Part 258

Extra Session.--Bill to alter the time of the meeting of Congress considered, 717. See Congress.

Federal Judges, amendment of the constitution to secure the removal of, 530. See Index, vol. 3, Amendments of the Constitution.

FINDLAY, WILLIAM, Representative from Pennsylvania, 36, 124, 187, 315, 424, 577; on a vote of approbation of the conduct of the Executive, 128; on foreign relations, 454. See Index, vols. 1, 2, 3.

FISK, JAMES, Representative from Vermont, 36, 315, 424, 577; on non-intercourse with Great Britain and France, 153; on the Torpedo experiment, 220, 221; offers a resolution relative to the apportionment of representation, 223; opposes postponement of the resolution relative to the apportionment of representation, 224; on the ratio of representation, 318; on the Bank of the United States, 338; against a naval establishment, 504; on the pay of the army, 587; on amendments to the naturalization law, 594.

FISK, JONATHAN, Representative from New York, 124, 187, 315. See Index, vol. 3.

FITCH, ASA, Representative from New York, 424, 577.

Flag of the United States.--See Index, vol. 1.

Florida, West, occupation of.--In the Senate, bill to extend the laws of the Territory of Orleans over West Florida, reported, 252; debate on its passage, 253; the first important question is whether the United States have a good title to the territory, 253; what were the limits of Louisiana before the treaty and cession of 1762-3 between France, Spain, and Great Britain? 253; the treaty of cession between the United States and France examined, 253; the expediency of taking possession of this territory cannot be doubted, 254; other grounds upon which this bill might be supported, entirely independent of the cession, 255; state of the Spanish colonies in relation to the Spanish Government, 255; this bill may be justified independent of title by the law of self-preservation, 255; this bill contains two important provisions, it incorporates with the territory of Orleans the province of West Florida, and it extends to that province the laws now in force in the Territory, 255; two questions naturally involved, 1st, has the United States a good title? 2d, is it expedient? 256; authority of the President to direct a forcible occupation of the Territory a preliminary question, 256; has not this proclamation transcended the limits of the President's power? 256; what is the nature and import of this proclamation? 256; it is not only war, but an act of legislation too, 256; new power conferred by acts of Congress, 257; not a shadow of authority exists, 257; title examined, 257; as founded on the doctrines of estoppel and occupancy, 257; title of France, 258.

An instrument thus obtained not obligatory, 258; title derived under the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, 258; cause of the war of 1756, 258; its results, 258; remarks on the evidences and facts relative to title, 260; our title indisputable against both France and Spain, 261; the treachery by which the King of Spain is alleged to have lost his crown, 261; our title to West Florida examined, and the propriety of the recent measures for the occupation of it, 261; our title depends on the limits of the province of Louisiana, and a just exposition of treaties, 261; to determine this, it is only necessary to fix the eastern boundary, 261; the province of Louisiana comprised West Florida previous to 1762, 262; what was then done? 262; what, then, is the true construction of the treaties of St. Ildefonso and of April, 1803? 262; is the proclamation an authorized measure of war and legislation? examined, 263; had the President failed to embrace the opportunity he would have been criminally inattentive to the dearest interests of his country, 264.

Floridas, occupation of, an act to authorize, 422; postponed, 423; resolution relative to, 561.

Florida, purchase of.--See Index, vol. 3.

Foreign Ministers, abuse of Privileges.--See Index, vol. 3.

Foreign Relations.--In House, resolution that the United States cannot, without a sacrifice of their rights, honor, and independence, submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France, considered, 48; the resolution too clear to need demonstration, 48; the committee believed there could be no difference of opinion on the subject of the resolution, although there might be on the mode of resistance, therefore it was presented, 48; not necessary to show that the decrees of France and orders of Great Britain were an assumption of power to give laws to this country in direct violation of our neutral rights, 48; the real question is, shall we govern ourselves or be controlled by the will of others? 49; upon our offer to remove the embargo if either party would rescind, no heed has been given, 49; the proposition now offered unexceptionable, 49; the course advocated in the report of the committee is loathsome, 49; the resolution offers a solemn pledge to the nation that the present system of public measures shall be totally abandoned, 49; adopt it and there is an end of the policy of deserting our rights under the pretence of maintaining them, 49; the terms of the resolution contain an assertion and a pledge, 49; none need have difficulty in screwing their courage up to the assertion, 50; the pledge is a glorious one, 50; what is submission and what does the pledge not to submit imply, 50; objects of the edicts and orders, 50; tenor of publications from the East which are sent here, 50; objects of the two powers with regard to us, 51; efforts of our Minister, 51; the chapter of negotiation, 52; the conduct of officers of the British navy and the connivance of the British government, 52; further aggressions, 53; the present an extraordinary crisis, 54; examination of the situation of this country in relation to France and Great Britain, and also the injuries and aggressions they have committed upon our neutral rights, 54; injuries of Great Britain, 54; principal injuries committed by France, 55; consequences which result from this series of injuries, 55; the rude treatment of the report of the committee, 56; how did the report originate, 57; not one of all the principal positions contained it which is true in the sense and to the extent assumed by the committee, 57; the alternatives of submission, war, or embargo considered, 57; what is disgraceful submission? 58; we can trade not only with one, but with both these belligerents notwithstanding these restrictive decrees, 58; the other alternative of war with both is absurd, 59; further examination of the report, 59, 60; objections considered, 61.

