same objects, and of the same purport and amount, were found upon that file; that all such duplicate bills had been rejected from the statement, which accounted for the very small number of bills embraced as Senate bills, and the very small comparative amount of appropriations recommended by the committees of the Senate. Had the bills upon that file been first examined, and the du plicates upon the House file been rejected, the apparent recommendations, with the exception of the ordinary annual appropriation bills, which always originate in the House, would have been substantially reversed. It had required much care to avoid embracing the same appropriation twice, in consequence of the duplicate reports in the respective Houses; but as the examination had been made by himself personally, he spoke with great confidence, when he said that no instance would be found in which this had been done, although a similarity of titles in one or two cases might lead to that suspicion. Let us, then, (said Mr. W.,) state the account with the Treasury, and see what surplus we have which is not called for by the wants of the federal Government. He had, he said, assumed the amount of money in the treas ury to be $32,000,000 Deduct the appropriations before mentioned, some of which had in fact been made and all of which had been distinctly recommended by the proper standing com mittees of one or both Houses of Congress, 27,515,046 And there will remain in the treasury an apparent surplus of $4,484,954 This would be the state of the treasury upon the sup [SENATE. Bill No. 142. Proposes to erect custom-houses at forty different ports. 208. To put into active service all the vessels of 297. Provides for the payment of the Connecti- 427. Extends to the widows and orphans of 459. To extend and repair the arsenal at Charles ton, S. C. 469. Reorganizes the General Land Office, and extends the force employed in it. 474. To authorize a surveying district west of Lake Michigan. 542. To remit or refund the duties upon the goods burned at the late conflagration in New York. Bills upon the file of the Senate. position that the appropriations proposed by the bills Bill No. 33. Arrears of pay to Commodore Hull. which had been enumerated, and no other, should be made during the present session of Congress. The Mr. W. said he did not intend to be understood as expressing the opinion that all the bills he had enumerated would pass, and much less that no appropriations other than those contained in those bills would be made. The above was the result upon that supposition; but while he did not expect that result would be exactly realized in that way, there were strong grounds for believing that a result not more favorable to the treasury, and to a surplus for distribution, ought to be produced, and would be produced, by the action of Congress during its present session. The grounds for this belief it would be his next duty to give to the Senate. whole number of bills upon the House file when he made the examination was 554, of which the statement he had made embraced but 56, leaving 498 of those bills not embraced in the estimate of appropriations. The whole number of bills upon the Senate file at the same time was 221, of which but 13 were named, leaving 203 of those bills out of the estimate. Every member of the Senate would well know, what every other person who would take the trouble to examine the bills before the two Houses of Congress at any session might see, that more than ninety in one hundred of all those bills propose an appropriation of money to a greater or less extent. Here, then, were 775 bills, 69 of which recommended the appropriation of more than 27 millions of dollars, and the appropriations covered by the remaining 706 were not estimated at all, but were known to be, at least nine-tenths of them, bills proposing to appropriate money, and in amounts varying from the very smallest sums to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of them (Mr. W. said) were entirely public in their character, but did not specify the sums they proposed to appropriate. Of these he would particularly refer to the following: Bills upon the file of the House of Representatives. Bill No. 104. For the increase of the engineer corps. 37. To establish a surveyor general's office for the State of Illinois. 52. To increase the corps of topographical engineers. 70. Payment to the heirs of General Eaton. 100. To pay the Vermont militia who served at Plattsburg. 113. To purchase the stock of the Louisville and Portland canal. 185. To add three regiments to the army of the United States. 220. To provide moral and religious instruction for the army. Here (Mr. W. said) were nineteen of the seven hundred and six bills not included in the estimate, because they did not name the sums which would be required to carry them into operation; but the slightest examination of the titles only will satisfy every one that these nineteen bills alone, were they to become laws, would require more money from the public treasury than the whole balance above shown to remain, after deducting the amount proposed to be specifically appropriated by the sixty-nine bills before enumerated. He was aware it might be said that these bills would not become laws, and he did not pretend to assume that all of them would, although he believed several of them had passed the one or the other House of Congress during the present session. What he intended to say was, that they were bills of a public character, that their passage had been recommended by the appropriate committees of Congress, and that, to that extent, they were to be considered as calls which might probably be made upon the treasury, and which ought, at the least, to be considered before we came to the conclusion that we