United States oracle and Portsmouth advertiser — Portsmouth, N.H., 1802-05-22 00:00:00, page 1

HOUSE OF REPRESS ENTATIFRS.
WASHINGTON, MONDAY, MARCH 22.
v ^, t OF Hv^RNAL Tr "ES.
°A /T"° Denntc. Having been fre-
JVJL quentiy involuntarily upon this
bill, it is Kith reiu&ance that I rife a
gain. I have to regret my absence at
the time .my colleague animadverted
upon remarks, which had previously
been made by me, or on the proceed
ings in the progression of the bill in
which I tock a part.
Mr. S. Smith said he had made no
remarks refpe&ing his colleague in his
absence.
Mr. Dennis. I beg pardon for the
mistake. My colleague, however, seems
to have difrovered a hew argument,
not derived from the general principles
of the bill, but from local considera
tions. He conceives that Maryland
pays infinitely more than her propor
tion of these taxes, and that it is there
fore his duty to vote against their con
tinuance. But I have frequently ob
served, that the only way to enquire
into this fubje& is to compare oUr inter
nal and external revenue. Had my
colleague attended to thiscitcumftance,
be would have spared his remarks.
We have not documents whereon to
Sround a general view of the fubjed.
ut in the last year it appears there
were collected of the internal faxes
72,735 dollars in Maryland, and in the
whole United States 919,719 dollars.
I will remark that if Maryland pays
more than her proportion ofihe inter
nal revenue, she pays infinitely more of
the external duties ; Os these last, Ma
ryland pays more than a million, while
the whole amount is only ten millions ;
that is (he pays t-Bth part of the whole
external revenue, which is greater than
1 the proportion of 72,000 to 809,000
dollars, the sum calculated upon by the
gentleman from Maryland.
I do not conceive that any accurate
estimate of the sums adually paid by
each bate can be derived from the doc
lumentsI uments before us. I know that tho' a
! million of external duties is paid in Bal
;timore, yet the whole of that sum is not
1 paid even by the whole state of Mary
-1 land. The fame is the case with the
internal duties —for instance, that on
Ramps is fiift paid by de merchants,
who do not ultimately pay it, but throw
it on the consumer. The fame is the
effect of the duties on refined sugar,
and on sales at auction. For no duty
is derived from sales at audion under
an order of court. The sales, on which
duties are paid, are chiefly derived from
large commercial towns, and they are
not paid exclusively there, but by the
great body of citizens of the U. States,
who consume the articles fold.
In Virginia there is paid on Ramps
17,000 dollars ; in Maryland 23,000,
Thus it appears that in Maryland,
which is so much smaller than Virginia,
there is paid in the firft instance a great
er proportion of the duties on stamps ;
yet I cannot suppose there is a greater
proportion of this tax actually paid in
Maryland than in Virginia, as I know
Virginia consumes more. The docu
ment, therefore, throws no light on the
fubje&; the whole statements of my col
league are fallacious. The internal
taxes, too, are chiefly imposed upon lux
uries, the consumption of which bears
no proportion to population. They are
taxes operating upon a particular
description of citizens ; in general upon
the wealthy ; of course where there are
most wealthy citizens, the greater por
tion of these taxes is paid. This is par
ticularly the case with the carriage tax.
> I have before exprefled my disposi
tion to repeal the tax upon stills ; not
for the reasons aligned by my colleague,
(because Maryland pays more than her
legitimate proportion of this tax. I
know that those who diftil the most,
, consume the lead of imported spirits.
Now the tax upon domestic spirits is in
finitelylefs than that on imported spir
its. The firft pays cents ; and the
jaft 40 cents. The necessary confe
* quence, then, of substituting domestic
F in the room of foreign spirits, is that we
are liberated in that proportion from
the duty on the latter. I am, therefore,
for abandoning this tax, not because I
think Maryland pays more than her
proportion of it, but because it is not
convenient in the cplle&ion, ^d re
1
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Vol.Xil\ SATURDAY, MAY 22$ 1802.
