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PHILADELPHIA,
FRIDAY FVJ2NING, fiF.CBMHEIt 19.
. „ C ,0 N G R E S S.
MOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Debate on a motion to re-Confjer the qnefl'tori far
-pofpolling the conjideration of 11 Bill fuppfe
tiientary to an Afl for preventing rertaifi
c rimes againjl the United Slatei, paJJ'ed 'June
i 1 • 794' thefirft Monday in February.
( Concluded from yijlerdaf' s Gazette,)
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26?
Mr.* Sewall was in favour of re-consider
ing flie queflion ; not that he wished the
business crowded upon the honfj ; he had
no objection to a fortnight, or longer, be
ing given. theij observations
on this fubjeit, had recurred to the proceed
ings of last Congress, which had notliing to
do wiilftheprefent question, and argued as
if t here urere a law forbidding merchants to
Krm their veflels ; whereas there was no
filch thing, because he never could confidpr
executive diredtions as law. ' It was true
tfie ptfefident of the United States had for
bidden the arming of veflels, except for the
P. a It-India and African trade ; but there
were no regulations to prevent impolitions
. in this refpedt, and nothing was more easy
than for vr.Tels to clear out for those places,
and to go to others, and if they did so, they
were fubjeii at present to no forfeiture. It
Was proper, therefore, that Congress should
come to some determination on the fubjeit,
and fay whether merchants had a right to
arm, or not, and under what reftri&ions ;
as, at pref?nt, the whole burthen was im
properly thrown npon the Prcfideht. Wbilft
t:ie bgfinefs remained upon its present foat
•'ng, circumstances might arise which would
be very unpltafant. For inflanee, if a mer
rhant were to sue a ccflledtor for carrying
into effect the orders "of the executive, it
Would be itapoflibltf" for arfy to found
a decision upon those orders. Nothing,
' Mr. S. said, could be gathered from the
proceedings of last Congress, as the present
bill wan intended merely to regulate a right
ivhich the merchants already pofleffed of
artning their vefitls, so as to prevent hostile
•aggreflions. There was nothing in this
n. eafu)-e, be said, which could give offence
to our mfifers, even if we were colonics of
Trance, of of Great-Britain. AH that was
intended was a defence against pirates,
whom no country would own ; for, if a
restitution was asked for, on account oflof
fes fnftaitjed by them, it would be said by
Trance or Great-Britain, " we know them
" not, you ougf t to defend yourfelvcs against
them." As to the obfervatiot) of the gen
tleman from Virginia, that our merchants
would continue to acquiesce in the present
state Of thing-, it might be so ; but he
thought they had* a just claim upon the
United States. He believed they were gen
erally unwilling to arm, except under the
- regulations of the United States ; but they
cught not to take advantage of this acqui
efccnce, and fay to them, without concern,
" you should go to sea and run your rifles as
usual," Under these disadvantages, he did
not think they should. As to our present
fituatifln with refpedt to France, he did not
think it ought to be alluded to, as the pro
. posed regulations,' as had before been ob
served, were not intended to operate against
thern, or any other nation, but against the
piracies committed by order of Vi&er
Hugues, or any other marauder, who may
set up his authority in that quarter of the
world. So desirous were the merchants of
having a defence against this description of
veflels, that since they could not carry out
real guns, they have lately resorted to the
carrying of wooden guns, that they might at
least have the appearance of defence upon
their veflels. lie thought to be obliged to
have recourse to this practice, was derogato
ry to the honour of the nation.
Mr. Dana said, it was not very liberal to
ascribe to the committee who reported this
bill, motives which they themselves did not
avow. If he did not mistake the gentleman
from Virginia (Mr. Nicholas) he had said
that this bill was calculated to mislead the
paflions of our citizens, and prepare them
for war. The committee had not stated a- I
ny thing of this kind. Th<y had stated an
evil to exist, and proposed a remedy. The
depredations which had been committed up
on our commerce by pirates, unauthorized
by any government, were notorious; and
that we had a right to defend ourselves a
gainst them, was admitted on all hands ;
but there was a neceflity for the interfer
ence of Congress in the business, and, for
this purpose, the present bill was reported.
