion, Thomas B. Cooke, John Davenport, jr., James Emott, Asa Fitch, Thomas R. Gold, John P. Hungerford, Richard Jackson, jr., William R. King, Lyman Law, Joseph Lewis, jr., Robert Le Roy Livingston, Nathaniel Macon, James Milnor, Jonathan O. Moseley, Hugh Nelson, Joseph Pearson, James Pleasants jr., Josiah Quincy, John Randolph, William Reed, Henry M. Ridgely, Daniel Sheffey, Richard Stanford, Philip Stuart, Lewis B. Sturges, George Sullivan, Benjamin Tallmadge, Laban Wheaton, Leonard White, and Thomas Wilson-35.

H. of R.

troops, and of auxiliary force." It would be seen to be his object, to give all that relates to the Army to one committee, all that relates to the Navy to another, &c. He was of opinion, also, that several objects contained in the Message had been overlooked.

The motion for striking out was carried, 72 votes being in favor of it; but when the blank came to be filled, much desultory debate took place. Some members wished to insert other words than those proposed by the gentleman from South Carolina; but this was deemed out of order. At length, it was agreed that the blank must be filled with the words proposed, but that other words might afterwards be added by way of amendment. This was accordingly done."

After the blank was filled as above proposed, Mr. BIBB moved to add the following words; for the acceptance of volunteer corps, for detachments of portions of the militia, and for such a proportion of the great body, as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacities." Which was agreed to.

The other resolutions reported were agreed to without debate.

Mr. DAWSON moved an additional resolution, as follows: "That so much of the Message as relates to the naval force of the United States, and the maritime defence of our frontier, be referred to a select committee."-Agreed to.

་

Mr. BACON moved the following additional reNAYS-Willis Alston, jr., William Anderson, Stevenson Archer, Daniel Avery, Ezekiel Bacon, David solutions: "That so much of the Message as reBard, Josiah Bartlett, Burwell Bassett, William W. lates to the manufacturing of cannon and small Bibb, William Blackledge, Thomas Blount, Adam ' arms and providing munitions of war, be referred Boyd, Robert Brown, William A. Burwell, William to a select committee:" and "that so much of Butler, John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheves, Martin 'the Message as relates to Indian affairs, be reChittenden, Matthew Clay, Lewis Condit, William'ferred to a select committee."-Agreed to. Crawford, Roger Davis, Joseph Desha, Samuel Dinsmoor, Elias Earle, William Ely, James Fisk, Meshack Franklin, Peterson Goodwyn, Isaiah L. Green, Felix Grundy, Bolling Hall, Obed Hall, John A. Harper, Aylett Hawes, Jacob Hufty, John M. Hyneman, Richard M. Johnson, Joseph Kent, Abner Lacock, Joseph Lefever, Peter Little, William Lowndes, Aaron Lyle, George C. Maxwell, Thomas Moore, William McCoy, Samuel McKee, Alexander McKim, Arunah Metcalf, Samuel L. Mitchill, James Morgan, Jeremiah Morrow, Anthony New, Thomas Newbold, Thomas Newton, Stephen Ormsby, Israel Pickens, William Piper, Benjamin Pond, Peter B. Porter, John Rhea, John Roane,

Jonathan Roberts, Ebenezer Sage, Thomas Sammons,

Ebenezer Seaver, John Sevier, Adam Seybert, Samuel Shaw, John Smilie, George Smith, John Smith, William Strong, Samuel Taggart, Uri Tracy, George M. Troup, Charles, Turner, jr., Pierre Van Cortlandt, Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, William Widgery, Richard Winn, and Robert Wright-84.

The first resolution was then taken up and agreed to. When the question on the second was put,

All the select committees which were thought necessary, being appointed, it was determined that the first, on Foreign Relations, should consist of nine members; the committees on the Spanish colonies and Navy concerns, to consist of seven members; and those on manufacturing cannon and Indian affairs, to consist of five members.

The resolutions, as amended, are in the following words:

1. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to the subject of our foreign relations, be referred to a select committee.

2. Resolved, That so much of the President's Message as relates to filling the ranks and prolonging the enlistments of the regular troops, and to an anxiliary force; to the acceptance of volunteer corps; to detachments of militia, and to such a preparation of the great body as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacity, be referred to a select committee.

3. Resolved, That those parts of the Message of the President which relate to the Naval force of Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS rose to ascertain whether the United States, and to the defence of our mariit was the sense of the House that all the objects time frontier, be referred to a select committee. embraced in this resolution should go to one coin- 4. Resolved, That so much of the President's mittee, or they should be divided among several. Message as relates to the revenue and the provisFor this purpose, he moved to strike out the gen-ions necessary for the service of the ensuing year, eral expressions, to insert the words "for filling be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. the ranks, prolonging the enlistment of regular 5.-Resolved, That so much of the President's

Mr. Williams, Mr. Wright, Mr. Macon, Mr. On motion of Mr. GOLD, a committee was apNelson, Mr. Stow, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Tall- pointed to inquire into the expediency of providmadge, were appointed the committee on the sec-ing by law for the more convenient taking of re

On motion of Mr. BASSETT, the petitions of J. A. Chevallie, attorney of Amelie Eugenie BeaumarMr. QUINCY presented two petitions from sun-chais, presented twenty-fourth of December, 1805, dry merchants of Boston, to the same effect with the petition of William Dean, presented the eighth instant-Referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

Mr. LYLE presented petitions of sundry inhabiMr. McKIM presented a petition of sundry mer- tants of the Western parts of the United States, chants of Baltimore, to the same effect with the praying that the mails of the United States may petition of the merchants of Boston above stated.—not be carried, and that post offices may not be Referred to the Committee of Commerce and opened, on Sundays.-Referred to the Committee Manufactures. on Post Offices and Post Roads.

