Kitabı oku: «Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (4 of 16 vol.)», sayfa 111

Thursday, April 9

Importation of British Goods

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill to authorize the importation of goods, wares, and merchandise, under certain circumstances, from Great Britain, her colonies or dependencies.

Removal of Federal Judges on Address of Congress

AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

Mr. McKim offered to the House the following resolution, premising that he had been particularly induced to offer it, by considerations resulting from the present state of things in the State of New York, arising from the disability of the District Judge, by which upwards of seven hundred suits were kept in suspense, to the great injury of individuals and prejudice of the Government. In order to remedy that difficulty, a bill had passed both Houses, which had been returned by the President as objectionable on constitutional grounds. It had been pronounced on this floor, by a respectable law authority, that if that bill was rejected there was no other remedy. He, therefore, had been induced to offer the following resolution:

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: (two-thirds of both Houses concurring,) That the following section be submitted to the Legislatures of the several States, which, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the States, shall be valid and binding as a part of the Constitution of the United States:

"Resolved, That the Judges of the Supreme and Inferior Courts may be removed from office, on the joint address of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States."

The resolution was ordered to lie on the table, and to be printed – 44 to 33.

Louisiana Lead Company

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill to incorporate Moses Austin, Henry Austin, John R. Jones and others, in the Territory of Louisiana, by the name of the Lead Company of Louisiana. After considerable debate, the first section of the bill was stricken out, on motion of Mr. Troup. The question on concurrence with the committee was decided by yeas and nays. For concurrence 46, against concurrence 43.

And so the said bill was rejected.

Tuesday, April 14

Cumberland Road

Mr. Morrow, from the committee to whom was referred the Message of the President of the United States, of the 1st ultimo, transmitting a report and letter concerning the proceedings under the act, entitled "An act to regulate the laying out and making a road from Cumberland, in the State of Maryland, to the State of Ohio," and also a petition from a number of the inhabitants of the western counties of the State of Pennsylvania, praying that an appropriation may be made for the purpose of erecting a bridge over the Youghiogany at the place where the new road crosses the said river, made the following report:

That two subjects are suggested by the said Message, which require Legislative provision, viz: the appropriation of $30,000 for completing the said road to Tomlinson's, where the old and new roads meet, and the granting authority to levy toll sufficient to keep the said road in repair.

The reasons assigned in favor of such provisions, by the report and letter communicated by the Message, are, in the opinion of the committee, sufficient to show the expediency of the measure; they therefore refer the House to these documents.

It is proper, however, to state that the appropriations already made for the objects have exceeded the moneys produced by the fund pledged to defray the expense of the said road, which will appear by a letter from the Treasury Department, accompanying this report. That circumstance, as also the present state of the public finances, the necessity arising out of the existing crisis in the national concerns, for applying the public resources to objects of security and defence, have been duly considered; and whatever ground of objection to the proposed measure these considerations may afford, the committee are of opinion, nevertheless, that the advantages the public would derive from an immediate extension of the new road to where it will intersect with the old, are sufficient to justify the appropriation.

They are of opinion, that an appropriation for erecting a bridge over the Youghiogany River would be improper at this time, because, by law, the superintendent, in making the road, has power to deviate from the original survey, only that the road shall pass through the principal points established. If, then, a bridge should be erected over the said river, that place must necessarily become fixed as a point to which the road must lead, and being many miles in advance of the parts of the road contracted for, might prove inconvenient in the further prosecution of the work.

The committee respectfully submit the following resolutions:

Resolved, That $30,000, in addition to the sums heretofore appropriated, and reimbursable by the same fund, shall be appropriated for making the road leading from Cumberland to Brownsville.

Resolved, That provision be made for the levying of toll sufficient to keep the same in repair.

Resolved, That it is inexpedient to appropriate money for erecting a bridge over Youghiogany River on the said road.

The report was referred to a Committee of the Whole on Thursday next.

Monday, April 20

Death of the Vice President

A message was received from the Senate, announcing the death of the Vice President of the United States, and the resolution they had adopted.

The House agreed to consider the joint resolution as above stated.

Mr. Tallmadge said, it was assuredly not from any want of respect to the memory of the patriot deceased, that some member from the State of New York did not on this occasion address the Chair. At their request, and being himself a native citizen of the State of New York, and having served particularly and on honorable occasions in the Revolutionary war with the gentleman whose death was now announced; having long known his services and merits as a soldier and statesman, he took the liberty, in behalf of the delegation from New York, to move a concurrence in the resolution of the Senate.

The House unanimously concurred; and Messrs. Tallmadge, Mitchill, Gold, Stow, and Macon, were appointed a committee on their part to act with the committee of the Senate.

