SECOND CONGRESS.—FIRST SESSION.

HELD AT THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER 24, 1791, TO MAY 8, 1792.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

SENATORS.

New Hampshire.—John Langdon, Paine Wingate.

Vermont.—S. R. Bradley, Moses Robinson.

Massachusetts.—George Cabot, Caleb Strong.

Rhode Island.—Theodore Foster, Joseph Stanton.

Connecticut.—Oliver Ellsworth, Roger Sherman.

New York.—Aaron Burr, Rufus King.

New Jersey.—Philemon Dickinson, John Rutherford.

Pennsylvania.—Robert Morris, James Ross.

Delaware.—Richard Bassett, George Read.

Maryland.—Charles Carroll, John Henry.

Virginia.—Richard H. Lee, James Monroe.

North Carolina.—Benjamin Hawkins, Samuel Johnston.

South Carolina.—Pierce Butler, Ralph Izard.

Georgia.—William Few, James Gunn.

REPRESENTATIVES.

New Hampshire.—Nicholas Gilman, S. Livermore, Jeremiah Smith.

Vermont.—Nathaniel Niles, Israel Smith.

Massachusetts.—Fisher Ames, S. Bourne, Elbridge Gerry, Benjamin Goodhue, George Leonard, T. Sedgwick, George Thatcher, Artemas Ward.

Rhode Island.—Benjamin Bourne.

Connecticut.—James Hillhouse, Amasa Learned, Jonathan Sturges, Jonathan Trumbull, Jeremiah Wadsworth.

New York.—Egbert Benson, James Gordon, John Laurance, C. C. Schoonmaker, Peter Sylvester, T. Tredwell.

New Jersey.—Elias Boudinot, Jonathan Dayton, Aaron Kitchell.

Pennsylvania.—William Findlay, Thomas Fitzsimons, Andrew Gregg, Thomas Hartley, Daniel Heister, Israel Jacobs, John W. Kittera, Frederick A. Muhlenberg.

Delaware.—John Vining.

Maryland.—Philip Key, William Pinkney, Joshua Seney, Updine Sheredine, Samuel Sterrett, William Vans Murray.

Virginia.—John Browne, William B. Giles, Samuel Griffin, Richard Bland Lee, James Madison, Andrew Moore, John Page, Josiah Parker, A. B. Venable, Alexander White.

North Carolina.—John B. Ashe, Timothy Bloodworth, William B. Grove, Nathaniel Macon, John Sevier, John Steele, Hugh Williamson.

South Carolina.—Robert Barnwell, Daniel Huger, William Smith, Thomas Sumter, Thomas Tudor Tucker.

Georgia.—Abraham Baldwin, Anthony Wayne, Francis Willis.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.

Monday, October 24, 1791.

This being the day fixed by law for the annual meeting of Congress, at the first session of the second Congress, the following members of the Senate appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats:

John Adams, Vice President and President of the Senate.

John Langdon and Paine Wingate, from New Hampshire.

Caleb Strong and George Cabot, from Massachusetts.

Theodore Foster and Joseph Stanton, jr., from Rhode Island.

Roger Sherman, from Connecticut, in the place of William S. Johnson, resigned.

Aaron Burr, from New York.

Philemon Dickinson and John Rutherford, from New Jersey.

Robert Morris, from Pennsylvania.

George Read, from Delaware.

Samuel Johnston and Benjamin Hawkins, from North Carolina.

Pierce Butler and Ralph Izard, from South Carolina; and

William Few, from Georgia.

Ordered, That Messrs. Butler, Morris, and Dickinson, be a committee to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make to them.

Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business; and that they have notified the President of the United States that they are ready to receive such communications as he may be pleased to make to them.

Mr. Izard, from the joint committee appointed to wait on the President of the United States, agreeably to the resolution of the two Houses, of this day, reported that they had executed the business, and that the President of the United States proposed to-morrow, at 12 o'clock, to meet the two Houses of Congress in the Senate Chamber.

Tuesday, October 25.

Ordered, That the Secretary inform the House of Representatives that the Senate are ready to meet them in the Senate Chamber, to receive any communications the President of the United States may be pleased to make to the two Houses of Congress; and that the usual seats will be assigned them.

The House of Representatives having accordingly taken their seats, the President of the United States came into the Senate Chamber, and addressed both Houses of Congress as followeth:[39]

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:

I meet you upon the present occasion with the feelings which are naturally inspired by a strong impression of the prosperous situation of our common country, and by a persuasion, equally strong, that the labors of the session which has just commenced will, under the guidance of a spirit no less prudent than patriotic, issue in measures conducive to the stability and increase of national prosperity.

Numerous as are the Providential blessings which demand our grateful acknowledgments, the abundance with which another year has again rewarded the industry of the husbandman is too important to escape recollection.

