The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-30 00:00:00

PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS.

In the Senate the treaty concluded by Mr. Cushing
with China has been received and read. It is understood
that it secures for the United States many important ad-
vantages, and it will doubtless he confirmed. Mr. Allen,
of Ohio, renewed the moti: n he offered at the last ses-
sion, calling on the President for copies of all the cor-
respondence with Great Britain relating to the Oregon
dispute. This motion was finally carried-24 to 16. So
this will shortly be blazoned to the world.
In the House, Mr. John Quincy Adams has
succeeded in having the rule of the House rescinded
which provided against the reception of petitions refer-
ring to the abolition of slavery. Those petitions are
now on the same footing as all others, and are received
and referred. The vote stood 103 to 80. Mr. Adams
has been working for this object, which he has now suc-
cessfully accomplished, for the last ten years. So much
of the President's Message as related to the annexation
of Texas having been referred to the Committee on Fo-
reign Affairs, the Chairman of that Committee has re-
ported a joint resolution for carrying the project int.
off ct. The resolution is ai follows :

" Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United
States.
" Resolved, &c.—That annexation and union between
the United States and the republic of Texas take effect
as Fettled, the 12th day of April last, in tho following
words, viz.:—

[Here follows a copy of the treaty of annexation.]
"Resolved,—And the said articles are hereby de-
clared to be the fundamental law of union between the
said United States and Texas, so soon as the supreme
authorities of the said republic of Texas shall agree to
the same. And it shall be the duty of the President of
the United States, so soon as he shall be officially notified
of such agreement on the part of Texas, to announce the
same by proclamation.
" Resolved further by the authority aforesaid,—That
it is understood and intended that whatever was stipu-
lated to be done immediately, or at a fixed period, after
the exchange of said compact, shall be done immediately
or in a like period after the supreme authorities of Texas
shall have formally agreed to these resolutions."
Mr. Ingersoll gave notice that, cn Monday, the 23d
instant, he would move to go into Committee of the whole
House on the state of the Union, fur the purpose of tak-
ing up this Bill.
Mr Benton, in the Senate, has introduced his counter
preposition, proposing that Texas (proper) be annexed
w:th ascent of Mexico.
The Bill is as follows:
" A Bill to provide for the Annexation of Texas to
the United States.

" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives of the United States of America in Congress as-
sembled, that the President of the United States be, and
he hereby is, authorised and advised to open negotiations
with Mexico and Texas, for the adjustment of bounda-
ries and the annexation of the latter to the United States
on the following bases, to wit:—
" I. The boundary of the annexed territory to be in
the desert prairie west of the Nueces, and along the high-
lands and mountain heights which divide the waters of
the Mississippi from the waters of the Rio del Norte,
and to the latitude 42 degrees north.
"2. The people of Texa,, by a legislative act, or by
any authentic act which shows the will of the majority,
toiexpress their assent to said annexation.
"3. A state, to be called the State of Texas,' with
boundaries fixed by herself, and an extent not exceeding
that of the largest States of the Union, be admitted into
the Union, by virtue of this Act, on an equal footing
with the original States.
_ .

" 4. The remainder of the annexed territories to be
held and disposed of by the United States es one of
their territories, and to be called the South-west
Territory.'
" 5. The existence of slavery to be for ever prohi-
bited in the northern and north-western part of said
territory, west of the 100th degree of longitude, west
from Greenwich, so us to divide, as equally as may be,
the whole of the annexed country between slave-holding
and non-slaveholding States.
" 6. The assent of Mexico to be obained by treaty to
such annexation and boundary, or to be dispensed with
when the Congress of the United States may deem such
assent to be unnecessary.
" 7. Other details of the annexation to be adjusted by
treaty, so far as the same may come within the scope of
the treaty-making Power."
The Bill was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs without being read.
The other discussions of Congress, are not of any
moment.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
The Secretary of the Navy, in his report, states the
navy of the United States to consist of 6 ships of the line,
1 razee, 14 frigates, 21 sloops of war, 16 brigs and
scho iners, 3 store ships, and 8 steamers afloat. There are
on the stocks, in an unfinished state, 4 ships of the line,
3 frigates, 1 store ship, an iron steamer at Pittsburgh,
and 1 at the navy yard at Washington.
The vessels in cosnmission have been thus employed:
—ln the home squadron, under Corn. Connor, the frigate
Potomac, the sloops Vincennes, Vandalic, and Falmouth)
tie brigs Somers and Lawrence, and the steamer Union.
In the Mesiterranean, under Corn. Smith, the frigates
Cumberland and Columbia, sloops Plymouth and Fair-
field, and store ship Lexington. On the coast of Brazil,
under Com. Turner, the Columbus, 74; frigates Raritan
and Congress, sloops John Adams and Boston, brig
Bainbridge, and schooner Enterprise. In the Pacific,
under Commander Stoat, the frigates United States and
Savannah; sloops Cyane, Levant, and Warren; schooner
Shark, and store ship Relief. The East India squadron
remains as before, and is under Commander F. A. I'arker.
Ile squadron on the coast of Africa, under Commander
C. Perry, consists of the frigate Macedonia, sloops
Sarats ga and Decatur, and brig Passaic. The squadron
under intended changes will mount 83 guns. Of this
squadron the report says:—
" The operations of the squadron have, it is believed,
exercised a favourable influence in preventing the slave
trade. With the provision of our law denouncing itss
piracy, and the presence of our own naval forces, with
authority to visit all vessels under the American flag, it
is not probable that our citizens will engage in this dis-
graceful and perilous traffic, or our flag be used by others
to any great extent.
" If other Christian nations would inflict the same
punishment on the offenders, it is not improbable that the
trade would cease."
The following vessels have been employed in the spe-
cial service designated :—The Constitution to carry 11. A.
Wise to Rio, and cruise in the Indian Ocean ; the
steamer Princeton, to try sundry experiments ; the
steamer Poinsett, to make surveys near the Balize ; the
brig Truxton, to bring home the remains of Com. Porter;
the steamers, Colonel Harney arid General Taylor, to
transport recruits and supplies ; the schooner Phoenix
and brig Oregon, as packets between this country and
the Isthmus of Darien. The force proposed to be em-
ployed during the year, commencing on the Ist day of
uly, 1843, consists of 10 frigates, 13 sloops-of-war,
7 brigs, 2 schooners, 4 armed steamers, 3 small steamer.,
4 store-ships, and 2 small vessels, less than last year, but
more than is authorised by the appropriations.
The 'above particulars comprise everything of interest
to the English reader.