The measures proposed had been spoken of
as measures ofhoftility ; they were 110 fueh
thing ; he would not adopt any meafureo
now, that he would not adopt in a state of
profound peace, and the present bill was no
more than a part of our general system for
the regulation of the conduft of our mer
chants. Mr. D. alluded to the order which
had been iffhed by the late and present Pre
sident in relation to the fubjeft of arming,
and Slewed the neceflity there was for an in- j
tcrference of Congress. He did not think i
this question was decided the last fffllon. — j ,
But it was laid, that this fubjeft woujd in- •
terfere with the negociat ns now carrying
oil with the French republic. Thisrwas a
Jlrange argument indeed. What were the ! ,
principles laid down by France with refpeft ] (
to this country. They fay " they will res- j ,
pe6t treaties, when it is their interest to do ■ ,
so." He, therefore, supposed it would be J J
as much for the interest of France to be at j
peace with us, if our veflels were ,armed, as j j
if they were not. Thci,e was another prin- j
ciple. They will " r<*fpedt our rights, when j
we know how to make them refpe&ed."— (
Could this regulation, therefore,weaken that ,
refpedt ? He thought not. To poll pone - .
j the e'lefti.jtlj from fueh a motive, wjjuld be
h.tim mating. It wanld be faying,' we dare
n;.t take any measures of defence against the
marauders on our coail, }<ft we fhoiild give
offence to a foreign power. He hoped they
should not be thus influenced.
■it r ' Thatcher said,. he did not rife to in
j voke th-genius of America, or any other
genius. He did not believe is any genii.
' He wished to attention of th;-noufe
■ to trie queilion, which he thought they had
1 forgotten.; for he belle vedy any one coming
into the fioufe, in the course of the debate,
might have guefled for forty years and not
1 found it out. The queftipn was, whether
' the former vote should be re-considered. It
■ was immaterial whether a pa£[ion for France
or any other itrong paSion, had overruled
reason and influenced the vote. It was fttf
ficient that .two or three persons had stated
, themselves as ni.(taken in their vote, to wish
j- -the queih'on to be r'e-confidered. If this
were the queflion, he did not fee what they
had to 80 with the war in Europe, or with
the' negociations carrying on Wtth France ;
but, as it had been the practice to abandon
the questiOn, and raise other fubjefts, he
( would take the liberty of following the ex
( ample which had been vfet, by remarking
• upon what had been said. [The Speaker
j fignified to Mr. T. that, in doing so, he
> would be out of order, and having exprefT
-1 ed his intention, the deviation could not be
, admitted.] Mr. T. however, continued to
-make some observations on what had fallen
from the gentleman from N. Carolina (Mr.
M'Dowell) as to thepropofed mcafure hav
ing effeft upon the negotiation. This, he
shewed, to' be next to impolfible, as we were
J expefting to hear from our tlegociators ev
ery day, and they could not hear of the
| proceedings of congress on this ftibjedt for
two months to come. The question, said
be, 13 to arm against rovers and pirates, and
surely gentlemen would not fay that the
Terrible Republic were a set of rovers and
pirates ; but they must fay so, if they said
this bill was against them. He believed
frauce refpe'fted itfelf too much to fay this
bill was intended against her. The gentle
man frtjm Virginia»( Mr. Nicholas) had said
there was no change irt the fltuation of
things since last feflion ; but he believed
there was this change, as it refpe&ed com
merce ; we were now mere allured than e
vcr, that the chief of the depredations com
mitted upon our commerce were committed
by unauthorized marauders. M. T. con
cluded with reading an extrail from the
President's speech, as conveying his fanti
mcnts with r*fpecl to the difadjufted affairs
of Europe, the general want of morality,
and religion, and the conftquent uncertain
ty of permanent peace.
