are informed that many of the petitioners, in discharge of their duty as jurors, witnesses, &c., are compelled to travel a distance varying from thirty to seventy miles, thus involving an inconvenience and a loss of time which have borne severely upon them, and to remedy which they have made their appeal to the justice of the Legislature.

In much of the region that will be embraced within the boundaries of the new county which they seek to establish, the lands are said to be of the finest quality. On the Apalachicola and Ocklockonee rivers, and along their tributary streams there are already extensive and flourishing settlements, and notwithstanding its extreme isolation, the emigration to that quarter is, perhaps, as rapid as to any other portion of the State. With the various natural advantages afforded by this remote part of Gadsden county, and which, until recently, have been comparatively unknown, it is believed that it will soon be filled with an active, industrious and intelligent population; more especially, if the inconveniencies of which the present inhabitants so justly complain, should be removed by the organization of a new county. There are, already, upwards of fifty qualified voters within the limits of the proposed county, and even under the restrictions of our State Constitution, as to the term of residence, it is confidently asserted that, at the next Fall elections, the number will exceed one hundred. The committee, without further trespassing upon the time of the Senate, will conclude this report by asking leave to introduce a bill entitled An Act to fix the boundary of Franklin county, and to organize a new county to be styled the County of Clay. Respectfully submitted,

R. B. HAUGHTON, Chairman. Said bill was then read a first time and ordered for a second reading:

Mr. Kain, from the select committee to whom was referred the petition of Samuel S. Sibley respecting a bill for printing, made the following report:

The select committee of the Senate to which was referred the petition of Samuel S. Sibley, concerning his account with the Senate for Printing, have had the same under consideration and beg REPORT:

leave to

That the petitioner, Samuel S. Sibley, was employed to do the printing for the Senate from the 23d June to the 2d July last, inclusive, and it appears that no contract was entered into in regard to the prices to be paid for such work. The committee are, therefore, of the opinion that he should be allowed such compensation as is usually charged for job work of this kind; and, after taking the testimony of practical printers upon this point, they believe that the sum of ninety-two dollars and fifty-three cents is a just and fair compensation for the work performed. The committee recommend the adoption of the following resolution, and beg leave to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject.

WM. A. KAIN, Chairman.

Resolved, That the Comptroller of Public Accounts be and he is, hereby, instructed to audit the account of Samuel S. Sibley for the sum of ninety-two dollars and fifty-three cents.

Which report was received and the resolution read a first time and ordered for a second reading.

The following communication was received from the Comptroller of Public Accounts:

COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE, Tallahassee, Dec. 10th, 1845. To the Honorable President of the Senate:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, passed on the 4th instant, I have the honor to report: That, in obedience to said resolution, C. G. English, Esq., late Commissioner of the Tallahassee Fund, has filed in this office a transcript of the account rendered with his report of the 17th November last, and has exhibited to me vouchers to establish the items of his account. Having carefully examined and compared the same, I find the account in accordance with the vouchers. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

N. P. BEMIS, Comptroller. The following message was received from his Excellency the Governor :

Gentlemen of the Senate

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
Capitol, Tallahassee, Dec. 11, 1845.

and House of Representatives:

I have approved a preamble and resolution entitled A Preamble Resolution relative to establishing a Post Office at Miami in Dade county. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your ob't svt., W. D. MOSELEY.

Also the following:

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

Capitol, Tallahassee, Dec. 11th, 1845.

Gentlemen of the Senate

and House of Representatives:

The act entitled, "An Act prescribing the Form of a Digest, or Manual, of the Laws of this State," was officially communicated to me on the 9th instant, and is approved.

The subject is one which has for a long time engaged the earnest attention, not only of the Legislature, but of the people of the State, from the conviction of its great importance. From a critical examination of the act now before me, I find that to make the work perfect, additional legislation may probably be found necessary. This suggestion is made from the belief that it is the desire, as it is the interest of all that, as we have resolved to accomplish this important object, it should be as perfect as possible. To this end, therefore, I would respectfully suggest the propriety of passing an additional act, directing to be collected and published in a convenient form, all the Statutes of Great Britain, of force in this State. The Legislative Council of the late Territory, on the 6th of No

vember, 1829, adopted as the law of Florida, the Common and Statute Laws of England, which are of a general, and not of a local nature, (with certain exceptions named,) down to the 4th day of July, 1796, and it is believed there is not a single copy now in the State, of the Statutes at large of Great Britain.

The various enactments, therefore, which still govern our citizens in their various transactions, are only to be found scattered through the books of reports and elementary treatises of the English jurisprudence, which form a Lawyer's Library. To the people. at large, and to the Profession in our small towns and villages, where there is a paucity of books, that part of the Statute Law derived from the adoption of the acts of the British Parliament, remains a "sealed book."

I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. D. MOSELEY. Which was referred to a select committee consisting of Messrs. Haughton, Forward and Mays.

A Preamble and Resolution relative to the armed occupation law, &c., was received from the House, read a first time and ordered for a second reading.

On motion of Mr. Haughton the Orders of the Day were postponed until to-morrow.

The Senate adjourned until to-morrow, 10 o'clock, A. M.

