Part 255

Mr. EPPES said it appeared that the question of suspension of the non-importation act was very different from that of a suspension of the embargo. The former was a measure of coercion on Great Britain, and whether it had that effect or not, he believed at the time the law was passed that the only way which we could operate on that power was by commercial restrictions; and he felt now free to declare, that if ample reparation were made for the outrage on the Chesapeake, if the decrees were withdrawn and every injury redressed, that he would hold on upon the non-importation act so long as the impressment of our seamen remained. Whenever you take off this, said he, you have nothing to enforce your rights as to impressment, nor as to that system of commercial pillage which has been adopted by Great Britain. We know that the embargo was imposed as a measure of safety. It was to give us time to make preparation to meet the event. If the decrees which produced the embargo are withdrawn, the embargo may be withdrawn with propriety. But let me ask any gentleman whether he believes that any circumstances which produced the non-importation act will be removed? Whether they believe that Great Britain will give up her system of impressing seamen? If he does, let him look at the course she has adopted. After appointing a Minister to negotiate with you, she has issued a proclamation, establishing the right of impressment on its broadest footing. Shortly after, it was declared by the King, at the opening of Parliament, to be one of those rights which never could nor ever would be admitted. I was originally in favor of the non-importation law, and I am still so. If gentlemen take into consideration all the circumstances which produced the law, I will venture to say that there is not a man in the House originally in favor of it who can now vote for its suspension. It has never yet been fairly in operation. It is now indeed a law of the land, but its operation is virtually suspended by the embargo. I am in favor of its going into operation, and never will consent to its suspension till its intended effect be fulfilled, or the experiment is made.

The question of indefinite postponement was carried--58 to 29.

Home Manufactures.

Mr. BIBB said, that notwithstanding the difference of opinion which had taken place occasionally between the members of this House during the present session, on questions of policy, he was pleased to perceive that no difference of sentiment existed in regard to the injuries done us by foreign nations. He believed that but one spirit actuated the people of the United States--that they were attached to their country, and to their country alone. He wished not only by professions, but by practice, to show foreign nations that we can live without them. He therefore offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the members of the House of Representatives will appear at their next meeting clothed in the manufactures of their own country.

Mr. MACON would never agree to a resolution which they could not enforce. Congress have nothing to do with this subject. He could not conceive what effect this resolution could have. If it was intended as a pledge, he was not willing to give it; if to have force, he denied their authority to enforce it.

Mr. RHEA said, if the House adopted the resolution, he should pay no regard to it. He would appear in what clothing he chose, this resolution to the contrary notwithstanding.

Mr. EPPES admitted that the resolution could have no force; it was intended to express the feelings of the House. He should rejoice to see every member of the House and every man in the nation, clothed entirely in the manufactures of this country. It would establish an independence of the best kind. The proposition was a valuable one, and he wished to God that the ladies could be placed in a situation to adopt a similar resolution. If he were to appear in the manufactures of his own State, he must be confined to a homely garb; but if the resolution passed, he would, before the next season, have cloth manufactured for his use in his own family. Mr. E. calculated that a million of men in the United States wore broadcloth coats, and if they were all manufactured in this country the saving would be immense.

Mr. MACON did not conceive it fair that those who like him had no wives at home to make them coats, should not only be reproached for their misfortune, but pointed at as sinners. He had during this session bought himself a suit, but he was not able to obtain American manufacture. His friend from Maryland (Mr. NELSON) had procured him a hat, and that was all that he could obtain of American manufacture. As to the ladies, if they were to legislate on the subject he did not believe that the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. EPPES,) fond as he is of the ladies, would persuade one in the House, or in the nation, to agree to such a resolution. Had I a wife, I should be willing to see her dressed to her own satisfaction. The ladies have a right to dress as they please, and he did not care who knew it. The gentleman from Virginia reminded him of a neighbor who used often to say, O, how rich we might be, if it was not for the expense of eating and clothing!

Mr. BIBB said he had hoped that the resolution would be at once adopted unanimously. He did not wish to provoke debate, and therefore withdrew his resolution.

Adjournment.

Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL, from the committee appointed on the part of this House, jointly with a committee appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States and inform him of the proposed adjournment of Congress, reported that the committee had performed that service, and that the President had signified to them that he had no further communication to make to Congress during the present session.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate, having completed the legislative business before them, are now ready to adjourn.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to acquaint them that this House, having finished the business before them, are now about to adjourn until the day appointed by law for the next meeting of Congress; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The Clerk accordingly went with the said message, and, being returned, Mr. SPEAKER adjourned the House until the first Monday in November next.

