LAW OF THE UNION.
THIRD CONGRESS OF THE
UNITED STATES,
AT THE FIRST SESSION,
Begun and held at the city of Philadelphia,
in the State of Pennfyisania, on Monday
thefecatud of December,one thousand
fevea hundred and ninety-three.
An ACT ta provide for the defence of cer
tain Ports and Harbori m the United
Statu,
Sec. I. T)E it truifted by the Senate and
Ij House of Representatives of
the United Statu of America in Congress
affembted, That the following ports and
harbors be fortified under the direction of
the President of the United States, and
at such time or times, as he may judge
necessary, to wit; Portland in the diftrift
of Maine; Poitfmouth in the Hate of
New Hampshire ; Gloucester, Salem,
Marblehead and Bolton, in the State of
MalTachufetts ; Newport in the state of
Rhode Ifiand; New London in the state
of Connefticnt ; New York ; Philadel
phia ; Wilmington in the state of Dela
ware; Baltimore, in the state of Mary
land ; Norfolk and Alexandria, in the
state of Virginia ; Cape Fear river and
Ocracock inlet in the state of North Ca
rolina ; Charleftofl and Georgetown, in
the state of South Carolina ; and Savan
nah and Saint Mary's in the state of
Georgia.
Sec. 2. And he it further enaOed, That
it (hall be lawful for the President of the
United States to employ, as garrisons in
the said fortifications, or any of them,
such of the troops on the military esta
blishment of the United States, as he may
judge necessary ; and to cause to be pro
vided one" hundred cannon, of a caliber
each to carry a ball of thirty two pounds
weight, and one hundred other cannon,
of a caliber each to carry a ball' of twen
ty four pounds weight; together with
the carriages and implements necessary
for the fame, and carriages with the ne
cessary implements for one hundred and
fifty other cannon, with two hundred and
fifty tons of cannon-(hot.
Sec. 3. And be it further enaSed, That
it (hall be lawful for the Prefldent of the
United States to receive from any State
(in behalf the United States) a ceflion
of the lands, on which any of the fortifi
cations aforefaid, with the neceflary
buildings, may be erected, or intended to
be erefked ; or where such ceflions {hall
not hi made, to purchase such lands, on
behalf of the United States ; Provided,
That no purchase {hall be made, where
such lands are the property of a State.
Frederick AugustusMuhlenberg,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
John Abams, Vice-President of the
United States, and President
of the Senate.
Approved—March the"!
twentieth, 1794. j
Go. Washington, President of the
United States.
Depdfited among the Rolls in the office
of the Secretary of State.
Edm. Randolph,
Secretary of State.
An ACT making farther provi/ien for the
expenses attending the intercourse of the
United States with foreign nations ; and
further to continue in force the ad, intitu
led "An A3 providing the means of
intercourse between the United States and
foreign nations."
Sect. I. T) Zit enaßedby the Senate and
1) House of Reprefentathics of
the United States of America, in Congress
assembled, That a sum of one million of
dollars, in addition to the proviiion here*
-tofore made, be appropriated to defray a
riy expenses which may be incurred, in re
lation to the intercourse between the Uni
ted States and foreign nations, to be paid
out of any monies, which may be in the
treasury, not otherwise appropriated, and
to be applied, under the direction of the
President of the United States, who, if
necessary, is hereby authorized to borrow
the whole or any part of the said sum of
one million of dollars; an acconnt of the
expenditure whereof as soon as may be,
/hall be laid before Congress.
Sec. 2. And be it further enaSed, That
the a£t, intitled "An a£t providing the
means of intercourse between the United
t ates and foreign nations," palled the
iirft day of July, one tho'ufand seven hun
dred au*d ninety, together with die fecoad '
feftion of the a(2, intituled " An ast to
continue in forcse, for a limited time, and
to amend the ast, intituled " An ast pro- '
viding the means of intercourse between
the United States and foreign nations,"
palled the ninth day .of February, one
thousand seven hundred and ninety three,
shall be continued in force, for the terra of'
oad year from the palling of this ast, and
from thence, until the end of the next
fcffiun of Congress thereafter holden, and
no longer.
