allowances for deficiencies and accidents. The situation of this country at present required it, and it would be safe, prudent, and discreet, to do so. The Secretary of the Treasury had estimated the internal revenue at 337,255 dollars, while those gentlemen made it 469,579. This they stated from the revenue of last year, which it was probable would be considerably more than this. He thought there was as much reason for taking one as the other statement; and the Government would be exposed to hazard and danger, unless allowances were made for deficiencies. The deficiency, according to his calculation, was 1,012,969 dollars, and after deducting from that sum 200,000 for the additional duties in the bill before them, there would remain a balance of 812,969 dollars. Admitting the gentleman's own statement to be true, there would still be a deficiency of 100,000 dollars, and this without making any allowance whatever for accidents | and occurrences which will always happen, without making any provision for the purchase of the public debt, which might at this time be purchased to great advantage. If there had been money in the Treasury for the purpose, instead of paying the debt at par, it might have been bought up at 16 or 17s. in the pound. And he was of opinion, from the present situation of things, the public debt would remain low, and that a surplus in the Treasury might be well employed in purchasing it. So much for the revenue and expenses of the present year. With respect to 1798, there was no necessity to go much into that subject. The gentleman from Pennsylvania had estimated the instalment of the Dutch debt, payable in this year, at 160,000 dollars only; but he asked whether it would be wise to pay only that sum? And whether it had not been in the contemplation of that gentleman, as well as others, to pay as much as they could yearly? He knew they should not be obliged to pay more; but he believed it would be a wise policy to pay an equal sum every year. That gentleman made another deduction of 280,000 dollars, which had been granted to the Dey and Regency of Algiers this year; but might they not expect items which they did not contemplate, to this amount? Contingencies, he said, occurred, which always swelled the expenses greater than were contemplated. There was always something of an extraordinary nature occurring to call for money; either an Indian war, or insurrection, depredations of foreign powers, or attacks by the Algerines. There was no guarding with certainty against them. The next deduction was 100,000 dollars for the frigates. Whether this would be saved or not, was uncertain. The next House might agree to go on with the frigates. Upon the whole, Mr. S. said, it would be prudent to provide a sufficiency of revenue, and there was no prospect of getting it from any other than the objects contained in the bill before them. A land tax was agreed to be laid [FEBRUARY, 1797 aside for the present, as gentlemen from the Eastward seemed wholly against it, and those of the Middle States seemed to have grown lukewarm upon the subject. The duty on stamps, which would have provided considerable revenue, was also laid aside. They had agreed to lay low duties upon distilled domestic spirits; no increase could therefore be expected from that quarter. They could, then, only resort to such articles of impost as would be likely, from their general demand and other circumstances, to produce additional revenue. As, therefore, no prospect appeared of getting other revenue than by the article before them, he should be compelled to agree, though with reluctance, to the advance of the duty on sugar. With respect to their lands, they had authorized public stock to be received in payment; and, though he thought this a very valuable regulation, both for facilitating the sale of the land, and for paying off the debt, the lands, on this account, would not produce much cash into the Treasury. Mr. S. SMITH said, very early in the present session, he read, with some attention, the report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the subject of direct taxes. He cast his eye upon certain articles which he thought proper subjects upon which to raise further sums from indirect sources, among which were salt, sugar, tea, and the whole of the 10 per cent. class of goods; he communicated his sentiments to other gentlemen, and they had been brought forward. He supposed the House would have gone into a system of direct taxes. This he had always considered as a difficult subject, and he never could, himself, form a plan adequate to effect it; but he was desirous that the subject should have been taken up, that in case of extremity it might be called into operation. He did not think any immediate wants of the revenue required this tax to be put into execution, but he wished to take it into consideration, to see what could be done with it. He had still his doubts whether it could be carried into execution; if it could, it would doubtless form a valuable source of revenue, which could not be injured. He had no doubt, however, of the present revenue being equal to our present wants. The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. W. SMITH) had taken his calculations from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury; but the Secretary went into a permanent calculation for a period of 18 years, in the course of which he calculated the sinking of the whole debt. The trade of 1796, Mr. S. said, would give nearly a million of dollars; of course there could be no apprehensions upon the minds of gentlemen that the receipts of 1797 would not be equal to the wants of Government. The tax upon sugar would produce 300,000 dollars. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. GALLATIN) was correct on this subject. The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. W. SMITH) had said, it was not wise to calculate upon the highest returns; but Mr. S. SMITH said it was right to calculate upon a preceding year, and when they knew that there would be received in this year from 700,000 dollars to one million, there could be no doubt of the year 1798 falling far short of that sum. For he was not one of those who thought the revenue arising from this year would be much inferior to that arising from the last. Amount brought forward, Quartermaster's Department, Balance due on Algerine business, . Internal expenses of 1797, [H. OF R. $649,350 1,450 150,000 60,000 90,000 15,000 20,000 93,350 190,000 376,505 $2,255,255 The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. HARPER) had supposed that the British spoliations had not affected our revenue, but that those of the French would be severely felt. He saw no difference between them, and believed they would be felt alike in proportion to their ment would in future be considerably lessened; The expenses of the Quartermaster's Departextent. [Mr. HARPER explained.] He believed for, said Mr. S., heretofore great expense had the United States would only consume a certain been incurred by land carriage, which in future portion of the goods imported; the rest would would be avoided, as the forage would all be be re-exported, and the drawback received up-conveyed by water. Indeed it had not been an on them; and, as he did not believe the con- unusual thing for the horses employed in consumption of the United States had been lessen-veying forage from one post to another, to eat ed, it would follow that it had been the re-ex- the whole of it in their journey to and from portation which had been diminished, and, of their destination, and some horses had been course, that it would not be the duties which known to die from want on the road. The would be decreased, but the drawbacks. being the case, little was to be apprehended struction of horses would be prevented, and he conveyance being now by water, a great defrom a defalcation of the revenue this year. doubted not that one hundred thousand dollars would be saved under this head. This Indeed, he was of opinion, that the revenue arising from the present year, would be equal to any preceding year. The expenses of 1797 would be as follows: ESTIMATE FOR THE YEAR 1797. Ditto on 54 per cent. do. Internal expenditures (as below) FRIDAY, February 24. The House proceeded to consider the report with inter- of the Committee of Claims, of the sixth ultimo, 8992,000 to whom was referred the petition of Amy Dar2,324,175 din, which lay on the table; whereupon, the 587,926 said report was read at the Clerk's table, in the words following, to wit: 101,689 7,920 78,261 372,200 "That the most important, and all the material facts respecting this claim, are stated in the former report of the committee appointed to consider the 4,463,971 said petition. To that report the committee now : 2,255,255 ask leave to refer. Whatever justice there might originally have been in this claim against the United $6,719,226 States, it is now, and for many years past has been, as clearly within the statutes of limitation, as a multitude of others, which have been rejected. The committee regret that no relief can, with propriety, be granted to the petitioner, upon her application. So many evils would result from a suspension of the limitation act, for the admission of claims similar to 52,800 the one under consideration, the committee cannot recommend that measure to be adopted. They are 511,953 of opinion the prayer of the petition ought not to be 40,000 granted." H. OF R.] : Suability of States. [FEBRUARY, 1797. ment to the constitution with respect to the suability of States. The select committee did not confine them. selves to this single amendment, as reported from the Senate, but went back to the year 1789, when twelve amendments were proposed by Congress; for though they state eleven States out of fourteen had ratified ten of these amendments in the year 1791, yet they were of opinion that a doubt might arise whether eleven States ought to be considered as the three-fourths of fourteen; they therefore wished the PRESI DENT to be requested to make inquiry also from the non-ratifying States on the subject of these ten amendments. individuals to do so. Though an act of limitation had been passed, they ought only to consider it, in a modified sense, as a guard against fraud; but, in cases where they were convinced a debt was justly dug, he did not see upon good principles they could refuse to pay it. He was sure there was not a member on that floor that would do so in his individual capacity. Nor did he believe they needed to be operated on by the fear of a number of these claims being brought he believed their number was small. But, said he, shall we fear that we shall be called upon to pay a few more just debts? He trusted so unworthy an apprehension would not prevent them from doing