The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-04-08

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hfhs, while in fact they have ourhfths Now, there
Is strong feeling in the country IN favor OF having
them all filed by civilians; and he thought If the Of
heers Of the navy acted wisely, they would not dis.
tarb the present arrangement, for In endeayorng TO
get all, they may lose what they have. On the
whole he hoped that opposition 10 the bill would
be Withdrawn, and that il would be permitted to
| pass. For, lift was TO pass at ALL il was desirable
that Il should pass early nasmueh the selection
Of an officer TO I'll the place vacant, might be,
in great measure, controlled by the arrangement OF
duties proposed in the bill.
Mr.. HUNTINGTON and MIR. J. M. CLAY.
TON replied TO Mr.. FAIRrIELD at some length, and
then the bill was passed by informally for the pres.
enL ... :
The Senate considered the adverse report Of the
COMMITTEES on Pensions upon the petition Of Samuel
Knight, IT,; which was concurred in.
Also the adverse report of the Committee of
Claims upon the petition Of Eli Hobbs which was
| concurred in.
Also, the adverse report Of the Committee Of
Claims upon the memorial Of Orlando s. Rees;
which was coneuTred in.
Also, the adverse report Of the Committee on In
dian Affairs upon the petition Of Mary b. Hook
which was concurred in.
Also, the adverse report Of tho Committee on
Pensions, upon the petition Of VIM. w. Hail. which
was eoncurred in.
Also, tho adverse report of the Committee on
Pensions, upon the petition Of Joanna Queez; which
was concurred in.
Also, the adverse report of the COMMITTEES on Ma
val Affairs upon the petition Of g. d. DuVal which
was concurred in.
Also, the adverse report Of the Committee Of
Claims, upon the petition Of Robert Butler which
was concurfed In.
| Several messages in writing were received from
the President Of the United States
| DIPLOMATIC coRREsPoSpEsuE-oREGoN
The Senate resumed the consideration Of the fol.
lowing resolution, submitted several weeks since
by Mr.. J. M CLAYTON!
Rssorsd That the President OF the United States be
quested 70 70 he senate copies Of any CORES
Pondence that have taken place between the auhon
ties Of the United states and those OF Great Britain since
the Oregon territory OF much thereof may be
muneutsd without dstriment to the public interest
Mr.. ALLEN suggested that the resolution be
passed by informally
Mr.. J. M. CLAYTON observed that the resolu
too had been passed over for several weeks and he
thought its adoption would accelerate final action
upon the question Of notice pending. He was
opposed TO any further postponement
Mr. ALLEN had heard nothng-had seen moth.
ing-to justify the passage Of the resolution. The
objection which, on former occasion, he had urged
against it still retained all its force That objection
was that the passage Of such resolutions from day
to day, as often a steamer arrived from Europe
carried with II distrust-not entertained by the
senator-but was calculated to imply a distrust Of
the ability and wisdom Of the administration and the
management OF that affair. II was fairly to be pre-
sumed from the fact that the Executive at tho com
| mencement of the session, uncalled for and voun-
tarlly laid before the two houses OF Congress- the
precise state of the negotiations and recommended
the interposton Of the law-making power in refer.
cnce 10 this territory. Under these circumstances
II was very reasonable to suppose that if anything
had occurred TO him subsequently and not known
to the Senate, which he had deemed proper in refer
ence to the public interest for communication to the
Senate, the President would have made it known
without any solicitation on the part of the Senate
Two calls had already been made, this subject,
upon the Executive. The first made by the
House Of Representatives and brought out the ten
der and rejection Of the two propositions of the Brit
sh government to arbitrate this difficulty. The
other was a resolution addressed to the Executive
by the Senate, and which was responded to, but a
few days ago, bringing out other matters, not so
much as to what had transpired on the Oregon ques
ton to what had been done upon the question Of
military preparations. He (Mr. Al did not oppose
that resolution mainly for the reason that it called
for opinions relative to the military defences of the
country. II called, he heard it said on the other
side Of the Senate for facts far those facts form
ed the groundwork of that opinion, and no farther
Well, that resolution was responded to. IL
said that the tendency Of this question: in the two
houses Of Congress, constituted the right of the
two houses to intenogate the Executive to what
wns done from day to day between the two govern
ments. Mr.. A then reiterated the reasons urged by
him some days since, against the passage of the reso
luton as implying distrust OF the Execuve-that|
would be the impression produced on the public
mind-and he also again alluded to the fact that dur
ing the administration of Mr. Tyler a resolution of
similar character, offered by himself, was voted
down on similar grounds urged by several grave
SENATOR'S amongst whom the senator from
Kentucky, nearest him, Mr.. MoREHEAp,l who
made quite an eloquent speech on the occasion. On
that occasion majority of the Senate set the prece-
dent-established the ncple-which it was now
attempted to set aside and to reverse.
Mr.. J. M. CLAYTON in reply, contended that
II had never been the practice to oppose such resolu
tons. They were as matter of course, adopted,
unless there was something peculiar in the circum
stances OF the case. Ii was not the fact that such
esoutoEs had been repeatedly offered during this
session. There had been only one adopted, that
offered by the senator from Massachusetts, [Mr
WEBSTER, to which the President had given
prompt answer. The present resolution had
been offered on the Sd Of last month and at the
desire of the gentleman from Ohio it had been
allowed to remain on the table till that day. the 7th
of April. The senator still persisted in hs opposi.
uon whilst they were on the very eve Of taking the
vote on the question. He would appeal to the friends
Of the President against the senator from Ohio and
would ask them if they desired strong vote in that
body. upon that question, was not the proprety of
the resolution apparent as tending to produce that
strong voter He insisted that the opposition of the
honorable senator was emnently calculated to pro-
yoke the suspicion that there something in the
PoSseeoioh
to communicate. He (Mr c. was himself ready to
vote for the notice; but if other senators desired the
information sought by the resolution in order to aid
them in forming their judgment, he saw no reason
why it should be withheld. He asked for the yeas
| and nays the resolution.
The call for the yeas and nays was sustained, and
they were accordingly ordered; when
MIR. MOREHEAD rose and said that he should
not have troubled the Senate with any remarks, had
il not been for the fact that the senator from Ohio
had thought proper to allude to the course taken by
him on former OCCASION. The circumstances in
which the resolution Of the senator from Ohio, mr.
ALLEN,] to which he had referred, was quite
dissi miar from those which existed at present.
His resolution offered at time when
the negotiation the Oregon question was
known to be pending batween the two govern
ments, and when no duty devoved upon the Senate
II was, therefore, manifestly improper, and was Of
course, voted down. Rut now the case was quite
different. The Senate was called upon to interpose
its action on the question; and was it not obvious
to all that the Senate should be possessed Of all the
| inf vuhic fba Ev I'D l..