Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1820-04-17

galnSt the imposition u duoi"o"e1 ~
on the importation Of molasses.
By Mr.. Rodgers, memorial OF sundry
citizens of Pennsylvania, praying further
protection to the manufacturing interest OF
the country.
The Speaker laid before the house let
ter from the Secretary of War, transmit
ting a report of superintendent Of indian
trade, showing the amount of goods furnish
ed annually since the peace of 1915. toeach
Indian trading house, with the articles re-
ceved in exchange or payment therefor, to-
gether with an account of sales of such arti-
cles, &c. made in obedience to resolution
of this house.
Mr.. Nelson, from the committee on COM
merce, to which was referred the bill from
| the Senate, . to authorize the erection of a
! light house on one of the Isles of Shoals,
near Portsmouth in New Hampshire" made
report thereon, proposing sundry amend
ments thereto; and the bill and amendments
were referred to committee of the whole,
The house took up, and procet ded to con.
slider, the bill for the relief Of Gen. James
Wilkinson, for the indemni6cation Of Gen.
w. from a judgen ent obtained against him
in one of the courts Of the State of Misss.
sippi, in an action for false imprisonment
during the alarm of Burr's conspiracy.
III, 10 e. !,
bill. He took historical view of the cir
cumstances Of this case, which he conceiv-
ed entitled Gen. Wilkinson to the relief
proposed to be given to him by this bill
Mr.. Robertson spoke against the bill not
so much with view to the dement, Of the
claimant, as that its passage might serve
to impress the public mind unfavorably 10
Gen Adair, as supposing the verdict of the
court in his favor to have been oppressive
and unjust. Mr.. R. took brief view of the
events OF Gen. Adair's life he thought he
had suffered unjustly, and that the passage
of this bill might serve, by implication, to
inaict upon him further injury, &c. and at
a moment TOO, when he was a candidate In
his own state for the popular suffrages in an
important election Mr.. r. concluded by mo.
wing that the bill be postponed to the next
session of Congress.
Mr.. Brusl. followed on the same
side Of the question. He had no per
sonal knowledge, he said. of Gen. A
dair: but he was his fellow citizen, and
from all the evidence he had seen, h
had been most oppressively and unj just
Nv dealt by. He was not willing, there
fore. to extend the hand Of the govern
ment, to take money from the Treasury
to indemnify him from whom Gen. A.
had sustained the injury. &c.
Mr.. Smith, of Maryland, supported
the bill. He allowed all the merit due
to Gen. Adair, but expressed his great
regret that this bill should have been
supposed to have any the least connoc
ton with his fame, which it certainly
had not. He took general view of
the case. the leading features of which
were, that, what General Wilkinson
had done, in discharge of his duty; that
he was not able to pay this judgment
against him; and, if this bill did not
pass, he, WHO had devoted his whole
life to the service ns the country must,
in his old age. become the tenant of
prison, because Of his zeal in the dis
charge of bis duty.
Mr.. Livermore was in favor Of the
postponement, because he did MOI think
Congress were under any obligation
to pay the money. This question, he
conceived. had nothing to do with the
relative merits of General Wilkinson
and Gen. tdair, which he did not un-
dertake to canvas. With regard to the
arrests, made under the orders of Gen. |
Wilkinson, he said, incidentally, that
they savored too much of the general
warrant, &c. and ought not to be coun-
tenancco by any decision Of Congress
to indemnify him who made them.
Mr.. Pindall took the same ground as
had been taken by Mr.. Brush, and en-
forced it by variety of calculations,
that there was no evidence, even had
suspicion itself been embodied in an afti-
dayit, which would have justified the
civil authority, much less the military,
in arresting Gen. Adair. lie argued
also, that it was not the province of
this House to interfere with decision