A silent vote on the proposition would have produced a better effect than this discussion, 63; the report seems to consider the system recommended as including a continuance of the embargo, 63; the embargo is severely felt by the country at large, 63; in some places it requires all the exertions of patriotism to support it, 63; members have contended as to which section suffered most, 64; it is said that this is a delusion, 64; it is thought the country cannot feel much as it feeds well, 64; in point of revenue how does it work? 65; as a measure of finance it has laid the axe to the root, 66; would the constitutional convention have given to Congress power to lay an embargo for one or two years, if it had been agitated? 66; the character of this measure examined, 66; it is said the embargo is evaded, and thus has not been so tightly drawn with regard to Great Britain, 67; the continuance of our measures may divert trade from us to other channels, 67; it is said, the honor of the country is at stake, a removal of the embargo would be submission to Great Britain, 68; what is the nature of the rights in question, 68.

The continuance of the embargo as an assertion of our rights is not an efficient mode of resistance, 69; if gentlemen were really Americans, they would not tamely give up the honor of their country by submitting to French decrees and British orders, 70; do they mean that independence should be wrested from us without a struggle? 70; what are the reasons why the embargo has not come fully up to the expectations of its supporters? 70; yet it has been particularly serviceable in many instances? 70; a retrograde step at this time would mark the Government with pusillanimity, 70; effect of the French decrees, 71; results of the British orders, 71; the House of Representatives only of Maryland have passed resolutions against the embargo, 72; the militia system caused the change in Maryland and not the embargo, 72; it is said, the embargo has destroyed the commerce of the country, 72; the embargo is a disagreeable thing, but by swallowing it, we shall bring health, 73; some States have passed laws for suspending executions, 73; the only question is, shall we defend ourselves or shall we submit? 74; upon this question, in every point of view too clear to admit of a doubt, a debate has arisen embracing all our foreign relations, 75; the offer to suspend the embargo laws for a suspension of the Orders in Council, has been contemptuously rejected, those orders justified, and an extension of their operation threatened, 75; in this crisis every man should do his part, 75; the original imposition of the embargo was wise in a precautionary point of view, 75; after the operation of the Orders in Council was known insurance could not have been effected at Baltimore to London for 90 guineas per cent., 75; mercantile distresses have been exaggerated, 76; the embargo has preserved us from bloodshed, 76; if the embargo has failed it is no cause of triumph, 76; it is asked if we are prepared to violate the public faith, 76; will submission pay the public debt? 76; it is said the embargo itself is submission, 77; it is the opponents of the measure who call it submission, 77; who, in the United States, are most anxious to have the embargo repealed? 77; ultra-federalists, 77; the embargo is the most deadly weapon we can use against Great Britain, 77; what is the nature of her wants, and what her capacity and means of supply? 77; there are not contained within the British empire at this time supplies for the home and colonial consumption, 78; to remove the embargo will betray a timid, wavering, indecisive policy, 78; supplies should be withheld from Spain and Portugal, as Great Britain is coerced through them, 78; the embargo preserves this nation in peace, while it presses those who injure us, 78; it should not be repealed in part, 79; give merchants a spot as large as the square of this House to go to, and they would carry away the whole of our surplus produce, 79; the Orders in Council originated in deadly hostility to us, 79; South Carolina is interested, by the suspension of our trade, in the article of cotton alone, to an amount greater than the whole revenue of the United States, 80; objections examined and considered, 81; it is said the embargo should be removed because it has operated as a bounty to the British trade, 81; constitutionality of the embargo settled, 82; it is said if Great Britain, during the Revolution, maintained a war against the world, will she truckle now? 82; deposition of sundry English merchants before the House of Lords, 82; it is said the destruction of St. Domingo has caused such a demand for sugar, that the cultivation of cotton in the British West Indies has ceased, 83; it is disgracefully said that, nations like individuals, should pocket their honor for money, 83; why are we called upon to make the declaration of this resolution? 84; it is not expedient to adopt the second resolution, 84; what will be the effect of the embargo, if continued, as respects ourselves? 85; its pressure is on the whole country, and it carries misery throughout the land, 85; a better line of conduct for the United States to pursue pointed out, 85; will most of our property be taken by the belligerents if the embargo is removed? 86; merchants do not consider the risk very great, 86; we are not reduced to the dilemma of making choice out of any of the alternatives recommended by the committee, 86; the resolution is unnecessary because no clear, definite, practical results can flow from it, 87; it is said we are bound to vote, whether the assertion is true or false, 87; it is said the resolution is harmless at the worst, 88; it should be rejected on account of the "company it keeps," 88; we have gone on so long in error that it is not easy to say what should be done, 88; a retrospective view of our affairs, 88, 89, 90; it may be said, what has happened could not be prevented, 91; it is said, if we suffer our commerce to go on the ocean, it will be crippled by France or Great Britain, 92; nothing so well calculated to call out the resistance and obstinacy of Great Britain, as this measure of the embargo, 92; the King of England dare not yield to our embargo, 93; the object of our present legislation should be to relieve our country from the distresses under which it groans, 93; resolution divided by omitting the words "and France," 94; first part passed in committee, 94; second part passed, 94; resolution passed in the Senate, 94; other resolutions passed, 94.

