CO AG# ESS of rrs UNITED STATES. P . HOU-SE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Thursday, January 19. w ThcHoirfe being in a cercmittee of the whole on '' the subject of further revenue, Mr. Dent in the chair* A call for the question was made. n Mr. Gallatin said, before the qnetli«n was taken, si hawonld state, that the amendment proposed would si be a total defeat of the resolution for laying a dire£t t tax. The gentlemen from Colme&icut, he said, t bad been accultomed, iu laying their Hate taxes, to v valuations of property made'betwixt different v tpwns, and th«y supposed no delay wduld be occa c fioned by the propolition before them ; but it wufl ( be rerolleited that in apportioning the tax amongst the dates, there was no occafion.for fcch a t valuation as they canteciplated. It was proposed 1 by the secretary of the treasury to "be done by means 1 of commissioners instead of the iegiflature, and he 1 believed that would be the belt way. If the refolu t tion was, therefore, agreed to, the mizht be I proceeded with j but if the amendment was passed, 1 and a new census was to b e taken, they must wait 1 at least two years, and 110 valuation could take 1 plaee until a Congress was eledted according to the new census, which could not be done till the time ofthe Congress jutt chosen expired. They tfiight, indeed, have an enumeration taken and a tax afleff ed, on the 4th of March 1799, which would be the day on which the powers of the new Congress would -commence ; but no ta:; could take place in the mean time. There was not the Jeaft doubt, therefore, tbat if the amendment'paffed, it would amount to a de feat of a diredt tax for two yeats. The question was; then, whether they would agree, or net, so to .put off the business. Mr. G. said, he (hould have no to the taking of a new census before the expiration of ten years, if it was thought to be neteffary; but he could not think of doing it before the proposed tax went into effe£t. Mr. Dayton did not Bgi'ee with the gentleman from Conneftieut (Mr. Smith) who had asserted that the words in the original resolution and in the amendment would have precisely the fame opera tion, and really meant nothing. He believed that they would operate, and were intended, to decide the question against a new census, which the mem bers from Connecticut., as well as from New-Jersey, must be equally defirous.of providing for. The chairman of the committee who reported the reso lution under debate, had candidly acknowledged it to be his objsdt and meaning, and other members had given a like conftruftion to the words. Some notice was due to the remarks of the gentlemen from Virginia and Pennsylvania, who, though not -entirely agreeing irr their conflruftions of the con stitution, had broached dofilrines that were new, and not at all warranted by that The £ud that if a new ceufus should be taken turned at the firft meeting of the next Con greis, ana d direct tsx ror tfre corrtnt ymr thouio be apportioned by then: in the fame *fe(Tion, they must take for the rule of apportionment the old and not the new census, until the representatives had been regulated, and taken faats under the last enu meration. Could it be poflible, Mr. Dayton aflced, that any man who had read these words, " iKrcS taxps JhaU ie apportioned among the feneral jlates according to their rtfpecliuc numbers" could believe that injunction obeyed, if the enumeration, last, taken, and immediately before their eyes, should be i-ejefted qr difiegarded, and one taken eight or ten years previously adopted, in preference, as the rule; ef numbers and wealth. The gentleman from Penn sylvania had not carried bis doctrine quite so far, but had given, as his opinion, that the return of a new enumeration to the next session would prohibit an apportionment of any direct tax in less than twp years, wlieii a new reprefentat-ion would take ef fe£t. The tendency of such a dodtrine would be highly dangerous, as it would lock np for two years the only resources of government, and it might be in time of war when they would most need them, l »nd have *0 other to resort to. Both those gen tlemen fecmed to have conceived and afTumed for fa6t that dircft taxes were to be apportioned ac cording to representation, in which they were not justified bjf the constitution. Representation and direst taxation were both, it was true, to be adjufl ed by onecommon ftandaid, but not by and although in theory, of at firft view, the dif tinftion was not linking, yet in practice it would to he material and important. The question upon the amendment was put and -mgatived, there being -only 19 in favor of it. The question was about to be put -upon the ori gisal resolution, when Mr. Havens wished thequeftior. to be divided. Mr. Potter said, he was against the resolution, becsnfe the tax would fall very unequally.