ianction of law, to gratify every criminal, and hacetul paflion : It degrades civilization beneath the nfoft barbarous Hordes. Roule, and redress your brethren's wrongs, ye abject, base, degenerate Britons. 1 lie gi.oll s of murdered tlioufands, conjure you, to break thole hell-forged prison barrs, that (hut out Iron the innocent, lweet hope, and mercy ; — tin/ock the infernal doves that impioujly divide whoTti God tilth joined and hear, O'hear/the Children's cries !—Come forth, ye injured, pallid lhades of men ! ye, who have lingered out an age of tor ment ! lay bare your cruel wounds, and make your country, and even Th urlow* blush ! your tragic stories will unfold, that all the mileries which Priloners fuffer, make but a slender poition of the pungent woes that Prisons breed. Ye iliinifters of Hell, who torture Innocence, and sport with ruin ! Go liquidateyour black ac counts with Heaven ! There fits ETERNAL JUS- T ICE, the Balance in his Hand, weighing with equal scales, DEBTOR AND CREDITOR, our NAKED MO i J VES ! there, they Hand recorded by unerring wisdom ! there, the OPPRESSOR meets the AVENGING GOD ! there, MELTING MERCY meets it's great REWARD ! and there, the INJURED ever find REDRESS. E. C. NOTE. * The Lord Hi*h Chancellor of Great-Britain, who has i ni formly opposed every motion tor the relief of diltreffed debtors. SKETCH of PROCEEDINGS of CONGRESS. In the, HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES of the UNITED SI ATES. Tuesday j Del/ate on the Proportion of arranging the Executive Departments. Tuesday, May 19, 1789. Mr. Boudinot, who the business as mentioned' in our last, made many observations upon the important fubjetft of finance ; and adverting to the present state of the funds, Ihewed the neceflity of appointing an officer, or Secretary for that department : After the com mittee had proceeded so far as to adopt the idea of three departments, agreeably to the resolution introduced by ,Mr. Madison, the last clause in the preamble of which, fubjei r ted the head of each department to removal at the pleasure of ihe President, this occasioned a debate. It was urged in objection to the clause, that it was unconstitutional, for it fubjetfted an officer to lose his appointment without forfeiting it, or having any reason alhgned : That giving the power to The President without controul, rendered nugatory the article providingfor impeachments : 7 hat it would delegate a dangerous authority to the fupremc magistrate, and make himabfolute : Thatit ought to be the fame power that displaces from, which appoints to, an office : That 110 such power was fpecified in the constitution, on the contrary the powers of The President be ing therein defined, without designating that pro posed, ir was presumed, that this power could be lodged with fafety only in those hands where the constitution had placed it, viz. The Presi dent by and with the advice of the Senate : It was called a monarchical system, and would enable The President to effect arbitrarily, a change of ministry. Many other observations were made by several gentlemen who spake on this fide of the question. In answer, it was said, that the mode of impeachment for crimes, by the Senate, had special reference to certain offi cers of government, the Judges : That to sup pose it extended to all, iridifcriminately, was ab i'urdthis would oblige the Senate to be always fitting"; this ob'edtion proved too much—as even waiters and inferior officers could not be removed on this principle : 1 he clause it was ur ged, would create thatjuft responsibility in The Presidnkt, and all under him, which never conld be foujidin bodies of men : This respon sibility \yould be mutual ; The President would feel responsible for the fidelity of those appointed by him, and they would feel responsible to him, and to the public : This refjjonfibility was of the utm oft importance—it was expe<fled by the people ; and by concentering in one, this accountability for the faithful discharge of the duties of the subor dinate departments, of the executive, it was the dicftate of reason and experience, that the per son thus responsible should have the appointment of the officers, on v.hose conduct the honor and fafety of the government and the reputation of The President were fufpendecl. Wednesday, May 20. Mr. Goodhue q;ave notice, that on Friday next he should move for a committee of the whole Houfeto determine the refpet'tive allowances for their public services, to be made The President, Vice President, Senators and Representatives of the United States. In committee of the whole, Mr. Trumbull in the chair, on the fubje«ft of the three great de partments. The question on the second article of Mr. Ma nso»j's resolution re/pectins a " Secretary of the United St::: es for treasury d -'partinent" occa- fioned an interesting debate : In opposition to the idea of giving an individual the abfolutc direction of the