The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1805-01-03


Jur'idicton eNcluivciy her uwn--uyer > trace
or country WITHIN ben limits. and could any
man pretend IL fay that this WAS I grant of her
concurrent iurif,iitti0n over the Patorrac. cor
, fehsCiy without her lnitsS She had. 10 ufs
i The eXDre.6on, itued her warrant 60 CoDcrefs.
20 he located iomewhere within the Rate, and,
under this preext, her property gu. oF the fs.e
was about TO he uiurped. SupDofe the pentle-
man from Connecticut were 10 convey ay deed
ms e%c!rhse property, by certain metos and
Rounds, would his Joint intereii in other pro-
! perty contained within thofe bounds PAT, by
Inch deed? Surely not. 20 a PEI loi. i.t:jpy
up ciaia' 10 tuct property nc would probably
ii"Y' prodHce the evid2Hce Of your tile, and in
hNs manner NJ. K. demanded TO be nevn th.
conveyance hy which Virginia had r,lirquilhed
Der concurrent jurifdiG)ion over the Potomac?
And IL anhver to this, gentlemen ref.r,o con-
'eYance relinquihng iomething rlic in no wife
connected With It, and tcus we always beIie,-
co tAat we had grant for this inr,fdiStion-we
mai he Crievouily ditappointtd if We have not
IT VIII be great Inconvenience to MS to do
without II and therefore we nun hayc Il. And
Virginia IS TO be forcihly difno1eftd ofherripht,
&c ;uit the convenience nf Congress.
lie had another objection Ia the bin. This
might ne but the commencement of C,helue
winch fhonld Compel all boats COMM down
tue Potomac TO unlade their caTooss here
his would be effected BY o'.GrtIliions i'm The
rlfer above, and a canal terrlinatiu. in a balm
IN tbs city. Thus divertirg 70 RE exch,ii,e
bt0eht OF Warrington, all TIE iabuur and *
pence WINCH had been Jointly incurred by Ma
fy-And and Virginia, for opening the navigation
of the Potomac. When the contribution oftha
United States vas under confederation, thu. FEC
ton, when gave CongIeiS executive lcg.A.!iun
over dii'nct not exceeding len miles fuuare
to he afterwards ccdtd to them, was viewed
with jealous eye. 1t was r. eafdvd bv fnn,e
oil The bSit and GrcatCa men who even Mad v-
ed, or who he believed ever would live. as
the germ Of irca,cUlabe milchicf-as the
amhui'i from which the NAKED monarchy of
The conittution was 20 fpfine upon The reSple.
az one TING this prediction flemec to br yt-r:
flying itfe's. Accordingly, wl had fen civ
laid out on gigantic icas. Ed;Gues the mon
ftuoeIidous were Planned. We icetucd deter
mined not only TO vie with Paris or london. hr+
TO rival Thches or Babylon OF old. EapDilv
thefe fplendid vi6ons had enGed in = monGrsue
abortion. He wifhed to fee the people of the
diitrtt reftored to their rights 70 long as they
remained in their Prc!ent condition, lie hould
be averie to promote the growth Of city which
he conEderec 10 be as much the nuritrv IF def.
potifn as the Newcastle trade OF England was
ofieamen.
Mr.. TalAian did not fop TO enquire whether
II was proper for Congress to retain the iurjf
dlc'ioD over this diitriGl, but he was viIlinr 70
remove grievance, which the people COM
Pl1ined Of and required to be done. He was
not one OF thoie who was diipoicd TO guard The
people againft their WORT enemies. thrn,f.lyes
as hi did not believe the doctrine TO b., trut
Tie objection that Virginia and MARYLAND IA
only codcd their executive property, and not the
Johf property OF TIE free navigation of the Pa
ton'7c, might perhaps be extended further thin
gentlemen wiihed, or were aware of. Ry ire
treaty OF Paris, France had ceted Ioui(iana in
iuil iove:tienty to the United States, but .x-
prei5y rcierved the right Of free navigation Of
the M'tii'pPi; If then the United States were
diipofed 10 ihorten the navigation bv cpttire,
through bend of that river, or in sBy oii,rr
way improve the fame, will it be neceiiarv for
the United States to confult and obtain the al
tent OF France to the meaiure before thev ven.
tnred 10 proceed in lis execution?
Mr.. Nleto5fch had but few obfrvafionq TO
make upon the queAion before the Houfe. His
opinion WAS the fame rs at The lalt fcfiion.
when petition was prefented for the erection
or "ndGe He then thought that the erection
OF bridge oYerthe Pstomac would tend mich
to ne Improvement Of The place He thonrkt
10 MI. Bat re then thought that ConCrrfs had
no reh: TO interfere IN the leaf with the tr-e
navigation ofthe Potomac, and of courIe w..
opPoied 70 the bridge. The fame rcafon orr
rated IN his mind againt the bill now in ouefti
on. Neither of the hates of Maryland or Vir-
GINA could awe paiitd iuch a law previous 20
the c,iiion Of the diarct to Ccngref. The
quettion 20 bc determined then, was :. whether
TIE jur!!iiction of the Potomac was coded n
CoTgreis" If this ihould be anhve, ed in the
negative BY the committee, all auctions as to
the eXPediency of the rNsainrr would be at an
cad. Previous to the compact brtween ylrsi-
MA and Maryland, the latter claimed the river
Potomac as its executive property. By that
compact 1t was declared, that the navigs.
ton Of the idid river fhould ne free. Virg;ti,.
therefore, acquired kind of property in tie
rYef lnaimuch as ihe acquired the ri0ht TO fine
tree navigation thereof The duehion then 60
be enquired into was, had Virginia psrtcd with
this r1eh, He conceived fhe mad not. Bv the
ats authorizing the cefion Of tea mites fotIar or
ieis TO the United States, this could pot have
been done-Virsinia bad ao power 10 O. Jkethe
eciiion Of tie Potomac, bccsufe DE had NOT .be
Junidiciion over il and could MOI grint r,5,.
than ihe poictcd. After Lis graa. ~ Vir.i-
MA, the Rate Of Mar. land era.t-,l 10 Coa,r,h
2 portion u territory loi ekcglSiue t-E G,iIs.
t1usre, ion the feat OF po,crnutcnt. Had Ma.
ryI7nd The io.s property in the river, il could
have pdicd 10 this grant, provided Coa.rtfs ac.
cepteh nat part her territory. But &c n-t
noLtNis i9iS property, becaufe the Gate ofVir-
gina had a right by compact to the ftcna,jy,-
ton thereof. How then had the United S.qtes
acquired the iurifdi0ion over th, p,fo,os..