- Since the last census was taken, the situation ®f rr.any of the states was very much altered as to population. In the state o.' Rhode-Island, vrhich was already cpprefTed by,the direst taxes of the state, many of the inhabitants had removed into fiateiof New- \oik, where they had less taxes to pay. The state of New-York and others, he said, had increased in population, and therefore a direst tax would operate 'verv unequally on different states. By the report of the secretary of the treasury, it appeared, that thr-ftareof Rhode-Iftshfrwss top*y •?JJ,ooo (totfars a year, which would operate as a tax of double the sum on their land-holders, from the manner in which it would be collcdted, and from other property being excused from fuppoiting its fhar« of it. It wr»ulu therefore fall particu'aily heavy on that slate, when compared with others. It had been faiii by the gentleman fron) Pennsyl vania (Mr. Swanwiek) in two long fpeeciirj on the fubjedt, that a was the molt certain and easy in collection, the-fii ft convinced him that he knew nothing of the opprefllon of a tax That gentleman was agaitft having the fyltem de tailed, because it would be the means of raising ob jections to it ; but after gentlemen had voted for the abttraft principle they must vote for the bilk ttlu P. believed fuiEcicm revenue might be raised from {ti&rcA taxes. An additional tax had be ;" |f< pn f led on fall and brown sugar. i: w*3 laid " thtl'e were article* consumed by the poorer clafTes ; but if a man purchased fait or sugar, he wa« pleased P wi'k the purchase, and would pay double the tax in " in this way, that hp would pay by a dire&.tax. 1 Nay, he believed a man felt five dollars paid in a v diti.it way, more than 15 or 20 paid indire<£lly. v if, he said, they were to tiy to raise Uy ir»dire6t il mea"?, on the plan recommended by the gentlsm-"' ' from South Carolina (Mr. Harper) a part of the h sum wanted till next fefiion, it would be seen whether that method would not be fusrcfsfal. If it was v then found, that the revenues arising from thence were inefficient, there was not a person in the bouse t who would enter into direift taxes with more rea- « dinefs ; bat, until all indirect m?an» were tried, he t should be unwilling to go todireft taxes. Mr. Swanwickfaid, he was sorry that the gen- 1 tleman from Rhode-lfland (Mi. Putter) should t have supposed, l.edid not undeiltanJ the principle t of dired taxation, from not having felt it. Hebe- ( lieved, it had been mentioned by his colleagues, J that a dired tax had long been colle&ed in this t state ■; so that he had been constantly in the habit of feeling the weight of direct taxes, as he believed j there were few places which paid mare in this way. 1 than Philadelphia. If the gentleman had been in j possession of landed property here, he would have : felt the truth of this. 1 Much, Mr. S. observed, had been said on the fubjeclof indirect taxes, and of the poor being in a great degree exempt from them. He believed this was not true. The duties arising from the luxu-. ries of life, were small tn comparison to what was raised from articles of general consumption. If yau want productive taxes, said Mr. S. you mult come to fait, tea, and sugar, and articles of common use. The gentleman from South Carolina -knew this, and had therefore introduced them into his litt of articles which he supposed would bear additional duty. No one would doubt, therefore, that the 1 poor paid a very heavy poriion of those duties, r Eut the gentleman laid, let us go on a little long : er and try the experiment. Mr. S. afited, if it was not the moment of all others for them to look out 1 for some other o:je£t for revenue belides commerce, 1 when their imposts were wholly in jeopardy. For, ; whether they au'd to the duty on fait, sugar er any . 