finances, it was observed, that the powers and duties proposed to be annexed to this appoint ment, vftre so nuinerous and complicated, that there was not a mail to be found in the United States competent to their discharge : That the danger from corruption and undue influence was greater from one man in I'o important an ollice, than if the power was divided equally between a number, who would be mutual checks to cacli other ; that it would be unconflitutional,asit would fupercedein a great yieafure the interference ol the Senate, who were appointed a council to ad vile The Prefidentin the execution of the govern ment —for the creation of u financier, with all the pomp and powers of office, would be the ella blifiimentof what might be called a ministry;— that experience had taught us, that the appoint ment of such an officer would not meet the ideas ot the people, and no such officer had been created in the individual governments. >hefe ohfervations were followed by amotion, for an amendment, by striking out " Secretary for the treasury department," and substituting a clause, providing for the appointing aboard ol commissioners. On the other fide of the subject, it was laid, that the superiority of an individual, poilefling competent abilities to conduct this department, over a number of commissioners was demonttrated, by the experience of the public ; that there was a radical deficiency in the very nature of boards -and commifiioners produ&ive of perpetual ob ftrucftions in their tranfacftions, deftrudtive of har mony,and that decision and difpatch,which are the foul of public business ; that this was confirmed by a retrospect of the late Financier's energy and spirit, contrasted with the operation of boards and committees: Under the dirertion of that man, public business had been conducted upon enlar ged principles, and with a simplicity and promp titude, that had saved our finances from destruc tion, and given a new face to our afFairs : Immense savings were made in every department, and or der reflored where before confufion and distrac tion prevailed : Under Commifiioners, the finan ces had been in a state of darkness ; uncertainty and indecision marked their tranfaiftions : \\ e have realized perplexity and delays necefl'arily at tendant on these inefficient fyftenis ; the idea of responsibility is weakened by them, till it loses its influence intirely. The question 011 the amend ment was negatived by a large majority. It was then moved, that a clause" should be added, inflituting a board of treasury under the fuperintendcnce of the financier. This motion was put and loft. The question, whether this officer should be removable by The President, pafled in the affirm ative. The third article, providing for the eftablifh mentof a Secretary of the United States for the war department, removeable by The President was alio voted in the affirmative. Mr. Vining then proposed the addition of a fourth department: The Secretary of the United States for the domestic department : He enforced the proposition by a number of observations, up on the expediency,importance and absolute neccf fity of such an cltabiifhment. 1 he creation of this department was objecfted to for the present ; as the various objects which it was designed to take up, might come with pro priety within the departments already voted ; but if another ihould be found neceflary, it could be ePablilhed at any time. The committee rose without coming to a vote upon the proposition—when the House adjourned. Thorsdat, May 21. Ilefolved, that the House now resume the consideration of the three great departments, when it was moved, that the words " to aid The President in the difcliarge of his important trust" be struck out, which pafled in the affirmative ; the word " Executive" waS then added aftet the word subordinate. Mr. Viking proposed, that thelloufe fliould then resolve itfelf into a committee of the whole to take into consideration the expediency of efta blifliing a fourth department. The riling of the House to form, into a commit tee upon this proposition was opposed, and after fomeconverfationMr. Vining consented to sus pend his motion. It was then moved, that a committee should be appointed to bring in a bill, or bills, pursu ant to the resolution for inflituting the three su bordinate executive departments.