Mr. Baldwin said, if the original question
had now been whether the cofifiJeration of
this fubje£t should be postponed for three
or four weeks, he should have felt himfelf
indifferent as to the ifTue. But it was with
regret he saw the question brought back for
conGdcration. The gentleman last up had
spoken of three gentlemen having been mis
taken, and wishing to change their votes.
He heard but of one, as the gentleman who
seconded the motio'n, did it only that the
mover might have an .opportunity of voting
as he wished. He did not think, therefore,
that this was a fufficient ground for recon
sideration of the vote which had been tak
en. When the house voted upon a ques
tion, without argument, it must be fuppo
led they voted from conviction. A mo
tion for the reconsidering of a fubjcfl was
not a favorite motion ; since a repetition of
such iViotioos would make it next to impos
sible to proceed with the public bufiuefs.
The queflion of arming or not arming, he
said, would yet come before them in a va
riety of shapes, before the bill could be ma
tured, that there was no neceflity of arrest
ing it in its present stage. He himfelf ex
pected that when the firft Monday in Feb
ruary moved, some of the committee
who reported the bill, would have propo
sed a ihorter time ; but, when they did not
he supposed they thus argued, " We have
considered the fubjeft for four or fiveweeks;
we will give other gentlementhe fame time."
And he believed, if they so judged, it was
the lieft course which could-he taken ; for
the longer time there was "given frtr confid
ing and maturing the fubjedt, the greater
probability there would be of coming to a
speedy ani proper decifior..
Mr. J. Williams was in favour of re-con
fideringthe vote. The a£t of 1794, he said
had been differently construed, and the soon
er congress determined the true eonftruftion
the better. To put off the fubje£t for five
weeks, would occasion considerable loss to
the merchants, as they did not know what
event's might arise. If the fubjedt was- not
adted upon till the firft Monday in February
it would be the firft of March before the a£t
was pafied, and the firft of April before it
could be known at the extreme parts of the
union. He himfelf was undetermined whe
ther it was right to authorize merchants to
arm or not, but he did not wish the question
so long postponed, he wished to have it dif
euffed.
Mr. N. Smith said, as the reasons which
influenced his vote, had not been stated by
any other member, he would take the liber
ty of Hating them. He should vote against
the re-consideration, though he agreed with
gentlemen who were in favour of the bill.
He thought the ftieafure a perfectly neiftral
one, and such as no foreign nation had a
right to take Umbrage at ; but those gen
tlemen must agree with him, that it was
not likely the meaftire would be silently a
dopted, or without a lengthy 3nd full dis
cussion. It was idle to fay, that becaufc
the measure was only intended to operate a
gainst piiates, there was no occasion to in
troduce any Foreign nation into the difluf
fion. It was certain, that whenever the
fubjt£t was difcufled, our situation with re
fpedt tb Foreign powers, wou'd certainly
form a part of the debate, and this it was he
dreaded. He believed it might do much
mifehief. - He, therefore, differed with those
gentlemen who wished »o get into the dif.
j cuilion, ami who did not frern to want an
immediate deeifion ; he firoeld have no ob
jection to the decision, but, he wished, for
I the present, to avoid th* discussion. Before
j ifhV Teffinrf flofed, he should think it ne'cef
l-fery to decide upon a meaftlre of this kind;
but he wiflied to fee further before the busi
ness was entered upon: he was, therefore,
against ie,confide ring queftion.
