inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill to authorize the opening of the Cumberland Road, eighty feet wide, on its present location through the State of Indiana, by cutting off the timber, removing all obstructions, and making temporary bridges, so as to let on the travel, preparatory to turnpiking the same and also, that said committee inquire into the expediency of making an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars for that

purpose.

This resolution was read; and,

On motion of Mr. McLean, of Ohio, the same was amended, by inserting therein, after the word "location," these words," from Zanesville, by way of Columbus, in the State of Ohio."

And thereupon, Mr. Smith modified his said resolution, by substituting "one hundred thousand dollars" for "fifty thousand dollars."

The question was then put to agree to the said resolution, as thus amended and modified:

And passed in the affirmative.

On motion of Mr. Taylor,

Resolved, That this House will to-morrow, at 12 o'clock, meridian, proceed to the choice of a Chaplain to Congress on its part. And then the House adjourned.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1828.

Several other members appeared and took their seats, viz: from New York, George O. Belden; from Pennsylvania, Espy Van Horn; from North Carolina, Lemuel Sawyer.

On motion of Mr. Wingate,

Ordered, That the petition of merchants and ship owners in the town of Dresden, in the State of Maine, heretofore presented on the 18th De cember, 1827, be referred to the Committee of Commerce.

Mr. Gorham presented a memorial and petition of John Peters and Sabin Pond, formerly trading under the firm of Peters & Pond, praying that the amount of a forfeiture incurred by them, in consequence of the unauthorized conduct of the master of their vessel, may be refunded to them.

Mr. Johnson presented a petition of the masters and owners of vessels and steam boats navigating the river Hudson, in the State of New York, praying for the erection of light-houses aud buoys.

Mr. Van Rensselaer presented a petition of merchants, traders, and other inhabitants of Albany, in the State of New York, praying for the imposition of a duty of ten per centum on sales by auction.

Ordered, That these petitions be referred to the Committee of Commerce. On motion of Mr. Wingate,

Ordered, That the petition of John Burton, presented on the 13th of March, 1826, be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

On motion of Mr. Anderson, of Maine,

Ordered, That the petition of William J. Quincy and Chas. E. Quincy, heretofore presented on the 21st January, 1828, be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means; and that the petition of Nathaniel Blake, presented on the 19th December, 1827. be referred to the same committee. Mr. Swift presented a petition of Jonathan M. Blaisdell, of the State of Vermont, praying that a judgment obtained against him, at the suit of

the United States, may be released; which petition was also referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Hodges presented a petition of Ebenezer Stetson, of the State of Massachusetts, praying for an increase of pension.

Mr. Varnum presented a petition of Benjamin Sanders, and a petition of Daniel Smith, of the State of Massachusetts;

Mr. Ingersoll presented a petition of Daniel Putnam, of the State of Connecticut, Aid-de-Camp to his father, Major General Putnam, of the Revolutionary army :

Mr. Swift presented a petition of James Hawley, of the State of Vermont; Mr. Hobbie presented a petition of Andrew Miner, of the State of New York; as, also, a petition of inhabitants of Delaware county, in that State, in his behalf;

Mr. Tracy presented a petition of Moses Holmes, of the State of New York; also, a petition of Simeon Hosmer, Phineas Dodge, and George Sloan, a committee on behalf of sundry Revolutionary soldiers;

Mr. Garnsey presented a petition of Jonathan Brigham, of the State of New York.

Mr. Clark, of New York, presented a petition of Joseph Jennings, of the State of New York;

Mr. Wolf presented a petition of Nicholas Kline, and a petition of John Shook, both of the State of Pennsylvania;

Mr. Lecompte presented a petition of John Collett, of the State of Kentucky;

severally and respectively praying for pensions.

Ordered, That these petitions be referred to the Committee on Military Pensions.

The undermentioned petitions, heretofore presented, were again presented, and also referred to the Committee on Military Pensions, viz: By Mr. Wingate, of Samuel Payson, presented on the 14th January, 1828. By Mr. Sterigere, of Hartman Lower, presented on the 28th of February, 1828.

