Mr. ARCHER observed that, with regard to the subject of this resolution, he could furnish the Senator from Missouri with as much information as he could obtain from the executive department. As advised, he could assure the Senator that no proposition whatever, or even allusion to the subject of the assumption of the State debts, had been made in the course of the negotiation with this Government. After this answer, he submitted to the Senator from Missouri whether the resolution ought to be adopted by the Sena'e.

Mr. BENTON was very much pleased with the information given by the Senator from Virginia; but he would prefer having it directly from the Executive. He therefore should urge the adoption of the resolution.

Mr. ARCHER said the answer he had given was advisedly; and he understood from the department itself, that no other answer could be returned by the Executive. He did not think it right to pass a resolution calling upon the department for information already derived from it; he should therefore vote against the adoption of the resolution.

Mr. BENTON called for the yeas and nays; which were ordered, and resulted in the affirmative-yeas 26, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Allen, Barrow, Bayard, Benton, Buchanan, Calhoun, Crafts, Crittenden, Fulton, Henderson, King, Linn, McRoberts, Mangum, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Smith of Indiana, Sturgeon, Tappan, Walker, White, Wilcox, Williams, Woodbridge, Woodbury, and Wright-26.

NAYS--Messrs. Archer, Bates, Berrien, Clayton, Conrad, Evans, Graham, Huntington, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, and Phelps-12.

Engrossed bill, entitled "An act authorizing the relinquishment of sixteenth sections granted for the use of schools, and to enter other lands in lieu thereof," was read the third time, and passed.

Mr. CRITTENDEN submitted the following resolutions, which were adopted.

Resolved, That the Committee on Naval Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of creating, in the State of Kentucky, an agency for the purchase, and an establishment for the manufacture, of American water-rotted hemp, for the use of the navy of the United States; and to inquire into the expediency of establishing a navy-yard at some suitable place on the Ohio or Mississippi rivers.

Resolved, That the report of the Secretary of the Navy, made on the instant, in relation to the manufacture of hemp, be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. CRITTENDEN made some remarks, showing that the cultivation and manufacture of hemp was a subject of great interest, not only to his constituents, but to the whole country; and appealed to the committee to which the subject was referred, to give it a full investigation

Mr. TALLMADGE presented several memorials from the city of New York, against the repeal of the bankrupt law; which were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. MOREHEAD moved the printing of 500 copies extra of the report of the Secretary of the Navy upon the subject of the cultivation and manufacture of hemp; which report, he said, contained much information valuable to the growers of that article.

Mr. CRITTENDEN suggested 1,500 copies; which suggestion was yielded to, and that number was ordered to be printed.

Engrossed bill entitled "An act in relation to donations of land to certain persons in Arkansas," was read the third time, and passed.

FINE ON GENERAL JACKSON. The bill introduced by Mr. LINN, to indemnify General Jackson for the fine imposed on him at New Orleans while in the discharge of his official duty, came up for consideration, as in committee of the whole; and there being no motion to amend, it was reported to the Senate.

Mr. LINN suggested the propriety of immediately putting the bill upon its third reading; and, if there was a disposition on the part of any Senator to oppose it, the opposition could be made after it had received its third reading.

Mr. CRITTENDEN saw no good reason for exempting this bill from the usual course of legislation; and moved its reference to the Committee on the Judiciary.

This motion led to a very interesting and animated debate, in which Messrs. CRITTENDEN, LINN, HUNTINGTON, BAYARD, BUCHANAN, ALLEN, wrighT, and CONRAD

participated, to so late an hour that it was impossible to write it out for this evening's paper, even if there had been room for its admission. The bill was finally postponed till Tuesday next.

Mr. CONRAD presented to the Senate a copy of the record of the trial of General Jackson at New Orleans, which was made out thirty years ago, by the then clerk of the court. It was,

On motion of Mr. LINN, ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

The civil and diplomatic bill was then read and referred to the Committee on Finance; after which, The Senate adjourned.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
THURSDAY, December 22, 1842.

Mr. THOS. J. CAMPBELL presented a petition of 420 citizens of McMinn county, Tennessee, praying a repeal of the bankrupt law: referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. SHAW presented the petition of Benjamin Watson, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, praying for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions.

Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL submitted the memorial of Mary Reeside, executrix of James Reeside, deceased.

Mr. BREWSTER presented (under the rule) the petition of ship-owners, merchants, and traders, of Oswego, New York, asking that drawback may be allowed on goods exported from this country to Canada: referred to the Committee on Commerce.

Also, the report of a special committee of the Legislative Assembly of Canada, on the subject of a free trade with Great Britain in the agricultural productions of British North America, and of a protection to those productions from the competition of foreigners in the colonial and home markets, including the memorial of the colonial committee and the despatch of Lord Stanly: referred to the same committee.

Mr. J. P. KENNEDY asked the House to take up a small bill from the Senate, to authorize the issuing of a new register to, and to change the name of, the packet ship Westchester to that of the Allantic, of New York. He said the vessel now lay in the port of New York, at a great expense, being unable to sail until this bill was passed.

The bill was taken up, read three several times, and passed.

Mr. C. H. WILLIAMS presented the proceedings of the board of mayor and aldermen of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, on the subject of the establishment of a Western armory and naval depot and dock-yard at Memphis; together with the report of Colonel D. Morrison, civil engineer; the report of the committee appointed by the board &c. &c.

He then moved that it be printed. [It was a pamphlet of some 22 pages, with accompanying maps and profile.]

Objections were made in various quarters.

Mr. WILLIAMS moved that the rules be suspended, to enable him to get in his motion; but the House refused its assent.

THE GENERAL APPROPRIATION BILL.

Mr. FILLMORE said he had been much pressed to urge upon the House the necessity of disposing of the general appropriation bill. To-morrow and Saturday were set apart for the business on the private calendar, and at the other end of the avenue there was a great want of the money which this bill would appropriate; he therefore asked the House to go into Committee of the Whole on the bill entitled "A bill making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the half calendar year ending the 30th day of June, 1842."

Mr. STANLY suggested to the gentleman from New York that it would be necessary to fix some time for terminating debate on this bill; otherwise it might be run on to an unnecessary length.

Mr. FILLMORE assented; and moved a resolution fixing 2 o'clock this day to terminale det ate in Committee of the Whole on this bill. The motion was agreed to.

