The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-07-16

1
And the said oath affirmation shall be adn'inlster
I'd by such collector attorney and the entry shall
be subscribed in duplicate, by The person making The
| same.
SEC. ~. ind be IL further enacted That il shall be
the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury TO establish
rules and regulations To just and faithful col
lection OF the SAID duties add that the existing laws
for collecting the lmpos duties and for the recovery
| collection, distribution and remission OF all lines,
penalties and lorfeitures shall extend 10 and be IN
force for the collection OF said duties, as fully and
ehectualy if they had been inserted 10 and re-en-
| acted by this act.
Mr. CUSHING moved To strike out the twenty
| nth section itself On this motion teiers were
rdeTed-when 20 voedin the affirmative and
| l05 in the negative
Mr.. ROOSEVELT moved to ,trike from the 25th
section the words The proriso to the sixth Sec
tioh oil SO as 10 repeal not merely the proviso
III The Distribution act, but the whole act The
| motion was negaived.
Mr. JOHNSON, OF Mary land, offered an amend
| ment rtquInng an annual statement OF the
| nu nber of officers employed in he collection of
| the customs, and directing that their salaries
should be paid directly from the Treasury.
When the bill had been read through, the
committee rose.
Mr.. BRoNBoN moved the previous question,
and without taxing vote the House ad-
| journed
In the Sc ate the PRESIDENT pro tenn laid be-
| fore the body communication from the War Depart
ment, in compliance with resolution of the 5h in
slant, enclosing information in relation TO the survey
of Lake Erie.
| Mr.. CALHOUN presented memorial from citi-
zens OF Florida praying for the admission of that Ter
rtory into the Union and donations of land TO armed
settlers; which was referred to the Committee the
Judiciary
Mr.. SMITH, from the Committee On Public
Lands, to which had been referred the opinion of the
Secretary of War that the lead mines in the State Of
Illinois and the Territories of Iowa and Wisconsin
| could be sold under existing laws, other puoIic
lands and to whom were also referred various
rails relative to the sale of the neral lands in said
State and Territories reported bill upon the sub
Ject lie said that majority OF the Committee
sdered il very doubtful say the least whether any
such authority exs ed by law at this time, as main
tanned by the Secretary of War and they all con-
Cured fully in the opinion that sale should take
| place under doubtful powers. The committee had
nstruc ed him to report bill provide for ascertaning
| and dsposiDg OF the mineral lands. He was not
sure that would prove satisfactory to the Senate,
but it imbodied the views Of majority OF the COM
mittee The subject had been found to be difiicu
one and when the bill came up for action, he should
call the especial attention OF the body to its provis
| ions in the meantime it would be printed and Sen
ators interested in the matter woad have oppo tu
nifty of giving to it their deliberate consideration.
/ The bill to confirm claims to lands in the district
between Rio Grande and Sabine river was engrossed
| for a third reading.
The bill directing an edition Of the laws of the
United States to be COZ and printed, and for
the distribution there en- up for considera-
| ton.
Mr.. KING thought lould get along very
well with the laws as az printed, and there.
FORE in his opinion the bill had better lie over, unless
| Senators anxious to discuss it.
| Mr.. TAPPAN urged the Importance of the bill
as it was extremely difficult, if at all possible, for
persons wishing to obtain complete sets of the laws
of the United States to procure them.
| Mr.. BERRlEN followed upon the same side.
| Mr.. ALLEN thought that the laws ought to be
vised and condensed, brought to half their pre-
sent FORM and made Ineligible to the people. As
they now were, it impossible for professional
men to understand them properly. One law referred
to another the second to third, third to fourth
and fourth to fifth, and SO fIom the first to the
| last
| Mr.. BERRlEN said that the report accompanying
the bill had in view revision and compilation OF the
laws heretofore published, with the exception of
those that had expired and certain others of private
character.
The report was then re,
Mr.. ALLEN resumed Rarks, in the course
of which he said that pation Of the fag ends Of
laws would still leave the construction Of them mat
| ter of equivocaton and doubt His desire was to
imbody all the laws relating to Dbject into one
law, to be enacted over and passd B by Congress
| 50 that they might be rendered plain and explicit
Mr.. BERRlEN remarked that the OBJECT of the
resolution heretofore submitted by the Senator from
the Judiciary ID brought in the bill for that purpose
was to procure the compilation and printing OF, the
laws for the benefit of those who were required
to execute and to obey them But if the plan Of the
Senator (Mr Alen) should be adopted, it would take
some years for its completion.
Mr. ALLEN had asked whether it would not be
better not to incur the expense Of co pliing and
printing the laws proposed, and to wait until
they could be revised in the manner which he had
suggested He inquired Of the Chairman of the
tie
the bill now before them.
Mr. BERRIEN read portion of the report, from
which it appeared that the cost would be 81 SO
page for six hundred copies, and 70 cents page for
all copies above that number. Suppose there
800 copies the cost would be about thousand dol
lars exclusive of the expenses Of compiling and bind
ing TIE cost Of which, probably, would be $3.50 in
all The work would make perhaps two volumes,
but if it should be increased to three voumes the
expense would, of course, be augmented. The plan
suggested by the Senator from Ohio would involve
expense of from ten to twelve thousand dollars.
Mr. BUCHANAN said that he had used Gordons
Digest of the Laws of the United States and had al
WAYS found without the slightest difficulty, in that
one volume all that he desired He agreed with the
Senator from Alabama, that they could get along We
~ well, until the next session OF Congress, with the
laws as they were now to be found and, therefore,
he moved to lay the bill upon the table
On the question being taken, the motion was dis
agreed to.
oMr TAPPAN moved to amend the bill by striking
out several sections in relation to the printing, and In
,erting clause that it shall be given out by contract,
to the lowest bidder; and the amendment was
adopted
Mr. KING submitted few remarks in opposition
to the bi and TO the printing of books for distribution
am yng members Of Congress
Mr. BERRlEN replied, and
Messrs WOODBRIDGE and PORTER spoke in
favor of printing fifteen hundred copies of the work
proposed.
The bill was then fra ed to provide for print
inp etc. one thousand copies, and appropriate ten
thousand dollars deiay the expenses OF the same,
S3 600 of hich is TO be paid to the compiler
Mr. SMITH of Connecticut, submitted an sddi-
!: ih.i H. ..ks oh II MI be