PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF X23 THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, AT THE FIRST SESSION OF THE TWELFTH CONGRESS, BEGUN AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1811. MONDAY November 4, 1811. The first session of the Twelfth Congress commenced this day at the City of Washington, conformably to the proclamation of the President of the United States, of the 24th of July last, and the Senate assembled in their Chamber. PRESENT: GEORGE CLINTON, Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate. NICHOLAS GILMAN and CHARLES CUTTS, from New Hampshire. CHAUNCEY GOODRICH and SAMUEL W. DANA, from Connecticut. STEPHEN R. BRADLEY, from Vermont. JOHN SMITH and OBEDIAH GERMAN, from New York. JOHN CONDIT and JOHN LAMBERT, from New Jersey. ANDREW GREGG and MICHAEL LEIB, from Pennsylvania. OUTERBRIDGE HORSEY, from Delaware. land. tials, which were read, and the oath prescribed by law was administered to them, and they took their seats in the Senate. The oath was also administered to Messrs. CONDIT, CRAWFORD, GILES, GILMAN, and TAYLOR, their credentials having been read and filed during the last session. Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business. Resolved, That each Senator be supplied, during the present session, with three such newspapers printed in any of the States as he may choose, provided that the same be furnished at the usual rate for the annual charge of such papers; and provided, also, that if any Senator shall choose to take any newspapers other than daily papers, he shall be supplied with as many such papers as shall not exceed the price of three daily papers. On motion of Mr. GREGG, Resolved, That the Senate will, to-morrow, at Mary-twelve o'clock, proceed to a choice of a Doorkeeper, who shall also discharge the duty of Sergeant-at-Arms. WILLIAM B. GILES, from Virginia. WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD and CHARLES TAIT, from Georgia. JOHN POPE, from Kentucky. JOSEPH ANDERSON, from Tennessee. THOMAS WORTHINGTON, from Ohio. GEORGE M. BIBB, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Kentucky, for the term of six years, commencing on the 4th day of March last; GEORGE W. CAMPBELL, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Tennessee, in place of JENKIN WHITESIDE, resigned; JEREMIAH B. HOWELL, appointed a Senator, for the term of six years, commencing on the fourth day of March last, by the Legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; JOSEPH B. VARNUM, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, for the term of six years, commencing on the fourth day of March last; respectively produced their creden Mr. TAYLOR presented the memorial of Joseph Wheaton, praying remuneration for services rendered the United States in the Revolutionary war, and compensation for losses sustained therein. A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House of Representatives is assembled, and have elected HENRY CLAY, Esq., one of the Representatives from the State of Kentucky, their Speaker, and are ready to proceed to business. They have appointed a committee on their part, jointly with such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled and ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make to them. The Senate concurred in the appointment of a joint committee on their part, agreeably to the resolution last mentioned; and Messrs. ANDERSON and GAILLARD were appointed the committee. The Senate then adjourned. SENATE. President's Annual Message. TUESDAY, November 5. attended. NOVEMBER, 1811. in order that it might receive full consideration in the depending discussions. This communication appears not to have been received; but the transmission of it Mr. ANDERSON reported, from the joint com- hitherto, instead of founding on it an actual repeal of mittee, that they had waited on the President of the orders, or assurances that the repeal would ensue, the United States, and that the President informed the British Cabinet. To be ready to meet with cordiwill not permit us to rely on any effective change in the committee that he would make a communi-ality satisfactory proofs of such a change, and to procation to the two Houses this day, at twelve o'clock. On motion, by Mr. GILMAN, a committee was appointed agreeably to the 22d rule for conducting business in the Senate; and Messrs GILMAN, CAMPBELL, of Tennessee, and BIBB, were appointed the committee. ceed, in the mean time, in adapting our measures to the views which have been disclosed through that Minister, will best consult our whole duty. In the friendly spirit of those disclosures, indemnity and redress for other wrongs have continued to be withheld; and our coasts, and the mouths of our harbors, have again witnessed scenes not less derogatory to the dearest of our national rights, than vexatious to the regular course of our trade. Among the occurrences produced by the conduct of British ships of war hovering on our coasts, was an encounter between one of them and the American frigOn motion, by Mr. FRANKLIN, the Senate pro- ate commanded by Captain Rodgers, rendered unavoidceeded to the election of a Doorkeeper, agreeably able on the part of the latter, by a fire, commenced to the resolution of yesterday, and the whole num-without cause, by the former; whose commander is ber of ballots collected was 27, of which MOUNTJOY BAYLY had 20, and was accordingly elected, in the place of James Mathers, deceased. ANNUAL MESSAGE. therefore alone chargeable with the blood unfortunately shed in maintaining the honor of the American flag. The proceedings of a court of inquiry, requested by Captain Rodgers, are communicated, together