CONGR£SS. . MOUSE o? kRPRESEh'TATtVES, Tuesda?, July 4. The House met this morning at nine ti'clock. , - ■» Thfc liill allowing an additional mileage to the members of both hotifes } thf bill confuls and vice-iconfuls, and the bill making additional appropriations for the year 1 "797, were read the third and parted. Mr. called up the resolution he ye ft.;rday laid «pon the' table, for laying an additional duty on fait. Mr, Gallatin moved to postpone the the consideration of thispropofition until the second Monday in November. Some debate tools'place oq this question ; and, when it came to be taken, the house was equally divided, there being 43 votes Votes for the postponement atld 43 against it, The Speaker decided agajnft the post ponement, and the resolution was referred to a committee of the whole and made the order for to-morrow. / The house accordingly resolved itfelf into a committee of the whole on this resolution ; when Mr. Allen moved the blank cents per bushel, be filled with twelve. Mr. SkjjrANwicK wilhed the sum to be seven. s*, Mr. Allen consented to make it eight. Mr. Sitgkeaves, hoped it would be twelve. . The question was firft taken upon twelve and negatived, there being only 30 votes for it* It was next taken upon eight and a greed to 47 to 42, and then upon the reso lution as amended, and carried by the fame number. The committee rose, and the house took up the resolution.' After a few words from Mr. Lyon against the tax, and from Mr. Williams in favor of it, Mr. W. Smith went at considerable length into a defence of the measure, in the course of which, he said, they had already agreed upon appro priations to the amount of 7 or 80c,OOO dollars, jjnd weve not certain of any revenue to meet the expenditure. The licence adt he believed might produce from 50 to 60 thousand dollars, and the stamp aft from 100 to 150,00© dollars, if they (hould.be palfed, but; he considered this as doubtful. But if these laws were parted, this tax on fait was neceflary ro keep up the equilibri um of taxation > for the stamp aft would almost exclusively fall upon commerce and large cities, this would be principally felt by the Agricultural part of the Union ; and if it were not agreed to, they must have a land tax. . , . Mr. Shepard said no tax would operate so equally as a fait tax, as every citizen must make use of it in a smaller or larger quantity. Mr. Gallatin opposed this tax on the fame ground which he heretofore opposed it, as opprefiive to certain parts of the U nion, and .no way affedting others, and therefore wholly unequal, and particularly as it bore heavy upon the poorer clafles of society. He was against it also, because it was not proposed that the amount of this tax (hould go towards a reduction of the public debt, butmerelyto encourageexpence in the government; for he believed if they filled the treasury with money, means would be found to expend it. Indeed, if the trea sury had not been at present in rather a low state, he believed they (hould have gone in ' to most of the expensive measures proposed to them thi's feflion. He allowed the tax would be produdtive, as a tax upon bread, air, or any neceflary of Use, must be produ&ive. If this tax were, however .to •be.agreed to, he (hould wish to make an a mendment to the present proportion At present the drawback allowed to the New- England states, on account of the fait used in the fifheries, amounted to 90,000 dollars a year, though by the ftatementit appeared there (hould only have been allowed 50,000. To rectify this, he proposed the following proviso to be added to the resolution, viz. " Provided that the allowance now given u pon veflels employed in filheries, (hall not be increased-" This amendment was opposed by Mr. Harper, Mr. Sewall, Mr. Dana and Mr. Kittera. on the ground of its being an un fair way of introducing the proportion, as no one expedted it, they were not prepared to meet it, the corredtnefs of the statement was doubted ; and if it were corredt, it was said, the proper.way of doing the business would not be to pass the present law with out a drawback, but to reduce the former drawback and make it less on this occasion. The motion was supported by the mover, and Meflrs. Venable and Livingfton ; but, after some difcuflion, Mr. G. withdrew it, in order to give gentlemen time to make themselves acquainted with the fahe had stated ; but he exprefled his intention of re newing the proportion when thebillcame in. The question then returned upon the ori ginal resolution ; when ' Mr. Harper went at length into a