Part 266

MUMFORD, GURDON S., Representative from New York, 36, 212, 316; on submission to the late edicts of England and France, 49; opposes laying up of the frigates, 229; on commercial intercourse with France and Great Britain, 378. See Index, vol. 3.

National University.--See Index, vol. 2.

Naturalization Laws.--In the House, resolution relative to amending the law, offered, 543; by the law the courts are prohibited naturalizing foreigners since the declaration of war, 543; to persons who have taken their first papers the Government is pledged, 543; resolution referred, 543; supplementary bill introduced, 594; amendments offered, 594.

In the House.--Motion to amend considered, 715; motion lost, 715; section depriving of his right any one who leaves the country for two years, lost, 715; bill ordered to be engrossed, 715; passage opposed, 715; bill recommitted, 715. See Index, vols. 1, 2.

Naturalized Citizens.--Petition for protection, 574.

Naval Establishment.--Bill relative to, read third time in the Senate, 176.

In the House.--Bill to employ an additional number of seamen and marines, considered; amendments propose immediate arming and manning all the armed vessels, 97; President already authorized to fit out these vessels when the public service requires, 97; if no occasion exists, the expense is a sufficient argument against it, 97; take six months to prepare our ships, 97; they are rotting now at the docks, 97; if out at sea they might be useful, 97; a naval force, the most effectual protection to our seaports, 97; however small our naval force it should not be undervalued, 97; a war with Great Britain could be carried on only by distressing her trade, 97; if we had a navy it would furnish the strongest temptation to attack our seaports, 98; moved to refer amendments of the Senate to a committee of the whole, 98; motion lost, 98; no estimate accompanies this bill, 98; this House as much right to judge of the force requisite as any other department, 98; advantages that will accrue to the nation from a few fast-sailing frigates, 98; what defence a few frigates would be could not be understood, 98; our power of coercion is not on the ocean, 98; sufficient evidence in history to warn the United States against a naval force, 98; facts bearing on the case, 98; economy is good in time of peace, but not for war, 99; it is shocking doctrine that this country ought to have a navy competent to cope with a detachment of the British navy, 99; England now sole mistress of the ocean, 99; as well think of embarking a hundred thousand men to attack France on her soil, as of building ships enough to oppose the British navy, 99; the question is whether we will call into actual service the little navy we possess, 99; those attempting to argue in favor of this measure involve themselves in absurdities, 99; these absurdities exposed, 99; not wealth enough in this whole nation if each should give his all, to maintain our rights against Great Britain, 100; at the close of the Revolutionary war we had but one frigate, and the best thing we did was to give that away, 100; the insult at Savannah, 100; would it be good policy to let our means of carrying on war on the ocean rot at our docks? 100; why then should they not be manned? 100; the expense of this measure will compel Congress to borrow money, 100; disadvantages of loans, 100; on the score of protection to trade it is not proper to fit out a navy, 101; this proposition a mere entering wedge, 101; causes an extension of Executive patronage which should be limited, 101; nothing in the nature of the Government or foreign relations to require a navy, 101; not now discussing the propriety of raising a naval force for offensive purposes, 101; an invasion, whether on land or water, touches equally the life-blood of every man, 101.

