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Mr. Heister; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

Mr. Samuel L. Mitchill, from the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, to whom was referred, on the twelfth instant, so much of the message of the President of the United States as relates "to the lead mines of Louisiana," made a report thereon; which was read, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the Whole House immediately.

The House, accordingly, resolved itself into the said committee; 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 report under consideration, and come to a resolution thereupon; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table, where the same was twice read, and, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House, as followeth :

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be authorized to employ an agent, who shall be instructed to collect all material information concerning the actual condition, occupancy, and titles of the lead mines in the Territory of Louisiana; and that the said agent be instructed to make a report to the President, in such time that the information he shall collect may be laid before Congress at the next session. Ordered, That the said resolution be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow. Mr. Alston, from the committee appointed on the fifteenth instant, presented, according to order, a bill declaring the assent of Congress to an act of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina; 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.

Ordered, That the committee, to whom was referred, on the fifteenth instant, the petition of sundry stockholders of the Marine Insurance Company of Alexandria, have leave to report thereon by bill, or bills, or otherwise.

Mr. Matthew Clay, from the committee last mentioned, presented, according to order, a bill giving power to the stockholders of the Marine Insurance Company of Alexandria to insure against fire; 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 order of the day was farther postponed until to-morrow.

And then the House adjourned until to morrow morning eleven o'clock.

WEDNESDAY, november 21, 1804.

Another member, to wit: John Patterson, from New York, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

A memorial and petition of the Board of Trustees of the College of New Jersey, signed by order and in behalf of the said trustees, by Joseph Bloomfield, their President, was presented to the House and read, praying a remission of the duties accruing on a number of books lately imported from Europe, for the use and benefit of the said college.

Ordered, That the said memorial and petition be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, accompanied with a report and sundry documents, marked A, B, C, and D, prepared in obedience to the act supplementary to "An act to establish the Treasury Department;" which were read, and ordered to be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. An engrossed resolution, in the form of a concurrent resolution of the two Houses, "respecting the lead mines in the Territory of Louisiana," was read the third time. And on the question that the same do pass,

It was resolved in the affirmative.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do carry the said resolution to the Senate, and desire their concurrence.

Ordered, That the petition of James Pindall, and others, presented to this House on the tenth of February last, be referred to the committee appointed, the sixteenth instant, "to prepare and bring in a bill making provision for the application of the money heretofore appropriated to laying out and making certain public roads."

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Otis, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have appointed Mr. Moore, of the Joint Committee for Enrolled Bills, on their part. And then he withdrew.

The House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill giving power to the stockholders of the Marine Insurance Company of Alexandria to insure against fire; 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 bill under consideration, and made some progress therein. Resolved, That this House will, to-morrow, again resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the said bill.

Mr. John Randolph, from the Committee of Ways and Means, who were instructed by a resolution of this House, of the nineteenth instant, "to inquire into the expediency of exempting from impost all such books and philosophical apparatus as shall be imported on account of the colleges and universities existing within the United States, for the proper and exclusive use of the learned institutions," made a report thereon; which was read, and ordered to be referred to a Committee of the Whole House to

morrow.

The orders of the day were farther postponed until to-morrow.

And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1804.

Two other members, to wit: Peterson Goodwyn and Edwin Gray, from Virginia, appeared, and took their seats in the House.

A memorial of Samuel H. Smith, and others, whose names are thereunto subscribed, on behalf of the Washington Building Company, was presented to the House and read, praying that Congress will re-consider and ultimately decide on their petition presented the third of January, one thousand eight hundred and three, praying that a law may pass to incorporate the said company, under certain rules and regulations intended for the improvement and ornament of the metropolis of the Union; and, also, that they may be enabled to extend the application of the funds of the company to the insurance of buildings from fire.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to Mr. Lewis, Mr. John Rhea, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Archer, with leave to report thereon by bill, or bills, or otherwise.

A memorial of sundry citizens of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, whose names are thereunto subscribed, was presented to the House and read, praying, for the reasons therein specified, that a law may be passed by Congress, authorizing the corporation of Georgetown to levy and collect an extra tax on real property within its jurisdiction, to be applied solely for the purpose of making a sufficient dam across that part of the river Potomac which passes between Mason's Island and the shore of the said river, heretofore ceded to the United States by the State of Virginia.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the select committee last appointed. On motion,

Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be directed to inquire whether any, and what, alterations are needful to be made in the act for the regulation and government of seamen in the merchants' service, so far as respects the furnishing of ships and vessels with medicine chests on their voyages to foreign ports; and that they report thereon by bill, or otherwise.