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CONGRESS.
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR
If the Bale of the finances admitted
this reduction, I would prefer lessening
the burthen on other articles which
chiefly falls on the yeomanry of the
country ; on bohea tea, for instance,
which pays 12 cents, and on brown su
gar, which pays 5 cents per pounds
What are the objections made by gen
tlemen to our plan : They fay they are
for repealing the internal taxes in pre
ference to all others, because they re
quire a host of officers, and because they
increase executive patronage, which is
odious to the American people, and hos
tile to the genius of a free government.
But I take this to be fallacious. For I
cannot conceive that those who object
to the executive patronage are serious
ly adverse to it. We are to judge, not
from their profeffions, but actions ; and
when we fee men of merit over the
whole union deprived of their offices—.
Mr. Nicholson called to order.
Mr. Morris—ls the objection derive
from the alledged expence of collection
be solid, it may easily be removed by
turning over the collection to the Depu
ty Post-master, who will confider five
per cent as a fufficient premium—-
Whence then the necessity of destroying
a whole system, because a part of it is
defective ? If the number of officers, or
the expence be too great, lessen them,
But, in the second place; however
well convinced I might be that we
could spare these taxes, I would vote
against the repeal of taxes upon plea
surable carriages, sales at au&ion, refin
ed sugar, and licenses to retailers, be
cause they are for the most part paid by
the wealthy and luxurious.
The gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
S. Smith) objects to the taxes upon
carriages because it falls heavily upon
his Bale ; he fay in Baltimore there are
a great number of hacks, which are not
owned by the rich. But I will ask the
gentleman who pays the hack-hire, the
poor or the rich ? Do the poor of Bal
timore ride about in hacks ? The very
circumstance of the exigence of so great
a number of hacks, proves the carriage
tax not to be oppressive.
The aggregate of the taxes upon
carriages, brown sugar, licenses, sales
at audion, and stamps is 48i,0c0 dolls.
Make a deduction of 24,000 dolls, for
the expences of collection, which I am
persuaded will be quite fufficient, and
there remains a balance of 457,000d0115.
quires a great number of officers to col
led it.
The real queflion is, whether the tax
on internal articles is greater than that
upon imported articles ? No doubt the
Hon. gentleman (Geo. Smith) pays &
greater tax upon internal than upon
imported articles. But let the question
be put to the mechanics of the country,
and they will answer, retain the taxes
upon all the internal articles except
Rills; and reduce the duties on those
imported articles which are necessaries
of life. Though a few wealthy indi
viduals may pay large sums to the in
ternal revenue, yet it will be found
that 19-20 of tie citizens of Maryland
pay the most on imported articles.
This comparative view, in my opin
ion, is the only accurate one which can
be taken. I am, therefore, still under
the impression that if we can dispense
with part of our burthens, it is better to
retain part of the internal taxes, all ex
cepting that on Bills, and make a dimi
nution in the duties on imported arti
cles of the firft necessity.
Mr. T. Morris. We are called upon
to destroy at one blow all our sources
of internal revenue, and to rely for the
prbtedion of the government exclusive
ly on the external taxes. lam for two
reafohs against this Bep. In the firft
place I am riot convinced that We can
do without this revenue. Tt may be
deemed rash in me, after the gentleman
from Maryland (Mr. S. Smith) has de
clared that he has enquired into the ex
penditure and the savings, and is fatis
fied of the extent of the last, to fay that
I am not convinced that we can dis
pense with these taxes If I had not
doubted before, his ft, le of reasoning
would not have convinced me. We do
not know what sum we may be obliged
to pay to Great Britain under our trea
ty with her, nor do we know the exterit
of our obligation, which a large por
tion of our citizens think well founded
to indemnify for French spoliations. Is
it then proper to diminish our revenue
before we have enquired into these cir
cumdances.
