The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-07-02
TwENTY-NINTH CONGRESS,
First Session.
THURSDAY, July 2. 1886.
In SENATE.

MIR. STURGEON presented the petition OF An
drew Parke, soldier in tho late war with Great
Britain, asking pension; which was referred TO the
Committee on Pensions
Mr.. DIX presented the memorial Of N. Nye
Hall, AN officer In the last war with Great Britain,
asking an increase Of pension; which was referred
IA the Committee on Pensions.
Mr. YULEE presented the memorial of John M
Mcintosh, praying the payment Of his claim against
the United States assignee OF Jno. Clute and Jacob
Hart who were employed in the military service as
teamstsrs al Fort Macomb; which was referred 90
the Committee of Claims.
Mr.. CAss presented a MEMORIAL Of citizens of
Chicago, Illinois, praying that IN any change in the
mode Of dsposlng Of the mineral lands of the
United States, which Congress may make, the
rights Of the essees Of those lands may be sacI
heedi which was laid on the table and ordered TO be
printed.
Mr.. HANNEGAN submitted the following res
oluion; which lies over;
Rsssl'sd That the President Of the United States be
qusssd to Communicate TO ths Senate the orders any
soeh have been ,rsa,@isd 70 General Taylor since the
on Mexico. or otherwise controlling his movements
REPORTS COMMITTEES.
Mr.. THoS. CLAYTON, from the Committee on
Revolutionary Claims, to whom was referred the
House bfi for the relief Of Nathaniel Bird, submit
ted an adverse report thereon, recommending that
the further consideration Of the subject be indefinite
ly Postponed which report ordered to be print
Mr.. BREESE, from the Committee on Public
Lands, reported bill for the relief OF Madison Al
len, OF the Stale Of Missouri; which was read and
passed TO the second reading
Mr. b. also, from the same committee, reported
without amendment, the House bill for the relief OF
John G. Mcleod, Of Linn county, Iowa.
MIR. b. further, from the committee, report
ed, without amendment, the House act 10 confirm |
an entry Of land made by the administrator Of James
Anderson, deceased, OF Iowa Territory. |
..... RULES or THE SENATE.
Mr.. HAYWOOD moved that the committee to |
inquire into the expediency Of revising the rules OF
the Senate, provided for by the resolution Of the
Senate adopted few days SINCE consist Of Ave per
sons and be appointed by the Chair which motion
The PRESIDENT appointed as said Commute,
Senators HAYWOOD, PEAReE, sErrR, EVANS, and
ArHEGros.
The Senate considered the adverse report Of the |
Committee on Foreign Relations upon the petition |
pfJohn Strokecker and others; which was concur /
red In.
RErnocEssIos OF ALEXANDRIA.
Mr.. ARCHER moved that the prior orders Of |
the day be postponed, and that the Senate resume
the consideration of the bill for the rerocesson OF
The town and county OF Alexandra to the State Of
Virginia; which motion was agreed TO.
The bill wus then considered in committee OF /
the whole, when
Mr.. JOHNSON, OF Maryland, said that, as a
member Of the Committee for the District of Co /
lumbia, and having voted in favor OF The bill he felt
bound to state his reasons for that vote. He then
reviewed the constitutional provisions relative to the
establishment Of seat of government, and its loca
ton within this District. He insisted that there
was nothing to prohibit the retrocesson Of the en-
tire District, or any portion thereof He supposed
cases in which the removal Of the seat Of govern
ment would be unavoidable, and asked if, in such
cases, Congress could rctrocedc the terrtoryi
Alexandra, he asserted, had reason to complain of
the favorusm Of Congress towards Washington and
Georgetown; and he insisted that the prayer Of the
majority of the inhabitants should be granted.
Mr. MILLER replied. He contended thai Con-
gress had no power TO accept cessi6R Of territory
except for specified object; and that the object
of the cession in this was the location and ca
tablishmeut of seat Of government Congress could
not retrocede, unless with an abandonment of that
object.
Mr.. HANNEGAN spoke in favor of the retro
cession. He eontended that Congress had no right
TO refuse the request Of the people Of Alexandria
to be restored to their original rights of citizen
ship.
Mr.. CALHOUN then rose, and said that he had
not been able to discover any valid reason why the
retrocession should not be made. The first and
great point for consideration was, whether, by this
retrocession the object of the cesson would be i'm
paired He could not see how any evil result could
possibly follow. 1t was detached portion of the
District, lying on the other side of the river and in
no way calculated TO facilitate the legislation of the
general government. Nor did he sec how any &C
qured rights could be injured. He did not see how
the retrocession could inuriously affect the county
of Washington, as he believed it was called, or
Georgetown. The next question, then, was, Was
there any serious constitutional objection Accord
ing to his judgment, there could not be any such,
unless there was somewhere in the constitution
prohbitory clause. Il in the power of the gov
ernment to remove its seat if it thought proper un.
less there was some express provision to the con-
trary: Now, he saw no such provision in the con-
siiuhen. II belonged to gentlemen to prove that
fhe retrocesslon would be Unconstitutional If thew
had right--whch he held to be incontestable--toi
remove the seat Of government, the right Of parting
with any portion of 1t apparent Nor was
the part Of Congress, argued by the senator from
North Carolina, Mr. HAYwoop.l The act Of Con-
gress, it was true, established this the permanent,
seat Of government but they all knew that an act
Of Congress possessed no perpctuity Of obligation.
II was simple resolution Of the body and could be
at any time repealed Although he thought that
Congress had the power to remove the seat of gov
crnmeRt, yet he was not to be understood as sup
posing that it woad be expedent or wise to re-
move it. He could not concur In the views present
ed by Mr.. Madison on the subject of the location of
seat of government, and read yesterday by the SEN
ator from Virginia, Mr.. PENNYBAcKER.1 Mr. Mad
ison made an elaborate argument in favor Of the po-
stion that the seat of government ought to be in the
States were concerned, that might be just argu-
ment but the history of the world would show that
the seats Of national government never WERE or
scarcely ever were, situated in the CENTRE and there
was reason for that general arrangement They
were always situated on the frontier the most ex-
posed. Where London, the seat Of the Brit
ish government On the southeast frontier of the
kingdom, looking towards the continent Of Europe.
That of France, Parie, in the most exposed
position So with regard to the seat of govern
in Rrtaaa and ~ ind bcI
capitals Of all the chief nations Of the world
In the nature Of things it must be so. Now,
if that was true in the general, il was pre-cmi-
nentIy true Of this confederacy; for the federal gov
eminent looked almost exclusively their foreign
relations. And here it had been wisely located and
here, in his opinion, il would continue, so long as
the institutions Of the republic endured If the seat
of government ever changed, it would be in {
consequence Of some other than the retroces
sion Of Alexandria, which could not possibly in any