Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-03-20
rsoM OUR CORRESPONDENT AT WASH
INGTOS.
,At0
Thursday, March 10, 1918.

AGotSiasy wv -
took agaia into consideration. in q COM
taittee Of the whole, the unfinished buSl-
ness Of the day before, which related t.
the acts heretofore passed to enforce the
observance of our neutral relations. AS
This was the only topic Of Tuesdays pro-
ceedinss which Promised to be Produc'
tive Of interesting matter, aud on that
day was touched upon only on some Gull
points Of detail, while the residue OF u
wa. postponed to yesterday, PurPOse!y
reserved it 10 take the whole together IN
one sweep of view, which l vas the "a
ther disposed to do. a, it was expected
that Mr. Clay would take that opPOr'un'-
" Of redeeming the pledge he had given
Of bringing forward the afiirs Of the IA
rRIoTs Of South America.
The specific object OF Mr.. Clay, on
this occasion, was the repeal OF the ACT Of
1917, winch 70 bid, tie 'tisg out oil a. IN
ed vessels in American ports for the use
OF TO eigners. Of this act he thought It
NIGH D. sufficient to say that 1t vas me-
yer warranted by strict observance oil
our neutral duties, that il was unncces-
sarj, and that it ought not to BE- permit
fed |, remain He confessed that he dis
liked the origin of the act II wa, he
said, the result Of incessant teazlng On
the part Of certain foreign ministers.-
Yet he allowed that il circumstances re.
:. y rendered il necessary it Oug:t to
be retained. H. d not, however, br.
lirve that to be tn ca e, as he Did act II
1894 sill IN existence, superseded all
such necess ty and rendered that OF 1917
= me,r &C, of superduous legislation. Il
was on that g,ou; d, he "b'erved, that.
when under discussion IN the last session
he had opposed lis PAS lagoon which nc
casiuu he was proud to say that he wa
Joined by sixty-two honorable me"bers'
most Of them from the western states,
whose political sentiments generally con-
CURED with his own, all Of whom voted
against the hill In consonance with
their opinions Oh the subject in question,
were those Of the people in general =
the public sentiment therefore had pro-
nounced its doom. The whole world
saw the matter 10 the same light, and
concurred in censuring that act IS mis-.
ehievous and unnecessary-and nothing
remained to BE- done but to repeal it as
soon as possible. In order to impress
The house with sense Of the great iyu-
nv which he ascribed to this country as
perpetrating upon the cause Of the South
American Patriots, he stated, upon the
authority Of one Of our naval command.
ers who gave him The information, that it
it had not been for the supplies permitted
from this country through me Havana
Gen MoriIlo, the commander OF Ferdi'
nand's forces, could not have supported
his army.
Mr. Clay then adverted With censure
to the severity exercised towards GER
tain persons sailing under the Patriot
dag, at the instance Of foreign mini.ters,
and observed tL.S it was not more than
five days since some individuals who had
been tried at Boston for piracy, were here
again before the supreme court,whers not
only the state attorney Of Massachusetts
but he attorney general of the U. states
appeared against them, and certain for
eipn ministers were there also. to see that
those Eicers did their duty. To the no.
nor Of the attorney general, however, Hr.
Clsv stated ttat that gentleman had made
some suggestions favorable to those 'nd''
viduals. As 70 the act of 1877. it vas,
he said, given up on all sides-wh'le that
Of 1917 was unnecessary because the ca
ses f.. which it provided were sufficient.
y covered by that Of 1894.
Mr.. FORSYTH opposed Mr.. Clay, deny,
ing that the act Of 1917 was condemnsu
by the public sentiment, which, on the
cont airy. ran highly in its favor. He