' Mr. Otis replied to foaie remarks which
had beep made upon what fell from Kirn,
and juftififd what lie had before said, and
the warmth which he felt on <he occaficn, as
natural. He concluded by observing, that
it was necessary to cheer th.£ spirits of the
•people by a measure of this kind ; to raise
the expectations of the merchants, and not
to drive" commerce, which came mourning
into that Honfe,' to defpa'ir; but if their
hands were to be tied, and 110 proteftion was
.to he given to trade,»the .-merchants fliould
he their determination as soon as
possible ; and told that> though they draw
frclm tb<m millions of dollars a year in sup
port of the revenue, yet they will not attend
to their grievances until within a few weeks
of the close of the session, when, perhaps,
fuGcient time will r.cty remain to carry any
meafuYe which may be proposed, into a
law.
Mr. Pinckney faiJ, as he was not a'mem
ber of the' House during the last session, he
hoped he ftiould be.excused in wiihing to
enter into an earlier difctiffion of this quefti
.on than other gentlemen seemed to wi(h.—
-Hit though he was not in the Houfc at
the last session, he had observed the proceed
ings of It; and though fomc of the motions
for arming were negatived, there were others
of a defenfive nature agreed to; such as the
holding in readiness Bo,oco militia, the ap
propriation for repairing the forts and har
bours, See. which were not thought at the
-time, to be at all offenfive to any Foreign
nation; and he was of opinion with those
gentlemen .who believed that a law authoriz
ing our merchant* to arm their vessels, could
'ntft afcrd any Foreign nation just cause of
offtHQte. He was nqt surprised that his
colleague (Mr. Harper) should be of a dif
ferent opinion, becaufc he did not think 'so
favourably of that nation, as many other
gentlemen did ; but he was surprised tp heqr
gentlemen who thought more favourably of
nation, confiderthe measure as operat
ing wholly against them. Surely means of
felt-defence could not be means of offence.
Nor could gentlemen fay that the French
nation was the only nation which committed
offences upon our trade. He had heard it
said that another nation had lately captured
an cquah a greater number of our
vtfiels, than they had done. Bcfides, as
the measure was intended more against un
lawful plunderers, than regular Seizures, he
could not conceive how it could be suppos
ed to give offence to arty particular nation,
or affeft any existing nrgociation. The on
ly point to be determined, then, was when
the hill should be committed. He thought
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Nicho
las) had carried his idea too far, when he
said, because this country-waff not prepared
for war, they ought not to discuss this ques
tion. He thought there wero certain time's
when every free nation aught to be prepar
ed for war. He meant Aylien the measure
of injuries had arrived at such a pitch, that
it could not be Iqnger borne. In such a cafe
a nationought to meet the calamities of war,
rather than to submit to farther oppressions.
If the proposed measure, therefore, us
in a better state for war, it .was a recommen
dation of it, as Strength, 3nd not Weakncfi,
was the best preservative against war ; as, if
a [people were prepared for war, nations
would be careful how they insulted them.
He wished, therefore, to put this country
into that finuation as soon as possible. To
poftpono the question so long a time as had
been would be a very unusual
measure. ft would look like a wish to get
rid of it altogether. «Whatever might be
the issue of the negociation, he said, we
ought to put ourselves in fopte posture of
defence for our trade ; for, whether there
were peace or war in Europe, there could
be no objection to the arming of our mer
chantmen in the way proposed. He hoped
therefore, the discussion would not be post
poned longer than the second Monday in
January.
Mr. Allen observed, that it had. been af
fei lid that there had bcen up ehange in dot
political fituatiou since the last session.
There was one, be said. It could not then
be determined whether the decree of th? 2d
of Martfb was really genuine, or whether
rhe letter of Merlig to our Consul was real
ly authorized by th« Government of that
country: Now the fafts could not be doub
ted.— Mr. A. said, it had beeu injimated
that the friends of this measure, would be
glad to fruftrate the with
France. H? did not believe . any such in-
in the House. The
poftponeoftin proposed, inftcad of being
four wdeks,. as it had been called, lie said
would be 41 days.
Mr. Harper again explained the reasons
ofhjk.vote. H# differed froai the gentle
man last up with'refpeft to the reality of pa
pers he mentioned. He believed they were
last; session generally believed to be genuine.
