CONGRESS. . HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, Match 16. Debate on Mr. Livingilnn's resolution continued. Mr. W. Lyman began with remarking that trie gentlemen opposed to the resolution bad at fii ft contended' that the Houfi^had not a right by the Constitution to requite papers of the Executive, relative to any fubjfc& whatever, and that it would ">e wholly optional with the executive, whether they liould be disclosed or upt : To this he replied, that .he House poflefled the powers of impeachment fdlely, and that this authority implied the right to infpett every paper and tranfadtion in any depart ment, otherwise how could the power of impeach ment ever be exercised ; belides, this right had been f4iiflioned by the uniform and undeniable pra&ice ps tht House ever (luce the organization of the go vernment : They had called for papeis whenever they had judged it fxpedient ; and he affertrd that the House had the fulled right to the pofleffion of any papei s in the executive department ; they were the special guardians of the people for that purpose, and he would undertake to fay that this was the firft time it |iad ever been controverted. But he Ihould not longer dwell upon this point, as it had been abandoned, nor should he charge gentlemen with any incoaGftency in so doing ; he thought they had «fled confidently and judiciously in .giv ing up a position so untenable—as the authority of the House was therefore admitted, the only quedion was whether it was proper it Ihould now be exer cised. This, he said, brought into confideratiori the powers of the several branched of government, and what limits had been marked foi them in the Constitution j to what objedls the legislative pow ders extended, and to *hat bounds the power of making treaties w3s confined } and in what manner they were controled by the Wgiflative power. It was, he faid 4 obvious that if the House had a Con ftifutional power to enter upon the confidertttipn of the treaty, and.give it an effecl or'uot, a«-they fhotfld js3ge bed—That then they ought to he poflefTed of the papers in qnellio:!, and the reso lution ought to pass. If this power Ihould be now found vested in the House, the gentlemen againll the not refuje it their vote.—ln 'order to gfcertain this, he begged leave to advert to the Constitution in the firft article and fjril fe&ion, it was declared that all lefiflative powers therein granted were vested in a Congress to consist. of a Sfrnate and House of Representatives, and in the eighth feftion of the fame article, the powers grant ed vrerc defined, such as to lay and collefl taxss, "borrow money, regulate .commerce, &c. and to ex ercise other important pewe'rs enumerated tinder eighteen different heads—;bere Mr. Lyman said he would a(k any gentleman whether it could be sup posed that this article was not to be efßcacious and operative ? Was it QOneeivable that an article so definite, and so important, had been introduced in to the Constitution merely for the pnrpofe of its being taken away by a subsequent article or fedlion. . The supposition, he said, was the height of absur dity, and one. from which his mind turned with in dignation, and yet this would be the cafe, if the dottrine which had been laid down was true, viz. that treaties repealed or controuled laws. A gen tleman from Connecticut had said, that the treaty making power occupied all ground, and was vested in the President and Sanate, and that the legislative power occupied all ground, and was vested in Coa grefs. For his own part, Mr. Lyman said, he could not conceive, of two persons being in the full pof fefiiori of the thing 3t the fame time ; such incongruities could never be reduced to pra&ice, they mud be reeonciled, or otherwise the one would defeat the other. The treaty making power must either abCorb the legislative power, or if at variance, the legiflattve power would abfoib the treaty ing power. This, then, induced the neaefßty of a differed conftru&ion. He had, he said, always believed, that laws and Constitutions, ought, if pos sible, to receive such conftrudtion and interpretation as to render them confident ; and that it was high, ly presumptive that a conftru&ion was erroneous when it produced an absurd conclusion. The bell definition he had been able to conceive of the trea ty making power was, that it was a species of ex ecutive power, and like that, isnder the controul of the legislative power, particularly in all countriei governed by Constitutions and certain laws, as wa« yet the cafe in this country. If the several parts of the Constitution were com ; . pated and critically examined, he thought the re sult would be, that the Prefidcnt and Senate could make treaties, but not those which intrenched on the legislative powers, unless by theit concurrence and consent, otherwise it followed, that although it required the three branches of the, government to enact law's, yet the Prelident and Senate, by trea * tyj could repeal them altogether. This would bt veiling powers in the lioufe of Representatives tc no purpose ; for it w.