01 her article recommended, what certainty could t riiey have upon their calculation* being realised, : when they heard of their vessels being taken alrnoft - by hundreds. , Whenever commerce was mentioned they always : heard of merchants having over-traded themselves - And did not this very circumftaiice tell them that t the revenue mult hereafter experience a diminution, s Once, if they had over-traded themselves, they would e in future do less. I Another geHtleraan had said that 300 writs had t been iflued in one city to recover duties. But . this, it was said, was no proof at all that a redu&ion , of revenue would ensue. it would at least, ke al e lowed that it proved an inability to pay, and bad a debts would doubtless be the consequence, and that no certaiuty could b.eplaced upon this Jpecie-3 of y In what situation, then,'laid country i placed? If the French continued to our ffijps j in the way they had lately heard of, we should not, . he said, get re .renue fufficient to pay the intcieft of I, our debt. So that gentlemen who opposed the 7 present motion, if they were fuccefsfal, would re s duce the country to an alarming situation indeed, e A curious way had bten proposed of retrenching t our expences. Now we were threatead with for e eign attacks, it was recommended that our naval n and military eftabjifhnient Should be reduced, This j was extraordinary dodtiine. He believed the gen . tleman who recommended this saving, might as well •, have gone or, and proposed an annihilation of the a government ilfelf, and then«here would be no r.eed t of revenue at all. a Our exigences, said Mr. S. are fuch,-that those '- gentlemen who refufe to support the present propo e fitionj, miit take upon themselves the refpoofibility. s With them, said-he, be it ; lie did not chufe to e take it. , They had some observations with refpeft to the . conflitutionality of certain points in reference to r divest taxation ; from refle&ing upon which, he . was of opinion that indirect taxes had 'aat original t Jyheen contemplated by jhe conllitution. It con J templated a fylkm of direfi taxation, supported on . the foundation of reprefentai ion, >by which dates , should pay according to thei* population. This "- fort of tax, he said,. was well calculated to inspire d cautiori in the expenditure of the public money. Mr. 8. said he had been mil h gratified by the d observation of his colleague from the interior of the country, that a land tax would be more gratifying i- to him and his eonftituentc, than an rxtenlien of in direct taxes. He hoped the resolution would be a greed to. Whatever might be its fate, however^ U h* should feel fatislied with having done his duty e in exerting himfelf in its behalf. >f The call being loud for the committee to life, 1. the question wasput and negatived, there being on y ly 13 for it. >f Mr. Holland had no doubt with refpeft to the r. constitutional power to lay diredt taxes. He would e go farther gnd fay, that it might have been better n if government had begun with them at its firft in e ftitution ; but he was doabtful whether the present was a proper time to commence the business. He it was of opinion that taxes might yet be.es y tended so as t« prorfuoe the revenue wanted, a Without examining into the principles of im- II posts and excise, it might be supposed that they fell d upon r _ 1 c merchants ; but,en examination, it would g be found that they paid no more of them than in y proportion to their consumption. The question #4s whether the merchants or farmers consumed 1- molt ; for it had been insinuated that the farmer ie scarcely p?»id any part of these duties. d The genileinan from Maiyland, Mr. Craik, e Teemed to think there were farmeis who paid little - or nothing towards the expence of government. •- He did not know any fucli. Farmers, he said, had 1- mostly numerous families, and therefore consumed r larger quantities of imported articles. The fr,mi lies of merchants were seldom so large, they coofe d queutly cub fumed less. J