32D CONG.....3D SESS. and it was not the understanding of the contracting parties that they should be affected one way or the other by the stipulations of the treaty of 19th of April, 1850. I understand the facts in reference to the recent establishment of the colony to be these: These islands were among those which were seized, given up, and seized again, while the state of things lasted which I described in a former part of my remarks, and finally the English of late years have considered that the title "de facto and de jure," (! quote the words of a dispatch of Lord Palmerston,) was in them. As to the validity of the claim, have not a word to say. I am only stating the pretensions of England; and I suppose it is admitted that at the time the treaty was negotiated, those dependencies were not, any more than Belize itself, understood by the negotiators to be included in the stipulations of the treaty. Two or three years ago, as I understand, the inhabitants of the islands, not being very numerous, sent a messenger to the superintendent of the Belize, and informed him that they were without any regular government, and that they wished one to be established. He told them, very reasonably, that her Britannic Majesty could not afford to govern them for nothing; and that they must see how much they could raise by voluntary taxation to defray the expenses of the Government. They held a meeting and agreed that they would tax themselves £200 a year. They sent word of the result to the superintendent of the Belize, who told them that for that he thought he could get them a regular government. In consequence of that, the order of last July was issued establishing the colony of the Bay Islands. Such is the account I have received of the origin of this colonial organization, not however, I ought to add, from any official source. If these facts are as I have stated, I think it may be said that there is no violation of the stipu. lation of the treaty in organizing that colony. At the same time, I must candidly say, that think it is an ill-advised step. I have no doubt it has been hastily taken on the suggestion of the colonial authorities, and that it has been passed inadvertently through the Foreign Office at London, without a sufficient consideration of the circumstances Special Session-Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. the West Indies, an officer of great moderation, The Senate will infer, from what I have now It is not because either in this case or in that the public weal. But this I will say, that I am of the case. I think that the organization, the With respect to the transactions at Truxillo, we have nothing but newspaper information on the subject, and even that informs us that there has been no bombardment, no cannonading of the place, as at first reported; but Sir George Seymour, the commander of the British squadron in NEW SERIES.No. 19. I cordially sympathize with the distinguished Senator from Illinois, in the glowing views that he entertains of the future growth and glory of our country. I wish I could persuade him that this glorious future of America is not inconsistent with an equally auspicious future for the friendly Powers of Europe. I wish I could persuade him that that part of the world is not exclusively the region of tombs and monuments that he so graphically described, but that in every country in Europe, more in some than in others, but visibly in all, there is progress; that liberal ideas are at work; that popular institutions and influences are steadily forming themselves; that the melioration of the laboring classes is going on; that education and social comforts are making their way there. It is true, I beg the gentleman to believe me, it is true; and nothing will promote this favorable state of things more than the kindly sympathy and a salutary example on the part of this country. And I will also say that there is no country in Europe that I have ever visited, whatever temporary causes of irritation may have existed with this government or that government-there is not a country of Europe where the name and character of an American citizen is not a direct passport to every good office that a stranger can desire, and nowhere more than in England. SENATE. Sir, in our views of the glorious future that awaits the Union, we are apt to regard geographical extension as the measure and the index of our country's progress. I do not deny the general correctness of that impression. It is necessary for the formation of the highest type of national character that it should be formed and exhibited upon a grand and extensive scale. It cannot be developed within the bounds of a petty State. Nor do I admit that this idea of geographical extension necessarily carries with it-though it does perhaps by natural association-that of collision with other Powers. But, sir, I think there is no fear, so far as geographical extension is necessary, that we shall in the natural progress of things, have as much of it, and as rapidly as the best interests of the country admit or require. In the mean time, if we wish a real, solid, substantial growth-a growth which will not bring us in collision with foreign Powers-we shall have it in twenty-five years to our heart's content; not by the geographical accession of dead acres; not by the purchase of Cuba, or by the partition of Mexico, but by the simple peaceful increase of our population. Sir, have you well considered that that mysterious law which was promulgated on the sixth day of the Creation-" Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth"-will, in twenty-five years of peace and union-for it is all wrapped up in thataided by the foreign immigration, give us another America of living men as large as that which we now possess? Yes, sir, as far as living men are concerned, besides replacing the millions which will have passed off the stage, it will give us all that the arm of Omnipotence could give us, if it should call up from the depths of the Pacific, and join to the