■lW' was received from the Senate, inform i House that they concurred in their in§ f,V 28th of May—by which every mem voCe. 1" funiillied with a 4 compleat sett of the er 1S T- >f the late Congress. fc' i llF obferved,that thefubjeAofamend was of very extensive importance—he iup tl that the House could not, with any pro v defer their consideration any longer ; lor P m uVhthe Conftitutioh had been so generally ,l 'si f ve' it was evident, that alterations and 'amendments were expected by perhaps a majority ° f \| he stl'rH (s!C S ) then introduced a propofi • ' for the appointment of a feled. committee, tlo «ketfie business into consideration, and repoit. Mr' PiOEwas in favour of a committee ot the whole, and urged the propriety of commencing r enquiry without any further delay, as a mea fore that would be productive of very happy con was opposed to the measure forfe veJ\ ,-eafons—the incompleteness of the revenue and judiciary fyltems ;_thefe, he urged, ough. be tiniihed previous to a difculhon ot amend ments: The judiciary ljitem may provide a re medy for some of the defects complained, of-and without giving the Constitution any operation, it was impossible to determine what were defects, or not—and what alterations were necefiary.— He further observed, that he conceived it necel farv previous to any di<cuffion of the subject, that it should be ascertained whether two-thirds of the House and Senate were ill favour ot en tering upon the bufinel's—he supposed that the voice of two thirds \»ere as requilite to ian<ftion the expediency of the measure, as they were to the adoption of amendments —He was fully of opinion, that experience alone, could afcertam the real qualities of the Constitution—The people are waitiii" with anxiety for the operation of the Go vernment—What has Congress done ?—Have they vafl'eda revenue law?—ls p.ot the revenue daily efcapin" us?—ls it not of iminenfe confequencc to compleat the system ?—Let us not perplex our fclves, by introducing one weighty and important question after another, till some decisions art made: This mode of introducing one piece o» business, before a former one iscompleated, tends to confufe the mind, and incapacitate it from do ill"- full juityce to any fubjeel—He hoped, there fore, that the House would not go into a com mittee of the y>foU upon this business. Mr. Madiso-j conceded to the motion for chuf ing a feleci co. urittee—He then obferx id, Tha: he°:houcht it would be attended with salutary ef fefts, should Congress devote, at the prcfenttime, la much at lead one day to this buiinef, to convince the world, that the friends of the Con stitution were aS firm friends to liberty as those who had opposed it: The advocates for amend ments are numerous and respect ible-—fome . Ite ration of the Constitution lays with great weigh; upon their minds—they merit consideration.—He urged the expediency of the measure, from the fituatiou ot ''1 ! -in. - ltd an . .\ T o;t t-C u*olina He had no doubt that it would conciliate them to wards the Union, and induce tliem to unite, and again become b> autiies ot ihe gi eat American 1 a mily.—He was, he obfei ved, in favour of fund'rj alterations, or amendments, to the Constitution— he supposed that they could be made without in! jury to the fyitein—He did not wish are-conside ration of the whole—but supposed that alteration! might be made,without effecting theedential prin ciples of the Conftitution,which would meet with universal approbation ; —thefe lie would pro pose flifiuld be incorporated in the body of the Constitution.—He then mentioned the several ob jections which had been made by seVeral of the States, and by people at large :—A bill of rights has been the gi eat object contended for—but this was one of those amendments which he had not supposed very eflential.— freedom of the piefe, and the rights ofconfcience, those clioiceft flowers in the prerogative of the people, are not guarded by the British Constitution:—With re fpec r t to these, apprehensions had been entertain ed of their infeeurity under the new Constitution ; a bill of rights, therefore, to quiet the ndnds of people upon these points, may be salutary.— He then adverted to the several bills of rights, which were annexed to the Constitutions of in dividual States ; —the great objetft of these was, to limit and qualify the powers of Government— to guard against the encroachments of the Exe cutive.—ln the Federal Government, the Execu tive is the v, eakeft—the gi eat danger lies not in the Executive, but in the great body of the peo ple—in the disposition which the majority al ways discovers, to bear down, and depress the minority. In stating objections which had been made to affixing a bill of rights to the constitution, Mr. Ma di so n observed, that objections to a continen tal bill of rights applied equally to their adoption by the States—The objection to a bill of rights, •rorn the powers delegated by the Constitution, being defined and limited, has weight, while the Government confines itfelf to those fpecified li ttuts; but iuftances may occur, in which those j limits may he evecrlei, by virtue of a conftruc- | tion ot that clause empaweringCangrefs to make all neceflary laws to carry the Conltitution into execution—The article of general warrants may be inftanced.