Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1822-12-17

committee. VIC Llbrav
The he. Speaker Pc "a also presented m.,,
rial from I. Mccormick, Sen, pro memo'
an Improvement Of the naylgaIi6rn ,Vp pS GS
Falls OF the Ohio, by cutting a r,U VT Tie
round the same which, on tho 'a a a.
ton OF the Speaker, was ref.raaST sges'
committee of the whole on the srats ~ 70 he
Union, to whom was referred the bill IL ' n
providing tor surveys OF certain canals a',' i, Tor
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NC'
The engrossed bill for reonl.t;nu
tees OF the Registers of Wills m us he
counties of the District of Column VIC ."o
announced for its third reading ub, Was
Nr. Cooke moved 10 re,commit The I'm
to committee of the whole house. vac I ~
had found, he saiG, since the short d..ne
sion OF this subject yesterday ,b r'' Us
good people of this district weT ~'' 'ie
much opposed 10 the bill, and be wiser, ,e'y
that an opportunity might be given 'sues
fully TO examine it. The bill propoc aVie
establish lees which were, in his oniO;av 70
enormous, such as were 10 be found ON ,n' w.
statute books OF none of the Stase y" i me
believed the effect OF the law would !. ne
many instances. to strip the widow w ,n u
the orphan Of :heir whole estates T TIu
fees, he said, had been tor mspv v1. ue
what they now are, and he believed lIo 'S
they die sometimes, none of the Reo;,, ho
had ever resigned On account OF the INo
ness OF their fees. He had been told '' !,
deed, that DR.. Blake, the Iale Regis,a ~,
bad leased out the Office for five bgndTo{
dollars per annum, and had not the Is,,,
troub viii it. Ifso, he should sUpDo r..
the fees were nigh enough.
The bill was ordered 10 be re.conm,
ted, as moved by MIR. Cooke, without
division.
LAND OFFICES
The engrossed bill tor lie relief oftbp
Registers and Receivers OF Public Nonsv
of the several Land Ofhces," was read
third time and The question being "Shall
it pass ?"
MIR. Vance, of Ohio, said that this bin
proposed to afford compensation to The
Land Officers for services performed IN.
der the relief law. lie did not believe
thai the additional compensation here pro.
posed was necessary. They had com.
planned, indeed, Of the arduOus Duties they
had to perform under that law. bu he be,
lieyed they were adequately compensated
tor their services, 1t was a subject Of
common conversation in the country where
the land Offices were situated, that the Of
hcers were making immense fortunes BY
the exercise OF the functions devoyed on
them Mr. V. made several observations
to illustrate the suhicIency OF the compeO'
sation a present allowed to the land off,
GERS. and concluded by saying that be
bad been in one Of the land Offices for
few minutes, whilst the business undeG
the relief law was in transaction, and he
had seen the officers receiving money fast,
er than ever be had before seen money
received where 1t was TO he converted
wholly to the use Of The persons who re-
ceived it
MIR. Rankin stated, in behalf Of The CON-
mittee which had al the last session re-
ported this bill, that it was bottomed On
information received from the General
Land Office. and on request from The
Secretary of the Treasury that some CON-
peusalion might be provided Tor The eI-
ira services of these Land Officers In ad'
dition 10 which, the committee had let
ter from the Commissioner OF the Genera
Land Office, describing the additional du-
ties assigned to the Land Officers under
the law extending relief to the debtors Tor
public lands and also a number Of eH'
tracts of letters from the officers Item
selves, saying that the nature OF The olsl,
ness devolyed on them was such thai IDey
could not perform il for the tees allowed
by law but that, to save the individuals
concerned and to prevent the law IIOm
being wholly imperative, they had PiV'
crossed in the Business, Te IyOg on Inc Jls.
tice Of the government Tor indemnify Va
their extra services. ,
At the suggestion OF Mr.. X. the Ie'slj
from the Secretary oil the Ire suI{ f sn'
Commissioner OF the General Land OII|,
"a we'll as several extracts OF letters 5Io4
the registers and Receivers OF Ihe i'DO
Offices were read. nr
Mr.. Chambers confirmed, geDeIS52'
what had fallen from his colleague {n,'
vance, upon this subject. II bad pt Il.
generally understood, he believed q, ,a Wv
time the relief law went into OPeFauO..,,
that it would be profitable bus mes 'o,5
the Land Officers & he had unoels'S% ;cs
incidentally, that the profits OF loe -. CD's =,
at Z8neSville from that bdsIaess DSu f,,.
mounted 10 1900 dollars. WIshiHg II, ~,
Their time 10 examine the subJecI, ol % %o
bill, he moved that the bill be Ialo VI "'
table
Which motion was agreed to. ,.o-
The eDgrossed bill fixing The con,Pt n,
sation of Receivers OF Public MONEY So,
their services in transmitting nu9I| ,o,6
neys to safe places OF deposit, was Io%l
a third time; and the question O'
"a Shall this bill pass 2" -, m,s