With the Indian tribes established within our newly acquired limits, I have deemed it necessary to open conferences for the purpose of establishing a good understanding, and neighborly relations between us. So far as we have yet learned, we have reason to believe that their dispositions are generally favorable and friendly. And, with these dispositions on their part, we have in our own hands means which cannot fail us, for preserving their peace and friendship. By pursuing an uniform course of justice towards them, by aiding them in all the improvements which may better their condition, and especially by establishing a commerce on terms which shall be advantageous to them, and only not losing to us, and so regulated as that no incendiaries, of our own or any other nation, may be permitted to disturb the natural effects of our just and friendly offices, we may render ourselves so necessary to their comfort and prosperity, that the protection of our citizens from their disorderly members, will become their interest and their voluntary care. Instead, therefore, of an augmentation of military force, proportioned to our extension of frontier, I propose a moderate enlargement of the capital employed in that commerce, as a more effectual, economical, and humane instrument for preserving peace and good neighborhood with them. On this side the Mississippi an important relinquishment of native title has been received from the Delawares. That tribe, desiring to extinguish in their People the spirit of hunting, and to convert superfluous lands into the means of improving what they retain, has ceded to us all the country between the Wabash and Ohio, South of, and including, the road from the rapids towards Vincennes for which they are to receive annuities in animals and implements for agriculture, and in other necessaries. This acquisition is important, not only for its extent and fertility, but as, fronting three hundred miles on the Ohio, and near half that on the Wabash, the produce of the settled country descending those rivers will no longer pass in review of the Indian frontier, but in a small portion; and, with the cession heretofore made by the Kaskaskias, nearly consolidates our possessions North of the Ohio, in a very respectable breadth, from Lake Eric to the Mississippi. The Piankeshaws having some claim to the country ceded by the Delawares, it has been thought best to quiet that by fair purchase also. So soon as the treaties on this subject shall have received their constitutional sanctions, they shall be laid before both Houses. The act of Congress, of February 28, 1803, for building and employing a number of gun boats, is now in a course of execution to the extent there provided for. The obstacle to naval enterprise which vessels of this construction offer for our seaport towns, their utility towards supporting within our waters the authority of the laws, the prompness with which they will be manned by the seamen and militia of the place in the moment they are wanting, the facility of their assembling from different parts of the coast to any point where they are required in greater force than ordinary, the economy of their maintenance and preservation from decay, when not in actual service, and the competence of our finances to this defensive provision, without any new burthen, are considerations which will have due weight with Congress in deciding on the expediency of adding to their number, from year to year, as experience shall test their utility, until all our important harbors, by these and auxiliary means, shall be secured against insult and opposition to the laws. No circumstance has arisen since your last session, which calls for any augmentation of our regular military force. Should any improvement occur in the militia system, that will be always seasonable. Accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the last year, with estimates for the ensuing one, will, as usual, be laid before you. The state of our finances continues to fulfil our expectations. Eleven millions and an half of dollars, received in the course of the year ending on the thirtieth of September last, have enabled us, after meeting all the ordinary expenses of the year, to pay upwards of three millions six hundred thousand dollars of the public debt, exclusive of interest. This payment, with those of the two preceding years, has extinguished upwards of twelve millions of principal, and a greater sum of interest, within that period; and, by a proportionate diminution of interest, renders already sensible the effect of the growing sum yearly applicable to the discharge of principal. It is also ascertained that the revenue accrued during the last year, exceeds that of the preceding; and the probable receipts of the ensuing year may safely be relied on as sufficient, with the sum already in the Treasury, to meet all the current demands of the year, to discharge upwards of three millions and an half of the engagements incurred under the British and French conventions, and to advance in the further redemption of the funded debt as rapidly as had been contemplated. These, fellow-citizens, are the principal matters which I have thought it necessary, at VOL. V.-2 this time, to communicate for your consideration and attention. Some others will be laid before you in the course of the session. But, in the discharge of the great duties confided to you by our country, you will take a broader view of the field of legislation. Whether the great interests of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, or navigation, can, within the pale of your constitutional powers, be aided in any of their relations? Whether laws are provided in all cases where they are wanting? Whether those provided are exactly what they should be Whether any abuses take place in their administration or in that of the public revenues? Whether the organization of the public agents or of the public force, is perfect in all its parts? In fine, whether any thing can be done to advance the general good?-are questions within the limits of your functions, which will necessarily occupy your attention. In these and all other matters, which you, in your wisdom, may propose for the good of our country, you may count with assurance on my hearty co-operation and faithful execution. TH. JEFFERSON. Ordered, That the said communication, together with the documents accompanying the same, be referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union. On a motion made and seconded to add a new rule to the standing rules and orders of the House, in the words following, to wit: Resolved, That no persons, excepting members of the Senate and Stenographers, be admitted on the floor of this House: The question was taken that the House do agree to the same, dollars, months' On a motion made and seconded that the House do come to the following resolution : Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to present, in the name of Congress, to Captain Stephen Decatur, a sword, of the value of and to each of the officers and crew of the United States' Ketch Intrepid, pay, as a testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress, of the gallantry, good conduct, and services, of Captain Decatur, the officers, and crew, of the said Ketch, in attacking and destroying a Tripolitan frigate, of forty-four