In the House.--The report of the Committee on Foreign Relations considered, 432; explanation of the views of the committee, 432; the report is only in part, with the intention to follow up the resolutions if adopted, with ulterior ones, 432; committee satisfied that all hope of accommodating our differences with Great Britain by negotiation, must be abandoned, 433; are the maritime rights which Great Britain is violating, such as we ought to support at the hazard and expense of a war? 433; no prospect of a speedy repeal of the Orders in Council, 433; we are a young nation, and cherish some pride and spirit, as well as justice and moderation, 433; we ought to go to war, in opposition to the Orders in Council, 433; the United States can make a serious impression upon Great Britain, at sea, even without a navy, 433; question taken on the first resolution for filling the ranks of the present army, and carried, 434; question on the agreement to the second resolution, authorizing the raising an additional regular force, 434; are seven millions of Americans to be protected in their lives and liberties by ten thousand vagabonds, who were fit food for gunpowder? 434; it would be necessary to know the ulterior views of the committee, 434; for what purpose are these troops wanted? 434; the gentleman was a member of the committee, and attended its sittings, 434; it is due to the committee to explain their conduct in the outset, 434; Republicans should remember that a few years ago, a set of men who held different politics, held the reins of Government, 435; if your minds are resolved on war, you are still Republicans, 435; what are we called upon to decide? it is whether we will resist by force the attempt made by that Government to subject our maritime rights to the capricious rule of her will, 435; war is already begun, 435; it is a question of peace or war, 436; how can gentlemen calling themselves Republicans, advocate such a war? 436; those who opposed the army are denounced as partisans of France, 436; in 1805, the committee recommended raising troops owing to the defenceless condition of the frontiers; yet, this report was considered too strong by the House, 437; it is insinuated that the massacre on the Wabash was instigated by the British Government, 437; note 437; this war of conquest, for the acquisition of territory and subjects, is to be a new commentary on the doctrine that republics are destitute of ambition, 438; the war spirit in gentlemen from the South, not surprising, 438; gentlemen avowed they would not go to war for the carrying trade, yet they stickle for our commercial rights, and will go to war for them, 438; gratifying to find the demoralizing and destructive consequences of the non-importation law acknowledged, 439; the committee has out-stripped the Executive, 439; our people will not submit to be taxed for this war of conquest and dominion, 439; the defenceless state of our seaports, 440; danger arising from the black population, 440; the unjust and illiberal imputation of British attachments against certain characters in this country, 440; further debate 441; the expulsion of the British from their North American possessions, and granting letters of marque and reprisal against Great Britain, are contemplated, 442; for the first time there seems to be but one opinion with the great majority of this body, that war with Great Britain is inevitable, 442; we must now oppose her further encroachments by war, or formally annul the Declaration of Independence, 442; the Canadian French, 443; why are they to be despised? 443; it has been denied that British influence had any agency in the massacre on the Wabash, 443; our identity with the people and institutions of Great Britain, 444; the ties of religion, language, blood, as it regards Great Britain, are dangerous ties to this country, with her present hostile disposition, 444; the military regular forces have been called mercenaries, 445; it is a question of war or submission, 445; it is contended that it is a dispute about the carrying trade, 445; the carrying trade is as much the right of the American people as the carrying the products of their own soil, and is secured by the British treaty, 446; the massacre on the Wabash, 446; the principles that ought to govern civilized nations, have at all times been disregarded by the officers and agents of the British Government, 446; mercenary objects should not be ascribed to gentlemen, as motives for the war, 446; the report means nothing but war or empty menace, 447; the gentleman from Virginia is in error, through inadvertency, or mistake, 447; a menacing system has nothing to commend it, 447; menaces should be resorted to with as much caution and seriousness as war itself, and should, if not successful, be invariably followed by it, 448; an additional force is a measure evidently improper, but as a preparation for war; but undoubtedly necessary in that event, 448; this country should never resort to war but for causes the most urgent and necessary, 448; if the war ensues it can be proved justifiable and necessary by facts undoubted, and universally admitted, 448; the question, in the opinion of opponents, is reduced to this single point--which shall we do, abandon or defend our own commercial rights? 