£l, fays, " If it flictuld be the judgment of Congress that it would be moll expe dient to teirainate all differences in the fcurthern difliicl, and to lay the foundation for future confi dence by an amicable treaty with the Indian tribes in that quarter, I think proper to fuggell, &c. ' Here, Mr. Lyman said, he witiled it to be noticed, that this wm exprefsiy referred to the judgment of Cougrefs, and for what purpose he alked wa« it referred, if the President and Senate h:id the pow er to make treaties ? There was no necessity to con sult the house of reprefentMivts ; and yet,' in this cafe, which that presented rtfelf, it had been conceived neceflaiy. In coiYfequence of this application, Congress had judged it nect'r..ry to hold the treaty and on the 2o:h<}f Aug. 1759, eitadled a law, in which t.ie sum oF twenty thou sand dollars was appropiiatcd for thai purpose, in confcquence of lAWl£h" the President had appointed cuuimtfiioners and given them their ii)llru£lioii», - which inftj u&ions had been communicated to Con gress, and from them he would read one paragraph —it was as follows, " Yon will obft tve that/the 1 whole sum that can beconftitu ionally expended tor the proposed treaty, (hall not exceed 20,000 dollars. On this he said, it was unnecessary tt> .comment, as the principle that the legislature held a controul over the executive in treaty making power, was so exprefsiy recognized and admitted by the president . himfelf- He would purine the enquiry further. — In January 1790, in -qynl -qnenpe of communica tions from the executive, which had been referred to afele£t committee, and a report made thereon, the house came to the fallowing refoltition, Viz.— That provifton to be made by law for hold inga treaty with the Wabafti, Miam;, and other Indian tribes, north weft of the river Ohio." In March following, a law was m de, the title of which was, " An adi entitled an adl providing for holding a treaty to eflabltrti peace with certain In dian tribes." In march 1791, the sum of 20,000 dolla'S were appropriated for obtaining a recognition of thV treaty with tlve'empfor of Morocco. 1 In March *793, ia,OjO dollars fete appropriated to.defrav the dxpeace of a treaty with the Indian tiibes, north weft of the river Ohio. Tlvu? it would be fee 11, that laws had been deem ed neccflary to provide for holding, treaties, and to I defray the expciices theieof. The President in a I ineffageof the 16th Dre 1793, favs, I-lay before you a report of the fecreiary of state, on the mea sures taken for obtaining » recognition of the trea ty with, the Emperoi of Morocco; iti another mif fage of the fame datej accompanying the corres pondence of the fecietapy of state with the Span ish government, would be fotfnd the following par agraph,, to wit, i mull atld, that the Spanilh iepre» fentatives here, perceiving that their last comm<*ui I cations had made considerable imprefiions, pjideh- I vored to abate this, has fomc subsequent profeffions j which bciHg also among the communications to the S legislature, they will be able to form their own con ckifions. He woald not± he said, further engross the time $>f the committee in the,citation of exam ples and precedents ; he thought these were fuffi cient to convince the world, that, the interpretation of the constitution now infilled on by tie house was not a novelty, that it was fiindtQjgdgta both theory , il«Jt,~rr tidll CYe'ri beitf) lo un- - derftood by the executive, and. both branches of the legislative authorities, from the jfirflt operation of the present government. Who'then, he ex claimed, were to be justly charged with innovation and usurping powers not.delegated to them constitution ? Ought it not to be those who were endeavoring to ered the treaty making power into a legislative power, and to couftitute a prerogative fnperiorio their controul. It would be found, he said, that this power in the executive did not exist in England or in France under the ancient govern ment, nor in Spain, countries which had ever been reprifented as being opprefled to ftich a degree,thai their inhabitants were, continually forced to feck s refuge upon our Ihores. He further added, that to him this principle and right appeared to be impre fciiptible. [Itemawdrr to-morrow.J Wedncfday, April 20. The bills for making apptopriations for defray ing she expences which may artfe in carrying into effedt the treaties lately concluded between the ti nned States and the King of Spain, and with cer . tain Indian tribes noith well of the river, .Ohio, -were read a third time and paled. The firft blank in the former for defraying the expences according to att efti.uate was filled up with 18683 dollars, and the allowance forcommtffioners, wit}i 2000 dol lars. The cost and traimportation of the payment of the flipuldtioris to the Indians in.the latter bill was filled up with 1500 dollars. Mr. Henderfon moved that tbs refolutton'"vrhieh he yesterday lard upon the