guns, late the United States' frigate Philadelphia: Ordered, That the said motion be referred to a Committee of the Whole House to morrow. Mr. Tenney, from the Committee of Revisal and Unfinished Business, to whom it was referred to examine the Journal of the last session, and report therefrom such matters of business as were then depending and undetermined, made a report, in part; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table. And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1804. Two other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, William Eustis, and from Pennsylvania, Robert Brown, appeared, and took their seats in the House. Ordered, That the petition of John Steele, late Secretary of the Mississippi Territory of the United States, presented the twenty-first of December last, and a report of the Committee of Claims thereon, made the fourth of January last, be referred to the Committee of Claims. A petition and memorial of a number of merchants, traders, and farmers, on the waters of Roanoke and Cashie rivers, in the district of Edenton, and State of North Carolina, whose names are thereunto subscribed, was presented to the House and read, praying, for reasons therein specified, that a new district may be established, by law, to comprehend all the creeks and harbors on the Roanoke and Cashie rivers, aforesaid and that a custom house for the said district may be fixed at the town of Plymouth, for the convenience and benefit of the petitioners and other inhabitants of the said State of North Carolina. Ordered, That the said petition and memorial, together with a petition on the same subject by other inhabitants of the said district, presented the twenty-sixth of March last, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures. The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on a motion of the eighth instant, "respecting Captain Stephen Decatur, the officers, and crew, of the United States' Ketch Intrepid ;" and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Varnum reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said motion under consideration, and come to a resolution thereupon; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table. 11 Ordered, That the consideration of the said resolution be postponed until to-morrow. Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before this House the names of the officers and the number of men who were employ. ed in the destruction of the frigate Philadelphia, in the harbor of Tripoli, together with a statement of the circumstances attending that event. Ordered, That Mr. Joseph Clay and Mr. Thomas M. Randolph be appointed a committee to present the foregoing resolution to the President of the United States. A memorial of George Little, of the State of Massachusetts, was presented to the House and read, praying to be reimbursed the amount of judgment, costs, and damages, on a decree rendered against him in the Supreme Court of the United States, for the capture and detention of a vessel supposed to be concerned in illicit trade; which capture was made under the authority of instructions of the then President of the United States. Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the Committee of Claims. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1804. Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, Peleg Wadsworth; from New Jersey, William Helms; from Delaware, Cæsar A. Rodney; from Virginia, Matthew Clay; from North Carolina, Marmaduke Williams and Thomas Wynns; and from South Carolina, Levi Casey and Richard Winn; appeared, and took their seats in the House. The House, according to the standing order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union; and, after some time spent there. in, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Dawson reported that the committee had, according to order, had the state of the Union under consideration, and come to several resolutions thereupon; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same were read, as follow: 1. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as re lates to the restraining of our merchant vessels arming themselves without authority, and attempting to force a commerce into certain ports and countries, in defiance of the laws of those countries, be referred to a select committee. 2. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as relates to an amelioration of the form of Government of the Territory of Louisiana, be referred to a select committee. 3. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as recommends an enlargement of the capital employed in commerce with the Indian tribes, be referred to a select committee. 4. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as relates to the defence and security of our ports and harbors, and supporting within our waters the authority of the laws, be referred to a select committee. 5. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as relates to the improvement of the militia system of the United States, be referred to a select committee. 6. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as relates to the inconvenience arising from the distance to which, under existing laws, prizes captured from the corsairs of Barbary must be brought for adjudication, be referred to a select committee. 7. Resolved, That so much of the message of the President of the United States as relates to the lead mines of Louisiana, be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures. The House proceeded to consider the said resolutions at the Clerk's table; and the same being again read, were, on the question severally put thereupon, agreed to by the House. Ordered, That Mr. Eustis, Mr. Dawson, Mr. Goddard, Mr. Wynns, Mr. Root, Mr. Betton, and Mr. Knight, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the first resolution. Ordered, That Mr. John Randolph, Mr. Roger Griswold, Mr. Thomas Moore, Mr. Smilie, Mr. Gillespie, Mr. Dwight, and Mr. Sammons, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the second resolution. Ordered, That Mr. Joseph Clay, Mr. Livingston, and Mr. Sandford, be appointed a committee pursuant to the third resolution. Ordered, That Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Brown, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Riker, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Seaver, and Mr. Olin, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the fourth resolution. Ordered, That Mr. Varnum, Mr. Van Cortlandt, Mr. Stephenson, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Holland, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the fifth resolution. Ordered, That Mr. Rodney, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Larned, and Mr. Lowndes, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the sixth resolution. A petition of Ezekiel Harris, of the county of Saratoga, in the State of New York, was presented to the House and read, praying compensation for his services as a mariner on board the ship Boston, in the navy of the United States, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain; which compensation, for the reasons therein specified, still remains due to the petitioner. Ordered, That the said petition, together with the memorial of Charles Minifie, presented the thirtieth of January, and the petition of Charles Hyde, which was read and ordered to lie, on the seventeenth of March last, be referred to the Committee of Claims. A petition of the President and Directors of the New York and Duchess county Slate Companies, in behalf of themselves and their associates, was presented to the House and read, praying that such duty may be imposed by law on slate imported from foreign countries, as may tend to encourage the exploring, opening, and working of slate quarries, within the United States. Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures. On motion, Ordered, That the Committee of Ways and Means have leave to prepare and bring in a bill, or bills, making a further appropriation for carrying into effect the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America. Mr. John Randolph, from the committee last mentioned, presented, according to order, a bill making a further appropriation for carrying into effect the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America; which was received, and read the first time. On motion, The said bill was read the second time, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House to-morrow. The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Doorkeeper, requesting "that some regulation may be prescribed for his government, in respect to the performance of divine service in the Representatives' Chamber, when the House is not in session" Ordered, That the said letter be referred to Mr. Bryan, Mr. New, and Mr. Lemuel Williams; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House. A petition of William Rowls was presented to the House and read, praying that he may be authorized by law to cut a canal, for the purpose of erecting a mill on land belonging to the petitioner, within the State of Ohio, so as to avail himself of the same advantages which he would have possessed had the same been accurately determined by a surveyor of the United States; or that such other relief may be granted in the premises, as to the wisdom of Congress shall seem meet. Ordered, That the said petition be referred to Mr. Thompson, Mr. Purviance, and Mr. Sloan; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House. On motion, Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expediency of allowing, under proper regulations, a drawback of duties on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the port of New Orleans from any port of the United States, and from thence exported to any foreign port or place; and that the committee report by bill, or otherwise. And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1804. The House met, pursuant to adjournment. Two other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, Richard Cutts, and from South Carolina, William Butler, appeared, and took their seats in the House. But a quorum of the whole number not being present, The House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1804. Another member, to wit: Phanuel Bishop, from Massachusetts, appeared, and took his seat in the House. A memorial of Duncan McFarland, of the State of North Carolina, was presented to the House and read, stating his claim to a seat in this House, as the Representative from the seventh election district of the said State; and praying that the House will take into farther consideration and ultimately decide on the subject-matter of his memorial presented the eighth of February last. Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the Committee of Elections. A memorial of William Dunbar, of the Mississippi Territory of the United States, was presented to the House and read, praying, for the reasons therein specified, that Congress will be pleased to postpone the consideration of any petition or claim respecting the title to a certain lot or parcel of land within the limits of the city of Natchez, which has been granted to the memorialist by the Spanish Government, in consideration of services heretofore rendered by him to the said Government. Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the committee appointed, the eighth instant, on a menorial of the board of trustees of Jefferson College, in the said Mississippi Territory; that they do examine the matter thereef, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House. The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanying a report of the Commissioners of the Fund for Navy Pensions; which were read, and ordered to lie on the table. A memorial of Paul Noyes, of Wallingford, in the State of Connecticut, was presented to the House and read, praying the liquidation and settlement of a claim for the balance due to the memorialist, for sundry cartouch boxes, bayonet belts, and other articles furnished by the memorialist, for the use of the Continental army, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain. Also, a memorial of Simeon Noyes, of the town of Salem, in the State of Massachusetts, praying relief in consideration of a wound received at the action of Behmus Heights, whilst a non-commissioned officer in the army of the United States, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain, which has rendered him incapable of obtaining a livelihood by labor. Also, a petition of John Crawford, of the town of Dover, in the State of Delaware, a mariner on board the schooner of war called the Hunter, in the navy of the United States, during the said Revolutionary war, to the like effect. Also, a petition of Susannah Taylor, of the town of Pittsburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, in behalf of the children of her former husband, William Huston, deceased, a lieutenant in the eleventh Pennsylvania regiment of the Continental army, praying the renewal of a certain military land warrant, heretofore granted for the bounty of lands due to the deceased, in consideration of his services in the capacity aforesaid, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain; which warrant was issued from the proper office, and delivered to some person or persons unknown, without the consent or authority of the petitioner. Ordered, That the said memorials and petitions be referred to the Committee of Claims. On motion, Resolved, That the Committee of Claims be instructed to consider at large the subject relative to invalid pensioners, and all persons wounded or disabled in the service of the United States, during the late Revolutionary war with Great Britain; and report to the House what further measures are, in their opinion, necessary to be adopted, in order to render to them such ample remuneration for their sufferings as justice may require. A memorial and petition of sundry inhabitants of the town of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, whose names are thereunto subscribed, was presented to the House and read, submitting to the consideration of Congress certain propositions, by way of modification and amendment of an act passed at the last session, entitled "An act to amend the charter of Alexandria," which they pray may be adopted for the convenience and benefit of the memorialists and other inhabitants of the said town. Ordered, That the said memorial and petition be referred to Mr. Eppes, Mr. John Campbell, and Mr. Thompson; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House. On motion, Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of making |