In the House.--Bill to reduce the naval force read in committee, 227; moved to strike out so much as provides that all the frigates but three shall be sold, 228; moved to strike out the whole section, 228; the navy should be put on the footing of the peace establishment, 228; reform in the expenditure desired, 228; other amendments proposed, 228; motion to insert Washington as a place for a navy yard carried, 229; indefinite postponement moved, 229; withdrawn, 229; question to strike out so much as orders the sale of all the gunboats, 229; mortifying to witness the events unfolding in the Old World, and the paralyzing system going on in this country, 229; some system should be adopted for the protection of our commerce, 229; "millions for defence, not a cent for tribute," 229; the vessels should be fitted out, 230; motion to place the navy on the footing of 1806, 230; the system of the navy yards requires a thorough reform, 230; mode of equipment referred to, 230; a reform in the expense, not the abolition of the navy, was the great desideratum, 230; what appearance would the passage of this bill present to the world, after the resolutions adopted at the commencement of the session? 230; the terrapin policy, 231; no one can be insensible to the necessity of protection, 231; consider the immense space exposed, 231; the navy is at present sufficiently reduced, 231; it is asked, what has the navy done? 231; not that want of system at the navy yards which is complained of, 232; the smaller vessels are in perfect repair, 232; what mighty good has the army done by land? 232; the effects of a naval force upon Cornwallis, 232; the people of the United States are destined to become a great naval power, 232; object of the present reduction is to enable the Government to dispense with loans and taxes, 233; nothing can so tend to strangle the infant Hercules of the American navy, as the injudicious manner in which that power has been attempted to be brought into action, 233; the revenue necessary for a naval establishment is founded on commercial greatness, 233; but we have changed and perverted all this, 233; whence come these proceedings which we find? 233; the reduction will not do any effectual service, 234; comparative expenses of the navy under the several administrations, 235; expenses of the marine corps, 236; expenses of the navy yards, 236; annual cost of a seaman, 236; arguments considered, 237; is it necessary to continue this establishment in its present state? 238; when the United States had forty sail afloat and eight thousand seamen, they had no navy yards, 238; our duty to commence a thorough investigation, 239; examinations of the committee, 239; repairs of the vessels, 239; naval equipments, 239; motion to strike out so much as orders the sale of all the frigates but three, lost, 240; section relative to dismissal of seamen lost, 240.

Motion to strike out the section which reduces the marine corps considered, 240; former price of rations, 240; proportion of mariners to seamen, 240; who are the true friends of the Administration? 240; section stricken out, 242; motion to amend so as to disband the master commandants, 242; reasons asked for, 242; the proposition is preposterous, 242; never been any reason assigned for the creation of these officers, 242; this amendment called submission to the belligerents, 242; our situation requires a war speech against somebody, 243; well if our relative expenditures could be brought back to Mr. Adams' Administration, 243; amendments proposed, 244; save an expenditure of near a million dollars, 244; the original bill in a different form, 244; amendment proposed to limit the number of seamen to fifteen hundred, 245; this retrenchment in the navy will end in smoke, 245; Adams' Administration made the only reform ever made in the naval establishment, 245; reduction made by the act of 1801, 245; proceedings in 1806, 245; further debate, 246; amendment moved, 247; lost, 247; original amendment passed, 247.