with the correspondence relating to the occurrence between the Secretary of State and His Britannic Majesty's Envoy. The following Message was received from the To these are added the several correspondences which PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : have passed on the subject of the British Orders in Council; and to both, the correspondence relating to the Floridas, in which Congress will be made acquainted with the interposition which the Government of Great Britain has thought proper to make against the proceeding of the United States. In calling you together sooner than a separation from your homes would otherwise have been required, I yielded to considerations drawn from the posture of our foreign affairs; and in fixing the present, for the time of your meeting, regard was had to the probability of further developments of the policy of the belligerent Powers towards this country, which might theized an expectation that her Government would have more unite the National Councils in the measures to be pursued. At the close of the last session of Congress, it was hoped that the successive confirmations of the extinction of the French decrees, so far as they violated our neutral commerce, would have induced the Government of Great Britain to repeal its Orders in Council, and thereby authorize a removal of the existing obstructions to her commerce with the United States. The justice and fairness which have been evinced on the part of the United States towards France, both before and since the revocation of her decrees, author followed up that measure by all such others as were due to our reasonable claims, as well as dictated by its amicable professions. No proof, however, is yet given of an intention to repair the other wrongs done to the United States, and particularly to restore the great amount of American property seized and condemned under edicts which, though not affecting our neutral relations, and therefore not entering into questions between the United States and other belligerents, were, nevertheless, founded in such unjust principles that the reparation ought to have been prompt and ample. In addition to this and other demands of strict right on that nation, the United States have much reason to be dissatisfied with the rigorous and unexpected restrictions to which their trade with the French dominions has been subjected; and which, if not discontinued, will require at least corresponding restrictions on importations from France into the United States. Instead of this reasonable step towards satisfaction and friendship between the two nations, the Orders were, at a moment when least to have been expected, put into more rigorous execution; and it was communicated through the British Envoy just arrived, that, whilst the revocation of the edicts of France, as officially made known to the British Government, was denied to have taken place, it was an indispensable condition of the repeal of the British Orders that commerce should be restored to a footing that would admit the produc- On all those subjects, our Minister Plenipotentiary, tions and manufactures of Great Britain, when owned lately sent to Paris, has carried with him the necessary by neutrals, into markets shut against them by her en- instructions; the result of which will be communiemy; the United States being given to understand that,cated to you, and by ascertaining the ulterior policy of in the mean time, a continuance of their non-importation act would lead to measures of retaliation. At a later date, it has indeed appeared that a communication to the British Government, of fresh evidence of the repeal of the French decrees against our neutral trade, was followed by an intimation that it had been transmitted to the British Plenipotentiary here, the French Government towards the United States, will enable you to adapt to it that of the United States towards France. Our other foreign relations remain without unfavorable changes. With Russia they are on the best footing of friendship. The ports of Sweden have afforded proofs of friendly dispositions towards our commerce NOVEMBER, 1811. President's Annual Message. in the Councils of that nation also. And the information from our special Minister to Denmark, shows that the mission had been attended with valuable effects to our citizens, whose property had been so extensively violated and endangered by cruisers under the Danish flag. Under the ominous indications which commanded attention, it became a duty to exert the means committed to the Executive department in providing for the general security. The works of defence on our maritime frontier have accordingly been prosecuted with an activity leaving little to be added for the completion of the most important ones; and, as particularly suited for co-operation in emergencies, a portion of the gunboats have, in particular harbors, been or dered into use. The ships of war before in commission, with the addition of a frigate, have been chiefly employed as a cruising guard to the rights of our coast. And such a disposition has been made of our land forces, as was thought to promise the services most ap propriate and important. In this disposition is included a force, consisting of regulars and militia, embodied in the Indiana Territory, and marched towards our Northwestern frontier. This measure was made requisite by the several murders and depredations committed by Indians, but more especially by the menacing preparations and aspect of a combination of them on the Wabash, under the influence and direction of a fanatic of the Shawanese tribe. With these exceptions, the Indian tribes retain their peaceable dispositions towards