have millions of money, which is not called for by any wants of the Government, and which we must give away to get rid of it. Mr. W. said it would probably still be contended that so many of the bills to which he had referred would fail to pass and become laws, that, after a deduction of the amounts appropriated by all which would pass, there would remain a large amount of money in the treasury unappropriated. In reply to any such suggestions, he must call to the recollection of the Senate some other facts, directly and importantly affecting the moneys in the treasury. There is a constant heavy balance of outstanding appropriations, which form a direct lien upon that money. The amount of these appropriations on the first of January last was, according to his present recollection, not less than seven millions, and probably at this moment cannot be less than five millions of dollars. The three bills which have already passed, making appropriations to defray the expenses of the Indian war in Florida, have, taken together, appropriated but $1,620,000, while it is estimated that that war, if now terminated, will cost the Treasury full five millions of dollars. Here, therefore, are at least three and a half millions, which will be wanted, and must be had during the current year, no part of which is embraced in any of the bills which have been mentioned. After deducting all the bills upon the files of the two Houses which have been particularly named, eightyeight in number, there will remain six hundred and eighty-seven bills, nearly all of which propose to appropriate money. Mr. W. said he would not attempt to estimate the amount; but all would admit that many of those bills were to pass, and that the amount of money which would be appropriated by those which should become laws would be large. There was another very important item of probable appropriation, which he was bound to notice in this place, but of which the rules of the Senate did not permit him, at present, to speak in so intelligible a manner as he could wish. He supposed, however, he might say he referred to certain Indian treaties now before this body, two of which, if confirmed by the Senate, as he believed they ought to be, and hoped they would be, would require payment from the Treasury of at least seven millions of dollars. The Senate would understand, from this reference, the particular subjects to which he alluded. [APRIL 20, 1836. We then find nineteen public bills, which, if passed The money to be distributed under this Leaving on that day in the treasury, to be 28,000,000 $4,000,000 Mr. W. said we should be told here that the revenues of the year were to be received, and would be applicable to, and sufficient for, these appropriations. How is the fact? The receipts for the first quarter of the year are included in the above balance of moneys in the treasury on It seemed to be conceded by all, that the great work the first day of the present month. The revenue from of national defence, in all its branches, ought to com- the pubilc lands, if this bill passes, is to be reserved for mand the peculiar attention of Congress during its pres- distribution, and is not applicable to any other approent session. In the public bills to which he had re- priations. The means of the treasury will then be the ferred, very limited appropriations for any of these ob- four millions remaining in it as above shown, and the revjects were proposed. In the bill proposing appropria enue from customs for the last three quarters of the tions for the navy, nothing was embraced for an accele- year. Suppose that revenue to equal the highest esrated increase of our naval force, for the procuring of timates of the friends of the bill, and to be five millions additional materials, the construction of additional ships per quarter, or fifteen millions for the last three of war, or the arming, equipping, and putting into actual quarters of 1836, we shall then have nineteen millions service, those now partially completed, beyond the ordi- for the service of the present year for all purposes, ornary annual appropriations for those objects. One bill,dinary and extraordinary—a sum just about equal, or exproposing to appropriate about two and a half millions for new fortifications, was the principal, if not the only extraordinary appropriation included under that head. There were not included any appropriations for the erection of new arsenals, except in one single instance, or any appropriations for arms and ordnance beyond the ordinary appropriations for those objects. He must ask the friends of the bill to look at these facts, at the public wants developed in their exhibition, and to compare the condition of the Treasury and its means, abundant as they choose to consider those means, with these public calls, and then to say how this bill is to be executed and the public wants answered. The balance in the treasury, at the close of the first quarter of the present year, at the very highest estimate from the proper Department, was less than We have then seen public appropriations, recommended by the committees of Con $32,000,000 ceeding by one million only, the average ordinary expenses of the Government for the last two years. With what rapidity can the public defences be prosecuted with a fund of one million per annum? He Mr. W. said it would be asked, what shall be done with the large amount of money in the deposite banks, if this bill be not passed, and that money distributed to the States? For himself, he was ready to answer. would appropriate for the wants of the Government, and especially for the public defences of every description, and in every quarter, all that can be economically and profitably expended, and the balance, whatever it may be, he would invest in securities, the