arn.ers, he said, wetc al- Iso failed with a r fxcife en thrir stills, from which merchants were exempt. ( Merchants, he {aid, were in the habit of com plaining, but government had not been inattentive to their u-.tcre!b. He mentioned the allowance to there in favor of tonnage. He he was con vinced revenue was wanted, buttle thought there was no necepty for going into direst taxes to raise it. As to paying off the ecl>t, he doubled not, it they raised ever so much revenue, government would fxnd ways and means of (pending it. He juftiiied the reduction of the military and na val eftablirtiment. The military eftablilhment, he , fuid, was calculated for peace, and wasot n« other j g use thin to garrifan our forts ; and as the frigates were not built, there was no necelTity for an efta- S bUrtimcnt to man tl.ero \ and indeed'he thought it "5 better that they were not finifhed, as if they were 1 out at iea> they would probably soon be added to the*ftrengfh nf a:, e'nemy. He wilhed we had less ta do with foreign intetcoutfe. He did not know j what good foreign eonnedions wereef to us, tho' i \ government had long 6een hunting them up. He " tho't the" more we lived by ourselves the bitter. . He, belitwed it wpuld Ue best to pursue indirect i taxes, if it were only with a view to keep the pub- 1 lie debt out of fight, as a part «f this debt had ori- i ginally been the property of individuals, who would | j murmur very much if they were called upon to pay 1 either towards reducing the principal* pr iifeliatg- f iug the interest of it. j The farmers already Raid ctax ontbeir lliils and if they wete to pay a 'diredt tax also, it would be like taxing both principal and interest. If a diredl tax was aid, he hoped, thsiefoie, the duty on -Hills : would be repealed. Mr. Buck wilhed the deeifioa on the qseftion might be poflponed, for the purpofeof reading the communications jttil received irom the Prelident, as they mighl throw a light upon the filiation of this country with refpeft to foreign countries, which might influence their decision upon it. After ieveral observations on the propiiety of the proposed potVponement, the question was at Jcrigth taken on the foimer part of die refolulion, viz. that proposing a diieft tax to be laid on land r with improvement! thereon, *nd carried by a co«- fiderable majority there being 56 in its favour. r On the quettion upon the Ltter part of, the is | solution, viz. that a tax shall be laid upon slaves, t with certain exceptions, being about to be put. t Mr. Christie .moved t® «dd, "on all real and personal propelty wilhinthe United States."—On j fuggellion of Mr. Giles, the wordi, " and other property" were substituted in place of the above, t and ontfie question being .put upon it, it was nttga } tived, there being only 18 in favour of it. J The latter part ef the refolutioi) wa3 then pu: as it flood, and carried, 54 members voting for it. | The committee rose, reported the lefelutioß, t and had leave to fit again. Adjourned. 5 Important Public Document, * _ I THIS DAY IS PUBLISHED, c And for Sale * -At the Office of the Editor of the Gazette of the United States, y No 119 Chcl»ut-S icct, s fntlCt ONJt DOLLAR AND FiFTT CKNTs] A FEW COPIES OF THE f Receipts and Expenditures e OF THE UNITED STATES, For the Year 1795, N Being the Period to which, an account can be be«nu4« up. February 12 $ JNew Theatre. . Qt THURSDAY EVENING, February 23, Will be prefeated, a tragedy, called II JANE Shore. Duke of Clofter Mr. Warren Lord Haftinga Mr. Wigasll Caielb/ Mr. Warrell, jun. c Sir .Richaid PUicMTf Mr. Dartey, ji*n. Jielmour , Mr. Fox Dumont Mr. Moreton '• Jtarl of Derby Mr. WarreU 0 Alicia Mrs. Merry Jane Shore Mi*. Morris c ; To which will be added, (For the firft time in this Theatre, —and with the original 0 Overture and French Muiic, compofeu by Moafr. Hoc hk- ' e fojt, never performed in America) u A Grand, Serious, PANTOMI *<£ BALLET, called 1 Ihe Death of Capt. Cook • n [As performed in Covcnt-.Gaiden Theatre, London, under the dirt&ion of Mr. Byrni, upward*'of llund is red .Nights, >viih universal applause.] ■e With Entire New Seen,erf, Machinery, Dresses and Decorations. le Deferring an fcxailßeprelcntatiou of the Manners and Cut ic