FOOTNOTES

This paragraph is entitled to the careful consideration of all who aspire to a practical knowledge of the principles of our Government, and an intimate acquaintance with its early working. Louisiana had been ceded to the United States by the French Government: the treaty for the cession was now to be submitted for the ratification and the legislation which were necessary to carry it into effect: and the President sets out with showing that he had legislative authority for what he had done--that the sanction of Congress had been given to the acquisition beforehand--before the negotiation had been instituted. It was Congress--the legislative authority--which had given that previous sanction, held so vital by Mr. Jefferson: and, notwithstanding that previous sanction, the treaty, after ratification by the Senate, was to be submitted to the legislative power, for the exercise of their functions, as to those conditions which the constitution had vested in Congress. What these functions were, in the understanding of Mr. Jefferson’s political school, was to give, or refuse the appropriation according to the dictates of their own discretion, uncontrolled by the treaty stipulation.

Boundaries of the Province of Louisiana, as contained in a paper communicated by Mr. Jefferson to Congress.

The precise boundaries of Louisiana, westward of the Mississippi, though very extensive, are at present involved in some obscurity. Data are equally wanting to assign with precision its northern extent. From the source of the Mississippi, it is bounded eastwardly, by the middle of the channel of that river, to the thirty-first degree of latitude; thence, it is asserted, upon very strong grounds, that, according to its limits, when formerly possessed by France, it stretches to the east as far, at least, as the river Perdido, which runs into the bay of Mexico, eastward of the river Mobile.

It may be consistent with the view of these notes to remark, that Louisiana, including the Mobile settlements, was discovered and peopled by the French, whose monarchs made several grants of its trade, in particular to Mr. Crozat, in 1712, and some years afterwards, with his acquiescence, to the well-known company projected by Mr. Law. This company was relinquished in the year 1731. By a secret convention, on the 3d November, 1762, the French Government ceded so much of the province as lies beyond the Mississippi, as well as the island of New Orleans, to Spain; and, by the treaty of peace which followed in 1763, the whole territory of France and Spain, eastward of the middle of the Mississippi, to the Iberville, thence, through the middle of that river and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea, was ceded to Great Britain. Spain having conquered the Floridas from Great Britain, during our Revolutionary war, they were confirmed to her by the Treaty of Peace of 1784. By the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, of the 1st of October, 1800, His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to cede back to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions and stipulations therein contained, relative to the Duke of Parma, “the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it actually has in the hands of Spain, that it had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States.” This treaty was confirmed and enforced by that of Madrid, of the 21st of March, 1801. From France it passed to us by the Treaty of the 30th of April last, with a reference to the above clause as descriptive of the limits ceded.

The bill thus passed was in these words:

“That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to take possession of, and occupy the territories ceded by France to the United States, by the treaty concluded at Paris on the thirteenth day of April last, between the two nations, and that he may for that purpose, and in order to maintain in the said territories the authority of the United States, employ any part of the army or navy of the United States, and of the force authorized by an act passed the third day of March last, entitled “An act directing a detachment from the militia of the United States, and for erecting certain arsenals,” which he may deem necessary; and so much of the sum appropriated by the said act as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated for the purpose of carrying this act into effect; to be applied under the direction of the President of the United States.

“SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That until the expiration of the present session of Congress, unless provision for the temporary government of the said territories be sooner made by Congress, all the military, civil, and judicial powers exercised by the officers of the existing government of the same, shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the President of the United States shall direct, for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of Louisiana in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.”

From the terms of this act, and especially of the second section, it is seen that the Spanish system of government was continued in the ceded territory after it became the property of the United States, and that the military, the civil, and judicial powers of the Spanish Intendants (for France never took possession of the country except to deliver it to the United States), were transferred by law to such persons as the President should appoint. The powers of the Spanish Intendants, as all know, were an emanation of the despotic power of the kings of Spain, and wholly incompatible with our constitution--a very clear declaration of Congress that the constitution did not extend to the territory, and that its inhabitants could claim no rights under it: and this declaration was in consonance with all the previous acts for the government of territories, all of which were inconsistent with the constitution.

The practice of pronouncing eulogiums on deceased members, adjourning the two houses, and attending the funeral in procession, had not then been adopted. A mourning for thirty days (which was the length of time which the children of Israel wept for the death of Moses in the Valley of Moab), was the simple and expressive sign of respect.

The following is the act:

That the act of Congress passed on the fourth of April, one thousand eight hundred, entitled “An act to establish a uniform system of Bankruptcy throughout the United States,” shall be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided, nevertheless, That the repeal of the said act shall in no wise affect the execution of any commission of bankruptcy which may have been issued prior to the passing of this act, but every such commission may and shall be proceeded on and fully executed as though this act had not passed.

This act, as passed, asserted full power in Congress to legislate upon slavery in the Territories without regard to the constitution, or any of its provisions in relation to the States, or the rights of the States within themselves, or between each other. Thus: 1. It prohibited the foreign importation of slaves into the Territory at once, which, with respect to a State, could not be done before 1808. 2. It prohibited the domestic importation of any slave into the Territory which had been imported from abroad since the year 1798. 3. It prohibited the carrying of any slave whatever into the Territory, except by a citizen of the United States removing into it for actual settlement, and being at the time the bona fide owner of such slave. These were three provisions which could not be adopted towards the States; and for their violation a fine was incurred by the importer, and freedom attached to the slave--penalties which Congress could prescribe within no State.