And it was to be ascribed to this very policy of making presents, that posterity had ever heard the name of Peter the Czar. But for this, that great man would at that time have been destroyed. The usage had been universal among the powers of the East, from time immemorial. And as to the usage of our own government on that subject, the gentleman at the head of the committee on foreign affairs had referred the House to the practice of Mr Jefferson. But he might have gone much farther back; for we have been in the habit of giving presents ever since we have been a nation. Our first treaty with France had been effected through the influence of presents- by presents given by our ministers at Versailles; and the old confederation had allowed our ministers not only to give presents, but to receive them in return. Mr A. said, he was not indeed sure but presents of some kind had been received by our commissioners in the present case. What had become of them, he did not know. Not an Emperor of Morocco died, but this country made presents to the successor; not a Bey of Tunis, nor a Dey of Algiers, fell by disease, or died by the hand of some loving brother, but presents were still made to the new occupant of the throne. Congress, indeed, did not see the appropriation, nor vote the money for that specific object; the Executive drew the necessary supply from a fund set apart for the contingencies of foreign intercourse. So that, if the worthy gentleman from Ohio (Mr Whittlesey) insisted up

on considering presents made to barbarian governments as tribute, he was paying every day not only many 'cents' but many dollars, and many thousands of dollars, for tribute. But the matter was not so considered elsewhere.— Nay, the practice of making presents in conducting negotiations prevailed even in Europe.

In Holland, it was the practice to present a heavy gold chain, having a large medal appended to it to every foreign minister on his leaving the Hague. In England (where they stuck closer to matter of fact,) it was customary to ask a minister, on his departure, whether he chose to receive a snuff-box containing a portrait of the King, or a present of the like value in money. Some gentlemen, who were more sentimental, preferred accepting the box.Others, who looked closer to the pocket, received a sum of money. So perfectly was this thing understood, that there was a regular graduation of the value of these presents, according to the grade of the minister to whom they were to be made, from an ambassador, down as low, he believed, as to a secretary of legation. It had happened to him, when engaged in negotiating a treaty with that power, that the British minister had put the question to him. Mr. A. had replied, that it was not in his power to accept either. The minister replied, that he had himself received many of these presents, but never without experiencing a sense of shame.

A very good principle on that subject had been established by the Directors of the East India

Company. In their intercourse with the nations of the East, the company always made valuable presents, and permitted their agents to receive corresponding presents in return. But the value of the presents thus received, was always charged to the minister, as so much on account towards his salary. This, in the policy of merchants who were princes, and who united glory with interest in all their concerns, might be a very proper arrangement. He had mentioned these facts, for the purpose of showing how universal the usage in question was. Our own government, indeed, formed the only exception, and even that exception was not uniform-for he believed, that there was seldom an Indian treaty made, in which we did not make presents, whether we received any or not.

It had been said by the gentleman at the head of the committee on foreign affairs, that the object of this treaty had been pursued by a preceding administration. It had so happened that the negotiations to effect it had been instituted by himself. But the fact had not been disclosed, because, in order to the success of the negotiation, it was necessary that it should be secret. It had been commenced in the midst of the war, which had raged between Turkey, Russia, Great Britain, and France. At that time none of these powers had accredited ministers at Constantinople. If the fact had been otherwise, Mr A. could have indulged far less hopes of success. The negotiation had been commenced, and a treaty was in part

concluded on, before the close of the last administration. As it had been necessary to keep these proceedings secret from the nation, and as he well knew, that it was impossible to do anything at that Court without presents, he had employed the whole of the sum, constituting the fund for the contingencies of foreign intercourse, in providing them on the present occasion; and one reason why the treaty had not been concluded at that time, was, that the sum had not been sufficiently great; and the persons employed had not seen proper, like Commodore Porter, to augment it on their own personal responsibility. The despatches from the confidential agents employed had been received at the Department of State, ten or fifteen days after the present administration came into power. Those despatches, by order of the President, had been submitted to his (Mr A's) perusal, and his opinion had been asked, whether it would be proper to go further in expenditures of the same kind, with a view to bring the negotiation to a close. And in justice to the present administration, it was his duty to say, that his reply to that inquiry had been, that although four times the sum already expended might be requisite, it should be given. The object had been effected by an expenditure far within that amount. It was still his opinion, that it was not only proper that these usual presents should be made; but that the legislature should not be niggardly as to the amount applied to such an object. The sum could never be large;

and if, instead of these $20,000, double that amount had been called for on the present occasion, he would venture to say, that the nation would receive five times such an amount in its pecuniary interest, and five hundred times the amount in reputation and influence.

Mr Root addressed the House for some time in opposition to the amendment, and argued to show, that the money asked for was to be considered as so much toll for liberty to pass the Dardanelles. He knew, that we were in the habit of paying toll at Elsineur. But that was a toll exacted by ancient usage, and paid by all nations. He much doubted, whether the trade of the Black Sea would be worth the toll that was demanded, especially as it would bring us, as he understood the matter, only the same products we now obtained from St Petersburg.

Mr Archer now said, that, in deference to the opinion of his friend from South Carolina, (Mr McDuffie,) he would modify his amendment by omitting the $9,000, to which that gentleman objected. Of the residue, $6,000 was for the debt to Com. Porter, $20,000 was for presents. It was indeed true that the minister, had not expressly pledged himself to obtain this sum, nor had he felt himself warranted in borrowing it, as he had done the $6000. It would not have been prudent for him to do so. But he had gained to the nation very signal commercial advantages, under a pledge that he would use his best exertions to obtain additional presents to this amount.