In the Senate.--The bill relative to an increase of the navy considered, 405; amendment proposed, authorizing the President to cause to be built, as soon as possible, a blank number of frigates, 405; offered from a sense of duty to support the dignity, protect the rights, and advance the best interests of the country, 406; if it be not the purpose of the Government to engage in an open, actual, efficient war, or to place the nation in such a complete state of defence as to avert war from our readiness to meet it, then some of the measures of the present session are not only inexcusable, but nearly treasonable, 406; what was the consequence of the course of the Government in 1793? 406; look at the case of the war with Tripoli, 406; then followed the decrees, 406; commerce has been abandoned, 406; what was the leading object of the adoption of the Federal Constitution in the northern parts of the Union? emphatically to protect commerce, 406; the only money paid into the Treasury which can justly be placed to the exclusive credit of the commerce, is the sum retained in commerce; how, then, has she done every thing for the Government? 407; who are most interested in commerce; the growers of the articles, or the factors, or freighters employed in their exchange? 407; exports of foreign productions constitutes a commerce which is the legitimate offspring of war, and expires with the first dawnings of peace, 408; it is prosecuted chiefly by commercial cities east and north of the Potomac, 408; a navy can injure commerce, but cannot afford it protection, unless it annihilates the naval force of the adverse nation, 408; these frigates are to be employed in destroying the commerce of the enemy, and not in fighting her armed vessels, according to the representations of gentlemen, 408; bill concerning the Naval establishment considered, 477; moved to fill the blank of the first section with $480,000; a great question, involving, in this subject, to a considerable extent, the fate of a species of national defence, the most essential and necessary, 478; if the infant Naval establishment is put down, the majority of this House run a great risk of becoming the minority, 478; it has been said this country is a great land animal, which should not venture into the water, 478; the ocean is the farm of a great portion of our people, 478; we are now going to war, to protect their rights, 478; if Great Britain had not the Canadas on our border, how could we attack or resist her? 478; the Naval establishment has been too much neglected, 478; the committee ask what this House will do, principally toward establishing and perpetuating a respectable naval force, for the protection of the rights of the people exposed on the ocean, 478; the adoption of a respectable Naval establishment is deemed improper on the grounds of its enormous expense, and the inability of the nation to resist with effect, the immense naval power of Great Britain, 478; its expense during eighteen years, 479; an examination of the figures and statements, 479; the average annual expense is little more than twice the amount of our economical civil list, 479; less expensive than the military establishment, 479; compare the service of the army with that of the navy, 479; if the expenses have been extravagant, there is an opportunity through experience, to reform the abuse, 479; a naval force the cheapest defence, 479; compare its expense with that of permanent fortifications, 479; the force proposed is sufficient to protect us on our own seas, and defend our ports and harbors against the naval power of Great Britain, 479; such is the opinion of naval men, 479; a triple force will be required by the enemy to put himself on a footing of equality with that of the United States, 480; the force sent here must be relieved every three months, 480; Halifax is the only suitable port Great Britain has on this coast, 480; great misconception on the subject of the British naval force, 480; this force examined, 480; only a limited number of ships can be directed by her towards a given point, 480; her seamen, also, are limited, 480; her pecuniary resources are limited, 480; what number of vessels is she practically able to keep in commission? 480; some oppose this bill, lest we should become too great a naval power, 481; but a navy is said to be anti-republican, 481; we are told that navies have ruined every nation that has employed them, 481; objections to the bill, 481; after the war is over, the navy will remain, 482; the army will be disbanded, 482; it is inexpedient to commence a permanent naval establishment, 482; we are unprepared for it, 482; we cannot protect our commerce on the ocean, 482; the expenses of a Naval establishment exceed the profits which arise from the commerce it protects, 483; these expenses are a serious objection, 483; what has the nation benefited for the past enormous expenditure? 483; details of the expenditure at the Washington Navy Yard, 483; a navy will be the means of exciting many wars, 483; consider the fate of all nations who have been famous for their navies, 483; Great Britain must sink under the heavy pressure, 484; our vessels may only tend to swell the present catalogue of the British Navy, 484; small ships are proper for the service of the United States, 484; if we proceed to build a Naval establishment, it may affect the destinies of this nation to the latest posterity, 484; this nation is not inevitably destined to become a great naval power, 484; reasons why a permanent establishment will prove ruinous, 484; the proposed establishment cannot be maintained, without permanent internal taxes and a constant increase of public debt, 484; navies have never been considered adequate to the complete protection of commerce, 484; the situation of Europe is in all respects different from ours, 485; instructions of the Virginia Legislature to their Senators in Congress, in 1801, 485; establish a navy and this country may bid farewell to peace, 485; our little navy has already contributed much towards the irritation which exists between us and England, 486; the object in view is as ruinous to the finances of the people as it will be destructive to the peace of the nation, 486; since the political revolution in 1801, the question of building a navy has never before been presented directly to the consideration of Congress, 486; the United States cannot maintain a navy without oppression to the great mass of the community in the persons of tax-gatherers, 486; the system as well as the expense objected to, 486; note, 486; the people will not support such a naval establishment, 487; the advocates of a navy need not expect to cover the deformity and danger of the system, by telling the people they are the friends to the protection of commerce, 487; the division of sentiment in the delegations from different States, 487; search for examples in ancient and modern history, 487; has the navy of Britain ever been confined to the protection of her lawful commerce? 488; the report has assumed principles as erroneous as they are novel, 488; maritime commerce has only a coeval right of protection with other objects; still the greatest means and resources of the Government have been devoted to its protection, 488; it is asked how we shall contend with a maritime nation, without a navy? objections to the object in view answered, 489; the nature of commerce, 489; the value of commerce has been strangely misunderstood, 489; but we have determined to defend it, 490; we must employ the cheapest and most efficacious means of hostility we possess, 490; if it is absurd to protect commerce by a navy, how much more so by an army, which costs more than a navy, 490; the strongest recommendation of a navy to free governments has been that it was capable of defending, but not of enslaving, 490; a navy, it is said, would terminate in an aristocracy or a minority, 490; the constitution was formed by the union of independent States, that the strength of the whole might be employed for the protection of every part, 490; an army the States can have without the Union, but an adequate navy they cannot, 490; the experience of the world, 491; expenses of the navy, 491; it is said our resources are insufficient for its equipment, 491; the bill embraces two objects, 492; one relates to the repairs and equipment of the ships in service; the other contemplates building ten additional frigates, and laying the foundation of a new Naval establishment, 492; as an abstract question, it is for the interest of the United States to begin the establishment, 492; this proved by its connection with the great and essential interests of the country, 492; commerce springs from our agriculture, and must be protected, 493; while England and France have been contending for the mastery, we, with a suitable naval force and strict neutrality, might have pursued a gainful trade, 493; this question must have an influence on our destiny favorable if decided negatively, and adverse if decided affirmatively, 493; the constitution is not imperative with regard to regulating and protecting commerce, 494; the general principles and remote consequences upon which this question has been considered, 494; how it is proposed to protect commerce, 495; from a naval power have flowed the most copious streams of human misery, 495; the plunder of half the world has not sustained the British Navy, 495; a diversity of opinions has always existed on this subject, 496; extraordinary that so much unreasonable jealousy should exist in regard to a Naval establishment, 496; the source of alarm is in ourselves, 497; abundant security in the nature of our Government against abuse, 497; what maritime strength is it expedient to provide for the United States? 497; three different degrees of power present themselves, 497; these degrees considered, 497; views of Col. Daviess, 498; note, 498; what was folly in 1798 may be wisdom now, 498; blank filled with $100,000, 498; bill reported to the House, 498; question on filling the blank for repairing with $480,000, it was carried, 498; question on agreeing to the report of the committee to strike out the section which contemplated building new frigates, 499; the time inauspicious to begin a navy, 499; our ships probably fall a prey to the superior force of England, 499; the necessity and duty of a systematic protection of our maritime rights by maritime means, 499; interest is our only sure and permanent bond of union, 499; the national protection of our essential interests will be undertaken by the States if it is not by Congress, 499; the nature of the interest to be protected, and the nature of the protection to be extended, 500; the locality of the interest, 500; it is the leading interest of more than one-half, and the predominant interest of more than one-third of the Union, 500; comparison of our commerce with that of Great Britain, 501; the permanency of this interest exhibits the folly and madness of its neglect, 501; as to the nature of the protection, rights in their nature local can only be maintained where they exist, and not where they do not exist, 502; the nature and degree of maritime protection, and our capacity to extend it, 502; our exertions should be extended rather than graduated by the present exigency, 502; there can be no mistake touching the branch of interest most precious to commercial men, 502; some difference of opinion may arise touching the nature and extent of this naval force, 503; is it a want of pecuniary or physical capacity? 503; this policy will produce confidence at home and respect abroad, 503; effect of the opposite policy, 503; a navy never had and never could protect our commerce, 504; every nation which has embarked in a naval establishment has eventually been crushed by it, 504; the embarrassments of our commerce are not owing to a want of a navy, 504; this establishment proposed could not be supported but by a ruinous expense, 504; question on striking out carried, 504; amendments offered to procure a dockyard, and to build four frigates, 505; do. lost, 505; bill ordered to a third reading, 505.

