Mississippi Territory. make from five to eight hundred pounds weight to a hand; and, as I conceive we have as many black as white inhabitants, we cannot make much less than three millions of pounds of merchantable cotton, equal to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. We are able to raise, at a small expense, great quantities of pork; but the price, for three or four years' past, has not been more than three and a half dollars; consequently, little has been raised. Our soil and climate seems peculiarly adapted to the growth of indigo, as well as cotton; and the sugar cane thrives well in the lower part of the Territory. I am, dear sir, with great esteem, N. HUNTER, yours, Agent Mississippi Territory. No. 2. FEBRUARY 6, 1800. DEAR SIR: I received your obliging note of the 3d instant; and while you have my sincere and hearty thanks for your vigilance and attention to the business of the Natchez, I shall make every exertion in my power to elucidate such parts of our petition and documents as may appear vague or ambiguous. The estimate annexed to the petition of Cato West and others (mentioned in your note) is not the amount of the tax laid on the county of Adams by a law of the Territory;" but it appears to be the sum which the Governor thought necessary to be raised in that county for the service of the last year; and it was sent by him to the first court of general quarter sessions in order to receive the sanction of that court. This would give it immediate currency, and necessarily operate in aid of his future projects of taxation. But such a manifest prodigality of the public resources appeared upon the face of it, together with so marked an opposition to the public opinion, with regard to the place whereon the public buildings were to be erected, that it received the immediate disapprobation of the court; and I believe a similar instrument was never presented to the county of Pickering. I must also solicit the attention of the committee of the House of Representatives to the address of Cato West and others, to the Governor and Judges, upon the subject of the laws, and the answer to that address. The committee charges the Legislature with making laws in express contradiction to the letter of the ordinance of 1787, which authorizes them only to adopt laws already made in the original States. The Governor and Judges, in their answer, confess that they have made laws which have not been derived from any one of the State codes; but they say they have been in favor of the citizen, by lessening fines and penalties. But the committee, in their reply to that answer, which concludes their correspondence, assert that the lessening of fines and penalties was not the object of their Legislative efforts; and the code of laws which, it is presumed, has by this time been transmitted to Colonel Pickering's office, will, I am fully persuaded, justify the assertion. At the time of my departure from the Territory the discontents of the people were great indeed; the whole country was influenced by an idea that the ordinance for our government had been wantonly abused, and the Constitution of the United States as wantonly violated, at a time, and under circumstances, which required no such sacrifice. But the Governor's appointments, civil and military, as they stand at present, have been a more abundant source of discontent than any that has arisen under his administration. All the principal officers that possessed the confidence of the people have uniformly resigned their appointments, and it will be impossible that the Governor can ever be able to organize the militia, notwithstanding his extraordinary fines, in order to force his appointments upon the people. Can it be possible that an administration, which, from its earliest operations, has proved so repugnant to the public will, and so fatal to the happiness of society, can ever be able to restore harmony, attach public confidence, and promote the general good? The thing is impossible. There is yet another source of uneasiness, excited by the conduct of our Governor, which I feel it a duty incumbent on me to suggest to the committee of the House of Representatives. He has heretofore been in the habit of exacting and re elling from the Territory to the United States, and also for tavern and marriage licenses. It is believed that his perquisites in these instances have not been inconsiderable; and if the practice were forbidden by a law of Congress, it is presumed that the burdens of the people would be somewhat lessened, and a great incentive to abuse entirely removed. I would here beg leave to call your attention to the first address of the committee, to Governor Sargent, of the 26th of August. It is there stated that he had adopted and pursued improper meas-ceiving fees for passports granted to citizens travures; that he had given an exclusive confidence to a party; that his measures were calculated to give confidence to the insolence of faction, and to suffocate the germ of public virtue in the upright citizen. He was also told that most of the perplexities which had embarrassed him in his administration had undoubtedly flowed from this source; but anxious for a general accommodation, and animated with a hope of inspiring a system of measures capable of embracing that object, the committee was ready to admit that the Governor had been surprised into those measures by partial or designing statements. To this address, however, the Governor avoided to return an answer; for the fact is, the charges were too true