ing for the removal of the circuit court of the United States from St. Louis to Jefferson city: referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. Henry Dodge: A petition of the members of the Legislature of Wisconsin, praying for a mail-route from Mickwonago to Madison; Also, a joint resolution of the Legislature of Wisconsin Territory, in relation to the establishment of a mail-route from Milwaukie to Mineral Point; Also, a memorial of the Council and House of Representatives of Wisconsin, praying for an appropriation, to be expended under the direction of the War Department, for locating and opening a road from Sheboygan, by the way of Taycheedah and Fond-du-Lac, to the Fox river, in the vicinity of Green Lake. Ordered, That the said petition, resolution, and memorial be severally referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. By Mr. Newton: A memorial from the board of managers of the "Orphan Asylum and Free Female School Society," of the city of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, praying a permanent endowment of that institution: referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia. By Mr. Holmes: A memorial of South Carolina railroad companies, praying for the passage of a law remitting import duty on railroad iron: referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. By Mr. Slidell: The petition of Manuel Cruzat-heretofore presented February 6, 1840: referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. Catlin: A petition of the heirs of Wilfred Knott, deceased, praying for remuneration for the services of the said decedent in the war of 1812 with Great Britain; together with the petition of Wilfred Knott, heretofore presented February 14, 1838: referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. Mr. John Quincy Adams, (by unanimous consent,) from the select committee appointed, on the 15th ultimo, to revise and report upon the rules and orders of the House, reported the same, with amendments. Mr. Adams moved that the report be printed, and that it be made the special order of the day for Tuesday next, the 9th instant. Mr. Campbell called for a division of the question; and it was divided accordingly, And was put― 1st. On printing, and decided in the affirmative; 2d. On making the report the special order for Tuesday next, and decided in the negative. So the said report was ordered to be printed, and remained upon the Speaker's table. The Speaker left the chair, and substituted Mr. Beardsley of New York as Speaker pro tem., who laid before the House four letters addressed to the Clerk of the House, and containing testimony in the case of the contested election between John W. Jones and John M. Botts. Ordered, That the said letters be referred to the Committee of Elections. A motion was made by Mr. Elmer that the Committee of Elections be authorized to employ a clerk. Mr. Carroll proceeded to debate the question on this motion, when The Speaker decided that the remarks of Mr. Carroll were irrelevant to the question under consideration. Mr. Elmer rose, was recognised by the Speaker, and withdrew his motion. Mr. William J. Brown, at twenty minutes after 4 o'clock, moved that the House do adjourn. Mr. Schenck made the following question of order: "That the call of Mr. Carroll to order, and the decision of the Speaker that he was out of order, did not deprive him of the floor; no person having objected to his proceeding in order. Therefore, Mr. Elmer could not rightfully obtain the floor to withdraw the motion upon which Mr. Carroll was addressing the House; neither was Mr. Brown entitled to the floor to move an adjournment; and that the question still was, of right, on the motion of Mr. Elmer, upon which Mr. Carroll was entitled to the floor." The Speaker decided that Mr. Carroll, having been decided out of order by the Speaker, was presumed, under the 35th rule of the House, to have taken his seat; and the floor was thus open for Mr. Elmer, who, under the 45th rule, had the right, at any time before a decision or amendment, to withdraw the motion made by him. He, therefore, overruled the question of order made by Mr. Schenck. From this decision Mr. Schenck appealed. And pending the question on the appeal, The House, on motion of Mr. William J. Brown, at half past 4 o'clock, p. m., adjourned until to-morrow, at 12 o'clock, meridian. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1844. Mr. Caleb B. Smith, a member from the State of Indiana, appeared, was sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, and took a seat in the House. The Speaker announced, as the business first in order, the question upon the appeal of Mr. Schenck, pending when the House adjourned yesterday; when Mr. Schenck withdrew his appeal, and the decision of the Speaker, made yesterday, was acquiesced in. Under the 24th rule of the House, petitions, memorials, and documents were handed to the Clerk, as follows: By Mr. Severance: The petition of John Owen-heretofore presented December 17, 1842. By Mr. Dunlap: The petition of Simeon Caswell-heretofore presented December 22, 1841; Also, a petition of William Allen, of Portland, in the State of Maine, praying for a pension in consideration of disabilities incurred in the service of the United States in the year 1808. By Mr. Severance: A petition of James Wyman, of Fairfield, Somerset county, State of Maine, who was a soldier in the war of 1812 with Great Britain, praying for a pension in consideration of disabilities incurred in the service of the United States during said war. By Mr. Dillingham: A petition of Stephen F. Hemenway, of Derby, Orleans county, Vermont, who was a soldier in the army of the United States during the war of 1812 with Great Britain, praying for arrears of pension and an increase thereof. By Mr. Newton: The petition of Samuel Butler-heretofore presented March 16, 1842. By Mr. Lucas: The petition of George Reily-heretofore presented January 4, 1841. Ordered, That said petitions be referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. Dunlap: A petition of citizens of North Yarmouth, in the State of Maine, praying for indemnity for spoliations committed by the French Government prior to the year 1800: referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. By Mr. John W. Davis: A petition of citizens of Daviess county, Indiana, praying for a donation of land in aid of the completion of the Wabash and Erie canal; Also, a like petition of citizens of Knox county, Indiana; Also, a like petition of citizens of Sullivan county, Indiana; Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on Public Lands. By Mr. Morse: A petition of merchants of Wiscasset, Maine, praying for an appropriation for the improvement of the Sheepscot river. By Mr. Charles M. Reed: A petition of citizens of Erie county, Pennsyl vania, praying for an appropriation to continue the work on the harbor at Erie. By Mr. J. R. Ingersoll: A memorial of merchants of the city of Philadelphia, praying for a drawback on spirits distilled from foreign molasses, equal to the whole duty on the molasses necessary to their production. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on Com merce. By Mr. Adams: The memorial of Baron De Kalb-heretofore presented December 14, 1841. By Mr. Thomas H. Seymour: A petition of Othniel Gillet, of Litchfield, Connecticut, who was a soldier in the army of the United States in the revolutionary war, praying for arrears of pension. Ordered, That the said memorial and petition be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. By Mr. Preston King: A petition of Jolin Davison, of the county of St. Lawrence, State of New York, who was a soldier in the army of the United States in the war of the Revolution, praying for a pension in consideration of his services during said war. By Mr. Clinton: A petition of Elizabeth Scruder and others, widows of soldiers of the revolutionary war, praying for the continuance of the pensions they are now receiving, from the fourth day of March, 1844, for the term of their respective lives. By Mr. Adams: The petition of Susan Rogers-heretofore presented December 14, 1841; Also, the petition of Amasa Dunbar-heretofore presented January 4, 1840. By Mr. Lucas: The petition of Carter B. Chandler-heretofore presented January 4, 1841. By Mr. Wheaton: A petition of citizens of Onondaga county, New York, praying for an extension of the law granting pensions to widows of revo lutionary soldiers. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions. By Mr. Preston King: The petition of John McCrea and Harvey Wakefield-heretofore presented January 16, 1837. By Mr. Rodney: The petition of Samuel T. Anderson-heretofore presented January 4, 1841. Ordered, That the above petitions be referred to the Committee of Claims. By Mr. Preston King: A petition of citizens of the county of St. Law rence, in the State of New York, praying for the reduction of postage, and the adaptation of the rates thereof to the national currency. TOY By Mr. Joseph R. Ingersoll: A petition of citizens of Philadelphia, praying for a reduction of postage, and that the charge be made by weight; and for a melioration of existing laws respecting the transmission by mail of periodical publications. 