Public Leger, Volume 2, Number 57, Richmond, Wayne County, 23 April 1825 — Page 1
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XCMBER 57.
,vn prBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY
V-vi rfrerf. opposite the Richmond Hotel. - rmcfToF thTs paper
On Dollar and Fifty Cents for Hfty-ttvo nuro-K.r-ti hi n a,'v:luce; 1 wo Dollars it ,! witf o t;e year, or Two Dollars and Fifty
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it of both parties, that mode is solicited. L'l.rjnti.in t aken for less than six months, and r",'iner discontinued until all arrearages are
RICHMOND. WAYNE
' w iiiaa, SATURDAY. APRIL 23, 1825.
. n '
?TUiJt5:OUrtS!?nddislL!ct rts ut the teTTtT
United States, for the District of South
Carolina.
accentanrt nl the United
States, a treaty, agreeing, in every partic-
il l '111 Id. II O P' " - - -; , 97. An act for the relief of William Pen - ' b v C''6 ! te.r.mS "P''rV!d
pi!
f tionoftietii W III Mrs
I1' " i i... .-:0 i i
;ment.
Vt fj t.rrj - - - j Oj .. ,-7 tio be attended to.
TERMS OF ADVERTISING. - - ? -tff tf,-r f Vi rpp inrtiAtic Ono 7"l l
f Yri h continuance Twenty-five cent?. W-er t 'vertisenu nts in the same proportion. to- .
LIST OF ACTS, Passed at the last session of Congrsss, concluded. 4, An art for the relief of John Crain. 65. An act authorizing the payment of
jnivst dje to the State of V irgmia. to. An act far the relief of Michael M'67. An nrt to authorize the President of
e fritnil States to cause a road to hr
Lirlcel on from the Western frontier of
M'.v-wri to the confines of New-Mexico. t"3. An act for tiie relief of Gilbert C. 63. An act for the relicfof Luther Cha-
p,of Ouio. 70. An art for the reliefof Gregory En-
:,UrA H ilium R. Maddux.
71. An ct authorizing the cstahlishment
ff'i Navv Yard ar'd Depot on the Coast of
Fi rida.in the Gull of Mexico. 72. An act for the relief of Holden W. Prut, nd ministrator of the estate of Jobh'ja V. Prout, deceased. 7j. Art art for the relicfof James Por
ter and T'uTitall Quarles.
74. An act for the relief of George Lotc. 75. An' act for the relief of Thomas Tayar.jr. 7C. Ar act to extend the time for settle-
t n r i v :itt arui claims in the I crrito-
rv! off l-i rida. to provide for the preservat ci tt p-jhhr arc liieves in said TorriMrv. and for the relief of lohn Johnson. 77. A t act fur the relief of Christian Ja7C A ii act fr the relicfof Wm. Little, i-rn::,:t rator of Minor Reeves.
" i IUIIIU I KV (llllVtlVi lilt ll I li" l'7A ' Z rnrriri,t f'r property lost, cap-
deatroved hv the enemy, while
-.0 mi hiarv service of the United State?,
r ctlH r purposes: passed ninth A-
rM we tliouiar.d ei?ht hundred and six-
o .ten. 0. T) nrt !or the continuation of the Cum!,?, liP,d Road. t Si. A nact authorizing the Secretary of e Trc-asurv to borrow a sum notexc eedartwc! vemillioiisofdoll.trs.or toext halite
a-tf,ck of four and one half ner rent, for a
?tam fctock bearing an interest of six per ceiit. 1 l - n nrt fnr ih
, -n and nthrc
- --- a 83. An act for the relief of Rachel McUure.
. An act for the relief of Ruhen Ew-
insranc l others.
I ;V;,Anatt to authorize the building of
(f -ionuments, therein mentioned, and
-u er purposes. An act forth. rr.i;r r ti, ti-k
T'l
JIC I,
II
i
mlt ,An 3Ct for thc rc,icf of Stephen
' An act more effectuallv to Drovide
, '5 punishment of certainenmesagainst bc i,.-i r ii
' 4 lur uiner purposeg. J' An act to jiitt
tores ordinance arms, and military
J- An art for the relicfof Richard Cain :l wac Baldwin of Ohin.
9 An act for the relief of Peter Burt. riat; An act rnnking an additional appro-
lor n rat n... - - r
" me a ha C..f r.... " .
htn r ",v- 4-"-i oovernment me
lor iJr-.,o:.i . . .
ftK. it s:uni ar,a Vice-President of
"3 . an i. -
. dr inr h r iy
r Hfe lit c it-inji oi r ranees VriS :'5n,and olher heirs of. Francet k tit, deceased.
? An act making an n,;:.,
-nehtof Joseph Smith of Alexander, act for the
. a iuw." 9 An
A . l" amend an arf. nt;H.t
to titer the times of holding the I
berton.