llotns ot Ihe Nativeiof Ow'hyiicc, in if,e Pacific Ocean, g ' j N|firrs. Byroe j Fr»nci» 1 Warren I- Tht Principal Charafteri Darley r. j Moreton y I l°v t Warrell »nd Mrs.Byrne. e, "Indian Men and Women, Sailors, Marines, ice. by red 1 of the Company. The Scencry designed and excemcd bv Mr. Mrnoniii, V On Friday, E* "v On# has'his FAutr. t+t On Saturday, Ihe V. Hl ll of To *tun» with id Entertainments. er The fourth night of THE WAY TO GET MAR RIED will be on Monday next. Box, One Dollar twenty-five cents. Pit Seven Eirfr-hs of a Dollar, and Gallery, half a dollar. Ie £T Tickets to be had at H. &P. Rice's dook-ftore "• No. 50 Higb-ftreet, and at the Office adjoining the Theatre. a. Ladies and Geutlemea are requested to fend their .([ servants to keep places a quart*- before 5 o'clock, and [jj to order them, as soon as the comjlany are leafed, to • withdraw, as they eaiinot on any account be permit ted to remain. 1 he Doors of the Theatre will open at 5, and the ;d Curtain rife precisely at 6 o'clock. er Places for the Boxes to ue taken at the Office in tlie front of the theatre, from 10 till 2 o'clock, and from lO till 4 on the days of performance, le Viy~slT K ESPUBL ICA ! Head of Ghffler, Queen Anne's C-Unty, id February 17, 1797- :d pHIS Day, the Partnership »t ANDREW M'CASK j. 1 EY and Company having diffelvcd by 1 motuai con sent, these have any demands against said Firm, are *•" defirad to call on said M'Calkey for.fettlement, w'le is ap pointed to f«ttl« laid coucsra. ' Fek. ag-»wfStuijt" d^ette^'Mnite&Mates, AND * Philadelphia Daily Advertijer, PHILADELPHIA, February i». *'m' ' * ~ UPON THE PRESIDENT'» RETIREMENT. "W HEN »ur attention has been fondly ftrain'd, To mark a great and and arduous part fuftain'd ; As the affeifting close at lemgtli draws nigh, Sighs swill each breait, and tear- bedim each eye: Thus, from the scene when Washington withdraws, Sorrow reftiains the impulse to applause ; Yet rays os-transport beam through our diftreft, And cause a pleating pain we can't express. View him rush forth to set his cauntry free. Ease, fortune, life, all fcorn'd for liberty. When Victory blew her trump, Revenge, in vain, Pointed to brethren chain'd, and heroes slain : His melting foul the fc«urge of War deplor'd ; " I feught to save", hefaid, and fiieith'dthe fw»rj. Nut, when deftruiUve anarchy ensued ; When the patriot's hands embrued ; His mighty mind a perfect system drew, And jarring chaes into order grew. That lufurredion rose I blufj to tell: But even high Heaven has had its holts rebel. When, fruitlef> prov'd each effort to persuade, Sorrowing he drew his former blood-ftain'd blade I Lo ! thoulands join t'enfsrco the general will ; He but appears, and all the storm is still. Hl« t arts atylum find ; Here persecuted Virtue loothes its m nd; C Here freedom, peace an.l plenty are cembin'd. J His labors ceale— He makes a term of red, And pleas'd beholds that all his works are bled. Columb.a's happy sons unite to raise, The theme' of boundless gratitude and praise. His _qu»l in pail times we learch in vain. And ah! *' his like we ne'er (hall fee again". Extntfl sis a letter from a gentleman in Europe, dated l4, ijp6. " If you still take an intereli in the events which are occurring in this Woody quarter of the earth, you will perhaps be glad to have Coine I suppose, however, it will be j.pne to yflu, that both liic Xrencn armies which began the campaign by ani ruption int» Germany have been driven back to rius Rhine, after infli&ing and fuffering ealamities, the mere relation of which ought to give pain ife eyery hearei, but which are told and heard with the utmost poilitile indifi'er . ence. The campaign is drawing towards a cloie. and the two parties are just where they were when it be gan 'batiuj abeut an equal (hare jif lofifes on both fides. The armies will loon go into winter quarters and re cruit for a new corjflifl of the fame kind at the op-ning of the next fcalbn.