us, and their usual pursuits. I must now add that the period is arrived which claims from the Legislative guardians of the national rights a system of more ample provisions for maintaining them. Notwithstanding the scrupulous justice, the protracted moderation, and the multiplied efforts, on the part of the United States, to substitute for the accumulating dangers to the peace of the two countries, all the mutual advantages of re-established friendship and confidence, we have seen that the British Cabinet perseveres, not only in withholding a remedy for other wrongs, so long and so loudly calling for it, but in the execution, brought home to the threshold of our territory, of measures which, under existing circumstances, have the character, as well as the effect, of war on our lawful commerce. SENATE. Your attention will, of course, be drawn to such provisions on the subject of our naval force as may be required for the services to which it may be best adapted. I submit to Congress the seasonableness also of an authority to augment the stock of such materials as are imperishable in their nature, or may not at once be attainable. In contemplating the scenes which distinguish this momentous epoch, and estimating their claims to our attention, it is impossible to overlook those developing themselves among the great communities which occupy the Southern portion of our hemisphere, and extend into our neighborhood. An enlarged philanthropy, and an enlightened forecast, concur in imposing on the national Councils an obligation to take a deep interest in their destinies, to cherish reciprocal sentiments of good will, to regard the progress of events, and not to be unprepared for whatever order of things may be ultimately established. Under another aspect of our situation, the early attention of Congress will be due to the expediency of further guards against evasions and infractions of our commercial laws. The practice of smuggling, which is odious everywhere, and particularly criminal in free Governments, where the laws being made by all for the good of all, a fraud is committed on every individual as well as on the State, attains its utmost guilt when it blends, with a pursuit of ignominious gain, a treacherous subserviency in the transgressors to a foreign policy, adverse to that of their own country. It is then that the virtuous indignation of the public should be enabled to manifest itself through the regular animadversions of the most competent laws. To secure greater respect to our mercantile flag, and to the honest interests which it covers, it is expedient also that it be made punishable in our citizens to accept licenses from foreign Governments for a trade unlawfully interdicted by them to other American citizens; or to trade under false colors or papers of any sort. A prohibition is equally called for against the acceptance, by our citizens, of special licenses to be used in a trade with the United States; and against the admission into particular ports of the United States of vessels from foreign countries authorized to trade with particular ports only. Although other subjects will press more immediately With this evidence of hostile inflexibility, in tramp-on your deliberations, a portion of them cannot but be ling on rights which no independent nation can relinquish, Congress will feel the duty of putting the United States into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations. I recommend, accordingly, that adequate provision be made for filling the ranks and prolonging the enlistments of the regular troops; for an auxiliary force, to be engaged for a more limited term; for the acceptance of volunteer corps, whose patriotic ardor may court a participation in urgent services; for detachments, as they may be wanted, of other portions of the militia; and for such a preparation of the great body as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacities. Nor can the occasion fail to remind you of the importance of those military seminaries which, in every event, will form a valuable and frugal part of our Military Establishment. The manufacture of cannon and small arms has proceeded with due success; and the stock and resources of all the necessary munitions are adequate to emergencies. It will not be inexpedient, however, for Congress to authorize an enlargement of them. well bestowed on the just and sound policy of securing to our manufactures the success they have attained, and are still attaining, in some degree, under the impulse of causes not permanent; and to our navigation the fair extent of which it is at present abridged by the unequal regulations of foreign Governments. Besides the reasonableness of saving our manufacturers from sacrifices which a change of circumstances might bring on them, the national interest requires that, with respect to such articles at least as belong to our defence and our primary wants, we should not be left in unnecesary dependence on external supplies. And whilst foreign Governments adhere to the existing discriminations in their ports against our navigation, and an equality or lesser discrimination is enjoyed by their navigation in our ports, the effect cannot be mistaken, because it has been seriously felt by our shipping interests; and in proportion as this takes place, the advantages of an independent conveyance of our products to foreign markets, and of a growing body of mariners, trained by their occupation for the service of their (country in times of danger, must be diminished. SENATE. Proceedings. NOVEMBER, 1811. The receipts into the Treasury during the year end-war, with the accompanying documents, be referred to a ing on the thirtieth