sideration of the arguments of that gentleman, allow me to remark that we have been required to act upon this subject rather in the dark; that we have had no official information as to the extent of the relief asked. We have to rely on the verbal information of the friends of this measure, who, I suppose, have it from those who are asking relief, and who, it is to be presumed, would feel no interest in magnifying the amount upon which they ask indulgence without interest, and who, because of their interest, would be held in all legal tribunals as incompetent witnesses. Taking, then, the account of the friends of the bill as correct, the first section of it embraces bonds for about $700,000, and the second section about $3,000,000. Predicating my calculation upon this information, I find interest on those bonds, at the rate of six per cent. per annum, renewable annually from the time they respectively fall due up to the period to which it is proposed to extend the credits, amounts to something upwards of $318,740; an amount greater than is required to pay the two hundred and forty three members of this House for one hundred and sixty days, and sufficiently large, especially when taken into consideration in connexion with the importance of the principle involved, to induce this House to examine well into the subject, and weigh well the probable effect and consequence of such a precedent upon the future legislation of this House.

We, Mr. Chairman, I am fully apprized, are most delicately and peculiarly situated in reference to this as well as all other claims that come before us; we occupy the attitudes both of party and judge; and, whilst we should be careful not to let self-interest bias us on the one side, we should not be less careful to see that we are not driven into error on the other hand from too great an apprehension of doing injustice to the applicants. But, sir, let us now proceed to consider, in detail, the arguments of the friends of this measure. The honorable member from Massachusetts, as has been remarked, having covered all the grounds taken in support of this bill, I will confine myself particularly to his remarks.

The first ground taken by him is, that the Govern ment has such an amount of surplus revenue now in its Treasury, that it would have no use for the money if the bonds were collected, and that it would be suffered to lie in the deposite banks without interest. Is it true, Mr. Chairman, that this Government has no use for money at this time? Is it true that the different States in this Union have already done for themselves all that can be done, in the way of promoting the interest and happiness of their citizens, and that they are now reclining at their ease in consequence of having nothing to do calculated to advance the public good? I humbly conceive not. Look abroad in the land, and what do we see? Within the last year or two, the public spirit of our fellow-citizens seems to have received a new impulse in almost every quarter of this vast republic. A new era seems to be bursting on us. The people are aroused to their own best interest. We see the different States, situated on the different extremes of this vast Union, contemplating and moving in the work of connecting themselves with each other by inland communication that literally conquers space. We see the Legislatures of the different States providing for works of internal improvement upon a scale that is truly worthy of a free people. They are not contracting loans of thousands and tens of thousands for the accomplishment of this, that, or the other, little local improvement, but of tens of millions, for objects embracing the improvement of the whole extent of their territory. Never, in the history of this Government, was there such a spirit of enterprise abroad. Never was there a time when there was such a demand for money on the part of the different States, for their respective im

[FEB. 17, 1836.

provements, as the present; and are we to be told we have no use for the money in the public Treasury?

I readily agree that it is better that these importing merchants, who are engaged actively in enterprising commerce that adds to the wealth of the nation, should hold this money, which belongs in common to them and the rest of their fellow citizens, without interest, than that the deposite banks, in whose vaults it is to be placed, should be allowed to fatten and grow rich on the interest paid them by the people, for the most gra cious privilege of using their own money. But I am not willing to stake the fate of this bill on this issue. It is not the true issue. I, for one, sir, intend to legis late upon this and every other subject calculated to affect our finances, with just as strict an eye to economy as though I knew this Congress intended to obey the voice of the people in their demand for an equal distribution of the surplus revenue among the States. I am not yet prepared to anticipate a failure of this most important measure.

Government is a moral person, possessing, in reference to its property, all the natural, moral, and legal rights of a private individual; every citizen constitutes a component part thereof, and his right in every thing that belongs to the Government, whether it be in the public lands or bonds upon importers, or in whatever the right of property can exist, though small in point of size, yet bears the same proportion to the entire thing which one bears to the number of citizens in this Government, and is just as perfect and unquestionable as though the right to the entire thing was vested in him; and the same policy which is observed in the fiscal concerns of a wise, prudent, humane, and just private individual, should control and regulate the financial ope rations of every Government, where the interest and happiness of the great mass of the people are the paramount considerations. Hence, we should adopt the same process of analysis, the same rules of investigation, in arriving at the relative rights of the Government, and such of its citizens as are embraced by the provisions of this bill, as though it were a matter between two individuals.