Your own observations in your respective situations will have satisfied you of the progressive state of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation. In tracing their causes, you will have remarked, with particular pleasure, the happy effects of that revival of confidence, public as well as private, to which the Constitution and laws of the United States have so eminently contributed; and you will have observed, with no less interest, new and decisive proofs of the increasing reputation and credit of the nation. But you, nevertheless, cannot fail to derive satisfaction from the confirmation of these circumstances, which will be disclosed in the several official communications that will be made to you in the course of your deliberations.

The rapid subscriptions to the Bank of the United States, which completed the sum allowed to be subscribed in a single day, is among the striking and pleasing evidences which present themselves, not only of confidence in the Government, but of resource in the community.

In the interval of your recess, due attention has been paid to the execution of the different objects which were specially provided for by the laws and resolutions of the last session.

Among the most important of these, is the defence and security of the Western frontiers. To accomplish it on the most humane principles was a primary wish.

Accordingly, at the same time that treaties have been provisionally concluded, and other proper means used to attach the wavering, and to confirm in their friendship the well-disposed tribes of Indians, effectual measures have been adopted to make those of a hostile description sensible that a pacification was desired upon terms of moderation and justice.

These measures having proved unsuccessful, it became necessary to convince the refractory of the power of the United States to punish their depredations. Offensive operations have therefore been directed, to be conducted, however, as consistently as possible with the dictates of humanity. Some of these have been crowned with full success, and others are yet depending. The expeditions which have been completed were carried on under the authority, and at the expense, of the United States, by the militia of Kentucky; whose enterprise, intrepidity, and good conduct are entitled to peculiar commendation.

Overtures of peace are still continued to the deluded tribes, and considerable numbers of individuals belonging to them have lately renounced all further opposition, removed from their former situations, and placed themselves under the immediate protection of the United States.

It is sincerely to be desired, that all need of coercion in future may cease; and that an intimate intercourse may succeed, calculated to advance the happiness of the Indians, and to attach them firmly to the United States.

In order to this, it seems necessary—

That they should experience the benefits of an impartial dispensation of justice.

That the mode of alienating their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate imposition, and, as far as may be practicable, controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made.

That commerce with them should be promoted under regulations tending to secure an equitable deportment towards them, and that such rational experiments should be made, for imparting to them the blessings of civilization, as may from time to time suit their condition.

That the Executive of the United States should be enabled to employ the means to which the Indians have been long accustomed for uniting their immediate interests with the preservation of peace.

And that efficacious provision should be made for inflicting adequate penalties upon all those who, by violating their rights, shall infringe the treaties, and endanger the peace of the Union.

A system corresponding with the mild principles of religion and philanthropy towards an unenlightened race of men, whose happiness materially depends on the conduct of the United States, would be as honorable to the national character as conformable to the dictates of sound policy.

Pursuant to the authority contained in the several acts on that subject, a district of ten miles square, for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States, has been fixed, and announced by proclamation; which district will comprehend lands on both sides of the river Potomac, and the towns of Alexandria and Georgetown. A city has also been laid out, agreeably to a plan which will be placed before Congress. And, as there is a prospect, favored by the rate of sales which have already taken place, of ample funds for carrying on the necessary public buildings, there is every expectation of their due progress.

The completion of the census of the inhabitants, for which provision was made by law, has been duly notified, (excepting one instance in which the return has been informal; and another, in which it has been omitted or miscarried,) and the returns of the officers who were charged with this duty, which will be laid before you, will give you the pleasing assurance, that the present population of the United States borders on four millions of persons.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

Two treaties which have been provisionally concluded with the Cherokees and Six Nations of Indians, will be laid before you for your consideration and ratification.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

In entering upon the discharge of your legislative trust, you must anticipate, with pleasure, that many of the difficulties, necessarily incident to the first arrangements of a new Government, for an extensive country, have been happily surmounted by the zealous and judicious exertions of your predecessors, in co-operation with the other branch of the Legislature. The important objects which remain to be accomplished, will, I am persuaded, be conducted upon principles equally comprehensive, and equally well calculated for the advancement of the general weal.

It is particularly pleasing to me to be able to announce to you that the revenues which have been established promise to be adequate to their objects, and maybe permitted, if no unforeseen exigency occurs, to supersede, for the present, the necessity of any new burdens upon our constituents.[40]

An object which will claim your early attention is a provision for the current service of the ensuing year, together with such ascertained demands upon the Treasury as require to be immediately discharged, and such casualties as may have arisen in the execution of the public business, for which no specific appropriation may have yet been made; of all which a proper estimate will be laid before you.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:

I shall content myself with a general reference to former communications for several objects, upon which the urgency of other affairs has hitherto postponed any definitive resolution. Their importance will recall them to your attention; and, I trust that the progress already made in the most arduous arrangements of the Government will afford you leisure to resume them with advantage.