Mr. Dawson, from the committee to whom was referred, on the twentieth instant, a motion for "empowering each of the committees of the House to appoint a chairman by plurality of votes, in all cases where the first named member of the committee shall be absent, or excused by the House," made a report thereon; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table: Whereupon,

The House proceeded to consider the said report; and the resolution contained therein being read, in the words following, to wit:

"Resolved, That the member first named on each of the standing and select commit. tees of this House, shall be the chairman thereof; and in case of his absence, or of his being excused by the House, the committee shall then appoint the member, by a majority of votes, who shall be their chairman :"

A motion was made and seconded to amend the said resolution, by striking out therefrom the following words, to wit: "the committee shall then appoint the member, by a ma jority of votes, who shall be their chairman," and inserting, in lieu thereof, the following words: "the member next named on such committee, shall be chairman; and in like manner shall the senior member present of such committee be the chairman in case of the absence of the chairman, or in case he shall be excused by the House."

On the question that the House do agree to the said amendment,

It passed in the negative.

And then the main question being taken that the House do agree to the said resolu tion, as originally proposed,

It passed in the negative.

On motion,

Ordered, That the Committee of the Whole House to whom was committed, on the twentieth instant the bill giving power to the stockholders of the Marine Insurance Company of Alexandria against fire, be discharged from the farther consideration there. of; and that the said bill be recommitted to Mr. Matthew Clay, Mr. Archer, and Mr. Lewis.

Ordered, That the committee to whom was referred, on the twelfth instant, 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," have leave to report thereon by bill, or bills, or otherwise.

Mr. Nicholson, from the committee last mentioned, presented, according to order, a bill for the more effectual preservation of peace in the ports and harbors of the United States, and in the waters under their jurisdiction; 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 House, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the report of the Committee of Ways and Means, of the twenty-first instant, who were instructed by a resolution of the House to inquire into the expediency of exempting from impost all such books and philosophical apparatus as shall be imported on account of the colleges and universities existing within the United States for the proper and exclusive use of the learned institutions; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Dawson reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said report under consideration, and come to a resolution thereupon; which he delivered in at the Clerk's table.

The House proceeded to consider the said resolution, and the same being read,
It was, on motion,

Ordered, That the farther consideration thereof be postponed until Monday next.
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Otis, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed the bill, entitled “An act making a farther appropriation for carrying into effect the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America." And then he with

drew.

A petition of William Love, of Chester district, in the State of Sonth Carolina, a lieutenant in the third regiment of the South Carolina line on Continental establishment, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain, was presented to the House and read, praying that he may be allowed the commutation of half pay and other emoluments due for his services in the capacity aforesaid, to which he conceives himself justly entitled, by resolutions of Congress under the former Government of the United States. Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the Committee of Claims. The orders of the day were farther postponed until to-morrow.

And then the House adjourned until to-morrow morning eleven o'clock.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1804.

Mr. Richards, from the Joint Committee for Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee had examined an enrolled bill, entitled "An act 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," and had found the same to be truly enrolled: Whereupon,

Mr. Speaker signed the said enrolled bill.

Ordered, That the Clerk of this House do acquaint the Senate therewith.

A memorial of Pliny Earle, a native citizen and manufacturer of wool and cotton cards, of the town of Leicester, in the county of Worchester, and State of Massachusetts, was presented to the House aud read, praying that such alterations and amendments may be made in the acts heretofore passed to promote the progress of useful arts, as may tend to secure to the memorialist and other inventors of machinery within the United States, the exclusive benefit of their respective discoveries or inventions.

Also, a petition of Samuel G. Ogden, of the city and State of New York, merchant, praying that a new register may be granted in the case of an American built ship, called the Indostan, for the reasons therein specified.

Ordered, That the said memorial and petition be referred to the Committee of Com

merce and Manufactures.

Ordered, That the committee appointed on the twelfth instant, to whom was referred so much of the message from the President of the United States as relates 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," have leave to report thereon by bill, or bills, or otherwise.

Mr. Eustis, from the committee last mentioned, presented, according to order, a bill to regulate the clearance of armed merchant vessels; 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 on Monday next.

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:

Committees, in all cases, shall choose their own chairman; and it shall be incumbent on the person so chosen to serve, unless he be excused by the House :

The House proceeded to consider the said motion at the Clerk's table; and the same being twice read, was, on the question put thereupon, disageed to by the House.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from Samuel L. Mitchill, one of the members for the State of New York, stating "that the Legislature of the said State having appointed him a Senator of the United States, he had taken a seat in the Senate, and, of course, resigned his seat in this House."

The said letter was read: Whereupon,

Resolved, That the Speaker be requested to inform the Executive of the State of New York, of the resignation of Samuel L. Mitchill, one of the representatives from that State.