By Mr. Smith, of Indiana, of Leonard Eddleman, presented on the 19th of February, 1828.

Mr. Bartlett presented a petition of Stephen Hook, praying a remuneration for loss of time, and expenses incurred, by reason of his arresting and bringing to trial two murderers and pirates in the year 1826.

Mr. Tucker, of South Carolina, presented a memorial and petition of John H. Harrison, of that State, surety of Francis Adams, late a collector of internal revenue, praying to be released from his liability on account of said suretyship.

Ordered, That these petitions be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

On motion of Mr. Haynes,

Ordered, That the petition of William A. Tennille, presented on the 4th of February, 1828, be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. Crowninshield presented a petition of Joseph Vincent, of the State of Massachusetts, praying compensation for cordage furnished a public ship of war, in the war of the Revolution.

Mr. Ingersoll presented a petition of Ebenezer Gilbert, of the State of Connecticut, praying compensation for services as a physician in the naval service of the United States, in the war of the Revolution.

Mr. Keese presented a petition of James Danley, of the State of New York. praying to be paid the amount of bounty advanced by him to recruits for the army of the Revolution.

Mr. J. S. Barbour presented a petition of Philip Slaughter, of the State of Virginia, an officer of the army of the Revolution, praying to be permitted to participate of the benefits of the act of the last session of Congress, for the relief of Revolutionary officers and soldiers, notwithstanding the exclusion contained in the act of the same session, for his relief, specially.

Mr. Mercer presented a petition of George Blakemore, of the State of Virginia, praying to be allowed to participate in the benefits of the act of the last session of Congress, for the relief of Revolutionary officers and

soldiers.

Ordered, That these petitions be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

On motion of Mr. Drayton,

Ordered, That the petition of Richard Wall, presented on the 11th of December, 1827, be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

Mr. Gorham presented a petition of Amos Binney, praying to be allowed, in the settlement of his accounts as Navy Agent at the port of Boston, in the late war with Great Britain, for the depreciation of Treasury notes, and other funds transmitted to him.

Mr. Little presented a petition of Eleanor Wills, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, whose son, Michael Reed, a sailor, was lost in the United States ship of war L'Insurgent, in the year 1800, praying that provision may be made for her support in consequence of said loss.

Mr. White presented a petition of Henry M. Breckenridge, of the Territory of Florida, praying that the Secretary of the Navy may be authorized to re-convey to him that part of a tract of land, sold and conveyed by him to the United States, on which is planted a large orchard of tropical fruit trees.

Ordered, That these petitions be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

On motion of Mr. Varnum,

Ordered, That the petition of Abigail Appleton, presented on the 29th January. 1827, be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

On motion of Mr. Haynes.

Ordered, That the petition of inhabitants of the town of St. Mary's, in the State of Georgia, for the establishment of a navy yard at that place, presented on the 24th May, 1828, be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. Swift presented a petition of Aaron Smith, of the State of Vermont, praying to be paid the amount of depreciation of continental money, received by him in the Revolutionary war, for supplies furnished the army, which petition was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

Mr. Dorsey presented a petition of Charles I. Catlett, of the District of Columbia, praying to be paid for a quantity of tobacco, taken by an officer in the late war with Great Britain, for the purpose of making a military breast-work of the same.

Mr. Philip P. Barbour presented a petition of Samuel Phillips, of the State of Virginia. praying to be paid for a vessel captured by the British forces in the late war.

Mr. Wickliffe presented a petition of Nathaniel B. Wood, of the State of Kentucky, praying payment for his services as an Army Commissary in the late war with Great Britain.

Mr. Whittlesey presented a memorial of William Otis, formerly Collector of the Customs for the District of Barnstable, in the State of Massachusetts, praying for a settlement of his claims on the Government on principles of equity.

Ordered, That these petitions and memorials be referred to the Committee of Claims.

On motion of Mr. Keese,

Ordered, That the petition of King and Thirber, presented on the 28th February, 1821, be referred to the Committee of Claims.