—lt has been observed, that the Constitution does not repeal the State bills 01 rights;—to this it may be replied, that some oi the States are without any—and that articles con tained in tliofe that have them, are very impro per, and infringe upon the rights of human 11a ure> in several refpeiTts.—lt has been said, thai bills of rights have beenviolated—but does it fol low from thence that they do not produce salu tary eftefts : This obje<slion may be urged againfl every regulation whatever.—From these, and other confederations, Mr. Madison inferred the expediency of a declaration of rights, to be in corporated dn the Constitution. Mr. Madison further observed, That thepro po.tion of Representatives had been objected to — tnd particularly the discretionary power of'di nin ifhing the number.—There is an impropriety in the Legillatures' determining their own coin penfation, with a power to vary its amount.— The rights of conscience ; liberty ot the press , and trial by jury, should be so secured, as to put it out of the power of the Legislature to infringe them.—Fears refpedting the judiciary fyften;, (hould be entirely done away—and an express de claration made, that all rights not exprelsly giver up, are retained.—He wilhed, that a declaration upon these points might be attended to —and i; the Constitution can be made better in the view of its most sanguine supporters, by making fonu alterations in it, we shall not adt the part of wife men not to do it—He therefore moved for the ap pointment of a committee, to propose amend ments, which should be laid before the Legilla tures of the several States, agreeably to the jth article of the Constitution. - Mr. Jackson observed. That th 6 Hon. Gentle man's ingenious detail, so far from convincing him of the expediency of bringing forward the fubjedt of amendments at this time, had confirmed him in the contrary opinion : The prof petit which fucli a discussion opened, was wide and extensive, and would preclude other business, of much great er moment, at the present jun'Clure—He differed widely from the Gentleman, with regard to bills of rights—several of the States had no such bills— Rho<?e-Ifland had none—there, liberty was car ried to excess, and licentiousness triumphed—ln some States, which had such a nominal security, the encroachments upon the rights of the people had been most complained of.— Ihe press, Mr. Jackson observed, is unboundedly free—-a recent instance of which the House had witnefled in an attack upon one of its members—A bill of rights is a mere ignis fatuus, amusing by appearances, and leading often to dangerous' conclusions. — I repeat it, Sir, the present is not the time to bring forward amendments—they inuft be specu lative and theoretical in the very nature of things, and may themselves be the fubje«fls of future a mendments.—This consideration points out in the clearest manner, the propriety of waiting the re sult of experiment, to determine the merits of the Constitution : To that let us refer the fubje<Sl,and not watte our time in useless speculations. Mr.'Gerry thought it unnectHary to go into a committee of the whole upon this fubjedt at the present moment. —He did not think such a step neceflary to fatisfy the people,iwho are ful ly sensible that Congress is now engaged in the areat objetfts of the government —hevwfhed liow ver, that as early a day as poflible, might be as signed, that the mode of another convention might not be thought of—in which we might lose the most efl'ential parrs of the constitution— he observed, that he was not a blind admirer of the system, there were deserts as well as beau ties in it but as it was now become the coufti tution of the Union, he conceived, that the sal vation of the country depended upon its efta blilhment, amended or not. —He was further in favor of an early day,, on account of North-Ca rolina and Rhode-I/land, as the acceflion of these States to the Union was very desirable, and good policy dictated that every proper step should be taken to expedite that event.—He was opposed to referring the matter to a select committee as derogatory to the dignity of the States he conceived the whole of the amendments propo sed by the several conventions should come im mediately before the House-— Ihe faith of Con gress ought to be considered as pledged to take up this business upon the most extensive scale— He moved therefore, that all the various propo sitions for amendments Ihould be referred" to a committee of the whole, and that an early day be afligned to go into a full investigation of the fubjeeff— and proposed the firft Monday in July. Several other gentlemen spoke upon the fub jetfl, when _ Mr. Madison arose and withdrew his lalt mo tion for a felec r t committee, and then submitted the House a resolve compriz/ng a number of amendments to be incorporated in the constitu tion, these he read for the consideration of the House. Mr. Livermore was opposed to this resolve— he conceived it entirely improper for any indi vidual number to propose any particular number of which do not take up the differ ent amendments piopofed by the several Slates; Mr. Page and Mr. L e rose to jufti fy Mr. Madison, they thought theihfelves under gieat obligations to him, and conceived fhat the node he had adopted was juit and fail -—and cal culated tobriiig the attention of the House tp a proper point in determining ilie fubjecft. Mr. Madison observed, that it was neceflary he subject Ihould be bi ought for V.aid hi fonie form or other.