payment of which, with interest, is guarantied by some one of the States. In that way he would preserve whatever surplus revenue there may be for the present, and would not give it away until time had been allowed to complete the permanent defences of the nation, and to see, from the practical operation of our present revenue laws, whether any surplus would remain after these heavy expenditures shall have been incurred. Mr. W. said a very brief notice of two other sugges tions should relieve the Senate from his very tedious remarks. The first suggestion to which he referred was the probable effect upon the States of this Union of dividing to them the revenues of the national treasury, from whatever source the revenue to be divided may have been derived. Our system is complex, and a full and independent preservation of all its parts is indispensable to its healthful action. The federal Government is but the agent, the organ of the States-is constituted by them, and without their concurrence, countenance, and support, cannot exist. Still it is, for some purposes, superior to the Governments of the States, and, within its sphere, its action, if coming in collision with the action of the State Governments, is to prevail. How important, then, that it should be the constant care and interest of the respective States to keep this Government most strictly within the sphere marked out and prescribed by the constitution of the Union. And what will more strongly tend to change the feelings of the States, to put to sleep their watchfulness, and care, and jealousy, of the powers of this Government, than to accustom them to depend upon its treasury, or its taxing power, for the means of their support, of their internal improvements, of their general education and the like? He did not intend to express distrust of the patriotism of the States; he certainly did not feel any such distrust; but is there not danger, great danger, in this blending of Government interests between the nation and the States? Is there not danger that such a disposition of the national treasure may make taxation popular? We must not forget that we are the representatives of the States; that their will is, or should be, the law for our government in our seats here. May not the distribution of millions from the national treasury excite expectations of future bounty, which will induce the States to undertake works of internal improvement requiring years for their completion, and means far beyond those now in our treasury to meet the expenditures? May not the anticipations thus excited of future dividends be disappointed, and the necessity be thus produced of raising additional revenues for the uses of the States, either by themselves or by us? In such a state of things, where would taxation be likely to fall? Would the Legisla tures of the States impose direct taxes upon their immediate constituents, or would they, much more probably, instruct their agents and representatives here to raise, by the indirect taxation within the power of this Government, the revenues the States require? May not a condition of things of this description render taxation here popular at home, and thus convert this Government into a mere power to raise revenue for the expenditure of the State Governments, until either the independence of the State Governments is merged in their dependence upon the federal Government for money, or until the unequal action of such a system shall break our bond of union, and thus destroy the power which oppresses one portion for the benefit of another portion of its common citizens, possessing a common right to its protecting care? May there not be danger, also, that the institutions of this Government will be suffered to languish; that the proper appropriations for their support will be withheld; that the army will be neglected; the navy destroyed; the fortifications discontinued; and even the civil and judicial departments be insufficiently sustained; that the fund to be distributed may be enlarged? Mr. W. said he must say he felt great danger in this view of the action of this bill. His apprehension arose from no ungenerous distrust of the patriotism of the [SENATE. States, but from a full and perfect knowledge that our local interests, in the different sections of the Union, conflict with each other, and that no system of taxation which can or will be adopted for purposes such as he had indicated will act equally upon all the States. The other suggestion (Mr. W. said) which he proposed to make was in relation to that provision of the bill which declares that the distribution under it to the States shall cease, in case the country shall be involved in a foreign war. It was worthy of remark, preliminarily, that this provision excluded those wars to which we were more peculiarly and constantly exposed--the wars with the Indians within the limits of the States and upon our borders. Whatever may be the expenses of those wars in future, the distribution provided for is to continue, and the expenses of such wars are to be charged upon revenues to be derived from sources other than the public lands. What would be the effect of this provision upon the States, in case just cause of war with a foreign Power should arise? Would it be the expression of an unjust suspicion of their patriotism, to say that they would find, in the action of this bill, a direct temptation to resist any such war? It was most apparent that war must, at all times, embarrass the commerce and business of the people of the States; and if, in addition to these objections to a state of war, their dividends from the national treasury, rendered more necessary in time of war, were to be suspended by the occurrence of war, was it wrong to suppose that this principle of distribution, accompanied