In the House.--Bill from the Senate considered, 599; moved to add the word "teen," to "four," making fourteen gunships, 599; time to try the question whether we are to have a navy, 599; British arms cannot withstand American on the seas, 599; four seventy-fours are mere mockery, 599; can easily support such a force 599.

Should guard against being carried too far by the current of popular opinion, 599; should authorize that force which can be prepared at the shortest notice, 599; for what purpose are these ships to be built? 600; where is your commerce to protect? 600; the object of these vessels, then, is to fight your battles, 600; moved to strike out all relating to seventy-fours, 601; to introduce these ships would fix the policy of a navy upon the Government, 601; scene in the British metropolis, 601; if in view of recent events a navy is not sustained, its case is hopeless, 601; the constitution settles the policy of a navy, 601; seventy-fours as compared with smaller vessels for service, 602; protection due to every right, best mode to effect it, 603; importance of a naval force attested on record, 603; facts which we have in the case, 603; is it for an infant nation to be deterred by a want of preparation? 603; what were the preparations for the Revolutionary war? 603; a naval force the cheapest the nation can resort to for defence and protection, 604; cost of the force, 604; the different kinds of vessels proposed, 604; the question is whether it is best to build any ships of the line or to confine our efforts to frigates, 605; the objects for their employment to be considered, 605; ships better for battle, frigates and sloops for cruisers, 605; as we have no powerful ships, England can easily protect by convoy all her valuable fleets, 605; it is said these ships would be blockaded, 605; we are in a prepared state to build seventy-fours, 606; motion to strike out seventy-fours negatived, 606; motion to strike out seventy-fours, and insert frigates and sloops, carried, 606; question on the passage of the bill, 609; a navy will cost more than it ever will be worth to the nation, 609; a kind of popular delusion at this time about a navy, 609; further objections, 610; bill passed, 610. See Index, vols. 1, 2, 3.

Navigation Laws.--In the House, resolutions relative to vessels coming from ports to which our vessels cannot go and also sea-letter vessels offered, 188; motion to refer to Committee on Commerce, 188; investigation, the object of the resolutions, 188; character of the propositions such as to require it, 188; they are founded on permanent principles, to which the nation may adhere in every alternative, 188; reference carried, 189.

Negroes, Kidnapping of.--See Index, vol. 2.

NELSON, HUGH, Representative from Virginia, 424, 577; on rules and orders of the House, 471; presents the petition of citizens of Louisiana Territory, 474; on the temporary embargo bill, 547.

NELSON, ROGER, Representative from Maryland, 37, 125, 187; on submission to the late edicts of England and France, 72; presents a bill authorizing an increased naval force, 84; favors the resolution for immediate measures to liberate American prisoners in Carthagena, 95; reports on petition of officers of the Revolution, 212. See Index, vol. 3.

Neutral Rights, violation of.--In the House, resolutions submitted, which are designed to vindicate the commercial rights of the United States against belligerents of Europe, 189; their introduction not inconsistent with the most friendly negotiation, 189; high time these rights were vindicated or abandoned, 189; upon what principles do the belligerents pretend to justify these commercial restrictions? 189; not the true principle, 189; what principles are more specifically asserted by Great Britain? 189; the right to blockade by proclamation, 189; the only principle we recognize, 190; this right founded on the most arbitrary power, 190; have we not the same right as Great Britain to prohibit trade? 190; objected, that the adoption of the resolutions would lead to hostility, 190; the resolutions, 190; laid on the table, 191. See Index, vol. 3.

NEW, ANTHONY, Representative from Kentucky, 424, 577; on the claim of Matthew Lyon, 426. See Index, vols. 1, 2,3.

NEWBOLD, THOMAS, Representative from New Jersey, 36, 124, 187, 319, 424, 577.

New Hampshire.--Vote for President in 1808, 27; in 1812, 573, 711.

New Jersey.--Vote for President in 1808, 27; in 1812, 573, 711.

Newspapers.--Three daily ordered for the House, 425.

NEWTON, THOMAS, Representative from Virginia, 36, 125, 187, 315, 424, 577; on additional revenue cutters, 47, 48; on permitting Swedish and Portuguese vessels to land, 127; on the remission of certain fines on emigrants from Cuba, 164; against a committee on manufactures, 193; relative to the conduct of the British Minister, 206; reports on the mortality of the troops near New Orleans, 247; on laying additional duties, 431. See Index, vols. 2, 3.

New York.--Vote for President in 1808, 27; in 1812, 573, 711.

NICHOLAS, WILSON CARY, Representative from Virginia, 37, 141; on the proceedings on counting the electoral votes, 105; on non-intercourse with Great Britain and France, 109. See Index, vols. 2, 3.

NICHOLSON, JOHN, Representative from New York, 124, 188, 319.

Non-Exportation, Temporary.--Bill passed Senate, 411.

Non-Exportation in Foreign Bottoms.--In the House, the bill to prohibit the exportation, &c. of certain articles considered, 719; bill is not what it professes to be, 719; it denies commerce to neutrals, 719; merely calculated to produce vexation and embarrassment at home, 719; what are the intentions and objects of the bill as stated? 720; only a part of a contemplated system of non-exportation, 721; certain articles struck out, 722.