I have another objection to the repeal :
Should war, or any other untoward e
vent occur, I ask what resource is there
left to which we can resort ? If such
untoward events should occur, we can
not resort to our taxes on articles of lux
ury, for the means of indulgence will be
gone. We must resort to excises. It is
owing to the flourifhing situation of the
country, that we *re now enabled to tax
luxuries. But when they cease to be
consumed, we must resort to objects of
prime necessity. I ask, then, if the situ
ation of the country is such as to war
rant this abandonment of all our inter
nal sources ? Do we not know that a
formidable foreign power is to fettle on
our frontier. Do we not know that a
nation, not the most tranquil, is t'o tak
poffeffion of Louisiana and Florida? Are;
we then, in such critical circumstances
to squander away our revenues ?
A Brange charge is brought by gen
tlemen. They accuse us with courting
popularity. But how long is it, since
in the intimation of gentlemen it has
been a crime to appeal to the fentfments
of their constituents ? What ! if it is
deemed by a part of the House that a
tax should be taken off of some articles,
though the majority are for taking it
off or others, are we to be called base
courtiers of popularity,when we address
our remarks, not only to the sober sense
of this House, but also to that of the
people ? If the charge of courting popu
larity apply any where, it is to the Presi
dent. Was it proper in him to desig
nate any particular tax as a fit one to
be removed ? I must fay that this was
going beyond his duty. For as all rev
enue systems must originate in this
House, it rested with us exclusively to
originate as well as decide whatever re
lates to revenue.
—o—
— Treaty of Peace, between the French
Republic, the King of Spain, and the Bata
vian Republic on the one part, and His
Majesty the King of the United Kingdom
of Great- Britain and Ireland on the o her.
THE First Consul of the French
ißepublic, in the name of the
French Nation, and his Majesty the
King of the United Kingdom, &c. e
qually animated by a desire to put a
flop to the calamities of war, have laid
the foundations of the peace, by the
Preliminary Articles signed at London
the Ift of Oct. 1801 ; and as, by the
15th article of the said Preliminaries, it
has been agreed, “ Thgt there shall be
nominated on the one part and the
other, Plenipotentiaries, who shall re
sort to Amiens, to draw up the Defini
tive Treaty, in concert with the allies of
the contracting parties ;" the First
Consul of the French Republic; in the
name of the French Nation,has appoint
ed Citizen Joseph Bonaparte, Counfel
lor of State ; and His Majesty the King
of the United Kingdom of Great-Bri
tain and Ireland,the Marquis Cornwal
lis, Knight of the most illustrious Or
der of the Garter, &c ; His Majesty the
King of Spain, and the Government
but do not on that account destroy the
system altogether.
Much has been laid refpeding the duty
upon stamps. I will acknowledge that
when it was firft lar% ^ ^us, be
cause it was not then understood. I
believe however that it is now a popu
lar tax in a great part of the union ;
and if the house had permitted a docu
ment, for which I moved to have been
produced, it would have appeared to be
a tax chiefly paid by the opulent part
of the community. I believe that in
my pArt of the country, it is as popular
4 tax as any paid.
Gentlemen fay the people are dverfe
t'o these internal taxes ; and in the fame
breath, they inform us, that if they are
laid aside by this government, they will
be resumed in die several Bates. Ido
know that in some of the Bates they are
so little odious, that there is a double
tax, one laid by the Bates, and the other
by the United States. This of itfelf is
Sufficient to prove that the disposition of
the country is riot against them.
Had gentlemen convinced me that
we could dispense with the tax on Bills,
I would have agreed to abandon it
But they have not convinced me, and
I am not, therefore, in favour of aban
doning it., But if they are willing to
double the tax of the other five sources
of internal revenue, I will join them in
taking off the duty on Bills.