Ordered, That Mr. Lowndes be appointed of the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures in the room of Samuel L. Mitchill, who hath resigned his seat in this House.

On motion,

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of extending the time for claimants to lands under the State of Georgia, lying South of the State of Tennessee, to register the evidences of their title with the Secretary of State; and that the said committee report thereon to the House.

Ordered, That Mr. Clark, Mr. Cutts, and Mr. Bryan, be appointed a committee, pursuant to the said resolution.

A memorial of Alexander Murray, late commander of the United States frigate Constellation, 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 schooner called "The Charming Betsey," supposed to be concerned in illicit trade; which capture was made under the authority of the then President of the United States.

Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the Committee of Claims.

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:

That the first named members of any committee appointed by the Speaker, or the House, shall be the Chairman, and in case of his absence, or being excused by the House, the next named member, and so on as often as the case shall happen, unless the committee shall, by a majority of their number, elect a Chairman :

The House proceeded to consider the said motion at the Clerk's table; and the same being twice read, was, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House.

On a motion made and seconded, that the House do come to the following resolution: Resolved, That it is expedient to provide, by law, for exhibiting and registering in proper offices, in the original language, and in the language used in the United States, all evidences of title and claim for land within the territories ceded by the French Republic to the United States, by the treaty of the thirtieth of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and three, which have originated by virtue of any legal grant made by the French Government, prior to the treaty of Paris, of the tenth day of February, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three; or of any legal grant made by the Government of Spain, subsequent to the convention made by and be

tween the French Government and the Government of Spain, of the third of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-two, and prior to the treaty of St. Hdefonso, of the first of October, one thousand eight hundred; or of any legal grant made by the British Government, subsequent to the said treaty of Paris, of the tenth day of February, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, and prior to the treaty of peace of the third of September, one thousand seven hundred and eightythree:

Ordered, That the said motion be referred to the committee appointed the twelfth instant, on so much of the message from the President of the United States as relates "to an amelioration of the form of Government of the Territory of Louisiana;" that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

The several orders of the day were farther postponed until Monday next.
And then the House adjourned until Monday morning eleven o'clock.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1804.

Another member, to wit: Benjamin Tallmage, from Connecticut, appeared, and took his seat in the House.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Clerk, inclosing a letter addressed to him from the Rev. William Bentley, of Salem, in the State of Massachusetts, dated the sixteenth instant, declining to accept the appointment of one of the Chaplains to Congress, for the present session.

The said letters were read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Ordered, That the petition of Benjamin Emmons, of the State of Vermont, presented on the fourth of January last, be referred to Mr. Elliot, Mr. Clopton, Mr. Whitehill, Mr. Hastings, 'Mr. Palmer, Mr. Winston, and Mr. Butler; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

A petition of George Vaughan was presented to the House and read, praying relief in consideration of a wound received in the actual service of the United States, whilst a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania line of the Continental army, during the Revolutionary war with Great Britain, which has rendered him incapable of obtaining a livelihood by labor.

Also, a petition of Timothy Phelps, of Marlborough, in the State of Vermont, stating certain hardships and grievances which he suffered under the assumed authority of the State of Vermont, some time in the year one thousand seven hundred and eightytwo, whilst acting in the capacity of high sheriff of the county of Cumberland, in the then State of New York, from which the petitioner was, in some measure, relieved, in consequence of the resolves of Congress under the former Government of the United States, passed on the fifth of December, in the year aforesaid: that the petitioner was afterwards arrested and imprisoned in contempt of the said resolves; and praying that Congress will take the premises into consideration, and grant such relief therein, as to their wisdom and justice shall seem meet.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee of Claims.

Petitions and remonstrances of the inhabitants of the town of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, whose names are thereunto subscribed, in opposition to a memorial and petition of sundry other inhabitants of the said town, praying "that certain propositions, by way of modification and amendment, of An act to amend the charter of Alexandria,' may be adopted by Congress," were presented to the House and read.

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Ordered, That the said petitions and remonstrances be severally referred to the committee appointed, the fourteenth instant, on the memorial and petition of the inhabitants of the town of Alexandria, last mentioned; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House.

The Ilouse, according to the order of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill declaring the assent of Congress to an act of the General As sembly of the State of North Carolina; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. John Cotton Smith reported that the committee had, according to order, had the said bill under consideration, and made no amendment thereto.

Ordered, That the said bill be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow.

Mr. Richards, from the Joint Committee for Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee did, on Saturday last, present to the President of the United States, for his approbation, an enrolled bill, entitled "An act making a farther appropriation for car

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