There are, however, some of them of which I cannot forbear a more particular mention. These are: the Militia, the Post Office and Post Roads, the Mint, Weights and Measures, and a provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States.

The disorders in the existing currency, and especially the scarcity of small change, a scarcity so peculiarly distressing to the poorer classes, strongly recommend the carrying into immediate effect the resolution already entered into concerning the establishment of a Mint. Measures have been taken pursuant to that resolution for procuring some of the most necessary artists, together with the requisite apparatus.

A provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States is particularly urged, among other reasons, by the important considerations, that they are pledged as a fund for reimbursing the public debt; that, if timely and judiciously applied, they may save the necessity of burthening our citizens with new taxes for the extinguishment of the principal; and that, being free to discharge the principal but in a limited proportion, no opportunity ought to be lost for availing the public of its right.

G. WASHINGTON.

United States, October 25, 1791.

The President of the United States having retired, and the two Houses being separated,

Ordered, That Messrs. Burr, Cabot, and Johnston, be a committee to prepare and report the draft of an Address to the President of the United States, in answer to his Speech delivered this day to both Houses of Congress.

Ordered, That the Speech of the President of the United States, delivered this day, be printed for the use of the Senate.

Wednesday, October 26.

Rufus King, from the State of New York, and John Henry, from the State of Maryland, attended.

Thursday, October 27.

The following message was received from the President of the United States:

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I lay before you a copy of a letter, and of sundry documents, which I have received from the Governor of Pennsylvania, respecting certain persons who are said to have fled from justice out of the State of Pennsylvania, into that of Virginia; together with a report of the Attorney General of the United States upon the same subject.

I have received from the Governor of North Carolina a copy of an Act of the General Assembly of that State, authorizing him to convey to the United States the right and jurisdiction of the said State over one acre of land in Ocracock Island, and ten acres on the Cape Island, within the said State, for the purpose of erecting light-houses thereon, together with the deed of the Governor, in pursuance thereof, and the original conveyances made to the State by the individual proprietors, which original conveyances contain conditions that the light-house on Ocracock shall be built before the first day of January, 1801, and that on the Cape Island, before the eighth day of October, 1800. And I have caused these several papers to be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.

A statement of the Returns of the Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States, which have been received, will at this time be laid before you.

G. WASHINGTON.

United States, October 27, 1791.

Mr. Burr reported, from the committee appointed to prepare an Address to the President of the United States, in answer to his Speech to both. Houses of Congress at the opening of the session.

Ordered, That to-morrow be assigned to take the report into consideration.

Friday, October 28.

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Senate proceeded to take into consideration the Address reported by the committee, in answer to the Speech of the President of the United States, on the 24th instant, to both Houses of Congress; which report was agreed to, as follows:

To the President of the United States:

Sir: The Senate of the United States have received with the highest satisfaction the assurances of public prosperity contained in your Speech to both Houses. The multiplied blessings of Providence have not escaped our notice, or failed to excite our gratitude.

The benefits which flow from the restoration of public and private confidence are conspicuous and important; and the pleasure with which we contemplate them is heightened by your assurance of those further communications which shall confirm their existence and indicate their source.

While we rejoice in the success of those military operations which have been directed against the hostile Indians, we lament with you the necessity that has produced them; and we participate the hope that the present prospect of a general peace, on terms of moderation and justice, may be wrought into complete and permanent effect; and that the measures of Government may equally embrace the security of our frontiers and the general interests of humanity. Our solicitude to obtain which, will insure our zealous attention to an object so warmly espoused by the principles of benevolence, and so highly interesting to the honor and welfare of the nation.

The several subjects which you have particularly recommended, and those which remain of former sessions, will engage our early consideration. We are encouraged to prosecute them with alacrity and steadiness, by the belief that they will interest no passion but that for the general welfare; by the assurance of concert, and by a view of those arduous and important arrangements which have been already accomplished.

We observe, sir, the constancy and activity of your zeal for the public good. The example will animate our efforts to promote the happiness of our country.

Ordered, That the Address to the President of the United States, in answer to his Speech, be presented by the Vice President, attended by the Senate; and that the committee which reported the Address wait on the President of the United States, and desire to be informed at what time and place he will receive the same.

Monday, October 31.

James Monroe, from the State of Virginia, attended, and took his seat.

Moses Robinson, from the State of Vermont, produced his credentials, and took his seat in the Senate.

Mr. Burr, from the committee appointed on the 28th to wait on the President of the United States, reported, that it would be agreeable to the President of the United States to receive the Address of the Senate, in answer to his Speech to both Houses of Congress, on Monday next at 12 o'clock.

Whereupon, the Senate waited on the President of the United States at his own house, and the Vice President, in their name, communicated to him the Address agreed to on the 28th instant, to which the President of the United States was pleased to make the following reply:

Gentlemen: This manifestation of your zeal for the honor and the happiness of our country derives its full value from the share which your deliberations have already had in promoting both.