de fence of the measure, (in the course of which he charged Mr. Gallatin with being mista ken by 12,000 dollars as to the amount of the drawback allowed) and infilled that it , was a fair and proper tax andthat so small an advance upon the present duty could not o perate oppressively upon any class of the community. Mr. Nicholas followed in opposition. He dwelt considerably on the unjust and un equal manner in which this tax would ope rate. He said he did not view this queftion a i deciding merely whether an additional tax of eight cents (hould be laid upon fait ; but whether that neceflary of life (hould be cal led up for every thing government (hould want, He was in favour of a dire A tax which (hould fall equally, though it might, in the origin, be attended with some cpnfi - derable expencebut, If they went on rai ling partial sums in this way by indirect means, the cxpence of instituting a direst tax would always be an obstacle, and indi rect taxea would eonftatitly be had recourse to. He did not believe it to be absolutely 'neceflary to provide a revenue this feflion, as he believed money mighf as well be bor rowed without as with additional revenue, and next feflion the fuhjedt could be fully gone into, My. Lyon spoke ps the difepntent which had always been (hewn in 'the part of the country from to'hertce he came, whifch he said, would be greatly increased by this ad \ dition. It was not only a duty of eight cents ; every cent would be made four, before the fait reached them. There was no kind of tax which his constituents would not foonerbear. It had been said that a land tax would cost 25 per cent, to colledt it, but what was 25 per cent, compared with 300 per cent ! Nor did he believe this tax would prevent a land tax ; he believed they (hould go on taxing the people until they would be greatly diflatisfied. He Would much rather a tax of eight cents was laid upon tea, which would produce an equal sum. The question was taken by yeas and nays a3 follow : YEAS# Meflrs. Allen, Baer, Bayard, Brookes, Champlin, Cochran, Coit, Craik, Dana, Davenport, Dennis, Dent, Evahs, A. Fos ter, D. Foster, J. Freeman, Goodrich, Gordon, Grifwold, Harper, Hartley, Hind man, Hofmer, Imlay, Kittera, Lyman, Matthews, Morris, Otis, Potter, Reed, Schureman, Sewall, Shepard, Sinnickfon, Sitgreaves, J. Smith, N. Smith, W. Smith, (Charles.) Swanwick, Thatcher, Thomas, Thomson, Van Alen, Wadfworth, J. Wil liams—46. , NAYS. Meflrs. Baldwin, Baird, Benton, Brent, Bryan, Burgess, Cabell, Claiborne, Clay, Clopton, Davis, Dawfon, Elmendorf, Fow ler, Gallatin,. Gillefpie, Grove, Hanna, Havens, Holmes, Jones, Locke, Lyon, Machir, Macon, M'Clenachan, M'Dowell, Milledge, New, Nicholas, Skinner, W. Smith', (P.) Sprigg, Staodford, Sompter, A. Trigg, J.-Trigg, Van Cortlandt, Var num, Venable, K. Williams— 41. After the firft call was fini(hed, Mr. Blount came in and said he was called out to the door, and from the noise without doors, he had not heard his lyime called. His vote being refufed to be admitted he said he (hould then call the yeas and nays on the palling of bill. A committee was appointed to report a bill in pursuance of thyi resolution. A mo tion was now made (about half past twelve) to adjourn. Adjourned till 9 to-morrow. Wednesday, July 5. A bill was reported for laying a duty up on fait, which was twice read, and ordered to be committed this day, after a motion was loft for postponing it till the second Monday in November, 39 to 33. Mr. W. Smith called the order ofthe day on the bill authorising a loan of mo ney. The House went into a committee of the whole on the fubjedt, when Mr. W. Smith moved to fill the blank in which was to be inserted the money to be borrowed, with 800,000 dollars, which, he said, was about the amount of the appro priations of the present feflion. Mr. Gallatin said it perhaps was net very material as to the exadt sum V'ith which this blank. was filled ; but the ap propriations of this feflion did not amount to that fnm. 150,000 dollars had been- ap propriated for the fortifications, and the a mount of the appropriation bill was 567; 000, which did not make quite 700,000 dollars, and there* would certainly be a con siderable overplus of revenue to meet in part this expense. Mr. Harper did not believe there would be much overplus of revenue ; there woußl be some, but it could not be said how mijch, as there would doubtl<;fs be considerable de falcations, from the inability of merchants to pay their bonds. He did not think the blank (hould be filled with a less sum than 800,000 