On motion of Mr. Taliaferro,

Ordered, That the petition of John McCarty, presented on the 15th January, 1827, and the petition of Baldwin M Leland, presented on the 17th March, 1828, be referred to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. Tracy presented a petition of inhabitants of the towns of Orangeville and Wethersfield, in the county of Genesee, in the State of New York; Mr. Maxwell presented a petition of inhabitants of the counties of Harrison and Lewis, in the State of Virginia;

Mr. Vinton presented a petition of inhabitants of the counties of Sciota and Gallia, in the State of Ohio;

severally and respectively praying for the establishment of post routes. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads.

Mr. Mercer presented a memorial of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, praying that provision may be made for the extension of branches from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to the Navy Yard in the city of Washington, and to the city of Alexandria.

Mr. Mercer also presented a memorial of the Common Council of the city of Alexandria, praying for the extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to that city.

Ordered, That these memorials be referred to the Committee on Roads and Canals.

Mr. Bates, of Missouri, presented a memorial of the Board of Trustees of Public Schools, in the town of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, praying that certain public lots in that town may be vested in said Trustees.

Mr. Bates also presented a petition of Peter P. M'Cormick, praying to be confirmed in his title to a tract of land in the State of Missouri.

Ordered, That these petitions be referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims.

Mr. White presented a petition of John C. Montford, of Florida, praying that the money paid for a tract of land by him, entered at a land of fice in that Territory, may be refunded, an error having been committed in making said entry; which petition was referred to the Committee on the Public Lands.

On motion of Mr. Sawyer,

Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce be instructed to inquire into the expediency of abolishing the office of Surveyor of the port of Hertford, in the State of North Carolina.

On motion of Mr. Wright, of Ohio,

Resolved. That the Committee on the Public Lands be instructed to inquire into the expediency of extending the benefits of the act of Congress of the 23d of May, 1828, entitled "An act for the relief of purchasers of public lands that have reverted for non-payment of the purchase money," to those purchasers that have relinquished tracts of land in payment, on which greater sums had been paid than the sum due the United States, for the payment of which they were relinquished.

Mr. McHatton moved the following resolution, which was read, and laid on the table, viz :

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to inform this House, whether, by virtue of a resolution passed on the 10th day of May last, he has entered into any, and, if any, what negociation, with the British Government, relative to the surrender of fugitive slaves, who may have taken refuge within the Canadian provinces belonging to said Government.

Mr. Long moved the following resolution, viz:

Resolved, That the Committee on Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expediency of reducing the duty on molasses and salt. And on the question to agree to this resolution,

It was decided in the negative.

Mr. Sprague moved the following resolution, which was read, and laid on the table, viz :

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to inform this House what progress has been made in opening a military road from the mouth of the Matanawcook river to Mars Hill, in the State of Maine ; and, also, to commmunicate the reports which have been made by the officers who have been employed in that service.

On motion of Mr. Duncan,

Resolved. That the Committee on Roads and Canals, to which was referred a resolution directing them to inquire into the expediency of opening and improving the Cumberland road, eighty feet wide, from Zanesville, in Ohio, through the State of Indiana. &c., be also instructed to inquire into the propriety of opening said road, through the State of Illinois, to the Mississippi river, and of making an immediate appropriation for the purpose.

Mr. Stewart moved the following resolution, which was read, and laid on the table, viz :

Resolved, That the Committee on Roads and Canals be instructed to inquire into the expediency of adopting a permanent system for the preservation and repair of the National Road, leading from Cumberland, in the State of Maryland, to the seat of Government, in the State of Missouri.

On motion of Mr. King,

Resolved, That the Committee on Military Pensions be instructed to inquire into the expediency of restoring the name of Jacob Cramer to the pension roll.

Mr. Wing moved the following resolution, which was read, and laid on the table, viz:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be instructed to report to this House such procedings as may have been had relative to the defence of the northwestern frontier,. in conformity with the act of Congress of the