His second ground is, that it is the interest of the Government, acting as a prudent creditor, to extend the proposed credit, in order the better to secure the collection of her debts. The Government holds the bonds of its citizens for duties; and when they fall due it has a right to expect payment, without some sufficient cause against it. The merchant, in the present instance, says to his Government, you hold my bond, due on such a day, for such an amount, for duties; from an unexpected misfortune, I am in some degree crippled in my commercial operations, and it will be your interest to indulge me for four years after my bonds become due, without interest, in order that your debt may be the better secured. Ought not the Government to act as any other prudent creditor, and say to its debtor, you must give me some evidence, in addition to your own sugges tion, that it is my interest thus to act? Would not any prudent private creditor require other proof than the statement of his debtor, before he would thus prolong for four years the time of the payment of his debt, and that, too, without interest? Being, then, altogether without proof that it is its interest to extend this credit, I think the Government on this account alone ought not to do it.

I will conclude my remarks upon this branch of the subject by asking whether it is supposed, by any friend of this bill, that one of those importers would agree to extend a credit of four years, without interest, for the price of a quantity of goods purchased of him in New York by a merchant from Louisville or Cincinnati, and lost by the purchaser in descending the river, or by fire

Abolition of slavery; (see Slavery.)
Adjournment, resolution for fixing the day of, taken up,
962; adopted, 981.

day of adjournment fixed for the 4th of July, 1780.
Alabama; a bill for the better organization of the dis-
trict court of that State, 13.

pre-emption rights; a report on the memorial of the
Legislature of that State, 721.

and Mississippi five per cent. fund; a bill to carry
into effect the compacts of, 1458; passed.
resolution authorizing the President to cause
rations to be issued to supply sufferers from
Indian hostilities, 1537; laid on the table, 1593.
Alexandria; memorial on the financial condition of that
town, 46.

Appropriation bill for the civil and diplomatic expenses
of the Government for the year 1836; read
twice, and referred, 1249; taken up, 1399;
passed.
Appropriations for the navy for 1836, 1278; taken up,
1296; passed.

Appropriations for the army for 1836, 1413; read three
times, and passed.

Indian department, 1458; passed, 1739.

to carry into effect certain Indian treaties, 1928;
passed.
Arkansas, a message from the President, with the pro-
ceedings of a convention in that Territory, to
form a constitution, 782.

a bill to provide for the admission of Arkansas
into the Union, 934; passed, 1056.

do. in addition to the above act, 1577; passed.
Army of the United States, resolutions respecting, 386.
do. for the religious instruction of, 391.

bill to increase the military peace establishment,
1657; rejected, 1757; passed, 1854.
Armories, arsenals, &c.; a bill to establish them, 1882;
passed.

Bayard, the Hon. Richard, from Delaware, took his seat
in the place of Mr. Naudain, resigned, 1848.
Bennett, Caleb P., the memorial of citizens of Delaware,
praying for his pension to be continued to his
widow, 1642.

Bond and Douglass, Colonels, a bill for the relief of the
legal representatives of their widows, 1250;
passed, 1254.
Bourtoulin Count a resolution authorizing the purchase
of his library; rejected, 1694.

/Brahan, John; report of the Secretary of the Treasury,

in answer to a resolution on the subject of mo-
ney paid by the legal representatives of the
late General Brahan, to the United States dis-
trict attorney, 1898.

Bullion for the mint; a bill to supply the mint with bul-
lion, 1090.

Carey & Lea's History of Congress; a joint resolution
proposing a subscription for it, 614; referred.
Catlett, Charles J., a bill for his relief; passed, 1872.
Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Higbee elected, 42.
Choctaw lands; a resolution proposing to suspend the
sales of these lands, 1412.

reservations; (see Pre-emption claims.)

treaty; a bill for adjustingc ertain claims under
the 14th article of the treaty of Dancing Rab-
bit creek, 1936; laid on the table.

1

Colonization Society; a petition from citizens of Ken-
tucky, recommending the society to the favor-
able notice of Congress, 1901.
Columbia, District of, a bill for the relief of the several
cities, 466, 964; taken up, 1449; passed, 1453.
Documentary History of; a resolution authorizing
the Secretary of the Senate to collect and pub-
lish such a work, 498; referred.

resolution to authorize the commissioner to rent
out the public grounds, &c., 1154.
Committees, standing; the Senate proceeded to their
election by ballot, 11.