Mr. FILLMORE then renewed his motion that the House go into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union on this bill.

The motion was agreed to, and Mr. BRIGGS took the Chair.

Mr. BURNELL was entitled to the Acor from the last day on which this bill was in Committee of the Whole, on the pending question to reduce the appropriation from $50,000 to $20,000, on the motion of Mr. GILMER. He first glanced at the importance of this last survey-not a particular, but a general importance to the South and to the West, as well as to the East and to the North. In this point of view he confessed he had been not a little surprised at the remarks of the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. REYNOLDS] in the discussion of this question the other day. The sea was the great highway in which every part of this country was interested: there might, with some gentlemen, be a peculiar interest in the prolungation and maintenance of the Cumberland road; but there was a general interest in the removal of the obstructions that existed in this great highway of the national commerce, or the discovery of their precise position; whether at the commencement of the navigation of the Mississippi, or the Balize, at New Orleans, or at any other point of their coast. But now the proposition was virtually to abandon the survey, by cutting down the appropriation from $50,000 to $20,000, the usual annual appropriation having been $100,000; and this was put on the ground of economy-an economy which would be a saving at the spigot, and a loss at the bunghole. On what sort of principle did gentlemen put this case? In some quarters, gentlemen had taken an abstraction -and on that abstraction the question had been put, whether the lives and the property of their country men, to an illimitable extent, should be protected; or whether that immense interest should be sacrified, for the purpose of saving an insignificant number of dollars in the treasury. He might ask, where was it that the money in the treasury itself was raised, if it was not from the resources which commerce creates? But it had been said that the committee ought not to make any appropriation, so long as the Government could get along without it. Why, whatever might become of the people, the Government could get along without the Cumberland road; or if the whole of the river Mississippi were choked up wih snags; or if every light house on the coast were extinguished. The argument was in favor of economy; and the trade of a great nation was to be put against a few thousand dollars in the treasury! Why did they want the snags taken out of the Mississippi? And here he would direct the attention of the committee to the recently received relations of the destruction of property in the western district of this country; and he would tell the gentlemen from the West, that he, as a Northern man, wished to see the Western gentlemen bring forward their bills, and he should be treacherous to his constituents if he did not stand by and see the obstructions to Western navigation all removed. That was the ground on which he stood as one of this national committee. Now, during the last seventeen months, there had been sixtynine vessels wrecked on the Mississippi, in consequence of obstructions to its navigation; and yet the gentleman from Virginia had proposed to reduce the appropriation for the coast survey from $50,000 to $20,000; and he would reduce it to $10,000 if he could have his own way. Why, those wrecked vessels were, perhaps, worth $10,000; but the Government could get on, according to some gentlemen, without the removal of the snags from the river!

Again: look at the seaboard at the other end of the great natural highway. Why, within a very limited period, 575 souls had gone down to a watery death, never to rise again. He could not tell them the amount of property which had been lost on that coast, but it was immense; and discoveries had been made by this coast survey which were of the utmost importance to navigation and the preservation of commerce, though they might be deemed of no importance to the Government. He confessed he was sorry to hear such narrow views ex. pressed as those to which he had been alluding-and made, too, by gentlemen to whom this survey was important, although, in their native counties, they did not hear the raging of the storm. He could

scarcely deem it necessary to state, much less to to argue, the necessity of the survey of the coast of a country which had 2,240,000 tons of shippinga nation only second in the world in amount of its shipping, the first having but 2,800,000 tons!

He then noticed several shoals in his own neigh. borhood, about whose position and extent there had been much controversy, and the consequent loss of time which was occasioned by the sweeping route which its uncertain position compelled vessels to take; and, also, to the inaccuracy with which shoals had been hitherto laid down, whereby both lives and property had been sacriticed. These shoals were found on every part of their coast; and, in consequence of the uncertainty attending their positions, wrecks occurred; and the owners of one wrecked vessel alone had suffered recently to the extent of $50,000. He could appeal to his friends from Maine, (whose constituents were deeply interested in this survey, especially those engaged in the lumber trade;) but he took it for granted that a survey of the coast was deemed necessary to all parts of the country, and that a wise economy would dictate it to the Government, for the sake more particularly of every part of the nation where there was a surplus of products, and a desire to send that surplus to market.

It was, however, proposed to abandon the survey now; and it was added, that it could be resumed by and-by. He looked upon this survey as one of the most splendid monuments of human genius which science had ever erected in the world; and he represented Mr. Hassler as entitled to the nation's gratitude; and as regarded the survey, in point of economy, he considered its continuance as the most economical course that could be pursued. The work was in progress; the difficulties attendant on the commencement of all great works had been surmounted; skill was employed, which the country had paid for, and instruments and vessels were provided. If, therefore, these persons were disbanded, and these instruments and vessels were disposed of, they would not only lose all they had been acquiring, but a very large expenditure would be requisite whenever the work was resumed, which its continuance would not call for.

Some conversation here ensued between Mr. BURNELL and Mr. AYCRIGG on the points disputed at an earlier period of the debate.

Mr. BURNELL then proceeded to show the recessity of the continuance of the survey: first, by calling attention to the discoveries which had been already made, and the partial advantages which it had afforded; and then by stating, particularly, certain errors respecting the positions of shoals, which had occasioned the loss of property equal to the whole cost of the survey; and the absolute necessity which existed of affording to mariners correct charts for their guidance.

Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL said he did not rise so much to make a speech, as to state a motion which he should submit, in case the pending motion was voted down. He had taken great pains to be correctly informed as to this survey; and he was convinced that it was a subject of great national importance, and on no account to be abandoned. He was equally satisfied and convinced that Mr. Hassler's supervision was the best that could be obtained in the country. Without, then, intending to imply any want of confidence in Mr. Hassler, he was still convinced that $25,000 a year might be saved by simply requiring our own officers of the army and navy to perform the du ties, for performing which others were paid so highly. He should move to insert the following proviso to the appropriation:

Provided, The superintendent shall have no power over the disposition of said money; but that the officers of the army and navy shall be exclusively employed upon the survey of the coast, under the direction of the Secretaries of War and the Navy, respectively.