And the House adjourned, to meet at nine o'clock to-morrow, to receive the report of the joint committee on the subject.

Tuesday, April 21

On motion of Mr. Tallmadge,

Resolved, unanimously, That from an unfeigned respect to the late George Clinton, Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate, the Speaker's chair be shrouded with black during the present session: And, as a further testimony of respect for the memory of the deceased, the members will go into mourning, and wear black crape on the left arm for thirty days.

On motion of Mr. Tallmadge,

Resolved, unanimously, That the members of this House will attend the funeral of George Clinton, deceased, the Vice President of the United States, to-day at four o'clock.

And the House adjourned.²⁷

Friday, April 24

Corps of Engineers

The House resumed the consideration of the bill making further provision for the corps of Engineers, which had been amended in Committee of the Whole, so as to authorize the appropriation therein made to be disbursed "at such place as may be designated by the President of the United States for that purpose."

Mr. Gold spoke against a concurrence in this amendment at some length, and was followed on the same side by Mr. Smilie and Mr. Widgery; to whom Mr. Key, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Wright replied.

The discussion principally involved the respective merits of West Point and Washington City (to which place it was supposed, probably, that the Executive might deem it expedient to remove the Academy) as proper sites for a Military Academy. The question on the amendment was decided by yeas and nays. For the amendment 63, against the amendment 56.

Mr. W. Alston moved an amendment contemplating the establishment of the Academy at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, a place which he stated to be more eligible, in point of economy, convenience, and comfort, than West Point.

Mr. Gold opposed the motion.

A motion was made by Mr. Little to recommit the bill, and negatived.

Mr. Findlay spoke in favor of the motion.

Mr. Baker suggested the propriety of locating the Academy at Harper's Ferry; and because, if the Academy must be removed, he thought Harper's Ferry preferable to Carlisle, he should vote against the motion.

Mr. Rhea made a motion which he said would put an end to all these propositions to amend the bill, viz: to postpone the bill indefinitely. The motion was negatived – yeas 32.

The question was then taken – "Shall the amendments be engrossed, and, together with the bill, be read a third time?" and decided in the affirmative.

Wednesday, April 29

Relief of Caraccas, &c

Mr. Macon submitted for consideration the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to report a bill authorizing the President of the United States to cause to be purchased – barrels of flour, and to have the same exported to some port in Caraccas, for the use of the inhabitants who have suffered by the earthquake; and also authorizing him to cause to be purchased – barrels of flour, and to have the same exported to some port in Teneriffe for the use of the inhabitants who are likely to starve by the ravages of locusts."

To the adoption of the first clause of this resolution, there was no objection made by any one; but a desultory debate took place on incidental points and on the merits of the last clause.

Mr. Randolph made a speech of some length in favor of the object of the proposed resolution, but going to show that the aid the Government could afford would be ineffectual to relieve famine, if it existed; and that unquestionably the most effectual relief that could be afforded on our part to the wretched and unfortunate people of Caraccas would be a suspension, as to them, of our restrictive system. He, therefore, moved to amend the resolution by adding to the end of it the words "and to authorize vessels laden with provisions to clear out for any port of the aforesaid country."

Mr. Calhoun expressed his regret that this proposition to aid the cause of humanity could not be permitted to pass without the intermixture of party feelings, which the motion and speech of the gentleman from Virginia, he thought, were calculated to excite. He was opposed to the amendment, which he conceived would virtually repeal the embargo, and he hoped, as there could be no probability of adopting it, he would withdraw it. Mr. C. said he had doubts about the latter clause of the resolution; because, as to the distress at Teneriffe, the House had no other information than a newspaper report, whilst of the scarcity of provisions at Caraccas they had accurate information.

Mr. Randolph defended himself against the imputation of a desire to excite party feelings, &c., and declined withdrawing his amendment, because he believed its adoption to be essential to the accomplishment of the object of the original motion. He also made a number of observations on the impatience which gentlemen of the minority were listened to in the House, and the frequent interruptions they were in the habit of meeting with, &c.

Mr. Macon spoke against the amendment, which, if adopted, would compel him to vote against his own motion. The restrictive system, he said, would not be of long duration, and, when it expired, provisions in plenty might be exported to South America and elsewhere; so that there was very little necessity for suspending the embargo law, which was only adopted preparatory to a different state of things. The clause in the resolution relating to Teneriffe, he said, had been added at the suggestion of another member.

Mr. Calhoun again spoke against the amendment, and in reply to Mr. Randolph's imputation of intolerance to the minority. This course of discussion he deprecated, as not comporting with the sacred cause of distant and oppressed humanity, &c.