90. An art for thc relief of Otis Pendlr-
; ton, Harris Pendleton, John F.,Delaplaine,
xiij.ui i . ueiapiame, and others. 99. An act for the relief of Elias Glen. 100. An act for the relief of William
jTownsend. 101. An act for the relief of John S. Stiles. 102. An act for the relief of Joseph Dozet and Antoine Bourgoud. j 103. An act for the relief of David Gil- , more.
104. An act fixing the place for holding the Circuit and District Courts of the U.
States for the Southren District of NewYork. 105. An act for the relief of Ehenezer Ave rill. 106. An act granting certain right? to D avid Tate, Josiah Fletcher, and John Wheathford. 107. An act for the reliefof Elijah Snow, jr103. An act for the reliefof Pri.cilla Adarm. 109. An act for the relief of Peter Ya tides. 1 10. An act respecting the adjournment of the Circuit Court for the DistVct of Colombia. 111. An act for the relief of Jonathan Hudson, of Baltimore. 1 1 2. An act for the relief of Thomas llewos. 113. An act for the relief of Joel Abbot,
I junior. ! 114. An act discharging a judgement a- ; irainst the representatives ol Elijah Wad- : worth, deceased.
1 lo. An act to provide an additional appropriation to complete the puMir Rad frm lYnsarola to St. Augustine, in the Territory of Florida. 1 1 G. An at t for the relief of Joseph Forrest. 117. An act for the reliefof Samuel Dale, of Alabama. 11S. An act confirming the act of the Legislature of Viiginia, entitled "An art incorporating the Chesapeake and Ol io Ca!.al Company, and "An a t of the State of Mar land, confirming thesfime." 119. An act for the relief of Thomas R. Broome. RESOLUTIONS. 1. Resolution, authorizing the Public Documents, printed by order of Congress, to he furnished to the Gardiner Lyceum. 2. Resolution, directing an inventory of the furniture in the President's House to be taken.
SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. Report of the committee to whom wns referred ?o much of thf Presidents fnr-nre, of the 7th l December last, as relates to the suppression of the slave trade. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEB. 1 C, 1825. The committee on the suppression of the slave trade, to whom was referred so much of the President's mesaL'o, of the 7th Decemberlast,aR relates to that subject, have, according to order had the same under consideration, and respectfully report: That, pursuant to the almost unanimous request of the house of representatives, expressed bv their resolution of the 28th of February, 1823, the President of the United States concluded a convention with Great Britian,on the 13th of March, in the following year, by which the African slave trade was denounced to he piracy, under the laws of both countries; the United Statesconcluded a convention with Great Britian, on the 15th of May, 1820, and, it being understood, between the contracting parties, as a preliminary to the ratification of the convention by the United States, that Great Britain should by an act of her parliament, concur, in a similar declaration. With great promptitude, and in accordance with this agreement, such an act was passed, declaring the African slave trade to be pirncy, and annexing to it thc
penalty denounced against this crime, by the common law of nations. A copy of this act was transmitted, by the British government, to the executive of the U. States, & the convention submitted, by the president, to the senate, for their advice and consent. The convention was approved by the senate, with certain qualifications, to all of which, except one, Great Britain, sub mo do, acceded: her government having instructed its miuister, in Washington, to
by the senate. This exception, the mes
sage of the President to the house of representatives, presumes "not to he of sufficient magnitude to defeat an object so near to the heart of both nations,' as the abolition of the African slave trade, "and so desirable to the friends of humanity throughout the world." But the President further adds, "that, as objections to the principle recommendedtby the house of representatives, or, at least, to the consequences inseparable from it, and which are underflood to apply to the law, have been raised, which may deserve a re-consideration of the whole subject, he has thought proper to suspend the conclusion of a new convention, until the definitive sentiments of congress can be ascertained.' Your committee are, therefore, required to review the grounds of the law of 1820, and the resolution of 1823, to which the rejected, or, as they rather hope, the suspended convention, referred. The former was the joint act of both branches of congress, approved by the President; the latter, although adopted with extraordinary unanimity, was the single act of the house of representatives. Upon tiie principle or intention of the act o"t congress of 1 820, making the slave trade punishable as piracy, the history of the act mav reflect some light. A bill from the senate, entitled "an act to continue in force the act to protect the commerce of the United States, and punish the crime of piracy, and, also, to make further provision to punish the crime of piracy," came to thc house of representatives on the 27th of April, 1820, and was. on the same day, referred to a committee of the whole, to which had been referred a 'ill of similar purport and title, that had originated in the house of representatives. Upon the 8th of May following, the 'committee on the suppression of the slave ..hij'. reported an amendment of two ad ditional sections to the senate's hill; also, a hill to incorporate the American socict
fur colonizing the free people of color of
the United States, and three joint resolu
tions, two of which related to the objects of
that society; hut the hist of which, in behalf of both houses of congress, requested the President uto consult and negociate with all the governments where ministers of the United States are, or shall be, ac
credited, on the means of affecting an en