Congress; a resolution proposing that the Judiciary Com-
mittee inquire into the expediency of fixing, by
law, the commencement and close of every ses-
sion of Congress, 42; agreed to, 45.

a bill to appoint a day for the annual meeting of
Congress, 1649; passed.

above bill returned, vetoed by the President, as
conflicting with the constitution, 1757.

the subject taken up, 1859, 1878; bill rejected.
a bill to fix a day for the annual meeting of Con-
gress, 1880; indefinitely postponed, 1908.
Constitution; a resolution to amend it, so as to provide
for a distribution of the surplus revenue, 52.
Constitutional currency; a bill to re-establish the curren-
cy of the constitution, 1745.

Cumberland road; a report from the Secretary of War,
on the construction of the road in Indiana and
Illinois, 34.

a bill to continue the road as proposed, 390; ta-
ken up, 615; passed, 811.

a bill making an appropriation for do., 4633.
Custom-house officers, a report from the Treasury De-
partment concerning, 34.

Dade, Major, petition in favor of, referred, 613.
Dauphin, Pennsylvania, memorial; (see Free negroes.)
Defence of the frontiers; a bill reported to accept the
services of volunteers, 1385.
Delaware breakwater; a bill making additional appropri-
ations for it, 1928; passed.

Deposite banks; a motion to print extra copies of the Sec-
retary of the Treasury's statement of their af-
fairs, 839; agreed to, 847.

Duties on imports; a bill to repeal the duty on certain ar-
ticles, 704.

wines; a bill to suspend so much of the discrimi-
nating act as relates to the Portuguese islands,
&c., 1123.

imports; a bill to amend the several acts imposing
duties on imports, 1287.

Electioneering agents; a resolution calling on the Secre-
tary of War for information as to the office
held by B. F. Curry, in the Cherokee nation,
178.

Executive patronage; (see Officers.)
Expunging resolution; notice given that it would shortly
be called up, 722; taken up, 877; again, 1593;
laid on the table, 1598.

Florida post roads; a joint resolution authorizing the es-
tablishment of certain post roads, 613.
railroad; a bill to authorize it to run through the
public lands, 664; passed.

Florida war, a bill making further appropriations for,
1299; passed.

banks; a resolution instructing the Judiciary Com-
mittee to inquire into the character and condi.
tion of the banking institutions, 1447.

a bill prohibiting the incorporating of banks in
Florida, without the sanction of Congress, &c.
also, resolution on the subject; both passed, 1863.
Foreign relations; a letter of Mr. Clay, chairman of the
committee on this subject, to the Secretary of
State, with his reply, laid on the table, and or-
dered to be printed, 464.

Foreign paupers; a resolution in relation to foreign pau-
pers, 1378.

Fortification on Lake Champlain; a resolution proposing
the survey of a site for the work, 614.
Fortification bill taken up, 592, 1428; passed, 1592.

from the House, reported with amendments, 1877;
passed.

France and the United States; (see United States.)
Free negroes; a memorial from Dauphin county, Penn-
sylvania, praying for an appropriation to re-
move such to Africa, 442.
French affairs; sundry resolutions proposed and adop'ed,
calling on the President for information in rela-
tion to them, 366.

French and Neapolitan indemnities; a bill to anticipate
their payment, 1881; negatived, 1882.
Frigate Philadelphia, a bill to reward the recaptors of,
1647; passed.

Globe newspaper, Mr. Webster's complaints against,
1693.

Grant, Joseph; a bill to extend his patent right for ma-
king hat bodies, 1864; passed, 1910.

Haight, Stephen, re-elected assistant doorkeeper, 8.
Hale, Captain Nathan; a memorial from the citizens of
New Haven, praying that a monument may be
erected to his memory, 323.

Harbor bill, for the improvement of certain harbors, &c.,
1383; taken up, 1930; passed, 1935.
Hemp, a resolution proposing a duty on all imported,

1397.

Hill, Hon. Isaac, the resignation of his seat, 1616.
Hospitals on the Ohio river; a memorial of the General
Assembly of Indiana on this subject, 56.
Hull, Commodore Isaac; a bill for his relief, 58.
Incendiary publications; a proposition for referring the

subject to a select committee, 26; agreed to, 33.
report of the committee, accompanied by a bill to
prevent the circulation of such publications,
383; bill taken up, 1093.

a bill prohibiting postmasters from transmitting
incendiary publications, 1374; taken up, 1675;
rejected, 1737.