Mr. Smiles made some remarks in reply to an observation of Mr. Randolph, that the donation by the British Parliament of a hundred thousand pounds to the sufferers by an earthquake in Portugal, some years ago, was an act almost sufficient to purchase absolution for all the sins of that Government. Mr. S. cited instances of similar conduct in this country, in much smaller communities; and expressed his regret that gentlemen chose to appreciate every act of other Governments, without allowing merit to their own for acts much more praiseworthy.

The question on Mr. Randolph's motion to amend, was negatived – yeas 30, nays 74.

Mr. Blackledge proposed to add "corn and rice" to the flour to be exported.

Mr. Macon thereon modified his resolution so as to authorize the exportation of "provisions," instead of "flour," which would include all descriptions of breadstuff.

The question was taken on the first clause of the resolution, viz: so much as relates to Caraccas, and carried unanimously.

The question was taken on the remainder of the resolution, viz: so much as relates to Teneriffe, and negatived – for its adoption 47, against it 57.

So it was Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to report a bill authorizing the President of the United States to cause to be purchased – barrels of provisions, and have the same exported to some port in Caraccas, for the use of the inhabitants who have suffered by the earthquake.

Mr. Randolph adverted to the uncertainty as to the fact, which he supposed had caused the rejection of the clause of the resolution relating to Teneriffe, and offered the following resolution, in a form calculated to produce the proper inquiry:

"Resolved, That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire whether any, and what relief ought to be extended to the inhabitants of the Canary Islands, who are suffering by famine occasioned by locusts."

Mr. Newton said, as this motion only proposed inquiry, and was not, like the other, peremptory, he hoped it would pass.

And the resolution was agreed to.

Monday, May 4

Relief for Venezuela

On motion of Mr. Newton, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for the relief of the inhabitants of Venezuela.

[The bill authorizes the President to cause to be exported such quantity of provision as he may think proper, for the relief of the inhabitants of Venezuela, suffering by the effects of an earthquake.]

Mr. Newton proposed to fill the blank for the appropriation with the sum of $30,000.

Mr. Pitkin inquired for the official information, which might have been laid before the committee, on the subject of the distress existing at Caraccas.

Mr. Newton, in reply, said, that there were many private letters in confirmation of the facts, and also a letter from our Consul, &c. Some of which were read.

Mr. Calhoun moved to fill the blank with fifty thousand dollars, which he thought would be little enough to effect the object in view.

The question on the latter motion was decided in the affirmative, 45 to 29.

The committee rose, and reported the bill; which was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading this day, which was subsequently done, and the bill passed.

Wednesday, May 13

Recall of Absentees

Mr. Williams said he rose to make a motion, the object of which was in itself so clear, that he believed there was no necessity for illustrating it. There was but one objection that he was aware of, and that was, that there was no precedent for it; but if that should be urged, he would reply that there never was before a crisis requiring it. The motion was —

Resolved, That the Speaker be directed to address a letter to each member of the House now absent, requesting his attendance prior to the first day of June.

Mr. Grundy, said the object of the motion, no doubt, was a correct one. He should, therefore, vote for the motion as it now stood, but would prefer a modification of it. On what particular day it would be proper to have every member in his place, could not be foreseen with certainty by any one. To fix on a day, however, would be as much as to tell the members we do not want them earlier, and would put it out of our power to act prior to that day. But, on the other hand, should we not be ready to act on that day, is it not pledging ourselves that we will then act, whether we are ready or not? It would be as well to request the attendance of members immediately, and then we shall not stand committed either to act on or before that day. He hoped there would not be an absent man on the occasion of voting the final measure; though he should consider such a vote as a completion of what was already begun, and not a determination of the course to be pursued, which question he considered as decided in the anterior measures already adopted.

Mr. Roberts said the call of the House met his perfect approbation; but, in its present form, he should be constrained to vote against it. He was not afraid that it would be considered a pledge to act on a certain day; but the members near home, after it was passed, would take the opportunity of the interval to visit their homes, and leave the House without a quorum. He, therefore, moved to amend the resolution, so as to request the attendance of the members forthwith.

This motion was agreed to – ayes 47.

After some objections by Mr. Stanford to the phraseology of the resolution, it was passed without a division, there not being more perhaps than five dissenting voices.