to be denied, and his conduct too improper to be justified. My state of health will now admit of my personal attendance on the committee of the House of Representatives, and I shall take much pleasure in making such further explanation as may be desired. The people of the Mississippi Territory are extremely anxious for a Legislative Assembly; and there is no doubt existing, in my mind, as to the entire competency of their resources. Division of Northwest Territory. The power of making laws, through their immediate Representatives, in whom they have a confidence, and who have a common interest with themselves, is a privilege which cannot but be grateful to every American, and produce the best effects in that country. I am, dear sir, with all possible esteem. your very Hon. W. C. C. CLAIBORNE, large on their journals, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House. by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within six days (Sunday excepted.) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner, as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case, it shall not be a law. Resolved. That every order, resolution, or vote, [Communicated to the House of Reps., March 13, 1800.] to which the concurrence of the Legislative Coun Mr. CLAIBORNE made the following report: The committee to whom was recommitted the report upon the petition of Cato West and others, together with certain resolutions submitted to the House on the 10th instant, proposing an abridgment of the powers granted to the Governor of the Mississippi Territory, are of opinion that it would be expedient to adopt the said resolutions, for the following reasons: 1. That from the infancy of the Mississippi settlements, and their remote situation from the seat, of the Federal Government, it is advisable that the Government of the United States should possess a control over the proceedings of the Territorial Legislature, which can alone be effected through the medium of the Territorial Governor, whose responsibility, it is presumed, will prevent an improper use of any powers granted. 2. That the Territorial Government will only be temporary; and if, in the progress of the administration thereof, the system should prove defective, the necessary alterations will, no doubt, be made by Congress. 3. That the petitioners solicited only the benefits of the ordinance in its second grade, which, in the report heretofore made on the petition of Cato West and others, the House was advised immediately to extend to the Mississippi Territory; this measure the committee still think is dictated by policy and justice, and again recommend the adoption of the resolutions contained in the said report. Resolved, That, from and after the organization of the Territorial Assembly of the Mississippi Territory, the Governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, shall appoint all officers, both civil and military, of the Territory, whose appointments are not particularly vested in Congress by the ordinance: Provided, That the Governor shall have power to fill up all vacancies which may happen during the recess of the Legislative Council, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. Resolved, Thatevery bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Legislative Council, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor of the Territory; if he approves it, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at ' cil and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the Governor of the Territory, and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him; or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Resolved, That the General Assembly meet at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the day of unless they shall by law appoint a different day; Provided, That the Gorernor shall have power, on extraordinary occasions, to convene both Houses of the General Assembly, or either of them. Resolved. That neither House, during the session of the General Assembly, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. DIVISION OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY. [Communicated to the House of Reps., March 3, 1800.] The committee to whom it was referred to consider and report whether any, and, if any, what, alteration is necessary in the judiciary establishment of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and who were directed to report their opinion of the expediency of dividing said Territory into two distinct and separate governments, do, in obedience to such direction, make the following report: That parts of said Territory are subject to several serious inconveniences, which require redress from the General Government; most of the evils which they at present experience are, in the opinion of this committee, to be imputed to the very great extent of country at present comprised under their imperfect government. The Territory Northwest of the Ohio, from southeast to northwest, fifteen hundred miles, and the actual distance of travelling from the places of holding courts the most remote from each other, is thirteen hundred miles, and in a country so sparsely peopled, and so little reclaimed from its native wildness, this distance alone seems to present barriers almost insuperable against the exercise of the functions of government, which always presupposes a knowledge of the condition of the sev Naturalization-Arms and Ammunition. eral parts and the practicability of seasonable communication among the several organs. In the three