Union another America as populous as If by any stroke of power or policy you could to-morrow extend your jurisdiction from Hudson's Bay to Cape Horn, and take in every State and every Government, and all their population, it would not give to you a greater amount of population, including your own, than you will have at the end of twenty-five years by the simple law of increase, aided by immigration from abroad. ours. I shall not live to see it. My children probably will. The Senator from Illinois, in all human probability, will live to see it, and there is, perhaps, no one more likely than he to impress his views of public policy upon the mind of those growing millions, and to receive from them in return all the honors and trusts which a grateful people can bestow upon those they respect and love. Let me adjure him, then, to follow the generous impulses of his nature, and after giving, like a true patriot, his first affections to his own country, to be willing to comprehend all the other friendly countries of the earth within the scope of a liberal consideration, and above all to cultivate the spirit and arts of peace-of peace. Sir, it is the opposite spirit of military aggran dizement, the spirit of conquest, that has forged those chains in Europe which the Senator so eloquently deplores. It was this that brought down Asia to the dust in the morning of the world, and has kept her seated in sackcloth and ashes ever since. This blasted Greece; this destroyed Rome. It was not a foreign enemy that laid the ax to the root of Rome's freedom; it was her own proconsuls coming home from the successful wars of Asia, gorged with the gold of conquered provinces. The spirit of military aggrandizement and conquest have done the same for Europe. Will they not do it here if we indulge them? Do not let the Senator think that I suspect he wishes to indulge them; but will they not do it? Will they not give us vast standing armies, overshadowing navies, colossal military establishments, frightful expenditures, contracts, jobs, corruption which it sickens the heart to contemplate? And how can our simple republican institutions, our elective magistracies, our annual or biennial choice of those who are to rule over us, unsupported by hereditary claims or pretorian guards, be carried on under such influences? Do not mistake me, however, sir. I counsel no pusillanimous doctrine of non-resistance. Heaven forbid! Providence has placed us between the two great world oceans, and we shail always be a maritime Power of the first order. Our commerce already visits every sea, and wherever it floats it 32D CONG.....3D SESS. Special Session-Select Committee on Frauds, &c. must be protected. Our immense inland frontier will always require a considerable army; and it should be kept in the highest state of discipline. The schools at Annapolis and West Point ought to be the foster children of our Republic. Our arsenals and our armories ought to be kept filled with every weapon and munition of war, and every vulnerable point on the coast ought to be fortified. But while we act on the maxim "in peace prepare for war," let us also remember that the best preparation for war is peace. This swells your numbers; this augments your means; this knits the sinews of your strength; this covers you all over with a panoply of might; and then, if war must come, in a just cause, no Power on earthno, sir, not all combined-can send forth an adversary from whose encounter you need shrink. But give us these twenty-five years of peace. I do believe that the coming quarter of a century is to be the most important in our whole history, and I do beseech you let us have the twenty-five years, at least, of peace. Let our fertile wastes be filled up with swarming millions; let the tide of immigration continue to flow in from Europe; let the steamer, let the canal, let the railway, especially the great Pacific railway, subdue these mighty distances, and bring this vast extension into a span; let us pay back the ingots of California gold with bars of Atlantic iron; let agriculture clothe our vast wastes with waving plenty; let the industrial and mechanic arts erect their peaceful fortresses at the waterfalls of our rivers; and then in the train of this growing population, let the printing office, the lecture-room, the school-room, and the village church, be scattered over the country; and, sir, in these twenty-five years, we shall exhibit a spectacle of national prosperity, such as the world has never seen on so large a scale, and yet within the reach of a sober, practical contemplation. Mr. DOUGLAS. I do not intend to prolong this discussion, but I think it due to myself to make a word of comment upon one remark which fell from the eminent Senator from Massachusetts. I understand him to agree with the Senator from Delaware, that his letter in relation to Cuba, in which he laid down the policy of making no pledge in regard to its future condition, was not applicable to Central America; and that therefore those two Senators agree to stand on a common platform upon that point. Sir, I am not willing, by the concurrence of those two Senators, to be put in the position of having made a misapplication of that letter. The main point to which I referred in the letter of the Senator from Massachusetts to the Compte de Sartiges, was this: in it the Senator said that it was not within the competent authority of this Government, under the Constitustion, to give any pledge that in all coming time we would never annex any territory, which in the course of events might become desirable, to this Union. If it was not competent, under the Constitution, to give that pledge in reference to the Island of Cuba, where does he find the constitutional authority to give it in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with reference to Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and other Central American States? If there be an absence of constitutional power in the one case, it ought to be binding upon the consciences