—ln' Italy the? reach are undertak ing to efhblilh a new .Republic upon their conqtiefts, probably for the fake of fearing the Emperor into a cession of the Low Countries, CorQcais abandoned by the Engli/h, and Sp«(ipi has joined in . the w.ar againtt Great-Britain—There fecms id be some partiality at lealt in beginning a war on one tida and fiuifljiag it on the other—The Spanish declaration of war singtis a; one of ievances against Britain, that in t!i4.trea ty with the United States of America the Briti/h go vernment had facrifked the rights of Spain, which were well know nto theon. This is what in vulgar lan guage is called letting the cat out of the bag. Our magaanimous allies al France do not like the Spaniih declaration litcreforej but think it a weak .thing- This preciaus conteffion of Spain is the best of all panegy rics upon Mr. Jay's treaty, .it is the extorted eulo«iuro of an id'verfary defeated. Our town 'meeting to» s I dare fay will not understand it. They k.Tow how to vote a treaty infamous or to kicjc it so H—, or ta throw ftonesat a man *-ho happens to be in his fenias * ; when they arc ijlatl, for opening his lips in its defence., but the address of diflblving a formidable fecrct com bination and making both the eonfpiring parties a bandou the preteiiiftms upon which they had joined their forces to fuppoit each other, the influence of a settlement with one antagonist in procuring an advan tageous bargain for another, the difcegrectiag of de , figiis in a third quarter, the more deeply hofiile be caule Uifguilcd under the mask of the jnioft cordial friendfhip. Thtfe are things which the of i time v>,ll unfold, which wiil prave how well a town meeting ii.qualified to discuss ind decide the political . mterelts and foreign relations of the American Union, which will gloiioufly vindicate the policy of the with Britain, but which wijl not make a iitiyle towa meeting orator or voter one particle the wil'er or the better for his experience. " L-rd IVJahneibury is at Paris endeavoring ti> ne , gotiate a peace ;' nobodyiexpeifb that .his million will come to any thing. The French partisans fay that the British minifiry only want a pre'ext to raise the fup j plies for the next year and do not 4 intend finctrely to. make peace. TheErtglifh paTtifiins f:i} t.'ja! tTtlTKiuh J Directory are determined not to makej eacs, because r they are ambitious of conquest, and TTope to make - more revolutions, the eharget may be tru? on both fides. The French Direiftoiy have prnpofed a law to 5 retrain tif licentiuufnefs ot the ptcis. They com plain bitterly agairdt all? their journalists. i'ou will r fee their moral and political ftrmon to the I.egiflature < " upon the abuses of the press. An old Roman poet . lays that the Gracchi lhould not complin of /edition." COMMUNIC A TJGNS. Great cities were pever governed by feeble laws. The rabble of Paris, London and Conllantinople need Wronger cordi than those of love, and some more.ter rible power than reason and confciencc : yet the cli- mors agaibft the government ..nd tie efforts to loosen , iia bands coiae frotn the large towns, and from those clalfes in the large towns which create the necefiit.y for energy and even security m the laws. Those vho need b the most reftraiut most abhor it. Let those who fa vo» the attempts to make the mixed multimde of a iiate - houle yard the judge of treaties, and the legiflat«r» over legifiators, fer.ates and president, coofider the is good sense of the scheme and the very hopes ul prof peft of the cotrfequences. Democrats, the way to bring it about that we have ej too much vigor in the laws is lo to majiage Jhe matter by clubs, mobs and newipaper lies that oiir prelent r mild laws cannot answer. When tbele are tra.nplcd ' on, l'uqh will be defircd as the lons of riot will not even 0 dare to sneer at. • The writer of the Numbers signed " C:lizfn, J ' is either a heirling of the 'Frefich, or a gudjton. c Sometimes his sentiments breathe a fsrviiiiy of ipir n it embody'd in a drowfynefsof ftite that llrong'y marks the fatigue of drudgery per ftieet—and some times hefpeaks of his reliance upon the diliuterert ednefs of France with such strong marks of clinck. ling simplicity, that one can hardly believe it pufli ble that his innocence has been lolt, or was worth the purchase. Such a writer is apt to impose much more than a htiilhed writer contrt. Drtidue- » t v may pu*uc> a ftupidjty that is allied tojiwrJki-
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers