Gazette of the United States & evening advertiser. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1794-06-04 00:00:00, page 2

cr
/
Is iijtle doubt that hidhlJuah originally in
tended, ,fcy thtfe private aid 9, to thuait
aiid perplex government. It is thus tlic
•will of the gvc.it body of freeman in Amer
ica is fubjett to the control of influence of
little parties and clubs. In the fame man
ner, private ehibs are endeavoring to Slur
ry Congrcls to declare war at once against
1 Great Britain, without taking any prt;li
minarv ftt'ps, required by the laws and «f
---ages of nations; We are happy howevir
to tin;) the people in the interior northern
- states, with great unanimity, reprobate all
clubs fin tired to influence public meafnres,
and consider them as unoonftitutiunal and
dangerous/
Front the General Advertiser.
FROM A CORRESPONDENT.
We have lately seen an attempt, in the
Gazette of the United States, to (belter
the appointmeut of Mr. Jay, chief justice
of the United States, to the office of en
» vgy to the court of Great Britain from
tlie censure to which it was justly exposed,
by an attack upon that of Mr. Monroe
laleje.ijitffij; from Virginia, as minister to
tie French Republic, which-jjaerits a fhprt
v comment. ' V
it is I'carcely neceflary to obferrc, that
if the cases were parallel they must be ei
ther both oonftitutional or otherwise ; if
they were not, that neither can be juitified
or crimrnateA by the other } that they
flarfd respectively upon their own merits
by whichalone tiiev must be tested. These
portions are too clear to admit of any
doubt, in the n.ind of a discerning public.
Nor can there be any divcrfity of sen
timent with rejpedt to the principles by
which they mult be teited. That the
three departments of government, the ex
. ecutive, legislative aed judicial, Ihould be
kept Teparate, dill:neb and independent of
each other, is a political truth too well
eftablilhed at the present day, to be deni
ed by a'iy one. It is well known, that
the national and ail the state governments
are founded on this principle. Indeed in
moil of them great ingenuity has been
displayed in an effort to complete this
separation and perfect the independence of
each on the other ; and it is universally
admitted that the government in which
tnis efFort has been molt fnccefeful has at
tained the nearelt to perfection.
That Mr. Jay was of this opinion up
on a former occasion, will appear by the
following extract from the memorial orre
monftrance of the circuit judges of the
United States at New-York, to congress,
and which was signed by himfelf.
" That by the conflitution of the U
fiited States the government thereof is
divided into three diftinft and independ
ent branches and that it is die duty of
each toabftain from ami oppose incroach
ments on either.
That neither the legjjlature nor the ex
ecutive branches can conltitutionally assign
so the judicial any duties but such as are
properly judicial and to be performed in a
judicial manner."
Thus we find, when it was fought, by
the legifiature, to charge the judiciary |
with the fetdement uE the claims of the
invalid soldiers, the chief justice was a
kiiTttcd for the independenee of that de
partment ; but when invited to fill an ex
ecutive office whicfi tended to his own ad
vancement in honor and emolument, and
especially one which furnifhed an opportu
nity of visiting the associates of the fac
tion in England, all apprehension of the
kind, ast jealotify refpefting the union of
the departments vani.'hed.
Will it be contested, that the independ
ence of the Judges may not be more fa
tally undermined and destroyed by execu
tive influence, provided it may be aflailed
i in that line, than the imposition of new
duties by the legislature ? And what influ
-1 ence is more powerful in its effedt on the
human heart, than the right of dispensing
011 those who are must accommodating and -
obfeqtiious, additional offices of honor and
profit? And is it not to be presumed, if
the door to executive offices, (hould like
wile be opened to the Judges, that inttead
of forming a barrier or ltrong wall of pro
tection in favor of the people, against ex
cutivc encroachments, they would soon
become the mere fycophantsof courtsand
tools of power ?