448; gentlemen will not say, we have not a good cause for war, but insist that it is our duty to define it, 448; what do they mean by this? 448; the objections urged, consist of an enumeration of the evils incident to war, however just and necessary; if they have any force, it is calculated to produce unqualified submission to every species of insult, 448; it is said the country is in an unprepared state, 449; whose is the fault? 449; it is said the nation will not pay taxes, for the defence will cost more than the profit, 449; the dangers of war are next held up, 449; no disposition manifested on the part of Great Britain to relax her oppression or to make restitution for damages, but, on the contrary, a disposition to persist in her lawless aggressions, 450; remonstrances against atrocities have been made, in vain, 451; we have been plundered, oppressed, and insulted, but the day of retribution is at hand, 451; if the British Government would cease to violate our neutral and national rights, our difficulties would be at an end, 451; we must prepare to maintain the right to carry our produce to what market we please, or to be content without a market, 452; no objection to declare the points for which we go to war, 452; the previous question should not be used, to put an end to this debate, 452; further debate, 453; the resolutions considered as a measure of hostility, according to the views of their advocates and as a measure of defensive preparations, agreeable to the spirit of the Executive recommendation, 453; the invasion of Canada to be deprecated as an act of foreign conquest, 454; war to be feared from a manly dread of its consequences, 454; retrospect of our relations with Britain since nearly the commencement of the present Government of the United States, 455; this view shows the expediency of increasing our regular force, 455; by the adoption of this report, we are entering on a system of operations of the utmost national moment, 455; some regret that vigorous measures had not been adopted long since, 456; why should the wise policy of the past be condemned? 457; reasons for opposing the measure, 457; this is to be a foreign offensive war, as regards Canada, 458; all the belligerents had deserved war at our hands, 458; but the policy of the Republicans had been to cherish peace, and to avoid war, even to this time, 458; in 1778-'9, the best interests of the country forbade war, and so the people determined, 458; professions of peace brought in the Republican party to power, 458; if there were any differences between the causes of the war then, and now, it was in favor of the former period, 458; what were the facts? 458; it is said to be a principle of honor to resist a first insult, 458; impossible to perceive how the present, of all others, had become the necessary and accepted time for war, 458; if the country ever determines on war, any force should be voted, 459; reasons for voting for the measure, 459; the right of carrying our own produce, in our own ships, to any quarter, should never be yielded, 460; it is said, the war will be one of aggrandizement, of conquest, 460; if we force England to a treaty, how long will she keep it? 461; new men and new doctrines have succeeded to the old Republican party, 462; the nation has been brought to its present alarming and unprecedented situation, by means in nowise unaccountable, 462; by steps as direct and successive as the pictures of the "Rake's Progress," 462; America ought to be proud of her Anglo-Saxon origin, 462; it has been asked, why was the country unprepared for defence? 463; this is not to be a party war, it is said, 463; "Goose Creek," 464; note, 464; second resolution carried, 464; third resolution carried, 465; fourth and fifth resolutions carried, 465; sixth resolution laid on the table, 465; taken up, 466; what reasons are there to induce us to authorize our merchant vessels to arm against unlawful molestation on the high seas, 467; what is the object of this measure? 467; resolution concurred in, 468; report on, 554.

FOSTER, AUGUSTUS J., as British minister disclaims any knowledge of John Henry, 522.

France, relations with, during John Adams' administration, see Index, vol. 2.

Franking Privilege.--See Index, vols. 1, 2, Post Office.

FRANKLIN, JESSE, Senator from North Carolina, 3, 116, 176, 252, 400, 566. See Index, vols. 1, 2, 3.

FRANKLIN, MESHACK, Representative from North Carolina, 125, 188, 316, 425, 577. See Index, vol. 3.

Freedom of Conscience.--See Index, vol. 1.

French Refugees.--See Index, vol. 1.

French Spoliations, statement and representation of Capt. Samuel Chew, 526; laid on the table, 527. See Index, vol. 2.

Frontiers, Protection of.--See Index, vol. 1.

Fugitives from Justice.--See Index, vol. 1.

FULTON, ROBERT, letter relative to torpedoes, 213; referred, 214.

GAILLARD, JOHN, Senator from South Carolina, 3, 116, 166, 250, 400, 566; appointed President pro tem. of Senate, 179; elected, 184. See Index, vol. 3.