By reference to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, it would be seen what large sums had been expended. In 1833, $20,000 was expended; in 1836, $47,000; in 1837, $91 000; in 1838, $88,000; in 1839, $88,000; in 1840, $68,000; during the first two quarters of 1841, about $34,000; and for the expenses of the hydrographic parties from 1835 to 1841, $32,000. There had

also been expended, in the shape of extra pay to officers of the army and navy, (being the difference between their regular pay and their allowance when employed on the survey) $114,584. It would be perceived that the sum appropriated was annually increased, and it was not until within a year or two past that $100,000 was annually appropriated. He saw no reason why the increase had been made. In the report, he found a long list of officers with large salaries; and, in fac, Mr. Hassler had more money at his disposal than any of ficer of the Government except the President.

He agreed with his friend from Illinois, [Mr. REYNOLDS,] that if the officers educated at West Point Academy were not capable of making sur veys required by the Government, it was high time the country should be informed of the fact. Mr. Hassler, too, was old; and it could not be expected that a man so advanced in life would long survive to be at the head of the survey. Acting upon this fact, he thought we should be training our officers to succeed him in the performance of his invaluable services. That those officers should be allowed extra pay when making surveys, he thought essentially wrong. Our navy officers were now paid liberally-higher than those of any other navy in the world. Should the committee vote down the motion pending, (which seemed to him to be a mere forcible cutting down of the appropriation, without rhyme or reason,) he should move that they be employed to the exclusion of other persons who were now paid high salaries by the Government.

Mr. MALLORY said he was aware of the anxiely of the committee that the debate should be brought to a close; yet, he felt it to be due to himself, as the chairman of the select committee, not to permit the question to be taken without offering a few remarks. He regretted that this discussion should have taken place in advance of the report of the select committee, because he was convinced that, when that report should have been made, the evidence by which it would be accompanied would bear him out in what he had said when he last ad dressed the committee, as well as what he should now say. He was no enemy to the coast survey; but it was because of his great anxiety to have it finished that he had instituted the inquiry to know why, after the expenditure of $100,000 a year, (making a gross sum of $750,000 to $900,000,) no practical results had been accomplished, except three pitiful charts, one of which was known to be incorrect. Gentlemen might make light of this; but those who are acquainted with maritime affairs know that it was by no means a light matter to have charts placed in the hands of mariners which were incorrect. But the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. BURNELL] seemed to think that it made no difference how the scale was, so the chart itself was correct. Mr. BURNELL explained. What he bad sa d was, that the survey might be very accurate, and yet the scale of the chart so placed as to give an erroneous idea.

Mr MALLORY resumed. As he had said, after the expenditure of (10 speak in round numbers) $800 000, after the employment of one brig, four schooners, twenty barges, and scores of men from the army and navy, for ten years, nothing perceptible had been done-nothing to show to the country for this vast expenditure of money! And yet, because he had instituted inquiries, and inves. tigated the proceedings of this extraordinary prodigy of science-this Galileo-this Sophocles-this Nes. tor-this Ferdinand R. Hassler;-because he had presumed to question a man thus plastered with praise by gentlemen here, he was to be charged with having been guilty of a scandalum magnatum! Surely, no philosopher of ancient or modern times ever had such eulogies passed upon him. The gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. HOLMES] might say that he felt rebuked that a committee of the House-men learned only in the alphabet of science-should interpose to correct such a mathemalician as Hassler. But be (Mr. M.) felt rebuked from a different cause. He felt rebuked for the army and navy of his country-rebuked to think that none of the officers were capable of conducting the surveys ordered by the Government. It would seem, from passing events, that Congress had to deal with

a privileged order of men, and that it could not call in question the conduct of any of the officers and employees of this Government, without bringing upon itself a shower of denunciation and abuse. These complaints on the part of interested individuals had become stereotyped; and, a few days since, a correspondence was even carried on between a gentleman advocating Mr. Hassler on the floor, and a portion of his corps of observation in the gallery. It might be a part, of Mr. Hassler's diplomacy to have this corps of observation in the gallery, instead of in the field; and he wondered that the friends and eulogists of that gentleman did not think of him as a fit person to conduct the negotiations with Lord Ashburton.

But, the time admonished him that he must burry on with his remarks. Eccentricity was, with him, no excuse for arrogance and insolence, and confusion of ideas was no test of greatness; for, when he was a school-boy, one of the first lessons taught him was, that the individual whose head thought clearly, always spoke clearly and wrote clearly. So much in reply to his colleague's remarks on Mr. Hassler's eccentricities and confusion of ideas. But he was known in Europe, gentlemen said. How known? and for what? What had he done to cause his name to be known throughout the world? Any common navigator and mathematician, with one little vessel, could have traced out the soundings of a few bays and rivers, as well as this Galileo, Sophocles, or Marshal Blucher has done it, (for Mr. Hassler had been compared by his eulogists to all these great men.) In one respect, it appeared to him that it did require the talents of Marshal Blucher to conduct this great army and squadron of the coast survey. What were they? First, there was his Noah's ark, with its four foaming steeds; next, his theodolitse; vertical and reflecting circles; transit instruments; his box-chronometers; mounted barometers, (on horseback, he supposed,) reflecting telescopes, thermometers, and alhidades, his arm-protractors; his microscopic comparateur; his subdivided kilogrammes; micrometer screws; and, last, his box of wooden legs. These (said Mr. M.) are the accoutrements of the commander-inchief. Then we have a brilliant array of army officers, with their sixty tents, with a retinue of wagons and horses. Then came the navy force, headed by a captain in the navy, with several naval officers, and twenty boats, with their crews. Now, he would say that it did require the talents of Marshal Blucher to manage this grand array of naval and military force.

While speaking of the arrogance of this foreigner, he did not wish to be understood as having any hostile feelings to any foreigner that came to this country. On the contrary, he was willing that be should enjoy the same rights that he (Mr. M.) did; willing, in short, to place him on the same footing with himself; but he was unwilling that he should exalt himself above every other man in the country, and to see the Congress of the United States endorse the calumny. Such was the prejudice of this foreigner against the United States, that he would not even get the copper for his plates in this country, but sent for them to Europe; and when he did get it, it was found to be worthless, and unfit for ine purpose. He also sent to Hamburgh for two ebgravers, when it was well known that there were a number of engravers in this country capable of executing any work that might be given them. Speaking of his arrogance, there was not a department of the Government, in which he had not given a sample of it. He was first attached to the Navy Department, and at one time he had sev. eral serious difficulties with Secretary DickerThen he was transferred to the Treasury Department, and we find him there (said Mr. M.) conducting a voluminous correspondence with the Secretary about his pay, and the pay of those under his command. Though so much had been said about his disinterestedness, yet he was willing to absent himself from his duties for months, to squable with the departments about the amount of his compensation. And as to his great qualifications-why, he tells you himself, in one of his reports, that he was five years getting ready to begin his work; and all that time, too, drawing full day from the Government.

son.