tire and immediate abolition of the African slave trade." The amendatory sections denounce the guilt and penalty of piracy against any citizen of the U. States, of the crew or company of any foreign vessel, and any person whatever of the crew or company of any American vessel, who should be engaged in this traffic. Tl ie amendments, hill and resolutions, along with the explanatory report, which accompanied them, were referred to the committee of the whole above mentioned; and, on the 11th of thc same month, the house proceeded to consider them. After a discussion in the committee, the piracy hill and its amendments having been adopted, were reported, and both were concurred in by the house. The following day, the hill, as amended, being then on its passage, a motion was dahated and negatived to re-commit the bill to a select committee, with an instruction to strike out the last section of the amendment. The bill then passed, and was ordered to be returned, as amended, to the senate. On thc same day, a motion prevailed to discharge the committee of the whole from the further consideration of thc bill and the resolutions which accompanied the repot t; and the particular resolution, already recited, being under consideration, to try the sense of the house on its merits, it was moved to lay it on the table. The yeas and nays having been ordered on this motion, it was rejected by a majority of 78 to 35 members. It having been again proposed to postpone the resolution till the ensuing or second session of the same congress, and this proposal being also determined in the negative, the resolution was engrossed, read the third time, passed1, "nd ordered to be transmitted to the ser.'te on tne same day with the piracy bj. The amendments of this bill underwent
like scrutiny and debate in thc senate, arw' were finally concurred in, the day after they were received from the house of representatives, without any division apparent on the journal of that' house. The resolution which had Usen receiv
ed by the senate, at a oitferent hur of the same day, was read a second time on the 15th of May; was further taken up & considered, as in committee of the whole, reported to the house without amendment and ordered, after debate, to pass to a 3d reading. But, this being the last day of the session of congress, and a single member objecting "that it was against one of the rules of the senate to read it the third time on the same day without unanimous consent," it remained on the table of that body, on its final adjournment, after an ineffectual effort to suspend one of their rules, against which many of the friends of the resolution felt themselves compelled by their invariable usage, to vote in unison with its enemies. One of the objections to the resolution in the senate, was founded upon the pecu-
! liar relation of that branch of the national
legislature to the executive, in the ratification of treaties: w hich seemed, in the opinion of those who urged this argument, to interdict their concurrence in a request of the President to institute any negociation whatever. A cotemporary exposition of the object of the amendments to the piracy hill, and the resolution which the house of representatives adopted, by so large a majority, will be found in the report, which accompanied them, from the committee on the suppression of the slave trade. Those objects, il will he seen, were in perfect accordance with each other. They were designed to introduce, by treaty, into the code of international law, a principle, deemed by the committee essential to the abolition of the Alrican slave trade, that it should be denounced and treated as piracy by the civilized world. . The resolution being joint, and having failed in the senate, for thc reason already stated, the subject of it was revived in tho house of representative "t a very catlj' period of the succeeding scs?Ion cf cm. gress, hv a cu ' ' .n.un execu ivt , wiV: . '; ferred to a committee o; i... " ' ' . with the last. Tiu :r repon, after rev.e wing all the antecedent measures of the U States, for the suppression of the slave trade, urgently recommended the co-operation of the American and British navy against this traffic, under the guarded provisions of a common treaty, authorizing the practice of a qualified and reciprocal right of search. This report closed with a resolution, requesting "the President of the United States to enter into such arrangements as he might deem suitable & proper, with one or more of the maratime powers of Europe, for the effectual abolition of the African slave trade." The United States had, by the treaty of Ghent, entered into a formal stipulation with Great Britain, "that both the contracting parties shall use their best endeavors to accomplish the entire abolition of this traffic." The failure of the only joint attempt which had been made by England and America, at the date of this report, to give effect to this provision, being ascribable, in part, to a jealousy of the views of the former, corroborated by the language and conduct of one of the principle maratime powers of Europe, in relation to the samo topic, the committee referred to the decision of sir William Scott, in the case of the French ship Le Louis, to demonstrate that Great Britain claimed no right of search, in peace, but such as the consent of other nations should accord to her by treaty ; & sought it by a fair exchange, m this tranquil mode, for the beneficial purposes of an enlarged humanity. Certain facts disclosed by the diplomattic correspondence of France and England during the pendency of that case in the British court of Admiralty, were calculated to guard the sympathies of America from b'-ing misguided by the language of the former power. The painful truth was elicited, that France had evaded the execution of her promise, at Vienna, to Europe and mankind. That she had, long after the da to of that promise, tolerated, if she had not cherished, several branches of a traffic, which she had concurred in denouncing to be the opprohium of Christendom, and which she had subsequently bound herself,
;y the higher obligations of a solemn treaty, nholish, as inconsistant with the laws of God and nature, Succeediiig events in the councils of the EWli nation, have not irasired tho
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