CONGRESS. : > Homfi ttf R rfrefentativci. January 16. In committa »f tb- latnle, <m the report of tin Secretary »f Suit.-, relatiiv to tht com mercial intcrcourje of this c.unity, <uinh so- re>£* nations. Mr. Nicholas spoke as follows : Mr. Chaikman, I feel a great embarrassment in speak ing on this iubjea, from a distrust of my ability to treat properly its acknowledged importance, and from the apparent expec tation of the iiudience. 1 feci too, as the member from Maryland who {'poke yei terday did., from the imputation of mo tives, well knowing that the Representa tives of inv country, are indiiftrioufly re potted to be enemies of the government, and promoters of anarchy, and that the preient meafuie is imputctt to these prin ciples.—lt is fomtwhat remarkable, that farther north, we are charged with felftfh nefs, & want of attachment to the general Welfare, for a luppofed opposition to mea sures of the import of the present I mention this contradictory inference, to {hew that the lhameful deligns charged upon us, are riot proved by the fa£t, and to place the guilt where it only exists, in the malignity of the accuser. It is a commonly received opinion, that trade should be intruded to the direction of those immediately interefled in it, and that the actual course of it, is the best which it could take this principle is bv no means a fafe one, and as applied to the trade of America, is fallacious. It can never be just, where the beginning and growth of commerce have not been free from all poflible conilraint, as to its uireCtionj as that can never be called a bu fi.iefs of ae&ion, which has been created under foreign influence.—The manner in which America was firft peopled, and the nurture {he received from Great-Britain, •fford the molt ftrtking contrail to the requilite before-mentioned. The firft in habitants of America, were educated in Great-Britain, and brought with them, all tlie wants of their own country, to be gratified chiefly by the productions of that ccuntiy. Aided by Britilh capital, ip th ■ k-ttl.-ment of the wuderntfs, and de pending on the fame means for the con veyance of its produce, to a place of con., fumptioii. it Pas inevitable, that the do mana for Britilh commodities, fijonld keep P"ce with the improvement of tile coun try.—ln the commencement of American population and its early stages, there does not appear to have, been a chance of cotn pan'ng the advantages of commercial con necti-in, with different Countries, and it will be found that in its progress, it was It'll more retrained. In the Iyears of til" dependence of America on Great-Bri tsin, the principal part of America, was occupied by large trading companies, composed of people in Great-Britain and conducted by factors, who funk large funis hands of the fanners, to attach them to their respeCtive stores, bv which mtans, competition was precluded, and a depcndance on the supplies of those stores completely eftabliflied. Since the revolu ticn, the business has been conducted by pcrfons :n the habit of depcndance on Great-Britain, and who had no other ca pital, than the manufactures of that coun try, furnifhed on credit. The business it still almoil wholly conducted by the fame means. In no liage of its growth then, does there appear to have been a power in the consumer to have compared the pro ductions of Great-Britain, with thole of any other country, as to their quality of price, and therefore there is no propriety in calling the course of trade, the course of ?ts choice. Tile fuhject before fce committee, na turally divides itfelf into navigation and manufactures, in fpetiking of \vhich, I (hall offer some other considerations, to {hew that the fame cfleets are by no. means to be expected, from the greatelt commerci al wisdom in individuals, which are in the power of the general concert of the com munity ; the one having in view, profit on each feperate transaCtion, the other pro moting an advantageous result to the while commerce of the country. > ii considering the importance of navi gation to all countries, but cfpecially to luch ns have To cxtciilifc a production of bulky articles, as America, I think I shall lhcw that the tail observation, is accurate ly r *£ht, ahd that the interest of the whole community. not t'noie only who are the carriers, but those also who funufh the ob ject of carriage, pofitivclv demands a do mestic marine, equal to its whole business; and that, even if it is to exist under rates higher than those of foreign navigation, it is to be preferred. In circumstances of tolerable equality, that can never however entirely be the cafe, for in the carriage of the pioJuce of one country, by the flip ping of another, to any other place jhan the Country to winch the Shipping be longs, there is considerably more labour employed, than would have been by do mcltic fliipping, as the return to their own country, is to be included. On this ground, it may be confidently aflerted, that where the materials of navigation, are equally at tainable, they will always be more advau tageouflv employed, by the country for whole life they are intended, and that if undei such circumstances, another country is employed as the carrier, it mult be un der the influence of fomc other cause, than interest, as it refpefts that particular busi ness. A dependence on the (hipping of another country, tends to establish a plact; of depdut in that country, of those exports which are for the life of others, if it is at a convenient diltance from them. The fu perintendance of property, makes short voyages desirable for the owner, and the connection that soon takes place, between the money capital of a country and its fliip ping interests, greatly strengthens the vor tex. The attainment of wealth beyond the demands of navigation, leads to an in terest in the cargo itfelf, and then the agency in felling to the consumer, becomes important, It is apparent, that as the final sale depends on the wants of the purcbafer, all intermediate expences of care and agency, mult be taken from the price to which the maker would be enti tled. Our own commerce has involved this loss, in a remarkable degree, and it has gone to an enormous extent, from a necessity of fubmittmg to the perfidy of agents, anting from a dcpendance eita blkhed bv-means of the so much boasted 'credit , fhat there is -this tendency in the em ployment of foreign fliipping, is not onlv proved by the commercial importance of Holland, which became thus from her iaa val resources the store-house of Eutope, without furnifliing any thing from iier own productions, hut also from the varied experience of America. Before the: re volution, every thing for European con ftimption was carried to Great Britain, but imce America has possessed flnppin" of her own, and in the northern slates, there has been an acceflion of capital, the export to England is reduced one half. It is true indeed, that there is (till nearly jjitc half of what she receives, that is re exported, but it will be found that she still retains a proportioned share of those in fluences, which formerly carried the whole. Great-Britain, un-der till the dis couragements of our laws, which we are told by the mercautile members of the committee', amount to a prohibition where they have any rivals, did, until the Euro pean war, possess one-third of the foreign tonnage employed in America This ifas been supported by the dependence into which the southern states were placed by credit, and here as 1 in every other step of the conne£tiofi,this engine extorts advanta ges from us, beyond the compensation which is always secured in the firft ad vance. If there wanted other proof of the British interest in the American navi gation, being supported in dire<St opposi tion to our interests, it may be found in the comparative state of the tonnage em ployed, where it appears that, after the protecting duties once had their effe£t, the additional tonnage to a considerable amount, has been entirely American, and that the British tonnage has remained very nearly stationary.and in proportion to their undue influence. In time of war, in addition to the in conveniences before stated, which are in hanced by throwing the trade from its ac customed channel there are great and im portant losses brought on a country by this kind of dependance. If your car riers are parties to the war you are fub jefted to the war freight and war insu rance on your cargo, and you are cut off from all the markets to which they are hollile; and indeed from our experience in the present war, I may fay you are cut off fiom the market of your carriers them selves, as it would have been impossible for Britifli veflels to have escaped in our seas lait summer. To what extent this loss goes may be seen from a calculation in the Secretary of State's report on the filh eries, making the proportion of war to that of peace in the 100 years as 42 to 100; and on that calculation there can be r.o hesitation in determining that the in terest of the farmers requires that this foreign dependence (hould end here. But the European war, by making a temporary exclusion of British {hipping lias already brought on us the greatelt mifchief of such a regulation; and by the encouragement it has afforded to our (hip ping, almost compleated the remedy ; so that we have reason to consider this as a fortunate period. But it is not merely the advancement of our marine that is contemplated by the present resolutions, the security of that which we have is also dependant on them. The danger from the Algevines has been eflimatedin this house at j per cent on the vefTel and cargo, but the whole encouragement to our own (hip ping; in our exifling laws consists in the one tenth additional duty on goods im ported in foreign vefTels. Whenever there (hail be an European peace, which cannot be far distant, the whole difference between the two sums will be a direct encourage ment on British (hips and will probably be equal to two freights. Do gentlemen rely on the precarious profpeft of build ing frigates, and the more precarious ser vice to be rendered by them when built, fa much as to neglect any other regula tions for the fafety of our (hipping when tl ley are so much in their power 2 (To be Continued.) Foreign Intelligence. On Tuesday lafl the Sloop Hiram, Captain Harris, arrived at New-Tork from London, astir 52 days pafjage, By this •vefe!, Londoti papers to the 17th of No •vernier arc receivtd, from which thi fol lowing are extraMs : MANHEIM, Oft. 21 I The Republicans are now bulled en trenching themfclves about Savernc, a de file not easily to be penetrated. Landau has been summoned ; but the comman dant aqfwered, that he would hare the whole town burnt and pillaged rather than surrender, as he would at any rate, lose -his head were he to give up that Fortress. BRUSSELS, Nov. 7. The grand army, under the Prince of Cohourg has moved forward. The head quarters have been transferred from Ber merain to Engel-la-fontaine. TOURNAY, Nov. 12. Large detachments of troops have ar rived here for the winter. Since the ac tion at Lannoy nothing has occurred Mod of the wounded