what was right. The act of limitation was produced, he said, by an Mr. NICHOLAS Said, the resolution of itself was incapacity to pay the claims which were made only exceptionable as it had connection with the upon Government, and now they took advan-statement which went before it, in which it was tage of that capacity, by refusing to pay the just demands which were made upon them. The certificates which had been given, not worth more than one-eighth of their nominal value, had been scattered all over the United States, and the distance from the seat of Government had been the reason application had not been made for payment. He spoke from his own knowledge. He had some of them put into his hands. Some of them he was fortunate enough to get paid before the act of limitation passed; others were yet unsettled. It was only since the erection of this Government, which had given them the ability to pay, that these claims were brought forward; for six or seven years every kind of claim was mustered, and the public debt was considerably swelled by them, but now a contrary extreme was observed, and no claim, however just, had a chance of being satisfied. He had never troubled the House on a subject of this kind before, but he had taken advantage of the fortunate decision of this morning to say a few words on the subject. Messrs. HEATH, MACON, WILLIAMS, and D. FOSTER, were against a committee being appointed to bring in a bill; they hoped no partial regulation would take place, but that if any exception was made, from the operation of the act of limitation, it would be done in a general way, as there was a great number of claims equally well entitled, with Mrs. Dardin's, to payment. Indeed, Mr. D. FOSTER, Chairman of the Committee of Claims, (who was not present when the question was taken upon the report,) said, if this claim was granted, it would bring forward a thousand others. The report, petition, and papers, were committed to the whole House on Monday. SATURDAY, February 25. Suability of States. On motion of Mr. HARPER, the House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the report of the select committee on the resolution sent from the Senate, authorizing the PRESIDENT to make inquiry of certain States whether they had adopted the proposed amend made a question whether the ten last amendments of the twelve proposed by Congress to the States in March, 1789, were ever made part of the constitution. He did not wish a doubt to be expressed on this subject. This doubt, in the opinion of the committee, it seemed, rested on a supposition that eleven were not threefourths of fourteen. He could not conceive how any doubt could arise on this subject, since it must be acknowledged by every one that eleven was more than three-fourths of fourteen. If the objection arose from fourteen not being divisible in equal fourth parts, it was an objection to the constitution as originally made. It was formed by thirteen States, which was no more divisible into fourths than fourteen. On this ground, an amendment could never have been made to the constitution. He hoped the Chairman of the committee would give them some information on the subject. He Mr. HARPER said, it was not of much impor tance whether the committee had doubts, or whether those doubts were well founded. The committee stated they had these doubts. had them ; not whether eleven was three-fourths of fourteen, according to arithmetical calculation-every school boy knew, that, in that view, eleven was more than three-fourths of fourteen; but it was, whether you could make a division of States. He believed it could not be done; he believed there must be twelve ratifying States to be three-fourths, as intended by the constitution, because that number would be three-fourths of sixteen, which was the nearest number to fourteen capable of four equal divisions. Whether this doubt was well founded or not, there could be no harm in directing the inquiry to be made; it would be made as soon for thirteen amendments as for one, and if any other State should have ratified the ten amendments in question, all doubt would be removed. Mr. H. noticed an error or two which had escaped the committee in their report. Mr. GALLATIN said, the resolution under consideration went to direct the PRESIDENT to apply to all those States, by whom, as far as can be known from the official documents heretofore transmitted, all or any of the amendments at any time proposed by Congress still remained to be ratified. There could be no occasion to make the inquiry with respect to all these amendments, unless it were taken for granted that none of them had yet been ratified. He was, therefore, of opinion, with the gentleman from Virginia, that such an application would be very improper, as bringing the ten last amendments into doubt, which he believed to be as much a part of the constitution as any other article in it; he also thought them a very valuable part, and not to be trifled with. [H. OF R. that twelve States are three-quarters of fourteen -that the twelve States out of fourteen are necessary to ratify the amendments. He believed the gentleman would allow that he had not misstated his opinion. Let us now see, said Mr. G., how this doctrine will operate. It would go to prove, in some instances, that three-fourths of a number is greater than the whole. Suppose, for instance, the case of five States. One-fourth