It will be perceived that the only ob
jection to eithei appointment, confilts in
the pofltffion and exercise of two offices,
' each in a separate department of the go
vernment, by the fame person and at the
fame time : And it is admitted that the
obje&iftn applies with equal, force, whe
ther they be legiffative arid executive, or
judicial and executive, for in both cases,
two departments of the government are
blended together, ar*i the independence
arid check contemplated by the conftituti
or. destroyed. Had Mr. Jay religned the
office of Judge, when he accepted that of
Envoy Extraordinary, there would have
been no objetSiorv in that refpeft, to his
appointment; for it never was contended
that a periou holding an office in any
branch of the government, might not be
appointed from that to one in any other
department. By holding both offices,
therefore, Mn jay has justly exposed
himfelf to the censure which has been bes
towed upon a conduct so improper. But so
soon as the latter appointment was confer
red on Mr. Monroe, it is well known that
he immediately religned the other, and
withdrew from the Senate ; the objecti
ons then which have been urged with such
peculiar force againftthe former, are whol
ly inapplicable to the latter.
If the appointment of Mr. Jay was con
stitutional being understood at the
time, and verified by the event, that he
intended to hold both offices J it will be dif
ficult to (hew any impropriety in Mr.
Monroe's eonduft in oppofrng it. He
was at the time a Senator, and charged
by his oath, to preserve the conltitution
inviolate. If he deemed this a violation,
it was his duty to oppose it, and he
would have been unworthy the trust repo
sed in him by his country, if he had
shrunk from it.
Whether it was proper for Mr. Mon
roe to accept the appointment which was
conferred on him by the President and
Senate, the public will determine. If
it suited his convenience to serve his coun
try in that line, was desired by many at
home, and there was reason to believe it
would be acceptable to the French repub
lic, why Ihould he not accept it ? Can any
good reason be affigncd, why he should
flight the favorable disposition of his coun
try, thus honorably expressed, and at a
very interesting crilis of public affairs ?—
Can it be urged that he solicited the ap
pointment or courted it, by any unmanly
or degrading accommodation, in his pub
lic conduit ? Will a firm and decided op
polition to such nominations as he thought
unconstitutional and otherwise improper,
be deemed such, for these are the only!
objedtions which have been alledged a
gainst him \
It is generally understood, that the
trust was offered to Mr. Monroe, by the
Pi efident, and that the firft and only a
gency he had in the business was, in de
tei mining that he would not decline it; a
circumstance which reflects honor on the
person who conferred, as well as on him
who accepted the appointment.
Every candid reader will now decide
how far the two cases which have been
brought into view are parallel. In one
cafe Mr. Jay, Chief Juttice of the United
States, being appointed to an executive
office, has accepted the fame without re
lifiquifhing his judicial office, in violation
of the principles of the constitution
which he has taken an oath to support,
in neglcft ot his duties as a judge which
he has sworn faithfully to discharge, and
in fubverlion of that independence on the
executive department which, on another
occasion, he himfelf had so ftrenuouflv
a Her ted.
In the other cafe, Mr. Monroe, a Se
nator of the United States having accept
ed an executive appointment, immediately
rehnquiihed his feat in the Senate, from
a refpeft to the principles of the constitu
tion which he had taken an oath to sup
port ; in conformity to the doctrines he
had before maintained with refpeft to the
incompatibility of offices in different de
partments, and without an attempt, or
wish, to retain a place, the duties of
which he w as rendered unable to discharge
by his undertaking those of another.
CONGRESS.
House of Reprcfentatives.
~A r n< 7 for granting the sum of two
thousand dollars, to the widow of Robert
Fortyth, late Marshal of the diftria of Geor
gia, was brought in the j 4 th ult. and yester
day was pafi-ed, and sent up to the Senate.
.. received some days before from
the President of the United States, commu
nicating the request of the Minister of France
tor an advance of money, on account of the
debt due to France, was taken into consider
ation and referred to a committee of the
whole.—A bill has since been passed purfu-
Mt J° request, ancl sent to the Senate.
Mr. M'Dowell laid on the table a motion
t.
directing the Secretary of the Treafurv tc
report at tlte next fefficn a state of the ba
lances due to the United State?, from indivi
duals, prior and subsequent to the phrfent
government; tt'ith Jtn account Of the mea
sures taken to recover the fame, &c. this mo
tion was taken up on Monday, and after
some discussion was negatived, 39 to 38.