by such a condition, might induce them to resist a declaration of war, even at the hazard of the interest and the honor of the nation? Mr. W. said he feared the action of the bill in this respect, and, if the distribution must take place, he would prefer that this condition should not be retained, but that the whole subject should be left open for the future action of Congress, whenever any emergency shall arise calling for a change. THURSDAY, APRIL 21. LAND BILL. The bill to appropriate, for a limited time, the nett proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the States, and for granting lands to certain States, was taken up as the special order. Mr. WRIGHT resumed and concluded his speech, begun yesterday, in opposition to the bill, as given entire in preceding pages. Mr. CRITTENDEN then rose and addressed the Senate in support of the bill. He referred to the resolutions he had laid on the table a few days ago passed by the Legislature of Kentucky, instructing her Senators to use their exertions in favor of this measure; and in addressing the Senate on this occasion, he acted, he said, in obedience to the dictates of a sense of duty as well as in conformity with his own wishes and opinions. Mr. C. first endeavored to show, taking into view the manner in which the United States came into the possession of the public lands, and the tenure by which they were held, the perfect competence of the Government to dispose of them as contemplated by the bill. He reviewed the various arguments of Mr. WRIGHT, and contended, in opposition to that gentleman, that the nett proceeds of the land sales were not liable to the offsets that had been charged against them; that the thirty millions expended for the purchase of Louisiana and Florida could not justly be charged against the land sales, as the sovereignty over that vast and wealthy Territory was of incalculably more value than the sum paid for it; and that the revenues that had been derived from the customs at New Orleans alone were sufficient to demonstrate the absurdity of such an offset; and, fur SENATE.] Land Bill. [APRIL 21, 1836. may be made prior to the emanation of the patent, shall be utterly null and void, and shall operate as a forfeiture of the title to the United States. Mr. CLAY said it was his wish, during the progress of the bill, to ask the indulgence of the Senate to hear him on its general merits; but he had risen now to speak to the amendment offered by the Senator from Mississippi, [Mr. WALKER.] The amendment was a principle of graduation by which, after the lapse of a period of years, the public lands were to be reduced to a very low price. The immediate effect would be to put these lands in the State of Ohio down to twenty-five cents per acre; and in Michigan they would be reduced to fifty cents. In Ohio, sales were now rapidly going on at the minimum price; and if the system was not disturbed it would, in the course of the year, produce two millions of dollars. Anxious as he was, after four years' reflection, he was so far opposed to the introduction of this graduating printhan to see it pass into a law with it incorporated in it; and he would say, if altered at all, it would be much better to increase than diminish the price of the land. They ought to conduct the business of the United States the same as individuals conduct their concerns. In the State of Ohio there was more land sold than in any other State in the Union; which, he said, grew out of a dense and increasing population. This graduation system must be supported on the ground that the progress of the sales was too slow, or that they were not settling fast enough. These lands were bringing in so much now, there was no necessity of a reduction in price. There was, in fact, a general impression in both branches of Congress that they were selling too rapidly, and invest ther, that to charge these lands with the cost of our Indian wars was equally out of the question, as there would have been Indians on our frontiers to create disturbances, whether these Territories had been purchased or not. He contended that all the expenses incurred for the purchase, for the surveys of the lands, and for Indian wars, had been more than recompensed by the consequences of these purchases. Mr. C., after entering into calculations to show the large surplus that must remain in the treasury after paying the expenses of the current year, and the necessity there was for devising some mode of safely disposing of it, took a view of the objects to which it had been proposed to appropriate it, entering very extensively into the subject of the proposed fortifications on the seaboard. He was much opposed to the extensive system of fortifications contemplated by the bill of the Senator from Missouri, believing that they were not necessary for the defence of the country, and that the inevitable consequences of hav-ciple, that he would rather see the bill itself defeated ing such extensive fortifications would be the creation of a standing army. He would much rather rely for the defence of the country on its increased strength and powerful resources, together with the courage and patriotism of our citizens. So powerful had our nation become, such was its wealth and resources, and such the courage and patriotism of our citizens, that he was certain that no invading army that landed on our coasts would ever get back to tell the reception they met with. He believed that we might safely permit any invader to land without molestation on our coasts, for he was confident of our ability to destroy them as soon as they landed. sides, he thought an invading army would act very unwisely to go out of its way to attack one of these fortifications. Mr. C., in conclusion, spoke of the great ad-ing the proceeds