Mr. S. Smith said, h?d he beeu present
when the former vote was taken, he should
have besn oppofad to t(\e discussion being
postponed to so diilant 4 day.; but as the
hoi;fe had-come to decision on the fubjeft,
he flibukl yPte against tha. qiieftion's being
recoo'tideretL- Hedi-j not consider the bill
before (hem giving the merchants the pri
vilege to arir. their vessels, but as -rertriftiog
vefTels armed from dojng mifchief.
He insisted upon it merchants had a right
to arm by law, notwithftandiug the Procla- '
mation of the President, which he was bold ,
to fay, he considered as illega l .
The question for a re-confiderati«n of the
former vote, (which was carried 40 to 37,)
was negatived 44 to 38.
THURSDAY DSCEMBER 3s.
The Speiker l?.id before the honfe a letter
auJ report from the secretary of the 'fVea
fury, in purftuuce of a refoluiion of the
houfe of the 22(3 inft. relative to the claim
of General Kofciufko. The report ftateo,
that the accounts of the general were fet
tled at the Treasury in 1784, when a cer
tificate wa3 ifTucd to liimfor 12,280 dollars
and 49*90ths, bearing an interest of 6 per
cent from the ift January, 1784, which
wcis stipulated by a refoKition in February
following, in common wish the interest due
to all the foreign bfttctt's, to 6e paid annu
.ally at Paris ;
were granted by Congress to difeharge the
principal andintrrellof thofedebts, at which
time it was supposed that all the officers had
received their intfreft to the !ft January,
1789; but it now appeals by the banker's
account at Paris, that rjp'iniereft had been
received by General J£ufciuflco for four
years, viz. from 1785 to Sufficient
funds to pay the interest from 1789 to '92,
were in 1752 placed m Amsterdam, fubjefl
to the disposal cff our minilterat Paris, that
by his direction a bill for theamount was re
mitted to Mr. Piackrtey, in London ; but
pnrfuant to the dire&ion of general Kofci
ufko, Mr. P. wrote to tbe bankers at Am
sterdam to remit the amount to Leipfic, or
Dresden. Whether this request was com
plied with, is not kuovvn ; general Kofei
ufko fays'he neverrcceived it : it therefore
lay fubjeft to his disposal at Amsterdam,
Leipfic or Dresden. iu September
1792, a notification was publiihed, that
provision had been made for paying the prin
cipal of the debt due to foreign officers, on
application at the Treasury, after the 15th
of O&ober following, and that the interest
upon their demands would cease after the
last day of.JDecember in that year. That
though the certificate ifTued to the general,
is dated by him to have been loft or destroy
ed, yet the powers of the officers of the
Treasury are competent to the payment of
12,280 dollars, 34 cents, the principal, and
2 >9+7 dollars, 33 cents iotereft, for the
years /rom 1785 to 1788,- on receiving a
bond of indemnification from the general ;
but that they cadnot adv*n£e the interest
firppofed to have beeir tranfrtiitted to Leip
fic or Dresden, tlipugh payment will be
immediately made for any sum which may
be hereafter drawn, and credited to the U
nited States at Amsterdam ; nor is it in
the power, of the treasury to allow any in
terest 911 the said principal, fince 1 the iftof
January 1793.
On motion of Mr. Dawfon; this report
was referred to a co mmittee of the whole
for Monday. *
Mr. Varnum presented the petition of
M. Landais] a French gentleman who serv
ed the United States at sea, during the
war, praying for a settlement of a balance,
which he Bates to be due to him defer
red to the committee of claims.
Mr. W. Claiborne moved for the order
of the day on the report upon the remon
ftrjnce and petition of the Legislature of
TenncfTee.
Mr. Coit hoped the fubjeft might be de-'
ferred till to-morrow, as there 'was a faft
referred to in the report, which he wi filed
to liaye fornc information upon.