A bill received from the Senate entitled an
acl in addition to the ail for the puni(hment
of certain crimes against the United States,
was also taken into consideration on Mon
day ; the firft feflion of the bill is in the
following word : " If any person (hall, with
in the territory or jurifdiclion of the United
States, accept or take a jcommiffion to Jerve
a foreign prince or state, in was, by land or
sea, the person so offending (hall be deemed
guilty of a high misdemeanour, and (hall be
fined not less than dollars nor
snore than dollars; and (hall be
imprisoned not exceeding nor less
than
This section on motion of Mr. Nicholas,
was after some debate, struck out in com
mittee of the whole, 39 to 38 —but was
restored by the House after an amendment'
which provides that nofuch cornrhiffon (hall
be cxercized
Mr. Nicholas thfen moved to strike out
a part of the second fe&ion, which punishes
a man for cJniifting in foreign service, or for
going out of the limits of the United States,
to enlist in foreign service ; and he proposed
an amendment instead of it.
This amendment was negatived—as was
a motion to expunge the foiirth™fedlion.
It was next moved to ftrik'e out the seventh
feiflion which stood as follows:
" And be it further enacfted, that it (hall
not be lawful to fell, within the United States,
any vessel or goods captured from a prince
or state, or from the fubjecls or citizens of a
prince or state, with whom the United States
are at peace, which vessel or goods (hall have
bten captured by any other foreign prince
or state, or by the fubjetfls or citizens of such
prince Or state ; unless such vessel and goods
shall have been firft carried into a port or
place within the territory of the prince Or
state to which the captors belong, but such
vessel and goods (hall be carried (tat ps, the
United States,by those whofhall brortght
them in. And the sale of any veflel or goods
prohibited as aforefaid, (hall be utterly void."
Some debate took place on this motion,
the clause was at length expunged, 46 to 37
—the bill was passed as amended.
The following remarks on the last mo
tion were offered by Mr. Goodhut.
Mr. Goodhue observed, that the fubjea
lay within a very narrow compass. If by
our treaty with France they had a right to
fell their prizes in our ports, there was no
thing more to be said. If they had no such
right by trealy, then it was to be considered
how far giving them this right would be a
violation of our present neutrality. As to the
treaty, Mr. Jefferfon our late Secretary of
State, in his correspondence communicated
to us the present session, had explicitly said
that no such claitn could be made by France,
by virtue of our treaty with them, to such a
measure; and indeed if we look into the
treaty which France made with Great Bri
tain in 1786,lfev»ral years after th.e one they
had formed with us, we (hall have all doubts
removed on the true conftruflioi} which
ought to be had upon the article mutually
existing between us, by virtue of which such
a right is pretended ; for in the treaty they
made with Great Britain, they expressly fli
pulated that in cafe either party (hould be at
war with any other nation, no prizes ox' the
one being so at war (hall be fold in (he ports
of the other; consequently had it happened
we had been at war with Great Britain and
France had remained in peace, we could not
by the article in our treaty with them, have
had such an indulgence. Indeed, the gen
tleman from Virginia, Mr. Madison, seems
to give up the right, and takes it up on the
ground of expediency, and not having 3
tendency to violate our neutrality. Mr. Jef
ferfon has also in his correspondence laid
down this principle, that if a neutral nation
granted a favor to one belligerent power
which (he withheld from the other, it was
so far a violation of neutrality—this princi
ple was incontrovertible.
Mr. Madison had said we had not heard
that the Briti(h government had complained
on this score to our minister at London, but
tho' that was true, it was nevertheless true
that their minister here had made complaint
of it to us, and Mr. Goodhue was of opinion
that in fettling our accounts with Great Bri
tain for the spoliations they have committed
on our commerce, they would as a
charge against us the prizes made of their
vessels, which we had permitted the sale of
in our ports, he therefore hoped the clause
would not be struck out agreeably to the
motion for that purpose. Mr. Goodhue fur
ther observed, that it had given him much
pain to have seen so many amendments pro
posed in the progress of this bill, to deprive
the executive and judicial powers of this go
vernment from being vested with that autho
rity, so essentially necessary to reilrain the
licentious from committing such a<sis, as un
questionably hazarded the tranquility of our
country.