DEFINITIVE TREATY.
source to “ Rio-Branco" toward the
weft. Therefore, the northern bank
The contrading parties shall endea
vour to maintain a perfed harmony
between them and their States,without
fuffering on either fide, any fort of hos
tility by land or fed,underbuy pretence
whatever ; they shall carefully avoid
every thing which may, in future, dis
turb tlie union so happily established,
and shall afford neither aid nor pro
tedion, diredly or indirectly, to those
who would prejudice either of them.
11. All the prisoners madeon either
fide, by land or by sea, and the hostages
taken or given during the war, and to
the present time, shall be reftored,with
out ransom, in fix weeks, at fartheft, to
reckon from the day of the exchange
of the ratifications of the present treaty
after paying the debts contrasted dur
ing their captivity. Each contrasting
party shall (liquidate) pay refpedively,
the advances made by either of the
contracting parties for the fubfiftance
and maintainance of prisoners in the
country where they shall have been de
tained. There shall be appointed a
Special commission to establish & regu
late the compensation due either party.
The time & place of meeting of the
Coihmiffioners charged with the execu
tion of this article, shall be fixed in con
cert ; they shall state an account, not
only of the expences for the prisoners,
but also for the foreign troops, which,
before being taken, were in the pay of
any one of the parties.
111. His Britannic Majesty reßores
to the French Republic and its allies,
the King of Spain and the Batavian
Republic, all the possessions & colonies
which belonged to them refpedively,
and which have been occupied or con
quered by the British forces in the
course of the present war, with the ex
ception of the isle of Trinidad, and the
Dutch possessions in the Isle of Ceylon.
IV. His Catholic Majesty cedes and
guarantees in full possession and fove-°
reignty to His Britanic Majesty the Isl
and of Trinidad.
V. The Batavian Republic cedes
and guarantees in full possession and
Sovereignty to His Britannic Majesty,
all the possessions and establishments in
the Island of Ceylon, which belonged,
before the war, to the Republic of the
U^ted Provinces, or to its East Indian
Company.
VI. The Port of Cape of Good
Hope is restored in full Sovereignty, as
before the war, to the Batavian Repub
lic.
of the river Arawary, from its month
to the source, and the territory north
of the above limits, shall belong in full
possession to the French Republic; The
southern bank of the said river, from
the mouth, and all the territory fouth
of the said limits, shall belong to Her
Most Faithful Majesty—The naviga
tion of the River Arawary in its whole
course, shall be common to the two na
tions.
The arrangements which have taken
place between the Courts of Madrid &
of Lisbon, for the eftablifhn ent of their
The vessels, of every description, be
longing to the other contrasting par
ties, shall have the privilege of refitting
and purchasing the necessary provisions
as formerly, without paying any other
duties than the Dutch are fubjed to.
VII. The territories and possessions
of Her Most Faithful Majesty are to
remain entire, as they were before the
war ; but the limits of French & Por
tuguese Guyanna are fixed at the river
Arawary, which empties into th; ocean
above the “ North Cape," near " New-
Isle," and the Isle of Penitencefin about
a degree and a third of north latitude.
These limits shall follow the course of
the river Arawary, from its mouth, the
fartheft from the Cape, to its fource—
thence in a Brait line drawn from this
of the Batavian Republic,have appoint
ed, for their Plenipotentiaries, Don Jo
seph Nicholas o'Azarra,&c. and Roger
John Schimmelpenninck, &c. who, af
ter having exchanged in due form,their
powers, which art hereafter Bated, hive
agreed to the following articles :
ART. I. There shall be peace, ami
ty And a good underßanding between
the French Republic, the King ofSpain,
his heirs and successors, and the Bata
vian Republic, on the one part; and
His Majesty the King of the United
kingdom of Great-Britain and Ireland
his heirs and successors, on the ocher
part.
Advertiser.
=—-—=——•= •■^^ _________=_,__—__ _____
{^ADVERTISEMENTS reasonably ^conspicuously inserted— -COMMU
NICATIONS duly attended to—and every FAVOR THANKFULLY
ACKNOWLEDGED,
PRICE I DOLLAR 50 CENTS Per Annum. [No. 34.