1 By Mr. Ramsey: A petition of citizens of Adams county, Pennsylvania, praying for a reduction of postage, and for its regulation by the coin of the country. By Mr. Wentworth: A petition of citizens of Livingston county, Illinois, praying for a change in a mail-route. By Mr. Bidlack: A petition of citizens of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, praying for a reduction of postage. By Mr. Frick: A like petition from citizens of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. By Mr. Boyd: A petition of citizens of McCracken county, Kentucky, praying for an appropriation for the construction of a bridge across the Ohio nver at Wheeling: referred to the Committee on Roads and Canals. By Mr. Newton: The petition of Sarah B. Stith-heretofore presented March 26, 1832: referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. & By Mr. Slidell: The memorial of Hope and Company, of Amsterdam, and other bond-holders of the Bank of Pensacola, in the Territory of Florida-heretofore presented July 7, 1842: referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. A motion was made by Mr. Cave Johnson that the rules of the House be suspended for the purpose of calling the States for such resolutions as should not give rise to debate. And the question being put, Shall the rules be suspended? It was decided in the affirmative, two-thirds voting therefor. In pursuance of notice heretofore given, Mr. Hamlin asked, obtained leave, and introduced a bill (No. 5) to constitute the counties of Penobscot and Piscataquis, in the State of Maine, into a new collection district, and to establish Bangor, in said county of Penobscot, a port of entry: which bill was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Commerce. Mr. Reding moved the following resolution; which was read, and, debate arising thereon, was laid over under the rule, to wit: Resolved, That the Clerk cause to be furnished to the members of this House, during the present session, such papers as they may direct; the expense thereof not to exceed the price of three daily papers to each member, from the commencement of the session. Mr. John Quincy Adams moved the following resolution; which was read, and the rule requiring the same to lie upon the table one day being dispensed with, it was considered and agreed to, to wit: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to report to this House the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment at the city of Washington of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; with a statement of what payments of interest have been received, and what, if any, have been refused or withheld on the State stocks in which the said funds were invested; the amount of interest so withheld or refused to be paid; and what measures have been taken by the Secretary to recover the same: also, by whose agency the said investments were made; with copies of any correspondence of the Treasury Department with such agents relating thereto. Mr. John Quincy Adams moved the following resolution; which was read, and the rule requiring the same to lie upon the table one day being dispensed with, it was considered and agreed to, to wit: Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be communicated to this House copies of all the instructions given to the commanding officers of the squadron stipulated by the treaty with Great Britain of 9th August, 1842, to be kept on the coast of Africa for the suppression of the slave-trade; also, copies of the instructions given by the British Government to their squadron, stipulated by the same treaty, if such instructions have been communicated to this Government. Mr. Hudson moved the following resolution; which was read, and, bate arising thereon, it was laid over under the rule, to wit: de Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed to inquire into the expediency of making provision for the repayment of the sum which has been audited and found due to Massachusetts and Maine for militia services, as set forth in a letter from the Secretary of War, dated December 23, 1837, and found in House Doc. No. 45, 2d session 25th Congress. On motion of Mr. Winthrop, Resolved, That the Committee on Commerce inquire into the expediency of modifying the act concerning consuls, &c., so as to exempt from any contribution to the fund for the relief of American seamen in foreign ports the owners or masters of vessels which may have been sold in foreign ports in consequence of injuries resulting from the perils of the sea; and, also, so as to provide greater securities for the execution of the wills of American citizens dying abroad. On motion of Mr. Catlin, Resolved, That the Committee on Commerce be instructed to inquire into the expediency of allowing to Ingoldsby W. Crawford, late collector of the customs at New London, and to Samuel Phillips, late collector of the customs at Newburyport, the amount of interest claimed by them, respectively, on the presentation of their accounts at the Treasury Department for settlement, under the act of Congress of July 27, 1842. Mr. Hunt of New York moved the following resolution; which was read, and, debate arising thereon, it was laid over, to wit: 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 amendment of the Constitution of the United States, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of said Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the said States, viz: No person shall be hereafter eligible to the office of President of the Uni |