Frederick Augustus MuhlenSeig,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
John Adams, Vice-Prelident of the
United States and President "*
of the Senate.
Approved March the 1
twentieth, 1794.
G°. Washington, President of the
United States.
* A CARD.
The Citizen was acquainted with the
circnmftance of the luciy return of Mr.
S——'s veflel—however as Hie had not
been many days out, thequeftion he put,
was not out of order. The citizen is glad to
hear that Mr. S. is done with the Britifli,
and by their late reprehensible conduct,
Mr. S. concludes that they have done with
him. To descend to particulars, the Ci
tizen wi(hes that Mr. S. had been a little
more correct and clear in some of hisftate
ments, as it would have saved, him the
trouble of racking his imagination to state
them more cleat ly. The (hip Adtive he
conceives to be detained undor the general
order, to interrupt all fuppKes of provisi
ons to France. The Mercury though im
properly intetrupted by the captain of a
Britilh frigate, was fuffered to fell her car
go at Jamaica, and Mr. S. no doubt is in
pofleflion of the valuable returns—can all
the owners of vessels whose cargoes have
been fold in French ports fay as much ?
Are they not often valued and taken by
officers of thitu:dmirailc government which
Mr. S. has so much confidence in, at less
than the original coil, without the cap
tains' being allowed any voice in the cafe
—and then it has not always happened
that they have been paid tor them, even
according to their own valuation. With
Tefpeft to the John, Mr. S—i 's fiea
vieft loss, it is said "that this reflel was at
the time employed in carrying wheat ihe
British had taken for their own account,
though dellined for St. Maloes from one
of their own ports, before the war between
France and Great Britain was declared."
The C. declares that he is so dull of com
prehension as to be unable to make out
the meaning of this, but if he may'be al
lowed to give a guess at it, the meaning
of it is this—This veflel was employed by
somebody to carry wheat from a Britilh
port to a French port, contrary to an a m
of the Britilh Parliament, or an order of
the King and privy council, (1 am not
certain which) ifliied some time before the
war broke oufcl—flie was taken in the fad,
and the conlequences probably were as
Hated by Mr. S.—(he was employed in a
trade in violation of the laws of an inde
pendent nation ; and however Mr.S 's
loss is to be lamented, the veflel deserves
no pity for her untimely fate—but what
was Mr. S about not to calculate his
rifle in time, and be paid before hand as
the wary Danes and Hamburghers ? It
would be paying a poor compliment to
Mr. S———'s sagacity, to suppose that
he was behind hand with the mod cautious
of them, in this or any other instance where
caution was necefiary. Having succeeded
in the developement of the causes of this
misfortune wrapped up in such myflerious
language as at firil fight to preclude a hope
of the possibility of an unravelment, what
are Mr. S 's grievances reduced to ?
The solitary and single cafe of the A&ive
detained at Falmouth—Mr. S. does not
tell us, that (he is libelled, condemned, or
adjudicated, and his grievance is the less,
as he had timely notice of the rifle of all
vefiels bound to France with pravifionsV
except rice—the propriety of the order
which placed those veflcls under such ha
zardous circumstances will be difcuifed
elsewhere—is it is new and #hat was never
done before in time of war, Mr. S. will
please to take notice that they are not
without a trans Atlantic example for adopt
ing what was never adopted before.—The
Citizen never doubted of Mr. S. having
derived considerable emolument from liw
trade with the ports as France—but-that
was not the question he put, lie nK-iely
teok tbe liberty of alking how nianv velTels
he had lately tent to the ports of France,
meaning perhaps a month before he dis
patched his last. veiJelfor-Falraouth —The
C. is happy to hear that Mr. S. has no
thing to fear for his vessel which the Con
vention has in their wisdom embargoed at
Boiirdeaux—does not this ihew that Mr.
S. is -always upon his guard and cautious
to provide against the worfl: ? In every in
stance, but in the unfortunate cafe of the
John it has appeared so; being £0 fortunate
ly istuated he has no occasion to do what
others have been compelled to do, viz. to
bribe the National Commissaries, as Mr.
S. chufes to call them.
With rtfpeft to the epithets which Mr.