— after wailing a considerable time for oLhers to do it—he had thought proper to - propose the form, now fubwiitted to the Houfe — newspapers and pamphle s were lie epolitories cf the several amendments—those 'veie not the proper sources—the resolve is now before the Houfe,and they may do what they tliink proper with it. Mr. Lawrance moved, that the revive intro luced by Mr. Madison, ihould be ftibmittcd to he confideratioti of a committee of the whole 011 the state of the Union. Mr. Boudinot propofeda fcletft committee to consist of a member from each State. After a few mrfre observations the motion of Mr. Lawrance being put was carried in the af firmative.—The House then adjourned. Tuesday, June 9, i7s9* House met perfuant to adjournment. Upon motion it was voted, that this day fort night .he House will resolve itfelf into a commit tee of the whole, to take into consideration the report of the committee refpeAing the enroll ment, attestation, &c. of the a<fts of Congress. It was moved,that the rule of the House which enjoins a division of the members, in cafe of doubt as to the decision of any question, Ihould be a mended,by faying, that the members in the af firmative Ihould ife in their places, and Hand till counted —this motion obtained. The House thenrefolved itfelf into a committee of the whole, and resumed the bill on the collec tion of the revenue. Forts of delivery under consideration. Previous to making any further nomination of such ports-»-it was moved, that the Ihores, bays, rivers, creeks and harbours, be divided into as many diftricfts as there are po: s of entry in the United States.—This motion after a difcuflion was adopted. It was moved to insert a clause, whereby masters of ships and other vell'els loaded with goods, wares, and merchandise, and bound into the Uni ted States from any foreign port, should be obli ged to produce duplicate manifeftos of their refpe<ftive cargoes, to any officers of the cultoms that mdy demand the fame, previous to their en tering the ports ofdeftination. This motion gave rife to a lengthy converfa ti on which terminated in withdrawing the motion. It was then voted, that a Collector, a Na vai Ofi ict k, ,and a Surveyor should be ap pointed each of the following ports, viz. Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Nor folk and Port/mouth, Altxandria, Virginia,; George town in Maryland, Charleflon, South-Carolina, and Savanna. —Tfie committee then rose and the? House adjourned. . ■ NEW-YORK, JUNE 10, 1789. It is indeed a substantial right,' that all the laws of the country Ihould be nude by reptefematives chosen by the great body o£ the people. In this the body of the people have strong hold of -overnment. If they will always keep good hold of this r'ght, and use it properly, the government will be free and happy. It r they will be faithful to themfelvcs and their country, in always urning out and choosing the molt honest and able m< n they have for their repreferttatives, their rights and liberties will be well fe ared, and there is no danger but the government will go on well. It should be feUai one of the moll important and eonfcientious rlui its, to be honest and faithftil in the c! o . r o; their reprcfenta tives. But it the body of the people will (la;* at home at such Mil I. and fuller mm who have nothing but f. If interest at bottom, to ptifh forward and get to be the law makers of the land, the new cbnftitution will be no better than lie old One easy max im well followed, will now keep us all fate, let every man that has a right to vote, make a point always to attend evety elcfiio«, ind impartially vote for such, as he thinks mots hontfl and moffc able to I'eive their country. There is one advantage which we may promise ourfelvfs from the thorough investigation of the Revenue System—it will come forth at last in greater ptrfeftion. . Perhaps there is no part of legislation so difficult as to devitc the mod easy and acceptable methods of raising the neceflary re venue from the pockcts of the people : all wife and patriotic ru- Icrs arc as folicitousto adjust the public burdens upon the scale of equity, as they are to realize fufficient funds for the support of just government. Extract of a Utter from Bojlcn, dated June 4, i7°9- {t There has been three important seizures of goods, made by the revenue officers, within these few days. This w ill pave the way for an efficient ex cution of the new laws,. t Since scaling the letter, I am credibly informed, that a rr.o :ion has been made, in the General Court, by Mr. Henskaw, that a joint Committee be appointed to prepare an address to the President of the United States, congratulating him on his appoint ment —exprefling the attachment of the Legislature to his perfon ind their intention to give every altiftance to his exertions for ;>romotin t the common good, agreeably to the Federal Conilitu ;ion. The motion being fecooded, palled in the affirmative una iimoufly. Mr. Hensh at, Dr. Jarvis, and Mr. Mason were :hofen or. the part of the Ho"l<-." There have arrived in this port since Friday last, upwards 01 30 "til of veflels. ______ h fiur paper of 30th tilt, roe gave an extract from the injlruftions of the Duke of Orleans : The fetches handed us on Saturday, do not correspond uitfi thcn—ive therefore repeji font fatisjaflion as to tmr genuin^nefs,before they affeaf*
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