One instance of Mr. Hassler's want of temper, and disrespect to Congress, he would mention. The committee, anxious to ascertain when the charts of the surveys that had been made could be published, with the cost of them, inquired of the engraver who was summoned before them, what the cost of engraving them would be. He answered, that he could not tell without seeing the manuscript charts: Upon this, the committee addressed a letter to Mr. H., which was seat by the engraver, requesting him to permit that gentleman to see the charts, and telling him the purpose for which they were to be inspected. The engraver came back to the committee-room, and said that Mr. H. refused to let him see the charts, and had used language, both towards the committee and Congress, so exceedingly disrespectful, that he would not like to repeat it. This would be sufficient to show the temper of this Galileo, who was always courting inquiry, and, when it was instituted, loudly complained about persecution. Here was a letter from Mr. H., in reply to the respectful note addressed to him by the committee, which he would ask the Clerk to read, in order to show the temper of this man, and the disrespectful manner in which he treated a committee of the House.

Mr. WISE objected to the reading of that letter. It was a part of the journal of the committee; and he, as a member of the committee, protested against the reading of any part of its journal, unless all the members of the committee had access to it, to make a report.

Mr. MALLORY said that the papers of the committee had passed freely about from member to member; and Mr. Hassler himself had been permitted to take a copy of his evidence, for the purpose of explaining it; though, in doing so, he made about ten lines for every one of his testimony, and confused it 30 that it would take a Philadelphia lawyer to understand it. He would not, however, violate the rules of the House by reading the letter, though it would seem but fair that he should be permitted to do what other gentlemen had done in the course of the debate. His colleague, the other day, in his remarks, made use of testimony that was before the committee; and the friends of Mr. Hassler had made use of information derived from the officers of the coast survey.

[Here several gentlemen called for the reading of the letter; and it was read, as follows:

WASHINGTON, May 30, 1842. SIR: The unprovoked insult offered to me by sending the engraver Stone to me to inspect the work of the coast survey in the map of New York, is too much, as well for the powers of the committee, as for the feelings of an honest man. You know that the maps of the coast survey cannot be engraved but in the office under my own inspection. You know that the map in question is already cut up in plates, two of which are under the engraver's hands nearly finished, two others just beginning, for two more the drawing is nearly finished, and two more are half finished drawings.

You know that the engraver Stone is in no way qualified to do such work, nor that I could be made responsible for any of his doings. Hence you cannot otherwise but conclude that the measure you begin is destructive to the work, therefore to the execution and expenses hitherto incurred, therefore directly opposite to the aim professed by the committee to favor the coast survey work.

No man can expect that 1, who am answerable for the work, could be compelled to give the final execution in the hands of a man in whom I have not the slightest reason to have any confi. dence whatever.

I consider the sending of Stone to inspect my work, as he said first, an unmerited insult; and I am certain that every mem ber of the committee, placed in my situation, would consider it so.

With best respect and good wishes,
Your obedient servant,

Hon. FRANCIS MALLORY,

F. R. HASSLER.

Chairman of the Committee on the Coast Survey. Here was a specimen (Mr. M. said) of the temper and ability of this Gaileo, who reminded him of Paracelsus of old, the greatest boaster of the age he lived in. This empyric said that he had discovered an elixir, the drinking of which would render a man immortal; yet he died with a vial of it in his pocket.

Now, as he had but little time left him, he would give the reasons why he thought the superintendence of this coast survey should be placed in other hands. Though Mr. M. had been for such a number of years employed in this work, no part of the survey was yet complete. When the committee examined him, they found that there had been

no deep soundings from Point Judith to the Delaware; and when questioned on that subject, he answered that it could not be done unless Congress would make an additional appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars. He said that he had discovered great errors in Bowditch and the American Almanac as to the latitude and longitude of several parts of the coast; and yet he has not made them public, so that his discoveries are of no manner of benefit to navigators. Then, as to the Gedney channel, for which so much credit has been given him on that floor. Why, he did not discover it. It was discovered by Capt. Gedney, an officer of the navy, and though it was discovered as long ago as 1835, it was not yet published. Then the famous shoal in the Delaware, of which so much was said by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. J. R. INGERSOLL,] was discovered three years ago, and no chart of it has yet been published. One great objection to him was the slow progress he had made in the work, and the probability that it would be equally slow in future. We have a coast of 3,000 miles in extent, and only 300 of it has yet been survey. ed. Now, any school boy, with his slate, could calculate that, if it took ten years to go round 300 miles, it would take one hundred years to go round 3,000. None but a Rosicrucian, therefore, could expect to see the completion of the work. Whether it was to cost two or twenty millions, no man could tell. When Mr. Hassler was asked that question, he could give no information on the subject. In conclusion, Mr. M. said that the direction of the work ought to be changed. It ought to be placed under the charge of the officers of the army and navy; and, by this means, a saving could be effected of $40,000 a year.

The hour having arrived at which, by the resolution adopted this morning, the debate was to terminate, Mr. M. was cut short in his remarks, and took his seat.

Mr. GILMER then modified his resolution by substituting $10,000 for $20,000, so as to strike out $50,000 and insert $10,000.

Mr. SPRIGG asked if it would be in order to move a division of the question.

The CHAIR said that it would not.

Mr. TRIPLETT inquired what course gentlemen were to take who wanted the appropriation stricken out altogether. He did not want to vote

a cent.

The CHAIR said that, after the question was taken on the pending motion, it would be in order to move to strike out the whole clause.

The question was then taken by tellers, (Messrs. WELLER and TRIPLETT,) on Mr. GILMER'S motion, and carried-ayes 82, noes 63.

So the appropriation was reduced from $50,000 to $10,000.

Mr. GWIN then moved to strike out the whole clause making an appropriation for the coast survey; and the question having been taken by tellers, (Messrs. BLACK and C. J. INGERSOLL) was carriedayes 79, noes 64.