of men in all other cases. Therefore, until they explain away that constitutional barrier, I cannot permit those two Senators to put themselves in concert and accuse me of having made a misapplication of the letter. That is all I desire to say upon that point. So far as the Senator's remarks relate to the preservation of peace, I fully and cordially agree with him. If there is any one line of policy more dear to my heart than all others, it is that which shall avoid any just cause of war, and preserve peace in all time to come. If there be a difference of opinion between us, it is upon the point as to which line of policy will best accomplish that object. I believe that the true policy is to make no pledges at present which are to bind our successors in all time to come with reference to a state of facts which now does not exist, but then may require action. I have not said that I wish to annex any portion of Central America to this country. I only protest against the pledge that our successors may not do that which their inter est, duty, and honor, may require when the time for action comes. With these remarks, I am willing to close the discussion. Mr. MASON. There will be no question, I take it for granted, that the President will have it in his power during the vacation of Congress to obtain a vast amount of necessary information to guide the future policy of this country towards Central America. There can be as little doubt that when the information is obtained it will be laid before the Congress of the United States. I have said, therefore, to the honorable Senator from Delaware, who offered the resolution, that we shall have the information for which he calls without a call of the Senate; but if that call must be made, it will be necessary, in my judgment, very much to enlarge it, because it applies only to information as to the dominion in the islands. In order, however, to dispose of the subject, which I do with the approbation of the Senator from Delaware, I move that the resolution lie upon the table. The motion was agreed to. EXECUTIVE SESSION. On motion by Mr. MASON, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business; and after some time spent therein, the doors were reopened, And the Senate adjourned. TUESDAY, March 22, 1853. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. C. M. BUTLER. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS. A message was received from the President of the United States in answer to a resolution of the 17th instant, requesting copies of certain propositions to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, relative to the settlement of the territorial controversies between the States and Governments bordering on the river San Juan, transmitting a report from the Secretary of State, and the documents by which it was accompanied; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting additional papers in relation to the allegation of fraud contained in certain public prints with regard to the disbursements by Alexander Ramsey of money appropriated to carry out the stipulations of treaties concluded with the Sioux Indians; which, on the motion of Mr. SEBASTIAN, was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. Also, a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting additional papers in relation to the Mexican Boundary Commission; which, on the motion of Mr. WELLER, was referred to the Select Committee on the subject, and ordered to be printed. CLERK TO A COMMITTEE. Mr. JAMES, from the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office, submitted the following resolution: Resolved, That the clerk to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office, be continued during the recess of the Senate, at the usual rate of compensation, to be employed in preparing for the use of said committee an alphabetical index and digest of the reports heretofore made by the several Committees on Patents and the Patent Office. MEXICAN BOUNDARY COMMISSION. Mr. WELLER submitted the following resolution: Resolved, That the Select Committee on the Mexican Boundary be allowed until the next session of Congress to report upon the various subjects referred to them. Mr. HUNTER. I have no objection to the committee making a report, but I object to any committee sitting during the recess. I think it would be establishing a bad precedent. Mr. WELLER. It is not proposed by the resolution that the committee shall sit during the recess. The testimony before it has been closed. It occupies more than five hundred pages, and it is utterly impossible for the committee during this session to examine it so as to be able to make a report. The object of the resolution is to allow the committee to make their report, not to continue their sitting during the recess, SENATE. Mr. HUNTER. If the Senator will add a proviso that the committee shall not sit during the recess, I will have no objection to the resolution. Mr. WELLER. As chairman of the committee, I propose going home very early next month, and I am sure there will be no sessions of the committee in the recess. The resolution simply proposes to allow the committee to report, and I do not think under that authority, they could, if they desired, sit during the recess. However, if my friend from Virginia thinks it necessary, I have no objection to adding the proviso. Mr. HUNTER. I think they might sit under the authority conferred by the resolution; and I should therefore like to have the proviso added. I know there will be other applications to continue committees, and I shall oppose them all. The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. COOPER in the chair.) The Senator from California accepts the modification suggested by the Senator from Virginia. The resolution as modified was agreed to. On motion by Mr. SUMNER, it was Ordered, That leave be granted to withdraw the papers relating to the claim of the Boston Steamboat Relief Company, B. B. Forbes. EXECUTIVE SESSION. On motion by