officers who were here are recovered. The few last day 9 of our ftav in the bleak plains of CHiring, we experienced the greatest inconvenience ; the disposition the enemy betrayed to terminate the cam pilign.juflified our retreat to winter-quar ters, a circumstance as unexpe&ed, as it is gratifying; at Menin, Courtray, Ypree, &c. the army is cantoned for the present: Ghent and Bruges are the principal posts. The guards go to BrufTels. NAMUR, Nov. 2, By report of the peasants, it seems that there has been a very warm action be tween Gen. Beaulieu and the French the day before yesterday, in the neighbour hood of Phillipfville. The loss of the Auftnans alone is estimated at between 2 and 3000 men. Waggons are gone from thence to bring in the wounded, for whom it will be difficult to find place, as the hos pitals are already full ; three large con vents have also been converted into hos pitals. BRUMDT, (in Alsace) Oft. 2, The career of our fucct-fs ia checked. We have been most uaexpc&ly ftopt by an army of jo,ooo French, who have advan tageously polled themfelvi.-s near Stras bourg, and entrenched townrds the fide of the Saverne. Gen. Wurmfer, fees him felf reduced to the necessity of a&ing on the defenfive, as well as the Pruflians on this fide of Saverne, who have been ob- liged to fall back, and to support themselves by the right wing of the Auflrian army. We imagine that a general action is now indifpenfablt, as 'we cannot remain eight days in our present pafition without the most imminent hazard, and we have no longer any tiling to hope from the favora ble dispositions of the people of Stra/bourg. Our negotiations were discovered; and the Commiifioners from the Convention have so effe&ually intimidated all thofc who were inclined to open the gates to. us— so many of them have indeed been seized, and so many more denounced—that we dread the fate of our incursion. This aftonifbing army of Republicans has been formed in three days, and it swells like a torrent. They are half armed, and want every thing but an cnthuliafm for liberty, which perhaps is better than our discipline. Qur hope is, that the Swifj Cantons will at length give up their system of neutra lity, and declare against these Anarchifti. PARIS, November 7. Execution of Philip Egalitc. , This celebrated personage yesterday un derwent an interrogatory before the ReJ , volutionan- Tribunal. AH that is hither to known of what parted there is that be ing questioned refpefting his intimacy with Sillery, the deputy lately executed, he answered, "I was attached to Sillery un til the moment that I refufed any longer to fee him."—' You have neverthdefs (fays the Piefident) committed the care of your children to his.wife who is now with them abroad."—" Yes (anfwired Egalite) but that was at a time when I had no cause to fufpeft Sillcry." This moll villainous, most cowardly,and mofl infamous of wretches, was condemn ed to death at the feme fitting at which he was tried ; and yesterday evening, at half past five o'clock, he was executed on the Place de la Revolution, three hours after judgment was pronounced ugainft him. On the fame day that Egalite fuffered, and on the fame fcaffold, Was like wife exe- , cuted, Coqftard, another Deputy of the- Convention. Bailly, the..late Mayor, willfoon fuffer a similar fate ; he has been trantferred to the Coneiergerie, and so has General Carles. General Houchard and Brunet; and M. Barthelemy, the author of the Voy ages of Anacharfis, have been also trans ferred from the Abbaye to the Concier- gene. The total number of perfcns confined in the several prisons, was yesterday 3255. The wife of Roland Is ihortly to ap pear before the revolutionary tribunal, to give information refpefting the retreat of her husband, or to undergo the punish ment which wa» reserved for that Ex- Minister. Madame Kolli, wife of the Ex-Farmer General of that name, had obtained a suspension of her feutence, by declaring herfelf with child. The time for that proof being elapsed, (he was yesterday de livered over to the guillotine. Lemayne, Wamfer, Lacombe, and Purguette, mem beri of the Popular Commiflion at Bour deaux, have' (hared the fame fate. Execution ef Ekissot and Twenty other Deputies. On the 21 ft O&ober, BrifTot and twen ty other Deputies, fuffered the axe of the guillotine. The following is the official report published hy order of the revolu tionary Tribunal on this head : The Tribunal, an the declaration of the jury, dating, that BrifTot, Vergniaud, Genfonne, Duprat, Valaze, Lehardi, Du cos, Boyer, Fonfrede, Boileau, Gardien, Duchaftel, SiHery, Fauchet, Duperrtt, La Source, Carra, Reuvan, Mainville, Antiboul, Vigee, and Lacaze, are the au thors or accomplices in a conspiracy which has exiited again ft the unity and indivisi bility of the Republic : againlt the liber ty and fafety of the French people. " Condemns the above-mentioned per sons to death ; declareß their effects con fifcated for the use of the Republic, and orders that the sentence be executed in the place de la Revolution and that it be printed and distributed throughout the Republic." VaJaze, one of the condemned, stabbed himfelf after he had heard his sentence.— The Tribunal has ordered, that the car cafc of the suicide be brought to the place de la Revolution, that it may be bu ried with the other condemned Deputies in the fame place. On the day after their condemnation, the}' were- conveyed together, to the bloo dy fcaffold ; on their journey thither, fays one of the French papers they entered
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