Commerce and Manufactures were instructed to inquire into the expediency of encouraging the manufacture of iron, either by protecting impost duties, or prohibiting the importation of castings, bar iron, spikes, nails, brads, and rolled sheet or hoop iron, into the United States and its Territories; with leave to report by bill.

A Message was received from the President of the United States, communicating copies of a correspondence between the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, and the Secretary of State, relative to the aggression committed by a British ship of war on the United States' frigate Chesapeake, by which it will be seen that that subject of difference between the two countries is terminated, by an offer of reparation, which has been acceded to.

The House proceeded, by ballot, to the election of a Chaplain to Congress, on their part; and upon examining the ballots, it appeared that the Reverend Mr, SNEATHEN was duly elected.

Another Message was received from the President of the United States, transmitting the result of the census, lately taken, of the inhabitants of the United States, with a letter from the Secretary of State relative thereto.-Referred to the committee appointed to fix the apportionment of Representatives.

EXPENDITURE OF MONEYS.

H. of R.

it would be more proper to refer this petition to a select committee. This was desirable also from the consideration that the Committee of Claims is generally overburdened with business. Mr. MCKEE could not distinctly hear the gentleman from Virginia; but he understood him as recommending a reference of this petition to a select committee, in preference to the Committee of Claims. He had no objection to such a disposition of it, though it appeared to him, as a claim, to be a proper subject for the Committee of Claims. The petitioner does not ask for a gratuity from the Government, but a repayment of money which he states to have been improperly paid into the coffers of the United States in the form of a fine. Whether the claim be well founded, or otherwise, remains for the committee to decide.

Mr. NEW said, it having been represented to him, that it would be most proper to refer the petition to a select committee, he would so change his motion.

Mr. RANDOLPH had no doubt it would be recollected, that at the first session of Congress, under the Administration of the present President, the session which met in May, 1809, a committee was raised "to inquire whether any, and 'what prosecutions had been instituted before the courts of the United States for libels at common Mr. RANDOLPH said, the House having made a law, and to report such provisions as in their disposition of the Message of the President of opinion may be necessary for securing the free'dom of speech and of the press." Congress adthe United States, he felt himself called upon to submit a motion to the consideration of the House. journed after a short session in June. The But as the House was then thin, he would only dress letters to the clerks of the several courts in chairman of that committee was directed to adlay it on the table. It would have been submit- which such prosecutions had been commenced. ted, he said, two years ago, but for the circum-To some of these letters answers were received stances which he should state to the House when more at leisure. The motion was as follows:

after the adjournment. These answers received in the recess (all except one, which the chair“Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire man had found amongst his private papers since and report whether moneys drawn from the Treasury the meeting of the present session) were transsince the 3d of March, 1801, have been faithfully ex-mitted to the Clerk of this House, in whose pospended on the objects for which they were appropriated, and whether the same have been regularly accounted

for?"

PROSECUTIONS FOR LIBEL. The SPEAKER presented a memorial of Matthew Lyon, of Kentucky, stating that, whilst a member of the House of Representatives of the United States, from the State of Vermont, he was illegally tried and found guilty, under a charge of sedition, and fined the sum of one thousand dollars and imprisoned twelve months, and praying that the said fine may be repaid, with interest, together with his pay as a member of Congress, which was withheld during his confinement.

session it is presumed they now are. The chairman of that committee, at the two succeeding sessions, was, by the visitation of God, and from circumstances without his control, for the first time since he had the honor of a seat on this floor, prevented from attending to his duty till the sessions had considerably advanced, otherwise he would have felt it obligatory on him to have called the attention of Congress to this subject. It was his intention, at the present session, without knowing anything of this petition, to have called the attention of the House to it, amongst others, at an early day. He thought it behooved this House, as the guardian of the public purse and public weal, to take care that the stream of public justice be preserved pure and free from pollution; and whether persons have suffered by prosecutions under the sedition law, Mr. BASSETT was opposed to this reference. or under the common law of England-not the If the petitioner had any claim upon the United common law of the States, as modified by the States, it must be on the ground that the law laws of the United States in their corporate under which he was convicted was unconstitu- capacity-he was for affording them relief. He tional. A claim of this kind could not be recog-wished to see if any of our citizens had received nised by that committee. He thought, therefore, injury from prosecutions of this kind; and, if they

The petition being read,

Mr. New moved that it be referred, with the accompanying documents, to the Committee of Claims.

had, to redress the wrong by such a prospective measure as may prevent a recurrence of similar mischief.