western counties there has been but one court having cognizance of crimes in five years; and the immunity which offenders experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters useful and virtuous persons from making settlements in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assistance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. The supplying to vacant places such necessary officers as may be wanted, such as clerks, recorders, and others of like kind, is, from the impossibility of correct notice and information, utterly neglected. This Territory is exposed, as a frontier, to foreign nations, whose agents can find sufficient interest in exciting or fomenting insurrection or discontent, as thereby they can more easily divert a valuable trade in furs from the United States, and also have a part thereof on which they border, which feels so little the cherishing hand of their proper Government, or so little dread of its energy, as to render their attachment perfectly uncertain and ambiguous. The committee would further suggest that the law of the 3d of March, 1791, granting land to certain persons in the western part of said Territory, and directing the laying out of the same, remains inexecuted; that great discontent, in consequence of such neglect, is excited in those who were interested in the provision of said law, and which require the immediate attention of this Legislature. To administer a remedy to these evils, it occurs to this committee that it is expedient that a division of said Territory into two distinct and separate governments should be made; and that such division be made, by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, running directly north, until it intersects the boundary between the United States and Canada. In which case it is conceived that the western part may be permitted to go into the same stage of government as is now in use in said Territory, as the same is supposed to contain at the present time fifteen thousand inhabitants. Your committee, therefore, recommend to the House the adoption of the following resolution, viz: the United States before the passing of the law of June, 1798, respecting the naturalization of aliens, and might have made the declarations required by the law of January, 1795, and brought themselves within the proviso of the law first mentioned, and secured the right of naturalization after a residence of five years within the United States; but having omitted to make the declaration required, they are obliged to reside fourteen years within the United States before they can become citizens thereof. They request that the Legislature will pass an act which shall secure to them the same rights which they would have received had they made the declaration required by the law of January, 1795. The committee can see nothing in this case which can warrant a deviation from the general rule. They believe the law of June, 1798, to be founded on fair and just principles, and that a probation of fourteen years is not generally more than sufficient to conciliate the feelings of aliens to the manners, laws, and Government of a country into which they remove as strangers; and that the attachment which every honest mind feels to the country which gave him birth, and in which he has formed his early attachments, will not, probably, in the short space of five years, be so far obliterated as to make it safe or prudent for this Government to repose that confidence in him which it must place in its own citizens. The committee are therefore of opinion that the prayer of this petition ought not to be granted. ARMS AND AMMUNITION. [Communicated to the House of Reps., March 25, 1800.] Mr. S. SMITH, from the committee appointed to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to remit any forfeitures which shall occur, or may have occured, under the law of the United States prohibiting the exportation of arms and ammunition, on the same principles on which the Secretary is authorized to remit forfeitures incurred under the revenue laws, made the following report: That the power heretofore vested in the Secretary of the Treasury to mitigate or remit fines, Resolved, That the Territory Northwest of the forfeitures, and penalties, incurred under the reveriver Ohio be divided into two distinct and sep-nue laws of the United States, was, by the express arate governments, by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running through a north course, until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Canada. NATURALIZATION. [Communicated to the House of Reps., March 14, 1800.] Mr. GRISWOLD, from the committee to whom was referred the petition of sundry aliens residing at Mount Pleasant, in the State of New York, made the following report: That these petitioners state, that they came into tenor thereof, limited to objects of a fiscal nature only, the management and superintendence of which were committed to that Department of which he is the head. That the act of the United States prohibiting, for a limited time, the exportation of arms and ammunition, though in that act it is declared to be the duty of the custom-house officers, and of all persons employed in the collection of the revenue, to attend to the execution thereof; and though all forfeitures and penalties incurred under the said act, and not otherwise directed to be prosecuted and recovered, were to be sued for, prosecuted, adjudg ed, and distributed, in like manner as is provided in the act entitled "An act to provide more effectually