read, and the resolution therein contained, was concurred in by the House, as follows: ed. Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be grant On motion of Mr. Harrison, Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the employment of a number of clerks (not exceeding twelve) in the Department of War. Mr. Harrison, Mr. Pegram, and Mr. Comstock, were appointed the said committee. On motion of Mr. Shaw, Resolved, That the committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a post. route from Albany, in the state of New York, by Spencertown, to Springfield in Massachusetts. On motion of Mr. Walker, of North Carolina, Resolved, That the committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a post road from Rutherfordton, in North Carolina, through Mumfords cove, by Harmonsville, to Mackeysville, in Burk county, North Carolina. On motion of Mr. Storrs, Resolved. That 2,500 additional copies of the President's message to this House, of the 17th instant, with the accompanying documents, be printed for the use of the members of the Senate, and House of Representatives. On motion of Mr. Baldwin, Resolved, That the committee on the Judiciary, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of making provision, by law, to prevent the discontinuance of suits in the district court of the United States, for the western district of Pennsylvania, on account of said court not having been holden on the day prescribed by law, and for other purposes. The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting sundry documents showing the state and condition of the Navy Pension Fund, the sources from whence it arises, its amount, the manner in which it is collected, the sums received yearly from each state, since the 20th June, 1812; exhibited in obedience to a resolution of this House, of the 8th of April last; which was referred to the committee on Naval Affairs. The Speaker also laid before the House a letter from William Cranch, chief justice of the circuit court of the United States, for the District of Columbia, transmitting a code of jurisprudence for the said district, prepared (by him) under the authority of the act of the 29th of April, 1816, entitled "An act authorizing the judges of the circuit court, and the attorney for the District of Columbia, to prepare a code of jurisdiction for the said district," which was referred to a select committee; and, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Culbreth, Mr. Garnett, Mr. Williams, of Connecticut, and Mr. Adams, were appointed the said committee. The Speaker communicated to the House a letter addressed to him by John Forsyth, containing a notice of the resignation of his seat in this House, as one of the members for the state of Georgia. The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting his annual report upon the state of the finances; which was ordered to lie on the table. An engrossed resolution, "declaring the admission of the state of Illinois into the Union," was read the third time; And on the question, shall it pass? It passed in the affirmative, {Nays.. Yeas.....................117, The yeas and nays being required by one fifth of the members Ordered, That the Clerk carry the said resolution to the Senate, and ask their concurrence therein. And then the House adjourned. TUESDAY, November 24, 1818. Another member, to wit: from Massachusetts, Samuel C. Allen, appeared and took his seat. Mr. Adams presented a petition of Gustavus Aldrick, praying an increase of the pension heretofore granted to him. Mr. Rogers presented a petition of George Merrick, praying compensation for losses sustained by him while in the military service of the United States in the revolutionary war. Mr. Alexander Smyth presented a petition of James Gibson, praying for a pension. Mr Claiborne presented a petition of Sally Chetwood, widow of John Chetwood, who died after his return home from a tour of militia duty in the late war against the Seminole Indians, also praying for a pension. Mr. Claiborne also presented a petition of Joseph Ligon, pray. ing for an increase of his pension. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary claims. On motion of Mr. Bloomfield, Ordered, That the petition of Samuel Gibbs, presented on the 7th of January, 1817, and the petition of John Polhemus, presented on the 13th December, 1815, be referred to the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims. On motion of Mr. Rogers, Ordered, That the petition of John Staples, presented on the 29th January, 1818, be also referred to the same committee. Mr. Mason, of Massachusetts, presented a petition of sundry merchants and mechanics of Boston, importers and manufacturers of copper, stating, that owing to an ambiguity in the existing law, duties are exacted on plate copper, meaning still copper, and praying that an act may be passed specially exempting that species of copper from the payment of duties upon its importation into the United States. Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee of Ways and Means. Mr. Mason also presented a petition from sundry surviving officers of the revolutionary army, and a petition of sundry inhabitants of the United States, on behalf of the said officers, praying to the same effect with the petition of Wm. Jackson, presented yesterday, which petitions were referred to the committee appointed on the petition of the said Jackson. Mr. Irving, of New York, presented a petition of Samuel Denton, one of the late firm of Denton, Little, & Co. merchants of New York, praying that the duties paid by the said firm on a quantity of copper bolts imported in 1807, may be refunded. Ordered, that the said petition be referred to the committee of Ways and Means. Mr. Rich presented a petition of Joseph Jaquays, praying that the benefit of the act of the last session, providing for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service, in the revolutionary war, may be extended to him. Mr. Spencer presented a petition of Samuel Bennett, praying for a pension. Mr. Drake presented a petition of Bartlett Hinds, an officer in the revolutionary army, praying for an increase of his pension. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on revolutionary pensions. Mr. Silsbee presented a petition of Samuel, Jeremiah, and John Peabody, praying that such part of the proceeds of a quantity of cotton which was found at sea, in the year 1806, by the crew of their vessel, and brought into the port of Salem, and there proceeded against, and sold, by order of the court, as has been decreed to the United States, may be relinquished to them for the benefit of themselves and the persons composing the crew of the vessel at the time the said cotton was found. Mr. Spencer presented a petition of Gilman Fulsom, a petition of Gilman Fulsom, jr. and of Ezekiel Fulsom, and a petition of Gasper Parrish, respectively praying compensation for their buildings on the Niagara frontier, destroyed by the British forces in the late war. ter. Mr. Comstock presented a similar petition of Heman B. Pot Mr. Beecher presented a petition of Catharine M Niff, praying compensation for damages committed on her house, in Detroit, while the same was in the military occupancy of the United States, in the late war with Great Britain. Mr. Beecher also presented the petition of Richard Smith, Joseph Ricotte, Joseph Campau, Henry M.Gee, Louis Lognon, and Martin Bennett, volunteer cavalry, praying compensation for their horses which they lost at the surrender of Detroit, by general Hull, in the late war with Great Britain. Mr. Crowell presented a petition of Lewis Baudin, Alexis Trouillet, and Louis Dolive, praying compensation for their cattle taken for the subsistence of the troops of the United States, in the Mobile country, in the late war with Great Britain. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee of Claims. The following petitions heretofore presented, were again presented and referred to the committee of Claims, to wit: By Mr. Merrill, That of Isaac Clark, presented on the 3d April, 1816. By Mr. Lawyer, that of captain Derick Van Veighten, presented on 20th January, 1818. By Mr. Smith, of Maryland, that of Bowie and Kurtz, and others, presented on the 31st December, 1817. By Mr. Garnett, that of Joseph Janney, transmitted by the commissioner of claims, on the 10th December, 1817. Mr. Palmer presented a petition of Harvey Wakefield, stating that while acting as an assistant to a revenue officer, on the lines between the United States and Canada, in the late war with Great Britain, he was, whilst in the discharge of his official duty, captured by a body of hostile Indians, and remained a prisoner with the British till discharged under the treaty of peace, and praying compensation for the time he remained in prison, as also, for his sufferings while in captivity. Mr. Robert Moore presented a petition of William Barnett, a soldier in the late war with Great Britain, praying for a grant of land which is now denied him in consequence of his having enlisted previous to the passage of the acts, allowing a bounty in land to the soldiers of the late army. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on Military Affairs. Mr. Smith, of Maryland, presented a petition of Ann Key, widow of Philip B. Key, deceased, late of the District of Columbia, praying that an act may be passed, authorizing a sale of such part of the real estate of said deceased, as is within this District, which she is unable to do in consequence of the non-age of several of the heirs of said Key. Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee on the Judiciary. |