in an unsafe medium. There was no vantages that would accrue from distributing this fund among the States, and the danger of its remaining in the treasury, encouraging schemes of extravagance and prodigality. Be Mr. BENTON withdrew his amendment, on which the question was pending, as he did not wish to take the question on it in the absence of his colleague, who was absent in consequence of sickness in his family, in order to make way for other amendments that might be offered. Mr. WALKER then submitted the following amendment, to come in as an additional section: And be it further enacted, That, from and after the passage of this act, all the lands of the United States which have been offered at public sale to the highest bidder, and which have remained unsold for fifteen years or upwards after said offer at public sale, shall be subject to sale at private entry at the rate of twenty-five cents per acre; those lands which have been offered in like manner under ten and less than fifteen years, at the rate of fifty cents; and those offered and remain unsold five years and less than ten years, at the rate of seventyfive cents per acre: Provided, No person under the provisions of this act shall be authorized or permitted to enter, at the prices specified by this act, more than 160 acres, or quarter section, in subdivisions not less than a quarter-quarter section, in his or her own name, or in the name of any other person, for his or her own use, and in no case, unless he or she intends it for settlement or cultivation, or the use of his or her improvement; and the person applying to make any entry under this act shall file his or her affidavit, with such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, that he or she makes the entry in his or her own name, for his own benefit, and not in trust for another: And provided, also, That no patent shall issue to any person making said entry until three years thereafter; and that any sale, contract for sale, lease, or contract for lease, of said lands so entered under the provisions of this act, which want of stimulus to induce the settlement of the new States; and this reduction was not necessary or required as an incentive to emigration. Mr. C. read extracts from a publication exhibiting a statement of the state of population in the new States, to show their annual increase from 1820 to 1830. Illinois had increased eighteen and a half per cent. per annum, Alabama fourteen, Indiana thirteen and a third, Missouri eleven, Mississippi upwards of eight, Ohio six, and Louisiana four per cent. per annum; whereas Delaware had increased but a half per cent. per annum. The average rate of increase of the whole population of the United States during that period was about thirtytwo per cent., which was exceeded by Illinois at the average rate of one hundred and fifty-three per cent., (her average being one hundred and eighty-five per cent.,) and by Alabama one hundred per cent., and by Louisiana, the lowest, eight per cent. The average of the seventeen old States was twenty-five per cent., and the new States sixty per cent. more than that amount. There was, therefore, no new impulse necessary to induce emigration to the new States. He (Mr. He knew the ideas of the Senator from Mississippi [Mr. WALKER] were in favor of the settlers. C.) had had some experience in this matter of pre-emption rights of settlers in his own and the adjoining State of Tennessee. The inhabitants there, at an early day, had tried the graduating system of settling some on one hundred acre tracts, some on four hundeed, and some on one thousand acre tracts, and except in the case of the late Governor Shelby, he and his colleague could not recollect an instance of the original settler remaining on the land under this system; and so careful was the law in regard to them, that they were designated by the term bonafide actual settlers. They began the reduction of the price with eighty cents, and got down eventually to five cents per acre. And with regard to its being a law for the benefit of settlers, the title of the bill ought to have been changed to a bill for the benefit of speculators. They were bought up by persons who would move on to them with their property and a number of negroes. They would send out Tom to make a settlement in one place, Dick to another, Jim to another, and Harry to another, and so on; and in registering the names of the settlers they found it necessary to put down the surnames of the settlers; and as Tom, Dick, Jim, and Harry, had no surnames, they put them down Tom Black, Dick Black, Jim Black, and Harry Black. And when he (Mr. C.) was in the Legislature of Kentucky, he said, it was an old saying, that murder would out, and that by reversing these names, as was done in indexing, they would find these settlers to be no other than Black Tom, Black Dick, Black Jim, and Black Harry, (laughter.) The rich from Philadelphia, New York, &c., would employ persons to make settlements on them, and instead of their falling into the hands of the poor settlers, they fell into the hands of the wealthy. What was there, then, for the security of the country, that the settler took the land as a bonafide settler, except making an affidavit? and affidavits of that kind should not be encouraged. The man who regarded the obligation of an oath would refuse to take it, while the less scrupulous would not hesitate to do it with an improper design. Mr. C. spoke of the soundness of the present system of disposing of the public lands. Fortunes were now daily making under it, and this was, therefore, not the time to reduce the price of them. The Senator from New York had spoken of the laage amount of purchases, and the small proportion of the lands purchased that were owned by bonafide settlers; and have