Friday, May 22

Judge Toulmin

Mr. Poindexter, from the select committee, made the following report:

The committee to whom was referred the letter of Cowles Mead, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory, enclosing a presentment of the Grand Jury of Baldwin county, in said Territory, complaining of the conduct of Harry Toulmin, Judge of the District of Washington, in said Territory, beg leave to submit the following report:

That the charges contained in the presentment aforesaid, have not been supported by evidence; and from the best information your committee have been enabled to obtain on the subject, it appears that the official conduct of Judge Toulmin has been characterized by a vigilant attention to the duties of his station, and an inflexible zeal for the preservation of the public peace and tranquillity of the country over which his judicial authority extends. They therefore recommend the following resolution:

"Resolved, That it is unnecessary to take any further proceeding on the presentment of the Grand Jury of Baldwin county, in the Mississippi Territory, against Judge Toulmin."

The report was read and concurred in.

Wednesday, May 27

Renewal of Whitney's Patent Right to the Cotton Gin Invention

The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill "for the relief of Eli Whitney."

Mr. Bibb avowed his opposition to the principle and details of the bill, and moved to strike out as much as provided for renewing Whitney's patent right to the machine for ginning cotton. Mr. B. said, that, although the bill assumed the character of a private act, it involved considerations of great national concernment. If, sir, said he, the committee will take the trouble to consider it attentively, in all its relations, I am persuaded the motion submitted will not have been made in vain. The object of granting patents is clearly defined by the constitution to be the promotion of science and useful arts. The effect of such promotion is obviously the advancement of public improvement and prosperity. All the authority which Congress possesses over this subject, is derived from the following provision: "Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Here are two distinct propositions: 1. The delegation of power to promote science and useful arts; 2. And a description of the mean authorized to be employed. The benefit proposed to inventors is evidently not the object in view, but the mean whereby the end may be accomplished; it is the incitement offered to genius and talent, for the purpose of general advantage; it is the price paid by the people of the United States for the disclosure of useful inventions. To legislate, therefore, correctly, on the subject, it is indispensable that this distinction between the mean and the object should be kept constantly in view. So long as patents are granted for the promotion of science and useful arts, the intent and meaning of the constitution are fairly pursued; but whenever they are allowed with any other view, there is a manifest departure from the limit of authority to which Congress is confined. Sir, the framers of the constitution were sensible that monopolies were odious every where, and that they would be particularly so to the people of this country. Hence the limitation imposed, which permits monopolies only in an expressly-defined case, and for a limited time. The constitution declares, that "all powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people." It is also the rule of construction, universally admitted, that the enumeration of powers excludes all powers not enumerated. I maintain, then, that the constitution having clearly designated the object for which, and the parties to whom, exclusive rights may be granted, for limited times, Congress is restrained within those precise bounds. If there can be a legitimate departure from them in one case, the restraint becomes wholly nugatory. The doctrine which deprives Congress of the power to establish banking monopolies, equally forbids them in every case, and for every purpose, other than those specified in the clause to which I have adverted.

If, therefore, I establish the position that the proposed renewal of Whitney's patent is neither intended nor calculated to promote science or useful arts, I shall have succeeded in showing that this bill ought to be rejected.

Permit me to inquire, in the first place, how the object of the constitution may be attained? By pursuing the principle which has heretofore governed the Legislature. The statute securing patent rights must be general in its application, holding out inducements to the inventive faculties of all, and prospective in its operation. It must grant monopolies for a limited time to future and not past discoveries. The term during which the exclusive rights shall continue, should be sufficiently long to afford the necessary incitement to the exertions of genius, to promise an adequate reward for the labor of invention. Whether fourteen years, as now fixed by law, be the proper term, is a question on which gentlemen may rationally differ in opinion. It is worthy of remark, however, that under the existing statute, the progress of invention in the useful arts has been more rapid in the United States than in any other country on the globe. Still, if necessary, Congress is competent to extend by a general provision exclusive rights to future inventors for a longer time; but the renewal of a patent for a discovery already made and in use, stands on distinct grounds. In the one case, the progress of science and useful arts (the object for which alone patents are constitutional) would probably be promoted; but in the other, the invention being already made and disclosed, public improvement cannot possibly be advanced by taking away its benefit from the community. Is the object of this bill to promote science or the useful arts? The candor of its advocates will answer the question in the negative. It is to promote the interests of Mr. Whitney at the public expense – to convert the mean prescribed by the constitution into the end. If the renewal of a patent in a special case would furnish an adequate stimulus to the exertions of other ingenious men, it might be urged with some appearance of plausibility; but no man will assert that one or two accidental cases of this sort, out of the many thousand patents which are issued, would have any influence on the expectations of others. It follows, therefore, that the passage of the present bill will be a departure from the intent and meaning of that instrument, which is the fountain of our authority.