table, refpe&ing the disposal of land* reserved for theufeof government, be taken up. It was taken up accordingly and re ferred to a committee of three members. ■ Thehoufethen resolved itfelf into aetommittre of the whole on the slate of the Union, and the tefo lution for carrying the British treaty into effect, be : ing under consideration, Mr. hillhoufe Snilhed His obfervatians in favor of the resolution, and Mr. i Cooper and Mr. Bourne fgoke on the fame fide of the question ; Mr. Page and Mr. Findley also spoke against the resolution. The committee rose and had leave to fit again. Mr. Hartley prefeiited a petition signed by up wards of6oo merchants of the city of Philadelphia, I and another from 800 other citizens of Pfliladel I phia, praying that proviflun might be mude with , all convenient dispatch for carryiag into effe/ft the 1 British treaty. Mr. Swanwick also presented a petition signed by 1500 p rfons, inhabitants of the city and neigh bomhood of Philadelphia, praying that the British ■ treaty might not be earned into effect. ; 1 lie above petitions were severally rend and re ferred 10 the cummitiec of the whole on the state I of the Union. 1 Mr. Hillhoufe reported 11 l>ill for making appro priations for defraying the expences which may a rile ir carrying into tfledl the treaty lately conclu ded with the Dey and Regency of Algiers, which • was read twice, and committed to a committee of thi whole to-motrow. Philadelphia, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL lU »79 6 - Yeflerdav No. 37919 came up a Thirty Thcuiafld Dollars in the Canal Loltcy— 1 he i is the proper vy of a lad apprentice to Mr. C a.xiie s Allen, grocer,' of this city—he is a youth or merit—his mother is a widow. Extract of a letter from a rplpeftahlt House in New i 01k, tn a gentleman in this ci«y, dated zcth April. '• Our markets'(in consequence ofihe appearance of the Trc'aty not being carried into effefl) haye fallen much —fiour, l» dolls.beef, priinc, lltoildo.ls. pork, prime, i 4 os. and no files; however are in hopes when on !, an ! other petitions, are laid before Coflgrels, thev will ft ill do it; hut if 1 hey fhoyld pcrfevere, there is'ho judging the consequence*. We had a large meet ing of our mod refpeftable citizens here ycfteruay.arid there was not a di.lfcntipg voice, we suppose our peti tion* will be foi warded ma day or two." ExtraO of a Utter from New-Jersey, dated S.pril 17, 1796. u Accept, my friend, my thanks for your three iafl letters. Their contents, tho' not of the most pica ii tig nature, could not but be fatisfadtory to one who feels anxious for the public good, and wiffcr* to know the real slate of things, whether it be fa vorable or otherwise. The desperate resolution of the factious party is to be lamented, not only by every ma" who regards the honor and profperi'y of the United State?, .but by evety friend of rational liberty. It is much to be feared, that even if they are in the end foiled (which, however, is ra'.her to be hoped than the very attemps they hive ma,?e to usurp authority, may be attended by disagreeable consequences in regard to our foreign relations - What c'ort'tideiice will a foreign nation have in a go/ernment eompofed of such materials ? in which they fee the most p«p'.i!ar and powerful branch overleaping their constitutional bouudaiics, and. vyit)i an iippious hand endeavoring to prostrate t.hofe vcVy checks, which were provided to guard against itlelf—in which corrupted ideas of expedi ency arc placed in the (lead of l}ie conltitution, faith and conti'aft ? K. " I trust, howe»er, thdt the Senate are deter mined to resist this lawless attempt—lndeed, to acquiesce in the deltruftion of their own lawful powers, would be thecriroc next in degree to joint ing in the scheme. " The absurdities to which the lsaders are driven by tire force of truth, is most glaring. They fay the Prefidtfnt and Senate have full power to rr.akc and ratify treaties, and yet they spy, th'j have a lijt-ht to defeat a. treaty, if they deem it inexpedient to be executed. What greater power does the Se nate claim under life t*-prcf* words of the conftiiu tion? By this ufurpalion, nice questions of loss and ain are to be balanced by the House of Re preventatives, and the legal efficacy of the molt fo lernn national compa£ts is made dependent on the intrigues and mifreprcfentations of unprincipled po pular leaders.