FRIDAY, December 12, 1845.

The Senate met pursuant to adjournment, and a quorum being present the proceedings of yesterday were read and approved.

Mr. McLean gave notice that he will, at an early day, ask leave to introduce a bill to be entitled, An Act to provide for the payment of Jurors..

Agreeably to previous notice, Mr. Wall introduced a bill to be entitled, An Act to amend an act entitled an act to provide for the erection of a public jail and premises in the county of Monroe.

Which was read a first time and ordered for a second reading. Agreeably to previous notice, Mr. McLean introduced a bill to be entitled, An Act to prescribe the mode by which Attorneys and Counsellors at Law may be admitted to practice in this State.

Which was read a first time and ordered for a second reading. On motion of Mr. Haughton the bill to be entitled, An Act to organize a Board of Internal Improvement for this State, and to prescribe their powers and duties, was taken from the table and placed among the Orders of the Day.

Mr. White, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, report as correctly enrolled, a Resolution on claim of Capt. Samuel Worthington's Company of Florida Volunteers. Also, a Resolution on militia claims.

A message from the House informed the Senate that the House had concurred in the amendments of the Senate to the House Preamble and Resolution relative to the establishment of a light-house at Key Biscayne, Cape Florida.

A resolution was received from the House to adjourn on Saturday the 20th inst.

Which was read a first time.

Mr. Broward moved to waive the rule and read the resolution a second and third time.

Which motion was lost.

The resolution was then ordered for a second reading.

The following message was received from his Excellency the Governor :

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

Capitol, Tallahassee, December 12, 1845. Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Rep's:

}

I hereby nominate as Judge of Probate for the County of Alachua, Thomas J. Prevat. And as Auctioneers for the county of Escambia, Benj. F. Magie and Alexander McVoy.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your ob't serv't, W. D. MOSELEY. Which nominations were advised and consented to by the Senate. The following message was transmitted to His Excellency the Governor :

SENATE CHAMBER, Dec. 12, 1845.

His Excellency the Governor of Florida:

I herewith transmit for the approval of your Excellency: Resolution relative to the claims of Samuel Worthington's Company of Florida Volunteers;

Resolution on Militia Claims. Passed by both Houses of the General Assembly, and signed by the officers thereof.

Your ob't serv't,

THOS. F. KING, Sec'y Senate.

ORDERS OF THE DAY.

Engrossed bill to be entitled, An Act for the relief of Wm. C. McCallum, came up;

On the passage of the bill, the yeas and nays were:

Yeas Mr. President, Messrs. Broward, Forward, Haughton, Kain, Lorimer, McLean, Mitchell, Priest and White-10.

Nays-Messrs. Bell, Carter, Goodbread, Mays and Porter-5. So the bill passed. Title as stated.

The engrossed bill to be entitled, An Act so to amend the Constitution of this State as to extend the election franchise to all free white male inhabitants of and over the age of twenty-one, &c., came up;

Mr. Haughton moved to insert the following as an engrossed rider: After the first section insert the following, viz.-An Act supplementary to an act entitled an act to extend the elective franchise to all free white male inhabitants within this State, of and over the

age of twenty-one years, who shall have resided therein one year, and within the County or Election District in which they offer to vote, six months next preceding the election.

Which motion the Chair decided out of order.

The bill was then laid on the table.

The engrossed bill to be entitled, An Act so amending the Constitution of this State as to make the sessions of the Legislature biennial instead of annual, came up ;

On motion of Mr. Haughton, the blank in the first section of the bill was filled up by inserting the words "fourth Monday of November."

On motion of Mr. Broward, the bill was laid on the table.

The resolution to adjourn sine die, on the 22d of this month, was read a second time, and on motion of Mr. Haughton, laid on the table. The bill to be entitled, An Act defining the powers and duties of the Mayor and City Council of Apalachicola to assess taxes, was read a second time. The President moved to insert the words "Pensacola and Tallahassee," after the word Apalachicola, in the fifth line of the first section of the bill. Also, insert the same after Apalachicola, in the fourteenth line of the same section. Which motion prevailed.

The bill as amended, was then ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.

On motion of Mr. Forward, the rule was waived, and Mr. Wall was added to the Committee on Public Accounts.

The House bill to be entitled, An Act relating to the Commissioner of the Tallahassee Fund, amended by the Senate, and returned by the House with its refusal to concur in the amendments, came up; On the question being put, the Senate refused to recede from its amendment to the bill.

Ordered, that the same be certified to the House.

The House bill to be entitled, An Act concerning Roads and Highways, was read a second time.

On motion of Mr. Mays, the Senate resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on said bill, Mr. White in the Chair, and after some time spent therein, rose and reported the bill by their Chairman, without amendment, and asked to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject; which report was concurred in. The bill was then referred to the Committee on Internal Improve

ment.

The resolution instructing the Comptroller to audit the account of S. S. Sibley for printing,

Was read a second time, and ordered for a third reading.

The bill to be entitled, An Act to amend an act concerning the Limitation of Actions, approved 10th Nov. 1828,

Was read a second time, and on motion of Mr. Haughton referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The bill to be entitled, An Act to authorize Nelson Gray to