Breach of Privilege. for the collection of the duties imposed by law on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships and vessels," was yet essentially a political, and not a fiscal measure and regulation. That the object contemplated by said act was of great importance, both as it related to the supplies of arms and ammunition to the United States, and as it related to the deprivation of similar supplies to those who practised hostilities against the United States. Relying on the Constitution, we had thought that no law could be made by Congress abridging the freedom of the press. But we find, by the proceedings of the Senate, that the privileges of one House may effect what the Constitution has forbidden to the three branches of our Legislature united. We had thought that the Constitution had secured to the citizens of the United States the right of a trial by jury; but the proceedings of the Senate have convinced us that we are liable to be tried and punished for new and unknown offences, without recourse to that Constitutional tribunal. We have long viewed with silent horror the ,"baneful progress of the Sedition law; but patiently submitted to evils we could not but feel, in hopes that the juries of our country might palliate, if not cure them; but with unfeigned sorrow and surprise we observe, in the proceedings of the Senate, another sedition law rising up to appal us; a sedition law that defies the counteraction of the laws of our land or the juries of our country. That the power of remitting fines, forfeitures, and penalties, incurred under the said act, seems to be involved in the general "power of granting pardons for offences against the United States," vested by the Constitution in the President of the United States, to whom alone, according to the nature of our Government, it must pertain to judge of the extent of the mischiefs flowing from the violations of such political measures and regulations, and how far considerations for the remission of fines, forfeitures, and penalties incurred by such violations may be listened to consistently with the public safety in relation to that power. If cases of unintentional violation have occurred, the inconvenience of making special application to the Executive (where, upon due representation, it is not to be doubted but that every attention would at all times be paid which reason and propriety could require) cannot justify a departure from the ordinary course to be observed on similar occasions. Your committee are therefore of opinion that it is inexpedient "to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to remit any forfeitures which shall occur, or may have occurred, under the law of the United States prohibiting the exportation of arms and ammunition, on the same principles on which the Secretary is authorized to remit forfeitures incurred under the revenue laws." That we, the undersigned citizens of the American Republic, deeply impressed by the proceedings now pending before the Senate, on the subject of privileges, in the case of William Duane, are anxious to call the attention of this honorable House to what they deem the real and inevitable tendency of those proceedings. We had thought that the Constitution provided against the dangerous intermixture of judicial, legislative, and executive authorities; but the proceedings of the Senate have shown us that the Constitution has not yet sufficiently guarded this most important principle, which the doctrine of privilege is so well calculated to destroy. We had thought that the three branches of our Legislature were unitedly, but not severally, competent to the enaction of those laws which bind the persons and properties of the citizens; but we now find that penal ordinances may be enacted and enforced by the Senate alone! and we contemplate a speedy and alarming extension of our criminal code, if the present example should unhappily be pursued by similar claims of Representative privilege. We had thought that the rights and authorities of the respective branches of our Federal Government had been expressly defined by the Federal Constitution, and that the Constitution itself was drawn up and sanctioned by the public voice for this express purpose; but we now see that rights may be claimed, and privileges assumed, which we seek for in vain among the declarations and provisions of that supreme law of our land. We had thought that the Constitution had provided that, in every criminal case, an accused per son should be confronted with bis accusers, have process for his witnesses, and be fully heard by himself or counsel in his defence; but the proceedings in question have convinced us that these rights are very imperfectly secured, while an accusing Senate can dictate to a defendant the defence on which he must rely, and arbitrarily confine him to the weakest part of it. We are fully persuaded that the surest safe- We had thought that the plain and acknowl guard of the rights and liberties of the people is edged principle of natural justice would have prethe freedom of the press; and friends as we are to vented the accusers from being also the judges a republican Government, we cannot view, with the jury, and the punishers; but the proceedings of out strong emotions of surprise and regret. the the Senate have satisfied us that these inconsist doctrines and practices of the privileged bodies of ent characters may be mingled, and this plain and Europe about to be adopted in this free country acknowleded principle of natural justice be comagainst