Upon the question being Rut,-the motion
was, however carried, and the house ac
cordingly resolved itfelf into a committee of
the whole on the fubjeft, "Mr. Kittera in
the chair, when the. following report of the
committee, *vas read :
" That, on investigating the causes of
complaint contained in the said Remon
strance and Petition, it appears, that ac
cording to the boundary line between the
Cherokee tribe of Indians and the inhabi
tants of the said state, which was extended
by the Comrniffioners of the United States,
pursuant to the treaty of Holfton, in tjie
course of the last Summer, the fcttlements
and habitations of a considerable number .of
citizens of the said state, which heretofore
were supposed to b« on lands to which the
Indians claim was, by that treaty, extin
guished, appear to be within 4he Indian
territory. That those inhabitants had been
induced to believe that the lands which
they occupied were not within the Indian
boundary, in confequen.ee of the late Gov
ernor of the South Werftern Territory hav
ing, in pnrfuance of diredfiyns from the
Executive-os the United States, caused a
temporary line to be extended, by Comrnif
fioners appointed for that By
which line the settlements above mentioned
were included within the lands assigned to
the Territory South Weft of the Ohio
(now the State of Tenneifee.)
" The>committee I/kewife find, that there
are divers other citizens of the said state
who occupy lands, unquestionably within
the Indian a& designated .by the
said treaty, which lands they ppfTefs by vir-'
tue of titles derived from the Hate of N.
Carolina, previous to the cession of that
territory, by the said state, to the general
gbvernmeVit, tine condition of which cession
was, that " all entries made by, or grants «<>
" all and every person or persons whatfo
" ever, agreeable to law, and within the
" limits thereby intended to be ceded to the
" United States, should have the fame force I
" and efftft as if such cession had not been
" made ; and that all and every right of
" occupancy and preemption, and every o
" tlier right, reserved by any act or ass, to
" persons fettled on and occupying lands
" within the limits cf ti>c lands thereby in
" tended to be ceded as afoTrfaiid, should
" continue to be in ful',foh.-e, iri the fame
" manner as if the ceffioli -Md not been
" made, and as conditions upon which'the
" laid lands are ceded tothe Unj.tedStates."
'• The pommittee also are informed, thit
by the operation of the law, palled on the
19th day of May, 1796, for regulating the
intereourfe with the Indian tribes, which
law lias been carried into execution since
the exteniion pfthe last line these citizens of
the finte of Tennessee have been compelled
tip abandon their habitations, and with their
wives and fcheir children vfere, by thelateft
aqcftjlnts from that country, encamped iri
tii* wocds within the Tt-mieflee line.
' " The comti|fcee.thewf'..-?,- «i conf,der
auoti of the premifcs, recwvuncnd, for the
adoption of the house, the following resolu
tion .
" Refolvedi that the sum of
dolhrs be appropriated for'thc
relief of fuc'n citizens of the state of Ten
iiedre as have rights to lands within the
laid fete, by virtue of the cefiion out of
the state of North Carolina, and have made
adtual let dements thereon, and wh® have
been deprived of the possession of the said
lands by the operation of the ad for regula
ting.the intarcourfe with the Indian tribes.
The said sum to be fubje& to the order of
the Prelident of the United States, to be
expended under his direction, either in ex
tinguifiing the Indian claim toMhc above
described lands, in cafe he (hall deem it ex
pedient ta hold a treaty for "that purpose,
or be difpofecfof in such other manner as
he (hall deem best calculated to afford the
persons hereiu described atemporary relief."
Mr. Coit said, the fadl upon which he
wanted information Was that refpedting the
temporary line which was said to have been
run. He wished- to know what evidence the
committee had before them on (his fubje£t.
Mr. Pinckney (the chairman of the fe
,le£t committee) said, that the testimony
which they had received on thfs fubjedt, was
frt>m the member from that diftridt, which
was corroborated by that of a member of
the senate from that state, who said he had
his information from the governor of the
south-western territory himfelf. This cir
cumltance was not particularly noticed in
the application made to the secretary of
war ; only fgeneral information was called'
for, and lie was silent as to this point.
