Gazette of the United States & evening advertiser. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1793-1794, March 26, 1794, Image 2
CONGRESS H use of Representatives. Wednesday, Jartuary 29, The S PbECH of Mr. Smith, of South' Carolina, in reply to Mr. M dison, on the inject tf the Ccto n.rci.il Regulations. / [comtinued] To depreciate the difciimination in our favor in the Briti/h I (lands by the exclufi -011 qf the produce of other nations, the gentleman had laid the exclulion was only a matter of form and a remnant t>[ the old colony f\ ft em. * 'r. 61111 th said this was no answer to la* 'tw;s a remnant of the colony fy. stun ' —I hat fyltem aimed at peculiar privilege* to the national Dominions ; as far as we, leing foreigners, iliil partake ol u.olc privileges, 'tis to our advantage; funpofc under that old fvftem we had co ntinued to enjoy the right of navigating to the lfl.uds, wouid it have been a dispa ragement of the right that it was only a remnant of the old colony system ? Neither was it true that.it wasonlv matter of form auJ of no confluence: though we can in general (upply the islands better than othvr nations, it does not,follow that o thefs could not fujiply at all: The French coionies could not get flour on as good teirns as we can furnifh them ; yet that article was prohibited, and in general the Britifli colonies could not be supplied equally well as from us, yet in the years oi lcarcity in this country, and of plenty ehewhere, a competition might injure us: W.iy could not lice in particular be sup plied from the Porttijuefe dominions in cc with our's ? Much reliance had been placed by the gentleman on the disproportion of Ame ric.rri and Britiih tonnage employed in the commerce between the two countries } he hal dated that in 1790 the British ton n; was 211,000 the American only 4-• »COC : But Mr. Smith observed the cc:np»rifon was not accurate: the rule p:.; fired by the gentleman was entry, not real tonnage : and as we have no direst tonnage with the Britidi Welt-Indies, from which entries, are frequent, the Bri (''■ '• tonnage is swelled by that frequency of entries, as happened in the cafe of the Anerican tonnage employed between the B; tithand French dominions. The house hiving no materials before them, it was in;poffible to pronounce how far this eir ci:',flthnce varied the true proportion, but it was easy to fee that it mud do it greatly! Arguments had been-likewife drawn from the greater pi oportion of onr tort nage employed in our trade with Spain, Portugal, &c.- Mr. Smith thought the principle of co.r.'pariion was a proof of nothing, ex- that Britain was a more navigatrng poxier than the nations in general with whom we have commerce : It Was no teji ot the fyitem of either. Tin's was evi dent when we compared the proportion of our tonnage with Britain, and with Spain and Portugal, for as the latter e qually Vith Biita'n excluded us from their colonies, their !y (terns were eflentially the farre : But Britain has extensive means of navigation, Spain and Portugal slender ntcaiis, so that while our bottoms were the principal carriers between those countries and us, Britain maintained a competition wi'rtrus in the trade between her domini on ■ and us. But^could it be proved that this was either avoidable in the present clrcumdances of the country, or that we oifght to attempt to avoid it by violent or farced expedients. The navigating dates, in the European trade between the Britiih dominions and the United States, prepon derate greatly in the article of tonnage ; Great Britain may have the advantage in the rton-naWgating dates ; this arises, in a great degree, from a cause which navi. gation laws cannot enre—the fujpeiiority of capital. The merchants of Britain can supply on long credits, what those of our navigating dates cannot; they have more mam to purehafe' and export the commo dii ie» of the south ; from both causes they carry on a confldera'ole part of "the south ern trade, and they make their own (hip. ping the indrutnent of it. No means cal culated to multiply our vefTels, can under exidirrg circumllances, obviate this course of things. But the remedy of violent and forced expedients would be pernicious, if if could be fuccefsful : It would divert our cap'tal, in too great a degree, from better to worse bufinefa, from agriculture, commerce and mauuf.fturcs, to mere na- ligation. The true conrfe, he thought, was to fofter our navigation by gradual and moderate encouragements, and to ex pert from time and the increase qf refour— <•«, the advantages, of which w<s were so licitous. In the mean time, and till our l-efources could b= better matured, it would be difficult to demonstrate that it was not a convenience to us'to have the aid of foreign menns. Mr. Smith, to strengthen his argument on this point, quoted a paflage from Mr. JefFerfon's Ut tfcr to Mr. MOl sis* theminiifer in France, in the printed con efpondence, page 63, in these words. " Were the merchant vessels coming for our produce forbidden to have any arms for their defence, every ad v enturer who has a boat, or money e nough to buy one, would make her a pri vateer, our co ait would swarm with them, foreign vessels must cease to come, our com merce mujl be suppressed, our produce remain on our hands, or at lea It that great portion of it, which <we have not vessels to carry a •way, our ploughs mujl be laid aside, and a griculture fvfpended : This is a facrifice, no treaty could ever