of five is 11; but as the vote of a State cannot be divided, you must call it two; or, as the gentleman expressed it, five not being divisible into four equal parts, you must take the nearest number to five capable of such division, that is to say 8, the fourth part of which is two; two, therefore, must be considered as the fourth part of five But, upon what ground, said Mr. G., do the advocates of this report prove that 11 is not three-fourths of 14? The idea was so novel that he could scarcely understand what principle they adopted in order to create a doubt on their minds on this subject. To him the posi-States, and as three multiplied by two is six, it tion that 11 was more than three-fourths of fourteen appeared to be one of those self-evident axioms which hardly admit of a proof. The principle on which the doubt arose must be so very nice, so abstract, that he did not know whether he was capable of comprehending it. Anxious as he was to avoid saying any thing which might be construed as misstatement, he would, however, attempt to analyze what he conceived to be the ground of the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. HARPER.) It appeared to him that that gentleman thought three-fourths in itself was not a fraction of the unit, was not a number conveying to the mind the simple idea of a fraction; but that it was a compound of fractions, and that the only way by which the idea of three-fourths could be conceived was by a decomposition. Because the idea of three-fourths was by our numerical arithmetic expressed by the two figures, that gentleman was unable to conceive what it meant except by decomposition, by dividing the unit into four equal parts and multiplying the result by 3. And if that idea of three-fourths had happened to be expressed by the fraction nine-twelfths, (which was the same thing as three-fourths,) that gentleman could not have conceived it except by dividing in the first place the unit into twelve parts and then multiplying the result by nine. In fact be denied the existence of any number, part of a unit, except as it consisted of an aggregate of such parts as the unit could exactly be divided into. follows, according to that gentleman's doctrine, that the three-fourths of five is six! Suppose that, in the constitution, instead of the expres sion three-fourths, it had been said that ninetwelfths were necessary. The number of States when the constitution was framed was thirteen. In that case one-twelfth of thirteen being one and one-twelfth, you must, the vote of a State being indivisible, call it two; so that in that way of reckoning, nine-twelfths (which is the same thing as three-fourths) of 13 is 18! Consequently, the consent of eighteen States would have been necessary in order to ratify any amendment to the constitution of a nation consisting only of 13 States. Let us, said he, examine a little farther. The same part of the constitution which provides for amendments of the constitution, says, that an amendment shall be proposed by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress; but he supposed the vote of a man was no more divisible than that of a State. He wished to know, therefore, how the gentleman would, on his principle, calculate what were two-thirds of the members present when their whole number was not divisible by three ? In making treaties he wished to know what was meant by two-thirds of the members of the Senate present? If the number present happened not to be divisible by three, would that gentleman say, that, in that case, the next number above the number present must be taken, which would be divisible by three, and that if two-thirds of that number did not concur in the Thus, when speaking of fourteen States, al- vote for the treaty, no treaty should be ratified? though he (Mr. GALLATIN) could at once under- On that principle, in some instances, a greater stand that three-fourths of fourteen was ten-and-proportion of the Senate would be necessary to a-half, and, therefore, (admitting, as he did together with that gentleman, that the vote of a State was indivisible) that eleven States were more than three-fourths of fourteen, the gentleman from South Carolina proceeded in a different way. The fourth part of fourteen being three-and-a-half, he says that, as a State cannot be divided, you must take four States instead of three-and-a-half for the fourth part of fourteen, and then multiplying these four States by three, in order to get the three-fourths, he concludes ratify a treaty than had been usually understood, according to the generally received opinion of the sense of the constitution in this respect. Upon the whole, he believed it would be best to reject the report, as, besides the objections alluded to, it was confessedly inaccurate in some of its parts, and adopt the resolution sent from the Senate, which applied only to the amendment respecting the suability of States. If the House meant to go any further, they might introduce the first and second amendments pro posed at the same time with the other ten, but which had not yet been ratified. Mr. HARPER said, he would add a word or two to what he had already offered on this subject. He did not know whether the House thought with him on this subject, that it was a doubtful point whether the ten amendments in question had been ratified according to the sense of the constitution. If they did, they would of course, vote for the report. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, he acknowledged, had not only shown his knowledge in arithmetic, but also his wit, which had not until now been brought before them. In the enjoyment of the last he had participated in common with the House. [FEBRUARY, 1797 of inserting 5,000. The bill informed them that this sum, in addition to what might arise from the sale of such of the present furniture as may be decayed, out of repair, or unfit for use, was to be laid out in furnishing the household for the PRESIDENT. It was very lately that they had received a proposition from the Senate to advance the salary of the PRESIDENT 5,000 dollars; the bill was rejected by that House. It appeared to him that this bill went to effect the same thing in a different way. If the object was merely to furnish the household of the PRESIDENT, he thought a much less sum would be adequate to that purpose. He thought 5,000, with the proceeds of the sale of such of the present furniture as was unfit for service, might be sufficient. He had no doubt that the sum would make the furniture of the PRESIDENT for four years to come equal to what it had been for four years past. Mr. NICHOLAS wished the gentleman would the sum blank, instead of inserting 5,000. Mr. HENDERSON consented. The question was taken, and negatived-42 to 39. Mr. DAYTON (the Speaker) was in favor of rejecting the resolution reported by the select committee, as it embraced too many objects, | and held out a kind of invitation for States to come forward and propose amendments to the constitution. He trusted the first of the amend-leave ments, proposed in 1789, relative to the proportion of representation, never would be agreed to, as it would have extremely mischievous effects. Indeed, if any thing were done with respect to that amendment, he should think it ought to be to request those States which have not adopted it, not to do it, and those who have agreed to it, to revoke their vote in favor of it. The question was then taken on the resolution reported, and negatived, without division. The resolution was as follows: "Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to apply, as speedily as may be, to all those States, by which, as far as can be known from the official documents heretofore transmitted, all or any of the amendments, at any time proposed by Congress, still remains to be ratified; and to obtain from them authentic information of the proceedings had by them, respectively, on the subject of those amendments, or any of them." The question was then taken on the resolution of the Senate, and agreed to. It was as follows: "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President be requested to adopt some speedy and effectual means of obtaining information from the States of Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina, whether they have ratified the amendment proposed by Congress to the constitution, concerning the suability of States: If they have, to obtain the proper evidences thereof." Accommodation of the Fresident. On motion of Mr. GALLATIN, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill to accommodate the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; when Mr. HENDERSON said, he wished for information on this subject, as he had not sufficient to convince him of the propriety of granting 14,000 dollars, in addition to the furniture now in possession of the PRESIDENT; he therefore moved to strike out the 14,000, for the purpose The committee then rose, and the House having taken up the subject Mr. NICHOLAS said, as a majority of the House was against striking out this sum, he wished to have some information why this sum was fixed upon, and for what purpose it was to be applied. No one wished more than he did to place the PRESIDENT in a situation conformable to his station; but according to his information, this sum was more than was given to the present PRESIDENT on his entering upon the office, though there remained the whole of the furniture, most of which was worth as much at this time as it was when first purchased. Mr. SITGREAVES said, he would give to the gentleman all the information which he had on the subject. In the year 1778 or 1779, by a resolution of the old Congress, an household was established for the PRESIDENT of Congress. This remained until the present Government went into operation in the year 1789. It was then resolved, that Mr. OSGOOD should be requested to fit up the House in a proper manner for the reception of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. In that year the law passed for compensating the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, which enacted that a salary of 25,000 dollars should be allowed him, together with the use of the furniture then in his possession belonging to the United States. This furniture cost the United States 13,657 dollars, 83 cents. During the period from 1779, when the household was first established until 1789, when the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES entered upon his office, the furniture which had been purchased for the PRESIDENT by Congress, was so much decayed, that it required nearly 14,000 dollars to replenish it. It was the opinion of the joint committee, therefore, that in a lapse of eight years, viz: from 1789 to the present time, the furniture then purchased must have |