I thank you for the favorable sentiments with which you view the part I have borne in the arduous trust committed to the Government of the United States; and desire you to be assured that all my zeal will continue to second those further efforts for the public good which are ensured by the spirit in which you are entering on the present session.

G. WASHINGTON.

The Senate returned to the Senate Chamber.

Friday, November 4.

Stephen R. Bradley, from the State of Vermont, appeared, produced his credentials, and took his seat.

Wednesday, November 9.

Oliver Ellsworth, from the State of Connecticut, attended, and took his seat.

Thursday, November 10.

James Gunn, from the State of Georgia, attended, and took his seat.

Friday, January 6.

Charles Carroll, from the State of Maryland, attended, and took his seat.

Monday, January 9.

Richard Bassett, from the State of Delaware, attended, and took his seat.

Monday, March 5.

The following Message was received from the President of the United States:

Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:

Knowing the friendly interest you take in whatever may promote the happiness and prosperity of the French nation, it is with pleasure that I lay before you the translation of a letter which I have received from his Most Christian Majesty, announcing to the United States of America his acceptance of the constitution presented to him in the name of his nation.

G. WASHINGTON.

United States, March 5, 1792.

[Translation.]

Very dear, Great Friends and Allies:

We make it our duty to inform you that we have accepted the constitution which has been presented to us in the name of the nation, and according to which France will be henceforth governed.

We do not doubt that you take an interest in an event so important to our kingdom, and to us; and that it is with real pleasure we take this occasion to renew to you assurances of the sincere friendship we bear you. Whereupon, we pray God to have you, very dear, great friends and allies, in his just and holy keeping.

Written at Paris, the 19th of September, 1791.

Your good friend and ally, LOUIS.

Montmorin.

The United States of North America.

Tuesday, March 13.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion made yesterday on the Message from the President of the United States, transmitting a copy of a letter from his Most Christian Majesty to the United States of America.

A motion was made and seconded to postpone this motion, in order to take up the following:

"Resolved, That the President of the United States be informed that the Senate have received with satisfaction the official intelligence that the King of the French has accepted the constitution presented to him by the National Assembly, and are highly gratified by every event that promotes the freedom and prosperity of the French nation and the happiness and glory of their King."

It passed in the negative; yeas 6, nays 21—as follows:

Yeas.—Messrs. Bassett, Cabot, Ellsworth, King, Strong, and Wingate.

Nays.—Messrs. Bradley, Burr, Butler, Carroll, Dickinson, Few, Foster, Gunn, Hawkins, Henry, Johnston, Izard, Langdon, Lee, Monroe, Morris, Read, Robinson, Rutherford, Stanton, and Sherman.

The original motion, being amended, was agreed to. Whereupon, it was

Resolved, That the President be requested to make known to the King of the French, that the Senate of the United States have received with the highest satisfaction the official communication of his acceptance of the constitution which, it is their earnest wish, may establish, on a solid basis, the freedom and prosperity of the French nation, and the happiness and glory of the Monarch presiding over it.

Wednesday, March 14.

Ordered, That the resolution of the Senate, on the Message of the President of the United States, enclosing the letter from his Most Christian Majesty, be signed by the Vice President, and laid before the President of the United States, by the Secretary.

Monday, March 26.

A motion was made by Mr. Monroe, seconded by Mr. Lee, as follows:

"Resolved, That it be a standing rule, that the doors of the Senate Chamber remain open whilst the Senate shall be sitting in their Legislative capacity, except on such occasions as in their judgment may require secrecy; and that this rule shall commence and be in force on the first day of the next session of Congress;" and it passed in the negative—yeas 8, nays 17, as follows:

Yeas.—Messrs. Butler, Carroll, Foster, Hawkins, Johnston, King, Lee, and Monroe.

Nays.—Messrs. Bassett, Bradley, Cabot, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Few, Gunn, Henry, Izard, Langdon, Read, Robinson, Rutherford, Sherman, Stanton, Strong, and Wingate.

Wednesday, April 18.

The Vice President being absent, the Senate proceeded to the election of a President pro tempore as the constitution provides, and the Hon. Richard Henry Lee was duly elected.

Ordered, That the Secretary wait on the President of the United States, and lay before him an attested copy of this proceeding, and that he notify the House of Representatives of the election of a President pro tempore.

Thursday, April 19.

Resolved, That the President pro tempore of the Senate, as a member, retain his right to vote upon all questions.

Tuesday Evening, May 8.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House of Representatives, having completed the business before them, are about to adjourn.

In conformity to the resolution of the 4th instant, the President pro tempore adjourned the Senate to the first Monday in November next, being the time appointed by law for the next annual meeting of Congress.