Indian claims, speculations in; a memorial from Missis
sippi, 100.

hostilities; a bill for suppressing them, 103; passed,

291.

Lands; to appropriate, for a limited time, the proceeds of
land sales, 48; motion to take it up, 810; con-
sideration resumed, 1172; ordered to be en-
grossed, 1313.

Land

the committee on, moved to be discharged from
certain petitions for rights of pre-emption, &c.,
303.

two bills on the subject of pre-emption rights, 836.
a bill to reduce and graduate the price of public
lands, 1028.

resolution authorizing the payment of the ex-
penses incurred by the committee of last Con-
gress, in their investigation of certain frauds,
1199.

a bill to change the mode of conducting the sales
of the public lands, 1697; postponed indefinite-
ly, 1870.

Office; a bill to reorganize the General Land Office,
1676.

Lake Champlain; resolution directing the Secretary of
War to cause a survey to be made for a fortifi
cation, 1199.

Library

of Count Bourtoulin; a resolution directing the
Library Committee to inquire into the expedi-
ency of purchasing it, 578; agreed to.
Lieber, Professor; his memorial in relation to his statisti-
cal work, 1198.

Light-houses; a bill making appropriations for them,

1930.

Louisville and Portland canal, a bill to authorize the
United States to purchase the private stock of,

1563.

Lowrie, Walter, Esq., re-elected Clerk of the Senate, 8.
McCartney, John; a bill for his relief, 934; passed.
Madison, James, his death announced, by a message
from the President, 1911; resolutions of respect
to his memory, 1914.

Mail

contracts; resolution instructing the Post Office
Committee to inquire into the expediency of
authorizing contracts to be made with railroad
companies, 847.

Maine boundary; resolutions of the Legislature of Massa-
chusetts, in relation thereto, 958.

Maine resolutions, on the subject of abolition, 1109.
Manning, the Hon. Richard J., his death announced,
1384.

Marine corps, a bill to regulate and increase the pay of
its officers, 1877.

Marshall, Humphrey; an unfavorable report of the Com-
mittee on Pensions was moved to be recon-
sidered, 1780; reconsidered, 1854; and the re-
port of the committee concurred in.
Massachusetts claims, a joint resolution respecting, 464.
Meade, Richard W., a bill for the settlement of the
claim of his executrix; passed, 1872.
Melville, David; a petition complaining of his removal
from office, 1177.

Metropolis Bank; a memorial for a recharter thereof,
58.

Mexico; a bill to carry into effect the treaty with that
Power, 1427; passed.

Michigan applies for admission as a State, in a message
from the President, 5.

credentials from its Senators presented, 6; ques-
tion considered, 8, 36; agreed to, 41.
memorial asking to be admitted into the Union
presented, 282; referred to the committee on
the Michigan matters, 290.

bill for the admission of Michigan into the Union,
1006; passed.

school lands; a bill supplementary to the bill to
establish the northern boundary of Ohio, and
for the admission of Michigan into the Union,
1737; passed.

Michigan Senators; resolution for paying them agreed
to, 1780.

a bill to provide for the execution of the laws of
the United States in Michigan, 1876; passed.
Military land warrants, a bill to extend the time for issu-
ing scrip for, 970.

Mint; (see Bullion.)

Missouri land claims, a memorial respecting, 799.

a bill confirming the claims of, 964; passed.

a bill granting a certain quantity of land to, for
internal improvements, 1120; laid on the table,

1123.
Narragansett bay, resolutions of Legislature of Rhode
Island respecting, 1787.

resolution directing the Commissioners of the
Navy Board to report a plan for a navy estab-
lishment in do., 1793; agreed to.

National defence; resolutions offered by Mr. Benton,
392; agreed to, 577.

Naval service; a bill for the enlistment of boys, 1413;
passed.

Naval academy; a bill to establish one, 1453.
Navy; (see Appropriation.)

a bill for organizing the navy, 1855; laid on the
table, 1857; taken up, 1872; ordered to be en-
grossed, 1875.

Naudain, Hon. Arnold, from Delaware, resigns his seat,
1787.

New Hampshire resolutions in favor of the expunging
resolution, 1108.