So the appropriation for the coast survey was

stricken out.

Mr. TILLINGHAST offered an amendment, appropriating $5,000 for preparing and publishing an account of the exploring expedition; which was adopted.

Mr. SPRIGG moved to strike out the appropriation of $25,000 for the custom-house at Boston: rejected-ayes 47, noes not counted.

Mr. THOMPSON of Indiana offered an amendment, to come in after the clause providing for miscellaneous claims, that no part of that sum should be applied to the furnishing the new custom house at the city of New York: carried-ayes 64, noes 62.

The clause making appropriations for lighthouses having been read and concurred in

Mr. SPRIGG offered an amendment, providing that the Secretary of the Treasury shall cause an account to be kept of all the expenditures, of every description whatsoever, in relation to light houses; and that he report the same annually to Congress: rejcled-ayes 55, nos 71.

Mr. McKEON moved to strike out the appro

priation for the pay of ministers to Prussia, Aus. tuia, Spain, and Brazil: lost without a count.

Mr. McKEON moved to strike out the whole clause making an appropriation for the salaries of chargé des affaires to Portugal, Denmark, Sweden Holland, Belgium, Chili, Peru, Venezuela, New Grenada. Texas, Naples, and Sardinia: lost without a division.

Mr. C J. INGERSOLL offered an amendment appropriating $5,000 for the pay of a commercial agent to Europe: rejected.

[The reporter has been furnished by Mr. INGER. SOLL with the following, as the substance of the remarks he would have made, had he not been prohibited from doing so by the resolution which cut 'off further debate on the bill.]

Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL hardly expected his motion to succeed, because the project was novel, involving expense, and a new office. Yet he would explain why he was convinced it ought; believing that, eventually, it would; for the more it came to be considered, the greater favor it would find. The productive interest of this great country is immense, and may be much improved by Government. During the current year, two million two hundred thousand bales of cotton, incalculable quantities of grain, meat, coal, lumber, and other staples, have sprung from the soil, craving consumers. They are all cheap beyond former experience. While superabundant here, there is crying want of them in other countries. We have a vast deal more than we can consume, while they want a vast deal more than they can get, merely because commercial restrictions prevent our supplying them, and thereby greatly augmenting our navigating wealth, too.

What I propose is a cheap and rational endeavor to promote an object so desirable, by a commercial agency-national, but not political-productive, not diplomatic-a foreign minister, to represent abroad not the Government, but the produce of the United States-the cotton, grain, meats, coal, rice, lumber, and whatever else our teeming mother earth annually brings forth for the comfort of mankind, to clothe, feed, warm, and make them happy. This House did originate such a minister for one staple-tobacco; and the minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Austria is, in fact, nothing more than a tobacco agent. All our foreign ministers are, indeed, but commercial agents; and what I propose is, to aid them by an attorney ad hoc, whose sole business shall be to remove the obstacles to more extended American commerce, by demonstrating to foreign Governments-and, more than Governments, by convincing foreign nations that it is their interest not to let their people suffer while we can easily and cheaply prevent it. Our political foreign ministers are well enough in their orbits; though we have too many little ones. But what we want is not politicians, or even statesmen; but practical men of business, without the parade or restraint of diplomacy, yet with the recommendation and support of Government, to enlighten the understanding, and enlist the interests of other countries-to awaken their minds to the demonstrable policy of improving their condition, by connecting it with what we have and they have not, fairly exchanged for what they have more than we. Foreign political ministers alone cannot do this: consuls still less. They are both stationary-the consuls without salaries, mostly merchants, having their livelihood to earn. What we want is intelligent men, to go everywhere, mix informally with all classes, art in every proper way on public opinion, break inveterate habits and prejudices, and bring about convictions undoubtedly rational.

Perhaps twice as much cotton as is raised in the United States could be wrought in France and Germany, where the cheap labor, the ingenious handicrafts, the taste and scientific knowledge, exceed those of England; and the filations and industrial progress of both those great countries, and in developments as energetic as these of Great Britain, from 1810 to 1830; and in neither France nor Ger. many has American cotton any rival home-interest, such as English India. The late German trade union--called, I believe, Zoll Verein-has, no doubt, not escaped the attention of our Govern

ment, where Prussian, Austrian, and perhaps other ministers must be alive to its vast importance to American commerce. But such ministers, with their formal correspondence, cannot see all that the occasion calls for. This is the moment of uni versal peace and universal struggle for productive independence of British manufacturing supremacy. We ought to strain every nerve for our share of the wealth of nations. We ought to have special, informal agencies to recommend, explain, and introduce our staples. A friendly feeling is said to exist in Germany towards our intercourse. It certainly did in France; and even yet does, notwithstanding our late most ill-advised acts of Congress to alienate the French. The consumption of our rice has considerably increased through the northern German ports, I believe, since, by mutual concessions, we have cultivated more dealings with them. The same thing may be done for cotton, coal, meats, grain, and lumber, with Germany, France, and England too, by similar means. The increased consumption of our cotton might be immense. But we must act with all our facultiesby commercial as well as diplomatic instrumentaity-and do it without delay. Now is the very time, when all Europe is casting about to remodel their industry, with all good will, to cultivate our acquaintance; and we are groaning with excessive production, clamoring for consumers. Habit in Europe is an umpire we have no idea of, which it requires revolution to change; and we must not let those great customers acquire the habit of using Egyptian, South American, or East India cotten, inferior to ours. We can beat them all easily, at any price. And so of several other great staples. Reciprocal commercial concessions would soon work miracles for us in all the countries of Europe, just now shaking off the English yoke. But, for this accomplishment we must not rely on our foreign ministers, or consuls, or merchants alone. Government must interpose by special agency to dispel prejudice, impress information, enlighten public sentiment, (especially the press,) and by all fair, open, and active action, carry conviction home upon communities.

See what the late English duties act has done in the way of awakening them to the advantage of being supplied with American meat. And not only Great Britain, but France may be supplied with it. Pork, for instance, worth 3 or 4 cents a pound in Cincinnati, would bring from 12 to 16 in Lyons or Toulon, as well as London and Dub. lin. Of the nine hundred thousand people of Paris, and two millions of London, many thousands are half starved because they cannot pay 12 cents for pork we can sell them at six. The whole Western country, with its inexhaustible productions of food and clothing, is vitally interested in the measure I propose.