Mr. MASON, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business, and after some time spent therein, the doors were reopened. THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FRAUDS, ETC. Mr. BORLAND. I have a report, Mr. President, which I am directed to make from the Select Committee on Frauds, Abuses, &c. Before doing so, however, it will be proper to recur briefly to the circumstances under which the committee have acted. This committee was originally appointed last summer, but was unable, for want of time, to complete its duties during that session, which adjourned the last of August. During the recent session it was reappointed, and continued its investigations until the close. Finding its duties still unfinished, owing to the mass of testimony they had taken, and which had to be arranged and embodied in a report, permission was asked and obtained to continue their sittings during this special session, in order to prepare and present their report. The committee consisted of five membersthree Democrats and two Whigs. Of these, the Senatorial terms of the two Whig members (Mr. UNDERWOOD of Kentucky, and Mr. BROOKE of Mississippi) terminated with the Congress on the 4th of this month. It became necessary, therefore, to make up the regular number of the committee to supply these vacancies; and two other Whig members (Mr. MORTON of Florida, and Mr. THOMPSON of Kentucky) were appointed. These gentlemen met the other members of the committee a few days ago-the whole committee consisting of Mr. HOUSTON, chairman, Mr. BORLAND, Mr. WALKER, Mr. MORTON, and Mr. THOMPSON-When the cases which had been examined were submitted, and the substance of the report upon them, as drawn up, was read. I have deemed this statement proper, and it was understood by the committee that I should make it, in justice especially to the two new members of the committee, who have not, of course, had time or opportunity to examine the testimony in the several cases, and cannot be responsible for the report. They heard the report read, and acquiesced in it only so far as to assent to its being made to the Senate, reserving their right to judge of it when it shall have been printed, and they have had an opportunity to examine the testimony upon which it is based. It is deemed important by the committee that this report should be printed at the earliest practicable day; important to the public interest. In connection with one part of it, it will be remembered that during the recent session, when the deficiency bill was under consideration, I offered two amendments in relation to the proposed appropriation of $400,000 as a deficiency of former appropriations for the Capitol extension. My amendments suspended the disbursement of the 32D CONG....3D Sess. proposed appropriation until the 1st day of April, and restored it to the former and usual course of auditing and controlling all expenditures of the public money at the Treasury. Objection was then made to my amendments, upon the ground that they reflected injuriously, and it might be unjustly, upon the characters of the persons who had been intrusted with the duties of managing the work and disbursing the money. I stated at the time that such was not my purpose, but that as charges of gross improprieties against the Architect and others intrusted with these duties had been made, and as the committee were then engaged in an investigation which threatened in its result to sustain those charges, I deemed it due to the public interest that no more money should be given into the same hands for disbursement until the material facts could be ascertained, and duly presented in the form of a report; and further, that as a few weeks more would enable the committee to report the facts, and as no harm could result from the proposed short delay, it was but right that the Executive should have the means at hand to act understandingly, as well as to the mode to be adopted as to the agents to be employed in the prosecution of the work. My amendments were adopted; and not only is the disbursement of the money restored to the former and usual mode, whereby the safeguards of checks and official responsibility are thrown around it, but it is suspended, and the work along with it, until the 1st of April. That day is near at hand, when the Executive will have to cause the work to begin again, and to determine who shall be intrusted with its management. In the opinion of the committee, their report contains matters important to be known to the Executive to act understandingly in this connection. To serve the public interest generally, and with this view directly, the committee have exerted themselves to make their report at an earlier day. Circumstances of difficulty have delayed them until now. It is now here, and will, I presume, be printed, as is usual with reports. But it is voluminous, and will require some time to be printed in the usual way, in pamphlet form. The purpose, then, with which I have made these remarks, is to connect them with the report; or, rather, to let the report come in as part of my remarks, and by this means authorize and enable our reporters to print it in the official newspapers as part of our debates. In this way, I could get it much earlier in print, and in a form available for the more immediate practical service to the public I believe it capable of rendering. As embodying, therefore, what I would say to the Senate, I propose to read the report. Mr. BADGER. I object. Mr. BORLAND. It is not my wish to weary the Senate by reading a document so voluminous as this. I know they would be unwilling to listen to it now. But, for the purpose I have indicated, I would like to begin the reading of it now; and, as is not unusual with Senators when they desire to incorporate certain papers in their speeches, let it be considered as read, and, as part of my remarks, be reported and printed accordingly. If it be the pleasure of the Senate, I will pursue that course. Mr. BADGER. The difficulty is, it will cost $15 a column to print it. Mr. BORLAND. In