It seems idle, said Mr. R., for any man to undertake, by statute, to do that which the Great Charter of our Confederation has endeavored to 'do in vain. It is, it appears, impossible to prevent men, heated by party, and seeking only the gratification of their own passions, from trampling in the dust the charter which we have sworn to support; for though our Constitution has said, in the broadest terms which our language knows, that the freedom of speech and of the press shall not be abridged, men have been found so lost to all sense of their country's good, as to pass the act, commonly called the sedition act, and to send out our judges to dispense, not law, but politics from the bench. It would seem idle to attempt to prevent, by statutory provisions, similar abuses. But though, formed as we are, we cannot attain perfection, we ought, in imitation of a divine example, to aspire to it, and endeavor to preserve in purity the great Magna Charta of our country.

This subjeet, Mr. R. said, might appear frivolous to others. He knew that men intent on

worldly things, with their snouts grovelling in the mud, who hold everything but sordid pelf, and still more disgraceful office, as dross and dust, would not think it worth while to attend to things of this kind. Nor did he wish to set him self up for a political Pharisee, and thank God

that he was not as other men are.

NOVEMBER, 1811.

apology he could for the sedition law, and that he was glad to find himself in a minority on his motion for continuing it. But, said he, experience teacheth. I find it possible even for the Pharisees themselves sometimes to slide, sometimes to fall. He thought it due to our country, and to ourselves, that whatever abuses exist, without stopping to inquire whether the sufferer be a Catholic or a Protestant, a Federalist, a Democrat, or a Monarchy man, to redress the wrong. What would be said in a court of justice in a case of murder? It would not be thought worth while to inquire what was the offender's politics, or whether honest or the contrary. He considered honest men as of right politics. It unfortunately happens, said he, that some men make up, in zeal what they know themselves to be deficient in honor and honesty.

The amendment was agreed to and the petition referred to a committee of seven, consisting of Mr. New. Mr. RANDOLPH, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. TROUP, Mr. WHITEHILL, Mr. MOSELEY, and Mr. COOKE.

THURSDAY, November 14.

Virginia, appeared, produced his credentials, was Another member, to wit: JOHN CLOPTON, from qualified, and took his seat.

the eighth instant, presented a bill providing for Mr. RHEA, from the committee appointed on the government of the Territory of Louisiana; which was read twice and committed to a Com

Mr. R. moved to amend the reference, by add-mittee of the Whole on Monday next. ing to it the following:

"With instructions to inquire whether any, and what, prosecutions have been instituted before the courts of the United States for libels, under the sedition law or the common law, and by what authority; and to make such provisions as they may deem necessary for securing the freedom of speech and of the press."

Mr. R. hoped this amendment would be agreed to; for, said he, it is evident that when we came into power, when we succeeded to our predecessors, proper measures were not taken for purifying the violent temper of the day-for preventing the recurrence of prosecutions of this kind. He recollected having heard, at the close of the administration of the second President of the United States, one of the most beautiful pieces of declamation, from a gentleman from South Carolina, which he had ever heard, in which he conjured the House to re-enact the sedition act, because, said he, we are about to surrender the Government into the hands of men in whom we have no confidence, and I wish to retain this law as our shelter, because, by this, if we are prosecuted for a libel, we can give the truth in evidence. Mr. R. said he listened to the gentleman, but he thought he was talking for talking's sake. He did not believe that himself believed a word of what he said. Mr. R. did not suppose that a prosecution at common law, for a libel, could take place under a Republican Administration. He thought the gentleman was making the best

Mr. WIDGERY, from the committee appointed on the eleventh instant, presented a bill to alter the time of holding one of the terms of the district court of the District of Maine; which was read twice and ordered to be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow.

On motion of Mr. BASSETT, a committee was appointed to prepare and report such standing observed in this House. rules and orders of proceding as are proper to be

NELSON, Mr. BIBB, Mr. QUINCY, and Mr. FINDLEY, Mr. BASSETT, Mr. PITKIN, Mr. MACON, Mr. were appointed the said committee.

Mr. RHEA, moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expedi ency of laying additional duties on all coarse manufac tures of flax and hemp.

Mr. CONDIT, moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expediency of encouraging the culture of hempen goods, either by protecting duties, or prohibiting the importation, into the United States and its Territories, of hemp, or goods manufactured from it; and that they have leave to report by bill.

The resolutions were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

On motion of Mr. JENNINGS, a committee was appointed to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the President of the United States to cause to be opened a road from the Northern line

Mr. RHEA hoped he might be permitted to judge for himself whether the resolution which he had offered was calculated to accomplish the object which he had in view. His colleague had intimated that the laws, at present, extend to criminal offences, though the gentleman from Georgia had stated a case in which the judges had determined otherwise. This shows, at least, that the "Resolved, That the Committee on Indian Affairs law wants revision, not only with respect to crimbe instructed to inquire into the expediency of extend-inal, but civil matters. He had drawn the resoing the laws of the United States over those parts of lution in the most general terms.