Saturday, Morning, by WILLIAM TREADWELL, &C.^
®Kacce, anti
„ FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, FOURTEEN TH xAarC
Bth. The Ports of Malta, shall be
open to the commerce and navigation
of all nations, who will pay their equal
and regular duties; these duties shall
be applied to the maintainance of the
Maltese language, as fpecified in the 3d
fed.—and of the civil and military cf
tablifhments of the Island, and also of'
a general Lazaretto,open to all nations.
9th. The Barbary Powers are ex
cepted from the two preceding ftipula
tions,until the contracting Parties shall
procure a reflation of the hostilities
which subsist between the said Barbary
States, the Order of St. John, and thon
Powers that possess the language, or ate
a component part of it.
10th. The Older ihaH be governed
as *4l in its fpiribual as temporal ca.
frontiers in Europe shall be made ac
cording to the stipulations of the trea
ty of Badajos.
VIII. The territories, pofleffons and
rights of the Sublime Porte shall be
maintained entire, as they were before
the war.
IX. The Republic of the Seven Isles
is acknowledged.
X. The Islands of Malta, Gozo,
and Gomino, shall be restored to the
Order of St. John of Jerusalem, to be
held by it under the fame conditions as i
before the war, and under the follow
ing regulations ;
id. The Knights of the Order,
whose ("langues"j languages continue to
exifl, after the exchange of the ratifica
tions of the present Treaty, are invited
to return to Malta, as soon is the ex
change takes place ; They will there
form a general Chapter, and proceed
to eled a Grand Master, feleded from
among the natives of those nations who
preserve (des langues) the language,unlefs
they shall have already made choice
since the ratification of the preliminaries.
It is understood that an election made
since that epoch shall alone be confider
red valid, to the exclusion of every
other which may have taken place prior
to that epoch.
2d. The governments of the French
Republic, and Great- Britain, wishing
to place the Order and Island of Malta
in a state of entire independence in re
fped to them, agree, that henceforward
neither the French nor English language
shall be fuffered there. and that no in
dividual of either of these powers can
be admitted into the Order.
3d. There shall be established a MaL
tefe language, which shall be maintain
ed by the territorial revenues, and the
commercial duties of the island. This
language ihallfoe entitled to the digni
ties proper to it, to benefits (" traite
mens") and to a College (" agberge.")
Proofs of nobility shall not be required
for the admission of the Knights of the
said language ; they shall be admiffibte
to all the offices, and shall enjoy all the
privileges with the Knights of other
Orders. The municipal, administra
tive, civil, judicial, and other offices de
pendant on the government of thelfland,
shall be occupied, one half at lead, by
the inhabitants of Malta, Gozo and Co,
mino.
4th. The forces of his Britannic
Majesty shall evacuate the island and
its dependencies in three months after
the exchange of the ratifications, or
sooner, if poflible, when it shall be re
stored to the Order in the state in which
it is found, provided that the Grand
Master, or Commiflaries fully author
ized according to the statutes of the O
rder, be in the said island to take poffcf
fion thereof, and the troops which are
to be furnifhed by his Sicilian Majesty,
as hereafter Bipulated, be arrived.
sth. Half of the garrison, at least,
shall be composed of native Maltese :
The remainder, the Order shall have
the power of railing among the natives
of those nations who continue to possess
the language. The Maltese troops shall
have Maltese officers. The command
in chief of the garrison, at well as the
nomination of officers, .hall belong
to the Grand Master, and he cannot
dispense with it, even temporarily, but
in favour of a Knight, according to the
advice of the Council of the Order.
6th. The independence jf the Islands
of Malta, of Gozo, and of Comino, as
well as the present establishment, is
placed under the proteftlori and guar
antee of France, G. Britain, Außri^
S^in, Russia, and Prussia.
7th. The Order and Island of Mal
ta, with its dependencies, are declared
neutral.