that sacred bulwark of republican liberty.pletely forgotten or boldly renounced. City of Washington. To the President of the United States: We dread the introduction of rights unlimited, and power unbounded, whether under the name of privilege, or prerogative, or implied authorities, or constructive powers; and we speak with solemn and profound regret that the late proceedings of the Senate have strongly excited in us this dread. Our hearts are full upon this subject; we could That the business committed to their charge accumulate our reasons of apprehension from having so far proceeded as to enable the Governthese proceedings far beyond the common bounds ment to remove to its permanent seat, they have of a petition and remonstrance; but we forbear. judged it expedient to lay before the President If the objections we have already assigned are un- such a statement as will enable him to determine felt and unnoticed, we must patiently contemplate on the measures proper to be pursued in future. the gloomy prospect before us, and calmly wait By the act of Congress abovementioned, the the approaching period when we shall no longer Commissioners appointed in the manner thereby boast of being citizens of the American Republic. prescribed, or any two of them, were authorized We reverence the constituted authorities of our to purchase or accept such quantity of land on the country too much to dictate to them the line of eastern side of the river Potomac, within the Distheir duty, or to reflect improperly on their con- trict, in the said act mentioned, as the President duct, or to occupy unnecessarily their time. But should deem proper for the use of the United on great public occasions, when our liberties are States; and, according to such plans as the Presiessentially involved, we will practice and main- dent should approve, prior to the first Monday in tain our acknowledged right to petition and remon- December, 1800, provide suitable buildings for the strate for redress of grievances; and therefore we accommodation of Congress, and of the President, do, with sincere deference for the honorable body and of the public officers of the Government of we now address, but at the same time anxiously the United States. That the President, in comimpressed with the danger of the present proceed-pliance with the act abovementioned, and of an ings, respectfully call upon the Senate to reconsider the resolutions by them adopted on the subject of privilege, in the case of William Duane. CITY OF WASHINGTON. [Communicated to Congress, January 30, 1801.] Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : I transmit to Congress, for their consideration, a letter from William Thornton, Alexander White, and William Cranch, Esquires, Commissioners of the City of Washington; with a representation of the affairs of the city, made by them to the President of the United States, dated January 28, 1801, accompanied with a series of documents marked from A to H, inclusively. JOHN ADAMS. UNITED STATES, January 30, 1801. COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE, Jan. 28, 1801. SIR: We do ourselves the honor to present to you a state of the business under our care, and of the public property belonging to the Federal seat, with an estimate of its value, founded, not on mere supposition, but on the average of former sales. This report would have been made at an earlier day, had it not been delayed by the unfortunate death of Mr. Scott. We have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest respect, sir, your most obedient servants, WILLIAM THORNTON, act to amend the same, passed at Philadelphia, on the 3d of March, 1791, did, by his proclamation, dated 30th of the same month, locate a district within the limits prescribed by the abovementioned acts, and which has now become the permanent seat of the Government of the United States. That the President, agreeably to the aboverecited acts, appointed, and by supplying vacancies which have happened by resignation and death, has kept in appointment, three Commissioners, for the purposes in the said acts declared. That the proprietors of the lands on which the City of Washington is laid out, by their several deeds, dated in or about the month of June, 1791, conveyed the said lands to Thomas Beall, of George, and John M. Gantt, and the survivor of them, and the heirs of such survivor, in trust, to be laid out in a Federal city, with such streets, squares, parcels, and lots, as the President of the United States for the time being should approve; and that the said Thomas Beall, of George, and John M. Gantt, or the survivor of them, or the heirs of such survivor, should convey to the Commissioners, for the time being, and their successors, for the use of the United States, forever, all the streets, and such of the said squares, parcels, and lots, as the President should deem proper for the use of the United States, forever; and that as to the residue of the lots, into which the said lands should be laid off, that a fair and equal division should be made of them in the manner in the said deeds of trust specified, and that the part assigned to the public should be sold at such times and in such manner, and on such terms and conditions, as the President of the United States for the time being should direct; and that the said trustees, or the survivors of them, or the heirs of such survivors, should, on the order of the President, convey all the said lots, so sold and ordered to be conveyed, to the respective purchasers, in fee simple, |