The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-07-21

; The Senate then proceeded 10 Inc conslucfatioh
OF executive business, where they remained short
time, and then adjourned I'LL tomorrow morning at
10 o'clock.
i HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE
j The journal OF yesterday was read and approved
/ rHE PAYMENT OF CLAIMS
} On motion Of Mr.. THURMAN, the Committee
of the Whole on the state Of the Union was dis
charged from the further consideration OF tho follow
ing bill
| BILL in relation 10 the payment Of claims
BE Enacted BY the and House Of Representative
ef "a. Unsd STATES sf fmyea IN Consrsss Sssstisd That
whsnsyer claim United aforesaid shall here
after have been allowed BY resolution act Of Congress-
and thereby directed 10 be paid the money shall not nor
shall any part hsEso, es PAID @ any person or person,
OF executors administration sdmnistsor unless such
or persons shall produce 70 the proper ssoor.ng
claimants executor or executors administrator or admins
atsr the enactment Of the resolution or act allow
refer 70 such resolution or act and expressly Teele the
psssnt Witnesses. snS S by the person or
ssse.ns g before an ocs5 a.,nf sa,s , c
sssno sSsms@t' ana n III. ssnsar nv such esacsts
that such oesr at the time Of the making such seknow
edgment read and fully explained such warrant Of attorney
to the person or person, acknowledging the same.
And the question being on ordering the bill To
Lthird reading,
Mr.. MCKAY called for the reading thereof.
The bill having been again read for information,
was read third time and passed
the PUBLIC rRIsrRo.
The SPEAKER announced the special order to
be the subject Of the public printing.
| Mr.. DRoMGOOLE asked leave 10 make a report
from the COMMITTEES Of Ways and Means.
i Objection was made.
Mr. HARRISON asked leave TO offer a resolu-
ton in relation TO compensation for losses sustained
i by Indian hosuites.
| Objection made
Mr.. III. moved a suspension OF the Tules.
| The motion was not IN order.
The House. on motion Of Mr.. MCKAY, again
state Of the Union, (Mr. Born, OF Kentucky, in the
chsir,) and resumed the consideration Of the joint
resolution from the Senate regulating the printing Of
Congress, and establishing the compensation Of the
same, with the pending amendments.
| Mr.. q. DAVIS resumed and concluded his 70.
marks Amer srraigning the political course Of Mr..
BAYLr, and entering into some estimates Of the
profits which he MIR d. supposed the public
printers would receive from the printing Of the
/ present session, he gave notice Of amendment To
the joint resolution which he proposed hereafter to
offer.
i Mr.. BAYLY said he did not mean 10 allow him
| self to I've too much diverted from the question inn
mediately under consideration by the uneaed for,
uujustihable, and as he should endeavor to show,
+! unfounded personal attack Of the gentleman from
Kentucky He should first discuss the question
under consideration, and then pay his respects to
| the gentleman, and probably he might find proyoca-
ton enough in his remarks to do more than defend
himself-to carry the war into Africa.
| Mr.. Chairman, (said he,) | maintain that this
House has no authority to pass resolution Of re-
Prospective character, 10 operate upon the rates Of
the public printing which has already been executed
by the printers to this House. maintain that the
relation bstween Congress and the public printers is
that which arises out Of contract between them.
The law of Congress fixes the rate OF compensation
and requires that the public printer shall give ample
security for its faithful execution. They have been
elected under that law; they have begun the work
| and executed the job to a very large extent say
TO that extent Il is not in the power Of this House
reduce the rates without violation Of the contract
1 When the question now before you came up
incidentally, a few days since, the gentle
man from Kentucky took the ground that there
was definition Of contract that would cover this
| case. / took direct issue with the gentleman on
that point attempted to show, and, as think
did show, that the very reverse Of hs proposition
was true, and that there s no definition Of contract
which does not include this Alter taking such
1 a novel ground the gentleman assumed, I had
supposed, when he came in with his regular prepa-
ration for the debate, he would have been prepared
/ with some authority, with some reasons to make
good the position he had assumed. But 90 far from
that he came in yesterday, and virtually admitted
that, unless at the time Of the election Of the public
printer, this House reserved the right Of passing
law fixing compensation operate retrospectively
they could not thereafter do ii withou; the most pal
pablo violation Of public faith.
Well, having admitted that, the whole question |
narrows itself down the consideration Of the fact
whether there any such reservation the part
of this House; and proceed the discussion
| Of this proposition. How does the gentleman attempt
to make it out' Why, he reads from my speech at
the commencement Of the session, reported in the
National lnteligencer, in which maintained, (it is |
not worth while to read it again. the gentle
man read it) that the compensation of the printer
was within the control Of Congress- and as far as |
economy is concerned, it would not be necessary |
to let out this work by contract, but they might re-
duce the compensation. But is there anything in |
that speech, in the extracts cued out by the gentle
man himself with so much care, which shows that |
supposed that Congress would regulate the rate Of
compensation at any other periodiat any rate, that
they would reduce the rates for work already done
My remarks, so far from sustaining the gentleman,
were that Congress could pass prospective law re.
ducing this compensation. That / do not dispute
now. Thus, so far as my admissions 60, instead
of sustaning the gentleman, they are directly against
him.
But suppose it were otherwise, All the gentle
man could prove would be to fix an inconsistency
upon me, But these printers are not responsible
for what said; have no connexion with them in
any way. Ii is true, sir, | am proud to call them
my friends and not the less so because they hav We
been visited by the vndictvaSand bitter denuncia-
tons Of the gentleman from Kentucky But they
are not responsible for what did here; they have
no connexon with me or influence over
But the gentleman goes on to say that the chair
man of the Committee Of Ways and Means as he
is now and as he was not them gave notice that he
should introduce resolution relating to the public
printing. Well this was in view Of the same gen.
emen being elected printers Of both houses; and in
this case the chairman Of the Committee Of Ways
and Means said the composition ought not to be
charged doubly, and the notice he gave confined
to the item Of composition. II this, them has any
effect, |, Is to be appealed to directly against the
gentleman. Erpresio nnius, ereiusio altsrius--the
expressing Of one thing excludes the idea of an
other. That notice having been confined simply to
the composition, would exclude this House from Il
any authority to 60 to anything else.
But the notice Of the chairman Of the Committee
of Ways and Means Mr.. b. contended) contained
nothing TO show that was intended that this law
should take effect from the beginning Of Congress
but merely when agreed to that il should be rrospec
tive in its character. Whatever might be its provis
ions, however, Of what force IL The chairman
of the Committee of WAYS and Means howev-r