dollars. Mr. W. Smith said, besides the two items mentioned by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, there was 10 or 15,000 dol lars appropriated for agents under the Brj ti(h treaty. There was also another article wfeich might be agreed to in the course of the feflion, which /hould be included in the loan. There could be no inconvenience from giving authority to borrow a larger film than required, as it would be drawn only as it was wanted, and the interest to be charged only from the time the money was got. The surplus «f revenue, as his colleague had stated, was very precarious, 600,000 dollars might be fufficient; but of that there was no certainty. Mr. Gallatin did not know why gen tlemen should wish to increase this sum be yond the appropriations of this feflion, ™ there was already authority in the commis sioners of the finking fund to borrow more money than they could get. He believed the of revenue would be fufficient; as last year there was an increase of 700,000 dollars. And- this year there would not be a less sum. He wished to have the blank filled with the amount of the appropriations, viz. 697,000 dollaars, Mr. W1 lliams was in favor ofthe lar ger sum. The queftion-for filling the blank with 800,000 dollars was put and carried 43 to 34- 1 ' The committee fofe, and the bill tvas or dered to be engrofled for a third reading this day, which it afterwards received and pafled. The house went into ? committee on the bill for laying an additional duty on fait ; wlien • •» Mr. Gallatin moved to strike out all that related to the allowing of,a drawback to veflels employed in the lifting trade, on the ground which,he yesterday stated, vjz. that the allowance at present made was too large by 40,000 dollars a year, taikihg the year J 794 for his data ; butjt appeared that, in the year 1795, there was a deficien- ; cy in that, trade, owing principally, it was supposed, to the great demand for seamen in the merchants service ; he therefore would take the calculation of the gentleman from S. Carolina (Mr. Harper) made yes terday, And niftead of calling the amount of drmfrbick allowed 90,000 he would state it to be '78,000, and even then he said, the drawback at present allowed would exceed 20,000 dollars, the drawback to which they would be entitled, if the present duty took place. He spoke jp:nerally against the tax as oppreflive to the .back country ; but if the gentleman from Mafiachufetts and oth ers, were determined to mcreafe the tax, he (hould wi(h their part of the country tcr pay their lhare of it. ' This motion was supported by Meffr9. Venable,. Nicholas, Clay, M'Dowell and Macon. It was oppofed4>y Messrs. Sewall, Otis, Harper, Coit, Brookes, Kittera, J. Wil liams and The calculation of the quantity of fait estimated to he necessary to | be used sot ar quintal of fi(h, was said to be stated too low (one buftiel), that the sum allosfed, was not qnly meant as a draw back of the duty, but also ai a bouuty on the filhing trade, as being a nursery for sea men, and serving as a kind'of naval militia for the United States? If it appear, however, that the present allowance was too great (which, by some gentlemen in fa vor of this iriotfon, which was in blank, seemed t<i be acknowledged) a less allowance might be made in this bill ; but they could not consent to the bill pafling without a drawback. The question for striking out the clause was taken, and negatived 49 to 41; Mr. Coit moved to fill the blank with 50 per cent, infteadof 66 2-3<is, which was the drawback allowed by the present law. Mr. Hartley thought this sum too h ('g h - Mr. Williams moved 33 1 -3d per cent, which was carried without a division. Mr. Nicholas moved a limitation clause, to continue the aft in force for two vears, and from thence to the end of the next fef iion of Congress. This motion, after , some conversation upon it, was carried 42 to 39. The committee rose, and the house a greed to the amendments. The yeas and nays were called upon the limitation clause, and were taken as follow : YEAS. Messrs. Baldwin, Bard, Benton, Blount, Brent, Bryan, Cabell, Chapman, Claiborne, Clay, Clopton, Davis, Dawfon, Dent, Elmendorf, Evans, Fowler, Gallatin, Gillefpie, Hanna, Hartley, Havens, Holmes, Jones, Kittera, Locke, Lyon, Macon, M'Clenachan. M'Dowell, Milledge, Morgan, New, Nicholas, Skinner, W. Smith (P.) Sprigg, Standford, Sumpter,. S\*anwick, A.Trigg, J. Trigg, Van Cort landt, Varnum, Wnable, J. Williams, R. Williams— 47. NAYS. Messrs. Allen, Baer, Bayard, Brookes, Bullock, Burgess, Champlin, Cochran, Coit, Craik, Dana, Davenport, Dennis, A. Foster, D. Foster, J. Freeman, Gleti, Goodrich, Gordon, Grifwold, Harper, Hindman, Hofmcr, Imlay, S. Lyman, Mathews, Morris, Otis, Potter, Reed, ( Rutledge, Schureman, Sewall, Shepard, 1 Sinnickfon, Sitgreaves, J. Smith, N. Smith, 1 W. Smith, (C.) Thatcher, Thompson, Van Allen, Wadfworth-7-43. The bill was ordered to be engroffe3 for a, third reading this day ; and before the house rose, it received it, and passed. The yeas and nays on its pafling were as follow : YEAS. Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Brookes, Bul lock, Chapman, Champlin, Coit, Craik, Dana, Davenport, Dennis, Dent, Evans, A. Foster, D. Foster, J. Freeman, Glen, Goodrich, Grifwold, Harper, Hindman, Hofmer, Imlay, Kittera, Lyman, Ma thews, Morris, Otis, Potter. Reed, Rut >dge, Schureman, Sewall. Shepard, Sin nick fotv, Sitgreaves, J. Smith, N. Smith, W. Smith (C.) Svpanwick, Thatcher, Thompson, Van .Allen, Wadfworth, J; Williams—4s. NAYS. Messrs. Baldwin, Baird, Benton, Blount, Brent, Bryan, Burgess. Cabell, Claiborne, Clay, Cloption, Davis, Dawfon, Elmen dorf, Fowler, Gallatin, Gillefpie, Grove, Hanna, Havens, Holmes, Jones, Locke, Lyon, Macon, M'Clenachan, M'Dowell, Milledge, Morgan, New, Nicholas, Skin ner, W. Smith (P.)' Sprigg, Standford, Sumpter, A. Trigg, J. Trigg, Varnum, R. Williams—4o. A bill was received from the Senate for continuing in force an aft to revive and con tinue in force an aft authorising the trans fer of stock (landing to the credit of certain states, which was read the ift, 2dtmd 3d time and passed. Mr. Reed reported two bills as duly en rolled, viz. the bill refpefting consuls and vice consuls, and the bill allowing addition al mileage to the members of both houses, which were accordingly signed by the speak er. A message from the President of thg U nited States, informed the house, that he had approved and signed the aft for contin uing process in the circuit court of the state of North Carolina, and the aft to continue in force certain afts and parts of ,afts of li mited duratiott. 1 Mr. W. Smith called for the order of the day, 011 the bill regulating the collec tion of certain internal revenues. Mr. Nicholas wished this bill to be post. poned till next feflion, as it was not of any immediate importance, and he wiftied that they (hould by all means finifh their business in the course of this week. Mr. Macon moved that the committer of the whole be discharged from further con sideration of this fubjeft. This motion was carried, there being 46 votes in favor of it. Mr. Sitgreaves, from the commiitee to whom was referred th£ last confidential communication of the President, fald he was direfted to make a report. The galleries were accordingly cleared ; when not only this report was made and difeuffed, but also the former confidential business, which we understand to relate to Algerine './ airs. Adjourned till i o o'clock to-morrow. THURSDAY, JULY 6. Mr. Swanwick presented a memorial, signed by twenty-nine merchants of this ci ty, against the pafling of the stamp aft.— Mr. S. said he knew this memorial was too late to have any effeft, but, otiV of refpeft to the petitioners, he'wifhed it to be receiv ed at)d lie upon the table. The stamp aft was yesterday passed by the Senate. The bill making further appropriations for the year 1797, wis received from the Senate, with an amendment propofmg to add a clause to it of 45,000 dollars 011 ac count of our treaties with the Mediterranean powers. It was referred t6 the committee of the whole, to whom was referred the con fidential communication of the President with refpeftto Algerine business. Mr. Sitgreaves, from the committee to whom was referred the confidential commu nication of Monday last, reported the fol lowing resolution, viz. " Resolved, that William Blount, a Sena tor of the United States, from the state of Teneffee, be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors." This resolution was twice read, and com mitted for this day. A motion was made by Mr. W. Smith, for going immediately into a committee of the whole on this business'; but it was with drawn, in order to take up the amendments of the Senate to the bill laying additional licenses oif'the retailing'of foreign wines and spirits. The principal amendments of the Senate were to extend the licenses to domestic wines and spirits, as well as to those of foreign manufacture. The amendments of the Senate were fup portedby Messrs. J. Williams," Sewall, Skin ner and Varnum, on the ground of making the duty fall more equally ; as, at present, it was asserted, that some states paid far more than others. Mr. Williams, in parti cular, asserted, that the state of New-York paid one-fifth of the whole. The amendments were opposed by Messrs. Gallatin, Hartley, Kittera, Venable, Day ton, Dennis, Coit, and Craik, as oppreflive to the frfiall farmers of this country, who had just been taxed by an additional duty on fait, and as tending to destroy all those small distilleries who distilled for sale from jo to 20 gallons a year. After considerable difcuflion, a motion was made for the committee to rife, which was carried by the calling vote of the chair man (Mr. Dent). And on leave being ask ed for the committee to fit again, it was rc fufed 52 to 31. The farther consideration of the fubjeft was then postponed till the 2d Monday in November. Mr. Reed reported, that the bill for lay ing a stamp duty, and that to revive and continue in force, fer a limitted time, an aft authorising the transfer of the stock ftand l ing to the credit of certain states, were duly en rolled. Mr. Sfrigg presented a memorial from major Lewis, extra aid-du-camp to general Wayne, for pay for his services in that ca pacity. After some opposition it' was re ferred to a feleft committee to report by bill or otherwise ; and, before the house rose, a bill was reported, and committed for to-morrow. On motion of Mr. Sjtgreaves, ' the hqufe resolved itfelf into a committee of the whole on the resolution reported for im peaching William Blount ; when, Mr. Sitgreaves said, if there were no objections to the proposition, he hoped' the committee would rife and report it ; or, if any information {hould be wanted on the fubjeft, he should endeavour to give the committee all that he had in his power to give. Mr. Skinner said he had doubts in his mind whether the house had any right to interfere in the business. Mr. Sitgreaves obferved,that when the communication was firft made to the Presi dent of the United States, it appeared so evident to him that the occasion called for some aftive steps being taken, that he im mediately took the opinions of the attorney genei'nl, Mr. Rawle, and Mr. Lewis, to whom he proposed certain questions. A co py of the opinion which they returned to him had been tranfihitted to the committee. It stated that the above gentlemen had con iidered the letter of William Blount, and the fever&l questions proposed thereon, and answered, 1. That the letter is evidence of a crirtie. 2. That the crime was of the denomina tion of -a misdemeanor. 3. That William Blount being-a Senator is liable to impeachment for the said crime before the Senate. , It was in conformity to this opinion, that the President of the United States thought himfelf bound to aommu'nicate the letter to the house of Representatives, and leave it for them to aft upon the occasion. If the opinion of these high law charafters was correft, there could be no doiibt of the part which they ought to take. For his own part, he had not been able to fee why-the members of the Senate were not as fair ob jefts of impeachment as any other officers of government. He believed, upon a candid review of the conftitutiou, it would be seen that there was no reftriftion upon the right of impeachment. There was a reftriftion upon the to be inflifted, but not upon the right. He would not pretend to fay the right might not, however, be cir cumscribed in some refpefts. He believed a Senator could not be impeached for any thing he might do as a legiftator; though this (hould be understood with limitation; for, if corruption colild be proved upon him, it would be a.fair'ground of impeach merit, though, acting in the ordinary course oFlegifbtion, hr could not be called to ac count ffir his conduft out of the house. He believed, that in a government like ours, t\ie right of impeachment was a very valuable right. It was a fort of process cal culated to reach state offenders, not other wise amenable to punishment ; and there was no fear that in this country this power should be abused, as in another coujitry, to serve the purposes of a minister or a party, as both the body which mates the accusations, and the court which decides upon the charge, are the real representatives of the people, the one immediately, and the other medi ately. In England, Mr. S. said, this trial by impeachment had been carried beyond offi cial cases. He instanced the famous trial of doftor Sacheyerell, who was impeached for preaching a h'hetfous fcrmon. It was well known that this cause divided the king dom, and that the firil talents were called in to the aid of the doftor. The Senate, Mr. S.