The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-01-21
mo. IS.

o.ret"y OF me treasury said, if money were
~ %pptvPria.ed the doors of the hospitals must
" cIoSeu against them, AN office which the Sc
cretary Gid not wish to perform. He had there.
tYrH recommended an appropriation of 200. LOCO
collars for their relief. MIR. Newton then stated
u.e peculiar hardships attached to the seaman's
Mr.. RoHaaa considered this , ,ov.I
ne eeaniu'i vino were in distress. he conce,ycd
enut,eu TO reiiet train the respective State =,
which they might be, who were bound 70 annn,r.
uneI poor indeed this money could nor he an.
Iii, use ol the enlarged seamen gene
any because n was only for the relief of those
VINO were subject to the municipal rec,,I,t;ons &C
'he state M which they may be-.
WI @urncp observed, that the fund for ,b~
supper, OF distressed seamen had heretofore been
.,,Sliifsn ram a tax ON ,iha wares of .L----~I.
ms tw'a, which had heretofore been sufficient.
ha'hhS peen destroyed by the suspension OF COM
meFee' ne asked .vhethsr tho general govern
ment was not pledged to do sometbin,. g., thas.
men, who would not have suffered bnt Co. 90
measures?
Mr.. S"stEfe was in favor ofthe bill. The fi,nJx
heretofore established for the relief at orr o.
men had been destroyed by a measure which
had been deemed necessary for the Good or tha
country and he thought assistance 6u~h, ne
gwen TO them. MIR. ). called for the rpad;nr ~
me Secretary OF the Treasury's report ON fh,.
subject. >r IL
Mr.: IaHnnHdge said, that every gentleman ,,bo
t."ue : t"e reasoning of the report OF the Sc
1OuAl 70 IN IA he ~.
Vmced OF the recutude of his statement, - r.
conclusion which he had drawn from i The
Seherai government had DESTROYED the service,
ny winch tiie seainen had heretofore been srn,
roreeu : III aoi'g winch they had thrown a bur.
theh on The community in the Same rst;, as e.
service had been DESTROYED. The serratm
ute treasury had fairly and ca,,s,;i;, -; a..
rouse, Una, the fund for the support of the 5;..
ING was destroyed. What shouIj ~.
G Gn Sh?nla hotiilfS De appropriated from the
Fll1S al I IS - m -Ht q, wv
ment He hoped and trusted Ina, tbera anHI
for inc Information OF the gentleman c,n ~
S"ha' kNif' burwei) VINO did not know ,n.t az.
class OF men was more distressed Than ,nv a,Sn-
MI saia, he would mcn,ion tha, he had I.t,,
ters from different parts OF the union ,..:
ly from Philadelphia, from ope 49, P"tl'cuiar-
PectaDle merchants in this CIV. inG,rui,,s 10
Una tne merchants had formel9a fund fnr q
e Oh uiese persons, which ha1gbeen exh.usaS
u"e seameh being IN the greatestdistress w,,hot,
~ y III 'niS severe weather cyento cool.
their vlctuais and requesting him :, . = ,ao,o 80
OF the general government 10 evart
Lheir lehei MI l. said he would y.n,,.o
declare that this wSs the case in all tine 80 -
tne ~ states and he thought it most ,,nan.oA
sW"Diy neesnie the government to grant aorns
sort OF relief to these citizens. He -" INC
the appropriation proposed was 49, may
mat less than that would be too Ittler forr - civ
pose. orthe phr~
Mr.O K WiAianls thought the object az the
III very iauusDie, but he wished a nodi6cat;nn
ono 200 'tnn NJ ne was willing to advance the
<oo'oUo ooI"rs' SUBJECT to be -ejuAied Go,,, ~
J"nds hereeJfer 70 De receiged for tne snnno,, "S.h:.
ss'"piis'lhieht. tie thought this amendnan.
"oulu De hlighiy proper, because from . doc,i.
Hheht IN his hands, he found that the finds of IL
ess@Onsn.hent lor the relief OF sick and disabled
seaInen, had always been more than suai.;a~. 60.
ITS support. In June 1902 the balanca nf 10. ~
tuna was Io,lsS dollars, i'll 1908 the baIapce rua.
oI,44S dollars. This showed that ths 81 was
ing out OF The 20 cents a month tax on the -
mels wages WAS more than ADEQUATE for Tin.
purposes Tor winch II had been established anJ
that the fund would hereafter he sb,o 30 u
to The government the monies nov obo,t ~ liz
appropriateness Considering the Commercial nros-
pHy :" l'iS government since 1906. if wac f,;rI,,
Ptesuii"Die' ne sad, that at the time of the i'm.
poa.'son " tae ehloa;Ego, the balance on hand
was greater than at the former period. ITnJar
ms view OF the subject, though he hal NJ, az
siSntest WISH to delay the bill. he nnvad ,t..:e
lie on the table I'LL an amendment could he nrs.
pared. 1ouu De pre-
NF, Merton said, that the fund heretef,re d..
,i,an -. .'H vi Seamen, had not been more
wa aIequate to Their support. Inthe town in
w!nch he lived, persons had not beor -.
MO INC hospital, who were acknowIed.aJ to h..
entitled to relief. In Consequence oSS3 ba 80 on
Struct'oh put upon the law, a great m,nv of The
very people VINO had pad 20 cents a month out
oil their wages had been thrown mo, ;kans w.
muhity a. pA,ipcrs and supported bv FL. ~ IN
My atlarse.
My H. n; WfHiams replied, that the res,l.
oi ule amendment which he contempl,ted ,rouLJ
De- nat u uheie never was a balance in tho f,,ds
the MONIES appropriated would never hn ran" '
Mr. story deprecated the DELAY Which ,in"ii
result IRON the biil lying upon the table Tha
lneans Oh supporting tiis fund were fes,rodet,
by a la" OF the ". D. and he thouobt ,hat 49,.
genera g"verhsneht should, by giving An aid tn
It, supply the deficiency. He representeJ The
pscutiSrity OF tho svsrren's general cnaracter .
having no thought ior tomorrow, when depr,VrJ
OF ms faonthiy pay, he was of course subjected
to distress. In the protection Of the general
! rights OF the community, the general government
had been compelled to subject the seamen 70 a
particular calamity. He therefore Thought. that
an additional MD for the support of the Sick and
disabled should be atorded by Congress.
Mr. u. k WiHians withdrew his motion for
postponemcnt, with a view of moving an amend-
ment.
Further debate took place on this subject, in
which Messrs- Si1aH, Aeea1der, 9nincy, Story,
S1Hiie, NeJyfOn and II. X. Williams advocated
the principle of the bill and Messrs. Holland,
B9yd, GARDENER and Macon opposed it. MIR.
GdrIe1ier started a constitutional objection
{ 20 the bill-he said that there was no power e-
ven under .e Constitution, by which either house
OF Congress Could he converted into an aims
house it was assuming the exercise Of the le-
+ gislstive pu.vers of the states, which had never
even been proposed 10 be given to the genera