S. willies to bestow on the Bntifh govern
ment for their late conduct, the Citizen
replies, that the diftrefles occasioned by
war, arealways to be lamented upon what
ever people thry fall—but the C. will again
remind Mr. S. that the government under
which we ourselves live, and enjoy pro
te&ion, arc not guiltless of being the cause
of diiirefs to a large class of innocent in
dividuals.
Congress of the United States.
House of R eprefentatiws
SublUnce of the remarks made by Mr. Giles
on the ioth of March 1794, upon the
question for the passage of the bill provi
ding a naval armament.
Mr. Giles commenced his remarks by ob
serving, that from the Jenfe of the houi'e k
veral times manifefted upon this subject, there
remained no doubt but that the bill would
pass. In that event, he moll earnestly hoped
that the success of the measure, would at
least equal the expectations of its advocates:
Indeed he hoped that their expectations would
be disappointed and exceeded ; for it did not
seem to him that even thev were very poii
tive as to its full competency to the end pro
posed. He even wifibed that every fliip could
be furmfhed with the cap of Fortunatus and
the lhield of Hercules ; for he was persuaded,
that in the prelent Hate of things some ma
gical influ.nce, would be found efltntial to
enable them to effect their undertaking. He
observed that at present, the wtfdon or lolly
of the proposed measure, was mere flatter
of opinion, but the passage of the bill will
furnifh futurity with a compleat experiment
of its true character.
He intended to offer his reasons against the
passage of the bill, not with a hope of mak
ing proselytes, but as a tcftimony of the real
motives which influenced his opposition.
With this view he ihould only mention l'ome
of the general impressions produced on his
mind by this fubjeift, without fatiguing the
house with minute exemplifications of them.
Thefubjedl had p'refented itfelf to hiiri in
two points of view—:ift. As affording a pro
te<Sion to our commerce against the Algerine
depredations, id. As the foundation of a
permanent naval eftabluhment.
He could not help premising, that in the
course of discussion the advocates of the bill,
had ceniured its opponents with a want of
disposition for the proteAion of commerce,
whilst they claimed a monopoly of ail good
intention towards this objeit. He did not
mean to derogate from the good intention of
the favorers of the bill, but he believed its op
ponents possessed as pure a zeal for the pro-
And due encouragement of commerce,
as its advocates. It is not a question, whe
ther commerce is, or is not, to be protected ;
but whether the plan proposed be the most
effe&ual and the least exceptionable, thai can
be devised for that pnrpole ? The difference
of opinion does not consist in the aid to be
produced ; but in the means propqjed to tjftll
the end.
The firli objection he Ihould make to the
bill, would be, the obvious inadequacy of the
means contemplated, to efle<st the end propo
sed by them. The object proposed, is an ef
fectual refinance not only to the whole pre
sent naval force of Algiers, but to their whole
naval ability. The bill contains in itfelf ef
lentially a declaration of war: our calcula
tions therefore ihould be extended to the ut
moll limit of the uaval ability of the hostile
nation. The means to l>e employed conlilt
of 4 frigates of 44 guns each, ana a ftips of
36 guns each. To decide with propriety up
on the objection, this force Ihould be com
pared with the naval ability of Algiers. He
did not mean to go into a minute biftorv of
Algiers ; he Ihould only observe in general,
that it \<'as a populous country, that it had
furnilhed at one time 100,000 fighting men,,
that its power at this day, was as great as at
any preceding period ; that they were a war
like people, accustomed to naval enterprises,,
and desperate in naval engagements; that
forfome time part, they had been-fiibfidized
for peace by almost every European nation ;
he could not help concluding irom these cir
cumltances that the naval ability of the na
tion either was or might, without any un
common exertions, be rendered fupenor to
four 44 gun frigates and two 36 gun Clips,
the force contemplated by t£e bill; and if
the coucluiions were juii, the bill is unwise.