New Orleans custom-house; presentments of its dilapida-
ted state, 534.

New York; a resolution instructing the Committee of Fi-
nance to inquire what measures should be
adopted by Congress in relation to the late fire
there, 13.

memorials on same subject, 46, 391.

a bill for the relief of the sufferers by the fire,
103; considered, 114; passed, 129; an amenda-
tory bill from the House of Representatives;
passed, 1092.

a bill to extend the relief of the act now in exist-
ence to the sufferers, 1875; passed.
Northeast boundary of the United States; a message
from the President on the subject, 1779; cor-
respondence on the subject ordered to be
printed, 1864.

Ohio; report from Secretary of War respecting the
boundary line of that State, 6.

a bill to define the northern boundary line of, 14;
report on do., 663.

a joint resolution respecting do., 35.
resolutions in favor of expunging the journal,

1021.
Officers; a bill to repeal the first and second sections of
the act limiting the terms of certain officers
therein named, 52; passed, 367.
Order, questions of, 74, 141, 209, 414, 494, 556, 835,
1525, 1782.

Page, Hon. John, from New Hampshire, took his seat,
in the place of Mr. Hill, resigned, 1759.
Paper currency; a resolution directing the Secretary of
the Treasury to inquire of the deposite banks
in relation to the circulation of small notes, 1857.
Patent laws; a resolution referring the subject of amend-
ing them, 42, agreed to.

Office; a bill to provide for the erection of a build-
ing for it, 1853; considered and passed, 1898.
Patriotic Bank, a memorial from, for a recharter, 34.
Paymasters; a bill to authorize the appointment of three
additional ones, 1463.

Pension bill, which grants half pay to the widows and
orphans of those who die in the service of the
United States, 1929.

Post Office accounts; a communication from the Postmas-
ter General, 1048.

the bill changing the organization of the Post Of-
fice Department, 1769.

Post routes; a joint resolution for the establishment of
certain post routes in Missouri and Arkansas,
578.

Pre-emption claims, a bill to extend the time for receiv-
ing the proof of, 1696; laid on the table, 1698;
rejected, 1742.

President's annual message received, 4; (see Appendix.)
message in relation to French affairs, 163.

on the mediation of Great Britain in relation to
our difference with France, 390.

concerning sale of lands in the vicinity of Fort
Wayne, 471.

with the result of the mediation of Great Britain,
580.

respecting French spoliations, 662.

on discriminating duties with Portugal, 679,
in relation to Mexico, 1409.

informing Congress that France had paid the four
instalments, in fulfilment of the treaty, 1426.
with a communication from B. F. Curry, and the
response of Samuel Gwin, 1658.

returning the bill appointing a day for the annual
meeting of Congress, with constitutional objec-
tions, 1757.

enclosing a report from the Secretary of State, in

relation to Texas, 1871.

President pro tem., Mr. King, from Alabama, appointed,
1914; his address on the occasion.

Printing; a report of the committee on the contingent
fund, to whom had been referred a resolution
on the subject, 590.

Protection of the frontiers; (see Defence.)
Public deposites; a bill to regulate them, 52; taken up,
1383; modified, 1577; passed, 1845.

a supplementary bill, 1913; passed.
Railroad contracts; a report from the Post Office Com-
mittee, 1101; subject considered, 1199.
Revenue laws, a bill concerning cases of appeals arising
under, 46.

a resolution proposing a reduction of the revenue,

Ripley, General, a bill to audit and settle his accounts,
1676; referred to the Committee on Pensions.
Royall, Mrs. Ann; report of the Committee of Claims,
unfavorable to her petition, was laid on the
table, 1936.

School lands; a bill to authorize the relinquishment of
the 16th section of public lands, and to substi-
tute other lands, 389; passe J.

Secretary of State's communication, enclosing a corre-
spondence on French affairs, 168.

Senators, a list of, 1.
Senate chamber; a report in relation to alterations in the
Senate chamber, 3.

Shackford, John, re-elected Sergeant-at-arms, 8.
Sheppard, Moses, a bill for the relief of, 580; rejected.
Sick and disabled seamen; a motion was made to recon-

sider a bill in addition to an act for providing for
this description of persons, 1758; which was
agreed to, and the bill was amended and passed.
Slavery in the District of Columbia; petitions on the sub-
ject, 72; subject discussed, 185, 471, 636, 664,

1199.

Arkansas; petitions against admitting the State