contemplate, and which we arc not disposed to make out of mere complaisance to a falfe definition of the term privateer." He begged the committee to remark that this related to a British (hip, and that they were the principal foreign carriers of our produce ; yet the tendency of the gcr.tl, man\s propositions went to exclude them from our ports. (Speech to he continued.) IN senate, Friday, March 14. The Vice-President communicated the report froiii the Secretary for the depart ment of war on the petition of Robert Connelly, which was read.' Ordered, That it lie on the table. Mr. King from the committee appoint ed to consider the bill, sent from the House of Representatives for concurrence, enti tled, " Ar. act to provide for the defence of certain ports and harbors in the United States," reported amendments) which be ing adopted— Ordered, That this bill pass to the third reading. The bill sent from the House of Re presentatives for concurrence, entitled, " an ast authorizing a loan of one milli on of. dollai'6," was read the third time. Whereupon, Resolved, That this bill pass. Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives with the concurrence of the Senate in this bits. The bill, sent from the House of Re prefeotatives for concurrence, entitled " an ast making further provision for the ex pences attending the jnterconrfe of the United States with foreign nations ; and further to continue in force tht ast, cnti tied, " an ast providing the means of in tercotirfe between the United States and foreign nations," Was read the fccond am-. Ordered, That this bill be referred to Mr. King, Mr. Mortis, and Mr. Strong, to confidei and report thereon to the Se- nate, Mr. King from the committee appoint ed on this bill reported an amendment, which being adopted. Ordered, That this biH pass to a third reading. The bill, sent from the House of Re presentatives for concurrence, entitled, " an ast making appropriations for the support of the military e(tabli(hment of the United States, for the year one thou sand feveu hundred and ninety-four," was read the second time. Ordered, That this bill be referred to Mr. King, Mr. Vining and Mr. Gunn, to consider and report thereon to the Se- nate. Mr. Vining reported from the commit tee on enrolled bills, that they had exa mined the bill, entitted, " an adi authori zing a loan of one million of dollars"—-and that it was duly enrolled. The Senate adjourned Until 11 o'clock on Monday morning. Monday, Mai-tfh 17, The Vice-Ptefident laid before the Se nate 'the report of the Secretary for the' department of war on the petitions of Theodore Chartier and others; which was Ordered, That it lie on the table. Mr,-Bradley reported from the com mittee-appointed t6 consider the petition of Jabez Rogers, jun. that the prayer of the petition be granted. The bill sent frcrr. the Hcufe of Re presentatives for concurrence, entitled, " an ast to -provide for the defence of cer tain ports and harbors in the United States," was read the-third time. Relolved, That this bill pass with a mendmcnts. Ordered, That the Secretary delire the concurrent of the House of Representa tives. in the amendments of this bill., A message from the House of Repre sentatives by Mr. Beckley their clerk : " Mr. President—The House of Re presentatives agree to the amendments of the Senate to the bill, entitled, " an ast to provide for the detence.o£ certain ports and harbors in the United States." " The President of the United States hath notified the Houfeof Representatives, that he did on the 14th instant, approve and sign " an ast making appropriations for the support of government, for the year one thousand seven hundred and nine ty-four"—. " The Speaker of the House of Repre sentatives having signed an enrolled bill, I am directed to bring it to the Senate for the signature of the Vice-President" And he withdrew. The Vice-President signed the enrolled bill, entitled, " an ast authorizing a loan of one million of dollars," and it was de livered to the committee on enrolled bills, to be laid before the President of the Unit ed States for his approbation.' The bill, sent from the House of Re presentatives for concurrence, entitled "an ast to provide a naval armament"' read the second time. On motion, Ordered, That this bill be referred to Mefirs. Lang-don, Morris, Butler, Tay lor, and Cabot, to connder and report thereon to the Senate. The bill, sent from the House of Re presentatives for concurrence, entitled, "an ast making further provision for the ex pences attending the intercourse of the United States with foreign nations ; and further to continue in force the ast, enti tled, " art ast providing the means of in tercourse between the United States and foreign nations," was read the third time. Ordered, That amendment. this bill pass with an Ordered, That the' Secretary desire the concurrence of the House of Representa tives in the amendment to this bill. The Senate resumed the fecpn'd reading of the bill, sent from the House of Repre sentatives for concurrence, entitled, "an ast to prohibit the carrying on the Have trade from the United States to any fo reign place or country." On motion to postpone the bill to the next session of Congrefs—lt passed in the negative. Ordered, That the further considera tion of this bill be postponed. Tlie Senate adjourned until 11 o'clock to-morrow morning. UNITED STATES. NEW-YORK, March n, MefTrs. Childs and Swaine, Please to insert the following extrafl