IN SENATE,
Wednesday, May 2ill, 1794.
( Concluded.)
The Vice-Pre (ident signed the enrolled
0 J bUI, entitled, «An ast prohibiting f or a -
£ I limited time the Exportation of arms 2nd
j ammunition, and encouraging the impor
tation of the lame," and it was delivered
to the committee to be laid before the
President of the United States for his .
I approbation.
n The bill sent from the House of Repre.
1 I fentatives for concurrence, entitled, " An
j' a & to compensate Arther St. Clair," was
e " read the firft time.
- Ordered, That this bill pass to the fc.
d j cond reading,
e j The bill sent from the House of Re.
r I prefentativc3 for concurrence, entitle.!,
I " An ast to authorize the settlement of
r account of Lewis Dubois for his fcr
e I vices in the ■ late army of the United
s j States," was read the firlt time.
Ordered, That this bill pass to the fe.
, j cond reading.
- I The bill sent from the House of Re
' I pi'efentatives for concurrence, entitled,
I I " An ast to alter the time for the next
I annual meeting of Congress," was read
• the firil time.
i Ordered, That this bill pass to the fe.
■ I cond reading.
The Resolution sent from the Koufe
I of Representatives for concurrence, that
I Congress adjourn on the third day of June
next, was read.
I Ordered, I hat this resolution lie on
the table.
The Senate adjourned to 11 o'clock to
Thursday, May 22d,
I Mr. Vining reported fiom the com
. j mittee on enrolled bills, that they did ycf.
1 terday, lay before the President <>f the U
nited States, the bill, entitled, " An ast
j prohibiting for a limited time the expor-
I tation of arms and ammunition, and en
couraging the importation of the fame."
I On motion,
j Ordered, That Mr. Ellfworth, Mr.
| Livermore and Mr. Monroe, be a commit
tee to report a bill to authorize a fettle-
I ment of the accounts of Loan-Officers
I for Clerk hire and ftatiqnary.
I On motion,
I Ordered, That the fame committee be
I inftrufted to -bring in a bill to provide for
j mitigating or remitting fines, penalties
j and _ forfeitures incurred urn'er revenue
j laws in cases not now provided for.
I That the fame committee be inftrufted
I to bring in a bill, further to extend the
j time for receiving on loan, the domestic
J debt of the United States ; and
I That the fame committee be alio in- 1
I flrufted to bring in a bill, to continue in
I force " The ast for the relief of per-
I sons impriforied for debt."
J On motion,
I Ordered, That the committee 011 the
J petition of George Taylor and others, be
I enjoined to report.
j On motion,
I Ordered, That the committee on the
I mefiage of the President of the United
j States of the 19th of February iaft, res-
I pefting the Judiciary be enjoined to re-
I port.
I The bill, sent from the House of Re-
I pi'efentatives for concurrence, entitled,
I "An ast to compensate Arthur St. Clair,"
I was read the second time.
Ordered, Thrt this bill be referred to
Mr. Brown, Mr. Glinn and Mr. Vining
to consider and report thereon to the Se- j
I nate.
The bill, sent from the House of Re-
I prefentatives for concurrence, entitled, j
I " An ast to authorize the settlement of
I the account of Lewis Dubois for his fcr
vicesin the late army of the United States,"
I was read the second time.
Ordered, That this bill be referred to
the committee last appointed to consider
and report thereon to the Senate.
j The Senate prooecded to consider the
amendments reported by the committee,
to the bill, entitled, " An ast laying ad
ditional duties on goods, wares and mer-
I chandize imported into the United States, \
and on the tonnage of (hips or vefiels," ;
which were adopted, and the bill amend
i cd accordingly. f
Ordered, That this bill pass to the i'
I third reading.
I I y
A mefiage from the President of the ?
United by Mr. Dandrige his Secretary : p
" Mr. Piefident—The President of the
United States hath this day approved and A|
I signed, " An ast prohibiting for a limit
-1 ed time the exportation of arms and am-
I munition, and encouraging the importa-
I tiornof the fame." x j,
I Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint
I the House of Representatives therewith.
I The Vice-Preudent laid before the Se- . *
I