American colten-the mightiest of staples, be. fore which even iron is eclipsed-hitherto the sun of the world of industry-may be readily made to supersede Egyptian, South American, and East In. dia cotton, which, for coarse fabrics, is used in France, Germany, and Switzerland; but, to do that, habit must be overcome. Egyptian cotton, introduced mostly through French ports, has had considerable foothold in many parts of Europe. The ascertained consumption, the kinds preferred, and the quantity and quality that might be wanted, regularly published by an American agent ad hoc, would be reliable information to our cotton-growers, alone worth much more than all the cost of the agency I propose. Merchants know that mercantile prices current are often published, and circulars disseminated, to conceal, not tell the truth, for the benefit of speculators. Fine North American cotton, which cannot be rivalled by Egypt, Brazil, or India, is to clothe men, ships, and dwellings throughout the world, and render it tributary to this country, if it will but do justice to that inestimable production, of which even the various uses yet remain to be discovered. The agency pro. posed should bend its whole force to the greater establishment of this; and might, at least, double our export of it.

Another American growth may, I think, be familiarized to European adoption-stone coal. The industry of France is cramped for want of fuel.

There is none but very inferior wood, costing at Paris about $18 the cord. English coal is subjected to a heavy export duty before it leaves England, and a beavy impost in France; so that it is not used there. Coal from Belgium is taken to France; but it is not near as good, or, I believe, as cheap as our coal. It is bituminous. What French coal there may be is inaccessible, for want of roads and canals to it. Now, Pennsylvania coal, if taken to France as ballast, might be delivered there at less than one-third of the price of French fire-wood; and if even paying freight, at about one-half, I suppose at from five dollars to eight dollars the ton. Connected with cotton, what a prodigious impulse it might give to French industry! I have long thought that the coal-miners, or even the Legisla ture of Pennsylvania, ought to send a coal agent to France, without waiting the action of Congress. But the commercial agency I propose would embrace all our staples-cotton, coal, grain, meat, rice, lumber, and others.

I have not mentioned tobacco, because I believe it would be by far the most difficult to get introduced freely. But there is no reason why the com-. mercial agency suggested should not embrace tobacco with the rest.

It is not necessary to point out the advantages of such commercial extension to navigation. But it ought to be added, that its success would be the best remedy for the evils of the bad currency, which all agree we suffer under.

I have but sketched what might be drawn at large. It would be easy to carry these views much further, to explain their intimate connexion with our currency-our very Union itself. But I omit much that might be presented, confining myself to the shortest intimation of what I am sure the more it is thought of, the more convincing it will prove, when abler and more practical minds than mine come to consider it. American cotton, coal, grain, rice, meat, lumber-all the principal staples of this teeming country, need but foreign markets for their exports to be increased beyond belief. They are as much needed abroad as they are superabundant at home. A few thousand dollars-not more than a very few days of debate, or even of adjournment of Congress, cost-would amply pay a special agent, (or more than one, if deemed advisable,) to visit the capitals and other proper places of Europe, openly and freely to enlighten public sentiment, enlist private interest, incline Governments, inform the press, and prevail on nations to cultivate a greater commercial intercourse than now exists with this people. We have been, I think, extremely remiss in this endeavor. I took the liberty of mentioning it personally to the last administration, I have taken the same liberty with the present; without much encouragement from either. I now lay it be. fore Congress and before the country, hardly flattering myself that it will have immediate acceptance; but well assured that the more it is thought of, the more favor it will find. One such agent as is contemplated for a sum insignificant in amount, if properly selected-no party hack or mere personal favorite-may render more public service than two-thirds of the diplomatic instruments we maintain abroad. Mr. I. concluded by invoking the aid of those representing the interests of cotton, and coal, and grain, and meat, on the floor, to support his motion. It asks for a very small sum, which, even if all his notions on the subject were unsound, would be less than is continually paid for printing some useless document, or paying some undeserving applicant. If even partially successful, its results would be inestimably valuable. It is a kind of cheap utilitarian mission, more deserving of attention than all the sham diplomacy we send abroad. If this plan had been recommended by the Executive, and introduced by a committee heralded by a report, there would be no doubt of its adoption. The Committee of the Whole would determine whether an individual effort, without any such advantages, is deserving of

support.

Mr. T. W. WILLIAMS moved to add an appropriation for the salary of the consul at Beyrout, in Syria, $500: rejected without a division.

Provided, further, That it shall not be lawful for any clerk appointed after the commencement of the present session of Congress to be allowed or paid out of any moneys appropriated by this act, only at the lowest rate of salary authorized by law to the clerkships in the office where such clerk may be so appointed: And provided, further, That the senior efficient experienced clerks in office previously to the commencement of the present session of Congress shall be allowed and paid at the higher rates of salary, according to their seniority in office, and their efficiency and experience in the business of the office wherein they are employed, and of which efficiency and experience the immediate head thereof shall judge and determine. Rejected without a count.

On motion by Mr. FILLMORE, the bill was for. ther amended by inserting an appropriation for the contingent expenses of the bureau of navy yards and docks, $250.

On motion by Mr. FILLMORE, the committee then rose, and reported the bill to the House as amended.

Mr. YORKE moved the previous question; which motion prevailed, and the House immediately proceeded to vote upon the amendments reported from the Committee of the Whole.

Mr. WISE asked for the yeas and nays on concurring with the committee in striking out the appropriation of $50,000 for the coast survey under Hassler's superintendence; and they were or

dered.