of a lcttir from a gentleman in Halifax, (N.S.) to his friend in this city, dated l'ebruary 28, 1-94. '• Business here is very dull, and I fee no profpeii of an increase. I Ihould suppose there mutt be a stagnation of business your way, owing to tile embarraflinents your* go vernment is thrown into by" the European powers—What efFea this will finally have we are at a loss here to conjecture ; your po litical situation is undoubtedly a critical one ; I hope you will be enabled to steer clear of the miseries of war, and at the fame time preserve an honorable appearance. " There appears to me to be a very pow erful combination against the liberties of mart kind ; and it is not at all surprising that the system of American government Ihould be an objefl of general did ike to the enemies of France* The found of repubhcinifm is fuf ficient to rouse the resentment of the Euro pean powers; it threatens the very foiinda tion of aristocracy ; it is their greatest dread ; their power is built upon aristocracy, and de rives its greatest force therefrotn ; and what ever has a tendency in afty measure to leflen that fort of power, mult materially be an ob e6l of their hatred. At the fame time man kind arc of such a restless disposition, they cannot use moderation, the unbounded vio lence of the people is such that .while we View the oppreflion of the great with indig nation, at the fame time we dread the fury of an enraged multitude—it will be a great blclfing if Divine Providence has so ordered it, that you may still enjoy a continuation of peace and good order—this is what earthly happineli chiefly depends an*" BALTIMORE, March 12 Last night between the hours of 8 and 9 o'cjock a fire broke out in the llore oc cupied by Mr..Benjamin Lewis, in Market street, between Tripolet's alley and Gay ftreet which in a very Ihort time, commun icated to the adjoining houfesofMr. My ers, Mr. Bull, Mr. Sweeny, and Mr. Diff enderffer, which with the geateft part of their valuable contents were totally cofum ed—the rapidity and violence with which the flames spread, had at firft a very threat eningappearance, but by the spirited exer tions of the inhabitants it was extinguifli ed in about three hours. The damage fuftaincd is very confkJerable at the lowed computation, is upwards of 10,000 pounds. " ' PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 26. From the Knoxville Gazette, Feb. 27. On, Wednesday the 4th inft. James Ruflell, Robert Shannon, and William Cox, on their way from Nafhvilc to this place, were ambuscaded on the Cumber land mountain, 18 miles from South Weft Point, by a party of Indians, confuting of about twenty five, who fired on them, and wounded Ruflell through the arm.— RufTell and Shannon were coming from Gen. Robertfon to Governor Blount with public ditpatches. That these men were not killed. mny be counted among mira cles. The fails refpe&ing this transac tion are as follow : —was As these men pafled Obid's river, the preceding day, they discovered a fire, which induced them to pu/h forward a bout fourteen miles, when they turned off the road, and laid all night without fire, judging they would be followed by Indians. TJ»e next morning they kept the woods four miles before they (truck the road, and finding 110 ftgn of Indians, they piii 1 - sued their rout in confidence that they had not been discovered ; but they had not proceeded above half a mile,' when they found therrifelves in a well chosen spot for an ambuscade, surrounded by. In dians, the mofl distant of whom was. with* in thirty feet—they all fired, "'and many of them threw their tomahawks, without doing any injury, except to ball which struck him was turned in its direflion-by. a large nietal button, or it would have pafled through the moil vital part of his body. Mr. Ruflell is now at the block house at South Weft Point, un der the care of a fyrgeon, and it is hoped the wound will not prove mortal. On the night of the-tpth inft. William Robertfon was shot as he was fitting in his house in Holfton, about 30 miles a bove this place. Robertfon had fume months past given information against a set of counterfeiters and thieves in North Carolina ; arid it is believed that some one of this gang has added the murder of Ro bertfon to their other attrocious crimes. From the Kentucky Gazette of Feb. 22. Extract of a letter from his Excellency Major-General Anthony Wayne, to his Excellency Majoi-Generaf Charles Seott! dated Head-Quarters, Greene vitte, Feb. roth,* 1794. " The hostile Indians sent in a flag some time 6 nee, proposing a ceflation of arms, and requesting me to appoint the time and place for holding a general trea ty— " 1 agreed to a ceflation for 30 days, and then to appoint the time and place for holding a general treaty, on condi tion, that they would surrender up all and every of the American prisoners in their poifeflion, to the officer command ing at Fort Recovery, on or before the I Ith instant. " Whether the enemy were influenced by a ferioua wish for peace—Or whether this dverture was an' infidyous manoeuvre, to gain time to procure their provision, and to remove their women and children to a place of more security, time will soon determine. " For my own part, I think it rather problematical, from certain circumstances. attending this extraordinary embafly. " I have the honor to be with fineere esteem and rega d, " Your most obedient " Humble servant, " ANTHONY WAYNE. " The Honorable " Maj. Gen. Charlej Scott."