\faid, W3S peculiarly conftrufted. Its powers were of a compli cated nature : they were legislative, execu tive and judicial. In -confcquence of their executive powers, they had poffeflion of all the secrets of the Executive. The officer who was charged -in this cafe, he said, had particular relation to this part of the func tions of the Senate ; for, having this parti pation in the secrets of government, it was a particular breach of official duty, when a Senator attempted to seduce an officer of the United States from his duty. - So also when a Senator of the United States (hail endeavor to deprive the govern ment of this country, or its agents, of the confidence of a foreign nation ; when he ft all endeavor, by fedu&ive arts, to lead a foreign nation to make hoftiUties on this country, it was certainly such a violation of his duty as would warrant an impeach ment. Mr. S. said these were the confidera tionß which had induced the committee ta make the report they had made ; it was for the house to aft upon it as they saw proper. Mr. Nicholas had his doubts with re fpedt to the constitutional right of the house on this fuhjeft. He thought the committee had neglected something which ought to have been done. They ought to have had some fatisfa&ion with respect to the truth of .the charge ; they were not to aft upon mere suspicion. This was his firft impref lion on the fubjeft ; but Jte had yet made little enquiry on the matter'; he thought, however, before they declared a man in any degree guilty, they should have evidence be fore them. It did not appear to him that a member of the legislature could be termed an officer of government, for so far as a Senator had to do with the Executive, his charafter was merely that of an adviser, and he doubted, therefore, whether he could, in .giving his opinion, be liable to prosecution ; nor did he think his crime of corrupting an officer was the greater because he wa6 a Senator. (To be continued,) The report of the Committee of th? Se nate refpefting the expulsion of Mr. Blount was difcufled. MefFrs. Dallas and Ingerfol attended as his Counsel. Meantime the House of Representatives hat} pasTed a reso lution to impeach him of'high criir.eis and misdemeanors. The members of the House appeared on the floor of the Senate, when Mr. Sitgreaves at the Bar of the-Senate,\id dreffed the PrefideMt in the name of the Representatives, and of the People of. the United States, impgached William JBlount, a member of the Senate, and demanded that his feat be fequ?ftered. A resolution was moved by Mr. Sedgwick, agreeably to this denjand —also that he be taken' into custody by the meflenger, until he give surety him felf in 2o;ooo dollars and two securities in 15,000 dollars each. After some debate, the firft part of the resolution relative to expulsion was post poned till this day. The other relative to bonds was agreed to. Mr. Blount imme.diatelyentered into bond for 20,000 dollars, and Pierce Butler, Esq. and Thomas Blonnt, Esq. each of them in bonds of 15,000 dollars as his sureties. Mr; Jeffe'rfon has obtained leave of ab sence from the Senate /or the remainder of the fefiion, and Mr. Bradford is chosen Pref - dent pro. ttrfi. For Savannah, ydSJ- swiftVacket, Patrick Gribben, Master, S& XT OW lyingat W ilcocks'wharf, an( j positively fail on Saturday, 15th inft. She is handfomcly accommo dated for passengers, and fails well. For freight or passage apply to the matter on board, or N. & J. Frazier, No. 95, South Front-flreet. WHO HAVE FOR SALE, Prime Rice in wboU and half tierces. July 8 §rnth Bush Hill. THE Public 'are refpe&fuljy informed that the Gardens will be open Thursday Evening, 6th, and Saturday, Btb With a Concert of Vocal and iaftrumental Mu (ic, after the maimer. of the public gardens, Pans, London, etc." Focal Performers—'Meflrs. DarL£T, ftn. Da a-, ley, iuri. Bates, and Miss Broadhvrst. 'Jnfrumrntal. —McQrs. Hopefield. \volfe, Mucke. Homin, Brooke, bhetky, Petit, Oznabluth, Morel, De.l.iry, etc. Organrjl —Ms. B. Carr. Admittance half a dollar. The Gardens to be ypejed at fix o'clock, and the Concert to begin at seven. %* Tickets to he had and Boxes to be taken at Mr. Carr's Music-store, Market-ftreec. J u| y 5- - Delaware and Schuylkill Canal. r J "HE Stockholders are rsqu=ftei t<> attend a JL met ting to be held at the Office on Monday, July 10th, at 10 o'clock, a. m. pursu ant to adjournment. - AVm. Moore Smith, Sec ry. July 8.
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