The House concurred by the following vote:

YEAS-Messrs. Landaff W. Andrews, Sherlock J. Andrews, Arnold, Arrington, Atherton, Aycrigg, Babcock, Beeson, Bidlack, Black, Boardman, Botts, Boyd, Brewster, Bronson, Aaron V. Brown, Milton Brown, Charles Brown, Burke, William Butler, William O. Butler, Green W. Caldwell, Patrick C. Caldwell, William B. Campbell, Thomas J. Campbell, Caruthers, Casey, Chapman, Chittenden, Clifford, James Cooper, Mark A. Cooper, Cowen, Cravens, Cross, Garrett Davis, Richard D. Davis, Dean, Deberry, Doan, Doig, Eastman, Egbert, Fessenden, John G. Floyd, Charles A. Floyd, A. Lawrence Foster, Gamble, Gentry, Gerry, Gilmer, Gog gin, William O. Goode, Graham, Green, Gustine, Gwin, Harris, Hays, Houck, Houston, Hubard, Hunter, Jack, Andrew Kennedy, Lewis, Littlefield, Abraham McClellan, McKay, Marchand, Thomas F. Marshall, Mathiot, Mattocks, Maxwell, Maynard, Medill, Meriwether, Mitchell, Moore, Morgan, Mor. ris, Newhard, Osborne, Owsley, Patridge, Payne, Plumer, Ramsey, Read, Reding, Rencher, Reynolds, Riggs, Rogers, William Russell, Shaw, Shields, Slade, Snyder, Sollers, Sprigg, Stokely, Alexander II. H. Stuart, John T. Stuart, John B. Thompson, Jacob Thompson, Triplett, Trotti, Turney, Ward, Watterson, Weller, Westbrook, Joseph L. White, Christopher H. Williams, and Yorke-119.

NAYS-Messrs. Adams, Allen, Baker, Barton, Birdseye, Blair, Borden, Bowne, Briggs, Burnell, Calhoun, John Campbell, Cary, Childs, John C. Clark, Staley N. Clarke, Clinton, Coles, Cranston, Cushing, Daniel, Dawson, Everett, Ferris, Fillmore, Fornance, Gates, Giddings, Patrick G. Goode, Gor don, Granger, Hastings, Henry, Howard, Hudson, Charles J. Ingersoll, Joseph R. Ingersoll, James Irvin, William W. Ir. win, William Cost Johnson, John W. Jones, Isaac D. Jones, Keim, John P. Kennedy, King, Linn, Lowell, Robert McClel lan, McKennan, McKeon, Alfred Marshall, Miller, Morrow, Parmenter, Pendleton, Benjamin Randall, Alexander Randall, Randolph, Ridgway, Rodney, Roosevelt, James M. Russell, Saltonstall, Sanford, Truman Smith, Stanly, Summers, Sumter, Taliaferro, Richard W. Thompson, Tillinghast, Toland, Trumbull, Underwood, Van Buren, Wallace, Warren, Washington, Thomas W. Williams, Joseph L. Williams, Winthrop, Wise, Wood, Augustus Young, and John Young-84.

The amendment of the committee reducing the appropriation for the contingent expenses of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery to $200, was nonconcurred in.

The remaining amendments were concurred in. Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL attempted to get in an amendment reducing the appropriation for the Judiciary; but

The SPEAKER ruled him out of order, inasmuch as the previous question had been ordered. The engrossment of the bill was then ordered. Mr. FILLMORE asked the unanimous consent of the House to have the question now taken on its passage.

The bill was then read a third time, and passed.
OHIO RIVER.

Mr. W. W. IRWIN offered the following resolution; which was adopted:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and is hereby, directed to cause to be communicated to the House of Representatives, as soon as convenient, the report by Captain George W. Hughes, of the United States corps of topographical engi. neers, of his late reconnoissance and survey of the Ohio river.

The SPEAKER submitted a number of Execu tive communications, as follows:

1. A communication from the Treasury Department, transmitting the report of F. R. Hassler, upon the progress of the coast survey; also, a report upon the subject of the standard weights and measures: referred to the Select Committee.

2. A communication from the Treasury Department, covering the annual report and list of insol. vent debtors in the United States: referred to the Judiciary Committee.

3. A communication from the Navy Department, in answer to the resolution of the House, passed 17th December, calling for information in relation to the dry dock contemplated at Brooklyn: referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. FILLMORE moved that the communication be also printed.

Which motion was opposed by Mr. WISE. After debate, it was carried-ayes 83, noes not counted.

COAST SURVEY BY NAVY OFFICERS. Mr. MERIWETHER offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Select Committee on the Coast Survey inquire into the propriety of dispensing with the topographical survey of the same; of limiting the number of persons (inclu ding the superintendents and assistants) engaged therein; and of employing officers of the navy in the same.

Mr. WISE remarked, that all that was embraced in the resolution was now under consideration by the select committee raised at the last session, and continued at the present. He pledged himself, as a member of that committee, to investigate the whole subject, and to summon every topographical engineer in the city to testify; and he ventured to say, that if all the testimony already taken had been read, the House would not have come to such a vote as it did to-day, when the whole appropriation for the survey was stricken out.

Mr. EVERETT was of opinion that a blow had been to-day struck at the coast survey, from which he doubted if it ever would survive. Besides the intrinsic usefulness of such a survey to the country, it was due to our national pride that it should be kept up, and the United States thereby contribute its share to the science of the world. He then commented upon the evil effects which would flow from the casting a suspicion abroad that Mr. Hassler was a humbug. Such a course would, he thought, destroy the efficiency of any successor who might be appointed in resuscitating the work.

Mr. CHARLES BROWN said the House had struck no blow at the coast survey, as was asserted by the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. WISE] and the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. EVERETT;] it had only decided that it would relieve the treas ury of the country from an annual expenditure of one hundred thousand dollars, and the survey from the paralyzing influence of a superannuated superintendent and his corps, and place the whole under the officers of the navy and army of the United States, where it ought always to have been. If the Government had no officers in its navy and army capable of carrying on the work, it was time it had; and which, if it had not, it could soon get. He hoped, therefore, that the resolution of the gen. tleman from Georgia [Mr. MERIWETHER] Would be adopted; and that the committee would introduce a bill, at an early day, placing this important work under the charge of the President of the United States, to be conducted by officers of the navy and of the topographical engineers of the army-of those officers that the Government had been educating, at a large expense, for forty years. He had not the least doubt but, under them, the survey would be as well done, and far more expeditiously, than under Mr. Hassler.

Mr. WISE would merely say that our engineers, from Abert and Totten down, would all declare that they were not so competent as Hassler; and not only that, but also that no other man could be found as competent.

Mr. MERIWETHER said, it was true he had voted against the appropriation to-day, and he could tell the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. EvERETT] that it a blow had been struck at the coas! survey, as conducted by Mr. Hassler, he was glad that he had been enabled to assist in striking that blow.

He did not believe that there was a greater humbug in the country than this same Mr. Hassler.

He was disposed to carry on the survey, because his constituents were interested in it; but they wanted it completed before the next century. Under present auspices, there was no prospect of ac. complishing such a design.