we not reason to believe (said Mr. C.) that our own money has been used to make these speculating purchases, and then returned again to the deposite banks? By this dangerous, ruinous system of graduation, these speculators would exact more exorbitant prices from the real bonafide emigrant than he pays now; and there never was a more inauspicious time to admit the principle of graduation than the present. He admitted there might be land not worth twenty-five cents an acre, or even the taxes. They would do wrong, then, to tempt a poor emigrant to settle upon this poor land when there was better. And why, said he, make it applicable to all the States, while in some States there was not an acre that was not arable? In the State of Ohio the sales were more rapid, and the poor land much greater in proportion than in the other western States. The price was low enough, and every man who wished could buy a good tract, and purchase from a parental seller, instead of the speculator. Let us, then, (said Mr. C.,) not adopt a system that cuts down all your lands in the State of Ohio, at one single blow, to twenty-five cents an acre; but let us continue to pursue the course our fathers have pointed out. After Mr. CLAY concluded, The bill from the House making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the year 1836, was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Mr. GRUNDY rose to correct some representations made yesterday, no doubt by mistake, by the Senator from New Jersey, [Mr. SOUTHARD,] in relation to the Union Bank in the State of Tennessee, and exhibited official statements from the Treasury Department to show the error into which that Senator had fallen; and also to show the entire solvency and ability of that bank to meet its engagements. He explained the manner in which he supposed he had fallen into the error, by showing facts in relation to resources of the bank which he could not have been aware of. He felt it his duty, in justice to the bank, to make this correction. The Senate then adjourned. VOL. XII.-79 FRIDAY, APRIL 22. [SENATE COLONELS BOND AND DOUGLASS. The bill for the relief of the legal representatives of the widows of Colonel William Bond and Colonel William Douglass, of the revolutionary army, deceased, came up on its third reading; when Mr. HILL said that most questions having a direct political bearing produced in this body long and animated discussions. Subjects having no connexion with the proper business of legislation, agitating subjects, are are here introduced, and debated for weeks. Yet when bills are proposed, taking from the treasury thousands, and tens and even hundreds of thousands, for the benefit of individuals, there seems to be a perfect lassitude, an almost entire indifference. The debating gentlemen, who speak to the galleries, are still on these occasions; and who else than those who can secure the applause of the galleries will feel free to discuss questions on this floor? It is a most unwelcome task to oppose claims, even the claims that have not a scintilla of foundation, on the floor of Congress. To be popular in the District of Columbia, no man in Congress can be permitted to raise his voice against claimants, who come here and make it the interest of those who reside here to help them through. His There are hundreds of claims in bills before Congress that ought not to be allowed; yet how few of these, when they come to be passed on, are even understood by a majority of those who pass on them! If the allowance of these claims went for the benefit of the persons in whose favor they purport to be, the injustice to the public who pay them would not be so flagrant. They generally go for the benefit of speculators, who purchase them for a trifle, or else cheat the nominal claimant of the whole amount. I am informed that a subclerk in another part of this Capitol is now and has been extensively concerned in these claims; that his practice has been to hunt up from the files of Congress old claims that have many years since been decided against, or laid aside as hopeless, and in the recess to take journeys in differents parts of the country and seek for powers of attorney to prosecute them before Congress. charge for services, when he cannot buy the claim for a trifle, is never below twenty-five per cent. of the whole amount recovered. His situation as a sub-clerk enables him to place his claims in a most favorable position. I have seen, while on the Committee of Revolutionary Claims, elaborate statements and reports, in favor of the claims, setting forth in the most glowing colors the services or the sufferings of the persons in whose names the claim is preferred, which statements and reports, having very little evidence to sustain them, were in the hand-writing of the clerk, and evidently drawn up, not by the committee, but by him who was interested in prosecuting them. I will confess that when I first discovered the practices in relation to claims prosecuted here, it was not without surprise; but an experience of five years in Congress has taught me to be no longer surprised at any thing which is occuring. The management of the claim prosecutors, of those, I mean, who have long successfully carried on the business, is most adroit. They press nothing hard till near the close of the session; and when this period arrives, when there is not time left to discuss or inquire into any thing, and when the bars and gates are for the moment left open, the claims pass through both Houses of Congress in floods. The two bills, having relation to what are called the commutation claims of the Revolution, which were ordered to a third reading on Thursday, and one of which has just now been read, if passed, will establish precedents which will throw a burden on the Treasury |