—They had better be honest, and (lick to their leader Gallatin's firft proportion, That it was no treaty without their appiobation. " ButJ am not* without my hopes that aoed will. -com? out oFthiY cvif. t hope tut? people of this scdUntry, too long the dupes of pretended patriots, will kcieafter better understand the characters of some men whom they have trusted—They have drawn away the veil themselves—they vainly and weakly thought that hatred to the Englilh would gild any thing ; but they will fall into the pit them (pltcs—our people do not hate the English govern ment as much as ihey love their own. With us there nevei has been, to my knowledge, so univer sal a sentiment, as that reprobating tin* whale of this proceeding. • But what, my friend, is to be the end of this thing ! Are we to be forced into a war, jvhich will be unjust and ruinous ? or <>re we to submit to all 11 juries past and to come ? or are we to feparatc and obtain jullice for ourselves ? The dilemma is important, and, I think, inevitable. In my mind, the last expedient is the preferable one, if things arc puftied to extremity. What good dothefe men do to the coultuutional dates ? (1 mean theeaftern and middle) we need not their protection or aflift aikcc—we need not fear enemies from without or within—they are our scourge in poate, they would -b(r burdeiisin war. If, then, they are determined to break in on the fundamentals of our alfociation, Lei them get. " You may rely on it there is.no man whose good opinion is vvurili having, who does not speak fimi lai fenuments with me on this bulinefs. We conli dcr nut only nur boasted advantages under the con stitution at flak?, but our veiy political existence. This attempt is but tfie ground work of a more important afjter-game.. If this fucceedj Fedcralifm will soon be hefe, as in France, a ciime—one and indmijihle \vill be the order of the day—where then wiil be Neiv-Jcrfsy ? under, the "paw of the Lion Let us seize ilby tie tiroat, while-the whelp is yet young." mahrifb] On the 19th mil. Mr. tnARUEs Plea sants, Merchant, to Miss Ann Emlln, daughter of Mr. Caleb Emlen, all of this. city. communications. The Jacobin Gazettes have a great deal to fay about the house of representatives being bullied in to the measure of executing the treaty. Curious Jottrine for the party to hold ! they pretend to adcre the people, and now the adorable people (tir in favor of the treaty, their worshippers cry out, we I abhor the worlhip of idols 1 Washington in a man, - the merch-apti are Briiifti factors, the inftirance 1 companies are old tones, the proprietors of hanks are all speculators. We hate, we despise them all. - The whole maf3 of citizens, inhabitants of town : and country are ala.med. Weak people fay they have been alaimed by ait and addicl's. Tlrcy are feared by the bugbear of*war. No matter how it - was done, they are Hired up and they have fenfc enough to underitand, aud to make you underttand i what it is for. ( The plain cafe it, will the reprefentatives'who adore the people refill their w ill, or obey it : W 'l otir Jacobiuj in futuie call tbemfelves U.t people after so contempt ex pre fled and such uoltiuacy avowed against their will rile ..Urrchical »cr half a Ihrw, of support fr.,in the people. The votes for Gov. Adams p: >ve, according to these men of tin hind accuracy, that he cit mis of Maflachuietts hate ihe 1 reaty. i ire vo ers would, probably have a<9ed otherwise, ha I they forefeen that such groli mifreprefeutarion woula grow out of their proceeding. It i« a poor con.plimen to Gov. Adams. 'Ihe vole s it ferine were given to flicw treaty lute, nat rcfpe—fnm ple may be relied on, he is not held in honor in his awn country. / — It ought to be seriously taken into consideration tint themtn who noni oppose the Treaty with Great-Bri tain, one of the molt important nicafures of our Go vernment, are the fame persons who predicted every evil to result from theConiiitutior. of the United State* before it was ratified ; and ftnee, have opposed every important measure which has been adopted by Con gress. Had the politics of these men been adopted feverj years ago, what would now be our fituation—£ni.e they are so different from the politics which have pro moted the happiness of the "country beyond all exam ple ? The next step to putting our faith in these LYING Prophets, is Death—and not a man, woman, or child who will open their eyes, but must fee it. • PRESENT PICTURE OF PARIS. From a French paper. At Palis, the night always seems to put the in terval of a century between one and the next, and the Parisians rife, like Epimenides, with the air of men who arejuft vvaked in a new world. Tile po liticians awake every morning with thefearthat the government may be at an end ; t_h& ltock jobbers, that there may be 110 stocks; the annuitants that their depofrt is loft ; rich men, that there may be laws on property; idle men, that there may be no opera ; and all ink it necessary to rub their eyes, that they may be sure there is still a city of Paris. Thus does every man goon, feeling his way, step by step, with the utmost uncerlainty, and begins the day without pretending*^®'guefs whether he (hall ever lee the end of it. The life which the-whole people leads re carriages to fpotl it. The coffee-houfes are less frequented ; the quid nuncs seem to have dtferted them—the mixers of lemonade are lofc: st y this alteration, bi.t common : , sense is a clear gainer. The ta-ernf are in full pvofpeiity ; for there it is that the (lock-jobbers ar.d other public plunderers, > devour the profits of thrir mornings work the ruin of au hundred houclt families.