The question was then taken upon the resolution, and it was adopted.

After which, the House adjourned.

IN SENATE.

FRIDAY, December 23, 1842.

Mr. CLAYTON presented the memorial of the heirs of Robert Fulton; which, in connexion with the papers on the files of the Senate relating to the claim, was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. MILLER presented a memorial from the president and directors of the Patriotic Bank of Washington, praying an extension of their charter; which was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia.

Mr. BAYARD presented memorials from the president and directors of the Bank of Potomac, and the Farmers' Bank of Alexandria, praying for an extension of their charters, respectively; which were referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia.

Mr. BAYARD gave notice of leave to introduce a bill to establish naval schools.

Mr. MCROBERTS presented a memorial from certain citizens of Ottowa, Illinois, praying the es tablishment of a mail route from Ottowa, via Middle Point, to Napierville, in that State; which was referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads.

On motion by Mr. TAPPAN, it was ordered that the petition of the heirs of George C. Johnson be taken from the files, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Mr. STURGEON presented a memorial from manufacturers of furred hats in Harrisburg, Penn., praying Congress to give them incidental protection, by removing the 25 per cent. duty imposed on imported furs by the tariff of last session: referred to the Committee on Manufactures.

On motion by Mr. STURGEON, it was ordered that the petition and papers of Charles M. Keller be taken from the files of the Senate, and referred to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office.

On motion by Mr. HUNTINGTON, it was ordered that the papers of Charles Kohler be taken from the files of the Senate, and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

Mr. EVANS, from the Committee on Finance, reported back, without amendment, House bill entiled "An act making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the half calendar year ending the 30th day of June, 1842."

Mr. E. gave notice that, if agreeable to the Senate, he would, at 1 o'clock, move to go into the consideration of this bill.

Also reported back, from the same committee, without amendment, Senate bill to regulate the currency of the foreign gold and silver coins.

Mr. BATES, from the Committee on Pensions, reported back, without amendment, Senate bill to regulate the compensation to pension agents.

Also reported back, from the same committee, without amendment, Senate bill to continue the office of Commissioner of Pensions.

Mr. McROBERTS, from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, reported back, without amendment, and with a recommendation that it do pass, the bill for the relief of the Nantucket Steamboat Company.

Mr. SEVIER, on leave, introduced a bill for the relief of the persons residing within the reputed limits of the States of Arkansas and Louisiana, beyond the boundary line between the United States and the Republic of Texas, as established by the commissioners appointed to ascertain the same; which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Messrs TALLMADGE and PORTER presented memorials from the city of New York, remons'rating against the repeal of the bankrupt act; which were referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. WILLIAMS submitted the following reso. lution; which was agreed to:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be directed to inform the Senate whether or not any pensions for disability to officers, seamen, and marines, while in the service and receiv ing pay, have been paid since August 16, 1841; and if any, what has been the amount thus paid, and under what law such payments have been made, since the passage of the act of July 16, 1841.

Mr. WOODBURY presented the petition of James Rundler, praying indemnity for losses by the depreciation of funds paid him for supplies furnished the Government during the late war; which was referred to the Committee on Claims.

Mr. W. also presented documents in relation to the claim of William Russell for fishing bounty; which were referred to the Committee on Com

merce.

Mr. LINN, on leave, introduced a bill for the relief of the heirs and legal representatives of Madame De Lusser; which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims.

Also, introduced a bill for the relief of Elizabeth Munroe; which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on Public Lands.

Also, a bill for the relief of Capt. J. Throckmorton; which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on Claims.

Mr. HENDERSON, on leave, introduced a bill to confirm the survey and location of claims toland in the State of Mississippi, east of Pearl river, and south of the thirty-first degree of north latitude; which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on the Public Lands.

Also, introduced a joint resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to settle, on certain terms, the liabilities of the sureties of Gordon D. Boyd, late receiver of public moneys at Columbus, Mississippi; which was twice read, and referred to the Judiciary Committee.

The following resolution, submitted by Mr. BARROW on yesterday, was taken up and agreed to,

VIZ:

Resolved, That the Committee on the Public Lands be instructed to inquire into the expediency of granting to the State of Louisiana every alternate section of the public lands in the limits of that State, which have been returned as not worth the cost of survey; and each alternate section of such lands as are subject to inundation by the overflowing of the Mississippi river, on the condition that the said State construct levees, by means of which said lands shall be effectually protected, thereafter, from inundation: And provided, That the proceeds of the sales of lands reclaimed by means of such levees, shall be exclusively appropriated by the State of Louisiana to the ma king of roads and the improving of rivers and bayous within its limits.

AFRICAN SQUADRON AND QUINTUPLE

TREATY.

The following resolution, submitted by Mr. BENTON, was taken up as one of the special orders of the day:

Resolved, That the President be requested to inform the Senate, (if compatible with the public interest,) whether the quintuple treaty, for the suppression of the slave-trade, has been communicated to the Government of the United States in any form whatever; and, if so, by whom; for what pur pose; and what answer may have been returned to such communication. Also, to communicate to the Senate all the information which may have been received by the Govern ment of the United States, going to show that the "course which this Government might take in relation to said treaty has excited no small degree of attention and discussion in Europe." Also, to inform the Senate how far the "warm animadversions," and "the great political excitement" which this treaty has caused in Europe, have any application or reference to the United States. Also, to inform the Senate what danger there was that "the laws and the obligations" of the United States in relation to the suppression of the slave-trade would be "executed by others" if we did not "remove the pretext and motive for violating our flag and executing our laws,” by entering into the stipulations for the African squadron, and the remonstrating embasies which are contained in the 8th and 9th articles of the late British treaty. Also, that the President be requested to communicate to the Senate all the correspond. ence with our ministers abroad, relating to the foregoing points of inquiry. Also, that the President be requested to communicate to the Senate all such information upon the negotiation of the African squadron articles as will show the origin of said articles, and the history and progress of their formation.

Mr. B. said the resolution presented two distinct points of inquiry: one in relation to the quintuple treaty for the suppression of the slave-trade; the other in relation to the danger of seeing our laws in relation to the suppression of the slave-trade executed by others, if we did not execute these laws ourselves. Both inquiries arise out of the President's me sage of August last, in which the quintuple treaty is mentioned in a way to anthorize the belief that the conduct of the allied powers has had relation to