— Voted in the affirmative. •Voted, that this committee consist of eleven and the ballots being taken, the following gen tlemen were elected, viz. Mr. ~Alr. Madison, Mr. Fitzsimons, Mr. Burke' Mr. G rry, Mr. Benson, Mr. Livermore, Mr! Wadsworth,Mi\ Cadwallader, Mr. Vining and Mr. Boudinot. The committee of elections, to whom were re ferred the several petitions from the citizens of New-Jersey, refpcOiing the election in that State for Reprelentatives in Congress, reported, that a committee should be appointed, with authority to hear evidence on the fuljcct of those petitions that a day lhould be appointed on Wliith this con mittee should lit for the above purpose ; and that the Speaker should be rcquelted t:i tranimit"a copy of this resolution to the Governor of N ew Jerley, with a request that he would canfs the lame to be publilhed in the l'everal newlnaiw,, within that State. K 1 Ihe order of the day was then called for to take up the memorial of David Ramsay, resett ing the election of William Smith. On which Mr. Vining moved to poll pone the order of the day, and to go into committee for the purpose of determining,whether a depart hient for domeitic affairs Jhould be eltablii&ed. The question on this motion being put was loft. The House then proceeded on the petition of Dr. Ramsay, to examine the vouchers and evi dence of the facts alledged by both parties, and having yiade some progress in this examination —Adjourned. Friday, May 22. The House this day resumed die confuleration of the report of the committee 011 Dr. Ramsay's petition, respecting Mr. Smith's eleiftion. Mr. Lawrance proposed, that the report should be re-coinniitted, and the committee iu ltructed to report a Hate of facts to the House, that a more competent idea may be formed pre' vious to a decision, Mr. Li vermore objected to a re-commitment; the fatfls being different, it was probable that quite different fentiinents would be formed upon them—He thought that it would be preferable to have the whole state of the evidence laid before the House, and considering theml'elves in their proper character upon this occasion, that of Judges, they might form an opinion upon the amount of the various facts, in which diey might be more uiianimous than upon the plan proposed by the motion. Mr. Boudinot was in favour of a re-commit ment, as he conceived it of the greatelt impor tance that full jultice lhould be done to the lub ject, by a very full and complete investigation'; it might save future trouble; it would be blifhing an important precedent, in which the greatelt precision should be attended to. Mr. fhat che K--did not fee the propriety of the motion—He observed, that to empower a committee to form a state of facts, on which the Houie was to found their judgment, would fce iubftituting the Committee's opinion, upon a very important fubjecft, instead of that of the House : The House is the only proper tribunal in the present cafe, and could not with propriety trailfinit their powers to any other perlons. The facts contained in the petition are full and clear ; they speaK for theml'elves, and are not to be en larged or curtailed. Can any new facts be ad duced ? Can a committee investigate any which the House cannot ? From the difficulty attending the statement of tliefe facts, owing to the dif ferent opinions of their importance ; and as the committee might not bring forward tliofe that some gentlemen might think the molt eliential, he thought the motion would involve a very tedious delay of the business. Mr. Lawrance observed, that the House is competent to an investigation of fa«ts, eitherin itfelf, or by a committee—and so far from'alub ltirution, or the divesting ourselves of a power of judging freely, by the adoption of com mittees, it is the invariable practice of the House upon almost every occalion—it is done daily— the question is, which is the belt mode of bring" ing facts before us ? a committee has obviously the advantage ; and when a calm and deliberate investigation has taken place, the result is brought before the for their determination, which follows of course and with the greatest propriety. Upon the plan which some men appear solicitous to adopt, we shall not get through the bufinefsto day but the House once in pofleifion of the facfts, w ill be able to judge Mr. Madison was opposed to a re-commitment, as a dilatory meafure—wifnecl the committee had 1 eported a decision, for the consideration cfihe Houie ; and proposed, that a motion which was introduced yesterday, by the gentleman from ork, (Mr. Benson) might now be brought forward again, as the molt expeditious method of lningirtg the subject to a cloie : This proposition was, that the fe\eral fact;, should be read over one by one, and a decision had upon each. Mr. Page objected to a re-commitment —he 'opposed every member had made up a judgment upon the papers which had been read, andthere lore could fee no qje in adopting the motion. «lr. Boudinot said, that he tliouglit it of gieat consequence that the House should go into aiuinute difcuflion of the subject, in order to haw? a full entry made upon the journals —that jultice could not be done without this investiga tion this should be done either by the House or a committee—he felt solicitous that Aich a lecord might now be made of the present cafe, as might apply iu all future ones; anyways finii that as this was thefirlt instance of a difpu tcd election, which had come before the Hovfs,
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