Mr. Coit thought official information
ought to h»e been had.
Mr. W. Claiborne said, he had applied
to the Secretary at war oh this fubjedt, and
received for answer from him, that his gene
ral report to the committee of the Senate
contained all the informatinn proper' to be
communicated; ichen, therefore", he found
this information was not contained in the
report, he supposed i; was fueh as he did
not think proper to communicate. The fadl,
he said, was well known in the state of Ten
nessee, and it wasgenerally received'opin
ion, that the line had been extended,by the
President. He himfelf was in habits of in
timacy with the commissioners, and Ire had
more than once heard the fadt from them.
He believed gentlemen from North-Caroli
na and Virginia were also acquainted with
it. He did not, however, believe the fadt
essential. If it were a truth that there were
citizens in the state of Tennessee who had
been forced to abandon possessions fairly ob
tained from the state of N. Carolina, it was
. fufficient to warrant any measure which
(hould be calculated to afford them imme
diate and adequate relief.
Mr. Pinckney was in h6pes the testimo
ny upon which the committee had adted,
would have proved fatisfa&ory to the gen
tleman from Connedticut, but he feerned to
think they Ought to have had official docu
ments. If that gentleman had attended to
the report of the Secretary of War, he
would have seen that any farther application
by them for information, would have been
improper, as (he Secretary there declared
the business to be " of a nature exclusively
executive 'and that he there gaVe as much
information on the fubjedt as he thought
neceftary. If the evidence upon which tlpe
committee had adted, was not thought fuf
ficient, the house would, of course, call for
fiich other as they might think proper.
Mr.-Macon had no objection to any other
information being obtained. It might be,
however, that the information communicat
ed by the member of tt|e Senate, was offi
cial, gs one of thofegentlemen had been in an
official charadter.
Mr. Pinckney said the member of th«
Senate whom he had alluded to, was Mr.
Jackson.
Mr. Blount had no doubt but the infor
mation required, might be obtained from
the Secretary of' War ; and, if the commit
tee were to rife, he (htfuld make a motion
to that effect. He had himfelf been told
that the line in queftiop was run, by the
commissioners who ran it ; and hi had been
flrewn by a gentleman who attended tht
running of it, the diredtion it t6ok. How
it happened that the Secretary of War had
not mentioned it, Tie was at a fofstcj know.
Mr. Dayton (the Speaker) moved that
the committee rife, in ordfr to obtain the
information required. It appeared to him
that they had been premature in going into
a committee of the whole. He recplledted
something of the line of experiment being
run, and of the Indi<!!» being diffatisfied
with it. He understood also, that in conse
quence of the diffatisfadtion of the Indians,
tfyere was an additional allowance made
to them. Of this, however, he was not ve
ry certain.
Mr. N. Smith hoped the committee
would rife, in order that the information
wanted might be obtained from the Secreta
ry bf War. He did not believe that the
line of experiment was run by the diredtion
of the Executive, because he did not think
the Executive''would dire£t any other line
to be run than . such as was prescribed by
treaty. At the fame time, he would not
be understood to discredit the information
given. Gentlemeu did not fay they knew
the ffc.a tbemfelves, but that it was general
ly uiulerjwd.to.be Ui. There wre'many
things said. to bt uudsrjhod, in that quarter,
-with reipedt to which the people ought to
be undeceived. He believed this to be one
of those things. He did not believe the
Secretary Sf.War had declined giving in
formation as to this point, because it inter
fered; with Executive buiinefs, as it was
merely'to know whether a certain thing had
been done by Executive authority, or not.
The e were many things in the remonstrance
and petition, with which the Executive
conceived the legislature had no.tl)iiig to do;
but, as to the point in question, there could
be no objection to giving the information
required,