Mr A., therefore, put it to the nice sense of honor in that House, whether this did not virtually amount to a pledge of the nation itself.

The two sums he had named, together with $2,500, the salary of the dragoman, would make in all $28,500. Whether the prudence and dignity of this government would dictate the withholding from a meritorious officer, exposed by his situation to peculiar and heavy expense, especially when it was known that out of his own penurious allowance of $4,500 he would probably be obliged to advance sums requisite in the public service, and for which the committee would be obliged hereafter to apply to the House, it was not for him to say.

Mr McDuffie inquired whether Com. Porter was not now in advance for the Government?

Mr Archer replied in the affirmative, and added that the gallant Commodore had been under the necessity of borrowing money for his own subsistence.

Mr McDuffie then withdrew his objection to the $9000, and the question being put on Mr Whittlesey's amendment inserting $8,500, it was rejected. Mr Williams then moved that $28,500 be inserted, which was also rejected; and the sum of $37,500 was agreed to by a large majority.

After these points had been thus settled, the general appropriation bill was passed by the House and sent to the Senate for con

currence.

In that body an attempt was made in committee of the whole,

the judicial department, from $190,000, to $250,000.

This amendment caused an animated debate, in which the pretensions of the administration to a reform in the public expenditure were severely handled. The amendment was at length adopted, yeas 20, nays 19, and was afterwards rejected in the Senate, yeas 15, nays 24.

Mr Forsyth made an attempt to procure a reconsideration of this vote, but the Senate rejected the amendment by a still stronger vote, yeas 16, nays 26. An amendment was also proposed by the committee of finance, allow ing $4,500 for the return of the ministers from France and England. This amendment was also strenuously resisted, and the whole merits of the arrangement respecting the colonial trade were reviewed in detail.

With the view of getting rid of this discussion, Mr Smith (the chairman of the committee), at length proposed to withdraw the amendment, but it being the report of a committee, the motion was not in order, and finally the amendment was agreed to without a division. The bill was then amended by appropriating $50,000 for the survey of the lands ceded by the Creeks, and by making appropriations for the survey of Narragansett Bay, with reference to establishing a naval depot; for a hospital at Charlestown; marine barracks at Philadelphia; to purchase the bridge

Mr Smith then offered an amendment, which, he said, he was instructed to propose by the committee on finance, appropriating $8,000 to enable the secretaries of the State, Treasury, War, and Navy Departments, to employ additional clerks to arrange and index the papers in their respective offices.

Mr Marcy explained, and advocated the objects of the amendment. He said, that there were such a vast number of papers in the different departments, which had been accumulating ever since their organization, that it was frequently, with difficulty, that important papers sought for could be found; and it frequently happened, that papers that were wanted were passed over when they were in the office, owing to the number, and want of arrangement, of the documents on file.

Mr Clay said, he could readily believe that the heads of the departments could not transact their official business with that ease and correctness necessary for the public service, without a proper. and systematic arrangement of their papers; but, he asked, how were the clerks in the departments employed? Their number had been increased during the present administration, and he certainly thought there were enough of them to put their papers in proper order.

Mr Smith said, he did not intend to enter into any debate on

the subject. The letter from the Secretary of State, would show the importance of the business, compared with the small appropriation asked.

The letter from the Secretary of State was then read, stating the necessity of the work, proposing a plan for indexing and arranging the papers, and stating that an appropriation of $6,000 would be necessary for that department. The secretary proposed that five clerks should be employed for one year, four at $1,000 each, and, as the services of a gentleman of talents and experience would be required, to take the direction of the business, one of that description should be employed at a salary of $2,000. Mr Clay could still see no reason for the appropriation. He repeated that the clerks in the departments were, or ought to be, competent to the arrangement and filing of the papers pertaining to their own business. The law provided a sufficient number of clerks to transact the business of the departments; and at the close of the session, while the appropriation bill was in its passage, so necessary for the service of the government-while so many were waiting for the money due them, and even the Secretary of the Senate had to raise funds on his own responsibility, to pay the members of the Senate a covert application was made for more assistance. The Secretary of State asks $6,000, and the committee have agreed to give him $2,500; and, to keep the other departments in countenance, and prevent them from thinking them

selves neglected, a like sum was given to them.

After some remarks from Mr Forsyth in favor of the amendment, Mr Foot said, surely the Senator from Kentucky must be fully satisfied of the necessity of making the appropriation, after hearing the letter from the Secretary, declaring that the papers and the business in the office were in great confusion, especially since the Secretary has stated, so fully and distinctly, the cause of this confusion, viz.; that it had been occasioned by the removals that had taken place in that department. Is it not indispensably necessary that the business of the office should be kept up, to prevent entire confusion, even if these removals have caused the difficulty? The public service ought not to suffer. It was well known how much confusion and delay had arisen from the removal of clerks. Persons of capacity and experience were turned out, and others put in their places, who knew not where to look to find necessary papers.

Mr Marcy said, the committee had proposed the amendment under the belief that those gentlemen whose experience in public business had convinced them of the utility of the measure contemplated, would join in its support. From the vast number and importance of the documents in the Department of State that needed arrangement, he was convinced, that the appropriation was necessary for that department at least, and he presumed it was also necessary in the others. As so much opposition, however, had