Part 182

Relief for Venezuela.

On motion of Mr. NEWTON, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for the relief of the inhabitants of Venezuela.

Mr. NEWTON proposed to fill the blank for the appropriation with the sum of $30,000.

Mr. PITKIN inquired for the official information, which might have been laid before the committee, on the subject of the distress existing at Caraccas.

Mr. NEWTON, in reply, said, that there were many private letters in confirmation of the facts, and also a letter from our Consul, &c. Some of which were read.

Mr. CALHOUN moved to fill the blank with fifty thousand dollars, which he thought would be little enough to effect the object in view.

The question on the latter motion was decided in the affirmative, 45 to 29.

The committee rose, and reported the bill; which was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading this day, which was subsequently done, and the bill passed.

WEDNESDAY, May 13.

Recall of Absentees.

Mr. WILLIAMS said he rose to make a motion, the object of which was in itself so clear, that he believed there was no necessity for illustrating it. There was but one objection that he was aware of, and that was, that there was no precedent for it; but if that should be urged, he would reply that there never was before a crisis requiring it. The motion was--

Resolved, That the Speaker be directed to address a letter to each member of the House now absent, requesting his attendance prior to the first day of June.

Mr. GRUNDY, said the object of the motion, no doubt, was a correct one. He should, therefore, vote for the motion as it now stood, but would prefer a modification of it. On what particular day it would be proper to have every member in his place, could not be foreseen with certainty by any one. To fix on a day, however, would be as much as to tell the members we do not want them earlier, and would put it out of our power to act prior to that day. But, on the other hand, should we not be ready to act on that day, is it not pledging ourselves that we will then act, whether we are ready or not? It would be as well to request the attendance of members immediately, and then we shall not stand committed either to act on or before that day. He hoped there would not be an absent man on the occasion of voting the final measure; though he should consider such a vote as a completion of what was already begun, and not a determination of the course to be pursued, which question he considered as decided in the anterior measures already adopted.

Mr. ROBERTS said the call of the House met his perfect approbation; but, in its present form, he should be constrained to vote against it. He was not afraid that it would be considered a pledge to act on a certain day; but the members near home, after it was passed, would take the opportunity of the interval to visit their homes, and leave the House without a quorum. He, therefore, moved to amend the resolution, so as to request the attendance of the members forthwith.

This motion was agreed to--ayes 47.

After some objections by Mr. STANFORD to the phraseology of the resolution, it was passed without a division, there not being more perhaps than five dissenting voices.

FRIDAY, May 22.

Judge Toulmin.

Mr. POINDEXTER, from the select committee, made the following report:

The committee to whom was referred the letter of COWLES MEAD, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory, enclosing a presentment of the Grand Jury of Baldwin county, in said Territory, complaining of the conduct of Harry Toulmin, Judge of the District of Washington, in said Territory, beg leave to submit the following report:

That the charges contained in the presentment aforesaid, have not been supported by evidence; and from the best information your committee have been enabled to obtain on the subject, it appears that the official conduct of Judge Toulmin has been characterized by a vigilant attention to the duties of his station, and an inflexible zeal for the preservation of the public peace and tranquillity of the country over which his judicial authority extends. They therefore recommend the following resolution:

"Resolved, That it is unnecessary to take any further proceeding on the presentment of the Grand Jury of Baldwin county, in the Mississippi Territory, against Judge Toulmin."

The report was read and concurred in.

WEDNESDAY, May 27.

Renewal of Whitney's Patent Right to the Cotton Gin Invention.

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill "for the relief of Eli Whitney."

Mr. BIBB avowed his opposition to the principle and details of the bill, and moved to strike out as much as provided for renewing Whitney's patent right to the machine for ginning cotton. Mr. B. said, that, although the bill assumed the character of a private act, it involved considerations of great national concernment. If, sir, said he, the committee will take the trouble to consider it attentively, in all its relations, I am persuaded the motion submitted will not have been made in vain. The object of granting patents is clearly defined by the constitution to be the promotion of science and useful arts. The effect of such promotion is obviously the advancement of public improvement and prosperity. All the authority which Congress possesses over this subject, is derived from the following provision: "Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Here are two distinct propositions: 1. The delegation of power to promote science and useful arts; 2. And a description of the mean authorized to be employed. The benefit proposed to inventors is evidently not the object in view, but the mean whereby the end may be accomplished; it is the incitement offered to genius and talent, for the purpose of general advantage; it is the price paid by the people of the United States for the disclosure of useful inventions. To legislate, therefore, correctly, on the subject, it is indispensable that this distinction between the mean and the object should be kept constantly in view. So long as patents are granted for the promotion of science and useful arts, the intent and meaning of the constitution are fairly pursued; but whenever they are allowed with any other view, there is a manifest departure from the limit of authority to which Congress is confined. Sir, the framers of the constitution were sensible that monopolies were odious every where, and that they would be particularly so to the people of this country. Hence the limitation imposed, which permits monopolies only in an expressly-defined case, and for a limited time. The constitution declares, that "all powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people." It is also the rule of construction, universally admitted, that the enumeration of powers excludes all powers not enumerated. I maintain, then, that the constitution having clearly designated the object for which, and the parties to whom, exclusive rights may be granted, for limited times, Congress is restrained within those precise bounds. If there can be a legitimate departure from them in one case, the restraint becomes wholly nugatory. The doctrine which deprives Congress of the power to establish banking monopolies, equally forbids them in every case, and for every purpose, other than those specified in the clause to which I have adverted.

If, therefore, I establish the position that the proposed renewal of Whitney's patent is neither intended nor calculated to promote science or useful arts, I shall have succeeded in showing that this bill ought to be rejected.