of September last, have exceeded select committee, with instructions to examine the thirteen millions and a half of dollars, and have en- same and report thereon to the Senate. abled us to defray the current expenses, including the interest on the public debt, and to reimburse more than five millions of dollars of the principal, without recurring to the loan authorized by the act of the last session. The temporary loan obtained in the latter end of the year one thousand eight hundred and ten, has also been reimbursed, and is not included in that amount. The decrease of revenue arising from the situation of our commerce and the extraordinary expenses which have and may become necessary, must be taken into view, in making commensurate provisions for the ensuing year. And I recommend to your consideration the propriety of insuring a sufficiency of annual revenue, at least to defray the ordinary expenses of Government, and to pay the interest on the public debt, including that on new loans which may be authorized. I cannot close this communication without expressing my deep sense of the crisis in which you are assembled, my confidence in a wise and honorable result to your deliberations, and assurances of the faithful zeal with which my co-operating duties will be discharged; invoking, at the same time, the blessing of Heaven on our beloved country, and on all the means that may be employed in vindicating its rights and advancing its welfare. JAMES MADISON. WASHINGTON, November 5, 1811. The Message and part of the documents therein referred to were read, and three hundred copies of the Message and of the documents, so far as they have been read, ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate. WEDNESDAY, November 6. JAMES LLOYD, from the State of Massachusetts, took his seat in the Senate. The Senate proceeded in reading the documents referred to in the Message of the President of the United States of yesterday. And, after progress, adjourned. THURSDAY, November 7. The Senate proceeded in reading the documents referred to in the Message of the President of the United States of the 5th instant; and ordered that nine hundred and fifty copies of the Message and documents, in addition to the three hundred already ordered, be printed for the use of the Senate, making in the whole one thousand two hundred and fifty copies. The following motions were submitted by Mr. GILES for consideration: Resolved, That so much of the Message of the President of the United States as relates to the evasions and infractions of the commercial laws thereof, be referred to a select committee, with instructions to examine into the subject and report thereon to the Senate, and that the committee have leave to report by bill, bills, or otherwise. Resolved, That so much of the Message of the President of the United States as relates to the manufactures thereof, be referred to a select committee, with instructions to examine into that subject, and report thereon to the Senate, and that the committee have leave to report by bill, bills, or otherwise. FRIDAY, November 8. On motion, by Mr. SMITH, of Maryland, Resolved, That Mountjoy Bayly, Doorkeeper and Sergeant at-Arms to the Senate, be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ one assistant and two horses, for the purpose of performing such services as are usually required by the Doorkeeper to the Senate, and that the sum of twentyeight dollars be allowed him weekly for that purpose, to commence with, and remain during the session and for twenty days after. Mr. LEIB gave notice that on Monday he should ask leave to bring in a bill to authorize the transportation of certain documents free of postage. Mr. VARNUM Submitted the following motion for consideration: Resolved, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress during the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly. Mr. WORTHINGTON submitted the following motion for consideration: Resolved, That so much of the Message of the President of the United States as relates to Indian affairs, examine into that subject, and report thereon to the be referred to a select committee, with instructions to Senate, and that the committee have leave to report by bill, bills, or otherwise. The PRESIDENT Communicated a resolution of the Republican Corresponding Society, met at Brookville, in the Indiana Territory, enjoining it on their Delegate in Congress to use his exertions in favor of a law authorizing the people of that Territory to elect their sheriffs and magistrates once in two years; which was read. Mr. SMITH, of Maryland, gave notice that on Monday he should ask leave to bring in a bill making further provision for the Corps of Engi neers. The Senate resumed the consideration of the Resolved, That so much of the Message of the President of the United States as concerns the relations be-motion submitted yesterday, "that so much of tween the United States and France and Great Britain, with the accompanying documents, be referred to a select committee, with instructions to examine and report thereon to the Senate, and that the committee have leave to report by bill, bills, or otherwise. Resolved, That so much of the Message of the President of the United States as relates to the encounter between an American frigate and a British ship of 'the Message of the President of the United States as concerns the relations between the United States and France and Great Britain, with the accompanying documents, be referred to a select committee, with instructions to examine and report thereon to the Senate; and that the committee have leave to report by bill, bills, or otherwise;" and, having agreed, thereto, Messrs. |