Sir, there is another view of this subject in relation to policy, to which I beg leave to ask the attention of the committee. In this widely-extended country, the pursuits of the people are various and diversified. In one section cotton is cultivated, in another hemp, and in a third wheat. Suppose patents are obtained for valuable improvements relative to these articles, either in the instruments of cultivation or of preparation for market. The patentees are entitled by law to exclusive rights for fourteen years. For the improvement concerning the article of cotton only, the patent is extended to twenty-one or twenty-eight years, as now proposed, while exclusive rights to the other inventions are permitted to expire. What is the consequence? The people of one section of the Union are subjected in their pursuits to the privations incident to monopolies, for that term; while those of another section similarly situated are exempted from all restraint at the expiration of the first patent. I appeal to the candor and magnanimity of this assembly to determine whether such a course of proceeding be not manifestly unjust, and utterly incompatible with that equality of rights guarantied to the respective States. The constitution imposes uniformity of taxation for the purpose of avoiding the injustice and oppression towards particular States, which the extension of patent rights, in special cases, is calculated to produce. The fact cannot be disguised, that the operation of this bill will be to levy a tax on the people of Georgia, the Mississippi and Louisiana Territories alone; and if it passes, it will be owing to that circumstance. I know enough of human nature, and have seen much in the course of my acquaintance with legislative proceedings, to satisfy my mind, that if cotton were cultivated in a few large States, this bill would certainly be rejected. Does any man believe that if the large States of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, were concerned in this thing, as are those portions of the Southern country I have mentioned, the application of Mr. Whitney for a renewal of his monopoly would be successful? No, sir; and I urge this consideration for the purpose of showing the impolicy of extending patents in special cases, inasmuch as it puts it in the power of Congress by such a regulation to give a preference to one section of the Union over another, and because the power will never be exercised in cases affecting a particular and comparatively small portion of the community. Enact a general law on the subject of patents – make what provision you please in relation to future discoveries, and none can complain. Whether improvements shall be made interesting to this, that, or the other section of the nation, will be left to chance; when made, the monopolies will be equal in their duration, and all will be equally exempt from partiality or oppression.

There is another aspect, Mr. Chairman, in which the provisions of the bill now before the committee are manifestly unjust. The Legislatures of Tennessee and the two Carolinas purchased, during the term of Whitney's late patent, the right of using in those States his invention for ginning cotton. The fact will not be denied, that the price paid was proportionate to the extent of time for which the patentee held the exclusive right. Now it is proposed to re-grant to Whitney the monopoly for an additional term of years, so far as relates to my constituents, while the three States I have mentioned are expressly exempted from its operations. It is true, the Legislature of Georgia did not enter into any arrangements with the patentee on the subject, but it will be perceived that all persons who erected machines without permission, during the fourteen years, are left by the bill subject to prosecution. The effect, therefore, will be to impose a restraint relative to the same object on one State for twenty-one or twenty-eight years, while other States are exempted at the expiration of half that term. I know, sir, that unfavorable impressions exist on the minds of many gentlemen concerning the conduct of Georgia in this affair; and I fear they may have much influence on the decision of the question. Whether the Legislature ought or ought not to have followed the example of the legislatures of other States, is a question which belongs exclusively to that body to determine. Your patent law imposed no obligation on the subject, and they had the right to do so or not, as they pleased. Having done nothing which they had not a right to do, and omitted nothing which they had not the right to omit, I cannot consent to any unauthorized control of this House over their proceedings. That Mr. Whitney's invention has been highly important to the Southern country I freely admit, and that he deserves much for his useful labors, none can deny; but, if the conduct of Georgia has not been so liberal towards him as some gentlemen think it ought to have been, an apology may be found in the resentment which his conduct was calculated to excite. When his machine was first erected in Georgia, as I have understood, he refused to sell his patent right upon any terms or for any price. It was determined to monopolize every pound of cotton at an enormous premium, and arrangements were made for that purpose. To that circumstance, and the opinion which prevailed, that the invention was not new, is to be attributed the course of proceeding, now made the subject of complaint. The imprudence of Mr. Whitney, or, perhaps, of his partner, could not fail to have produced feelings of resentment rather than of liberality towards them. I repeat, however, that the conduct of Georgia has no connection with the present question. The United States never guarantied to any patentee the receipt of any given sum for his invention, nor gave any pledge that his exclusive right should in no instance be violated. They have enacted laws for the security of patentees, provided a remedy for violations of their rights in all cases, and a tribunal before which that remedy may be sought. To that tribunal – the courts of the United States – Mr. Whitney should be referred for redress. This is not a time for exciting State jealousies and individual resentments among ourselves. Policy, and that conciliatory spirit which ought to guide our deliberations, unite in prescribing a different course, and I do trust that prescription will not be disregarded on the present occasion.