• Intieigw&of ttfeedelatektsaifceaißv
' plied to IS*. skwrnnem of tlge abiEtor of the
InmAcavakr of mca it
- has IwTOijht into the fidd; Ait tW naval
' armaMfnia: tea* my tn attack tie i»-
yiidfcle miSiaa of A%ioi; Abb trae, but
it is no rdfmatioa at tbe TV
iaA the afcfiityofthe mion m
iaMj inference lien, that
if jUriasi3»aat &ghanaMKty np^
by changing the of her a&Ety, ffce
wcwid ccztaimly fsnufli a force at fez greatly
tbe smusKnt proposed. TBie
hiilory of lRx foriHer naial V\miom wootrf
zl£a jaffify this comiiifiao. Providing this
ajifunina? wouid naturally turn the attention
of Algiers to the inmtaifc of hornaral flmyl.,
audit doitoi tbe policy of moibiß, which
«x^dpradiKetlatcrea,wiUioi|ttbelJnrted
Status wmf deUtteined to enter imh a coav
jxrtioon tor naval power, with the nations of
iolopc. Naval exertions ha v e been carried
to tach excels, that there istcafcdy any thing,
which funajha mote feopefbr comparifou.
Several nations poSeSag a much greater na
val ftnrngtli than is contempiatcd by this bill,
he bditrd, were at war with Algiers at this
moment, jet her coriairs swim in the ocean
rtgandkfo of their enemy, and hardly recol
lecting that they are in a fbte of war. He
tiixigit it unfafe to calculate upon any pecu
liar is vincibilhy in the armament now propo
sed, and without fiich a quality although he
hoped their efficacy, yet he feared their inel'-
ficacy.
He should Fear the refult,-if the con
tell in other ftfpe&s were \p be upon e
qnal terms, but that will not be the cafe.
The armament will meet with peculiar
embarraismcnt from the expected scene of
a&ion. They are to ast 3,000 miles
from home without the guarantee or even
the profpectof a friendly port, they are
( to continue the uhole year upon their Ra
tion/ and >to befubjeft to attack whenever
the enemy may think proper, they will
alio be contiuually exposed to a tempestu
ous ocean; under these circumrtances
they mull ast upgn the moil difadvauta
geous terms, whrch will lefTen extremely
their profpeft of success- The advocates
of the bill have admitted the necessity of
finding some • friendly ports in the Medi
terranean seas, and several hate been men
tioned, Carthagcna, Gibraltar, &c. &c.
but their hopes appeared to him to be
wholly chimerical.
He did not know how far it might be
proper to have reference to confidential
communications, to present this part of
the fubjeft in its true light. He thought
however, he- might be permuted to men
tion in general, that it has been officially
communicated to the House, that the truce
with Algiers, which has produced the in
jury to our commerce, agSinft which the
present remedy is directed, is part of the
lyllem of the combination ajniinft France.
The mildest apology from Great-Britain,
for her interposition, has been, to enable
Portugal to ast more efficaci»ufly in the
common cause of despots. Other effects,
equally important to that end, willrefult,
and no doubt, were taken into t*ie esti
mate. They all may resolve themselves in
to the embarrassments produced to our
commerce. Tin's information cafinot be
questioned. If then the Algerine truce
be part of the fyltem of the combination
again ft France, is it probable, that the
combined powers, will afford their ports
for the protection of an armament, in
tended to interrupt and destroy that part
of the fyfteni ; May it not rather be in
ferred, that they will fend theiraid to their
allies, the Algerines, to destroy the fores
sent against them ? Have we hopes against
this natural and obvious consequence,
from the good dispositions of the combi
ned powers towards us ? Hare we any
hopes from their inability, to effect the
objeit: For his part, he thought it was
in vain to hope for a contrary result.
From these refk-ftions, occurs another ob
vious objection to the measure, its direst
tendency to war. Upon another occasion
it has been said, that Great Britain parti
cularly, is irritiable towards us, and all
meafuies ought to be avoided, which
might tend to cncreafe the irritability. It
really has become a question for this
House, for all America, to determine,
and particularly the lovers of peace, whe
ther a naval armament, calculated ro refill
pap of the system of the conibina ion a
gainst France, and destined to ast in the
very scene of war; or imposing higher
duties upon feme articles of imports, and
making an acl for the regulation of onr
own navigation, possess the greatefl ten
dency to war i
For his part, if the propofcd armament
should be provided, he had but one confo
latioa againfl this palpable effca of it
But that confsilation fumiihed the strong.
eft argument against the measure. The
trees are now growing, out of which the