my opinion it is worth a great deal more than that. Not that anything which I could write and offer to the Senate would be worth so much, but as the result of several months' patient investigation, by a committee of this body, of matters important to the public interest and morals, and as the development of facts of an extraordinary character, which should be early known, it is, in my opinion, of far more value than any such amount as we pay for printing the reports of our proceedings. I wish, then, to know if it be the pleasure of the Senate that this "Report of the Select Committee on Frauds, Abuses, &c., appointed under the resolution of the Senate, of August 6, 1852," shall be considered and printed as a part of my remarks? Mr. MASON. If the Senator will allow me, I think it is a very unusual course to have a report printed as a part of the reported debates of the Senate, and I submit, with very great respect to the Senator, whether, inasmuch as it is unusual, Special Session-Superintendent of Printing. it would be well to adopt it in this instance? I Mr. ADAMS. I would suggest that the usual Mr. BORLAND. Unless a report on any matter goes in as a part of the remarks of the Senator, it is excluded from publication in the debates; and I desire that this report shall be so published. In answer to the Senator from Virginia, I would merely say that I know the course which I propose is unusual, and for that reason I have made the request. The case is an unusual and extraordinary one. Mr. HAMLIN. I think the object which the Senator has in view may be accomplished in this way without compromising at all the practice of the Senate. He has stated certain facts. I think he can incorporate them as a part of his remarks, for which the Senate will be in nowise responsible. If he chooses to use them in that way, and make them a part of his speech, as if he was making an extract from a book, he may accomplish his object without compromitting the practice of the Senate. The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. CHASE in the chair.) The Chair will suggest that, strictly, there is nothing before the Senate. The Senator from Arkansas rises to make a report from a Select Committee, but no question is at present before the Senate. Mr. BORLAND. I have not made the report yet. It is not unusual, and I believe is always permitted, for a Senator when making a report to accompany it by some explanatory remarks. 11 SENATE. know; and for that reason I stated the whole case precisely, as to my object and what would be the effect of it. Now, if it should be the sense of the Senate that it should be done, I would be gratified; but if it is not the sense of the Senate, and they desire otherwise, I am perfectly willing that the document should take the ordinary course, and be printed as the report of the committee. I therefore submit the report, and move that it be printed for the use of the Senate. Mr. THOMPSON, of Kentucky. I will merely remark that the course taken meets my approbation. The Senator from Florida [Mr. MORTON] and myself have only been members of the committee during this called session; and of course so far as the testimony is concerned we had no opportunity of entering into an examination of the witnesses. We, however, have heard a synopsis of the testimony read, and have seen the report, and agree that it should be reported to the Senate, neither concurring in the views taken in the report, nor agreeing to the accuracy of the synopsis. We e are willing to let it go out for what it is worth, and come before the Senate in its printed form for any legislative action which the Senate may choose to take upon it. The Senator from Arkansas was perfectly right in saying that we consented to the understanding that the report should go before the country in that way for such future action as the Senate and Congress might desire to take upon it. Mr. BORLAND. There is no proposition made by the committee. The committee do not recommend any particular legislation upon the subject. The report is only a development of facts, and the opinion of the committee expressed upon those facts, without recommending anything, leaving it of course to the discretion of the Senate to take any action which it thinks proper. Mr. THOMPSON. Perhaps there is some alteration of the rules of the Senate suggested. Mr. BORLAND. There is one suggestion as to what it would be well to do, but it is only in the form of a suggestion. There is no resolution offered-no bill reported. It is simply an informal suggestion. Mr. BADGER. There is nothing for us to concur in. Mr. BORLAND. No, sir. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the motion to print include the documents? Mr. BORLAND. They are a part of the report, in the form of an appendix, and of course are included. The motion to print was agreed to. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate a communication from the President of the United States, transmitting a report of the Secretary of State in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 18th of January last, calling for further correspondence touching the revolution in France of December, 1851; which was ordered to be printed. SUPERINTENDENT of printing. Mr. BADGER. I desire to make a suggestion to the Senator. I was in the Senate at the time we commenced our present system of printing the debates. When it was commenced, it was the custom, when papers were read and reports made, to insert them in the debates. That was immediately decided against, upon the ground that it was not the intention of the Senate to pay for printing as a part of the daily debates of the Senate, those matters which we printed as a part of our documents. Since that time the practice has been entirely discontinued. But I would suggest, independently of this variation from the course of proceeding which has been usual, and which I think should not be departed from unless in cases of extreme necessity, whether the plan proposed by the Senator would not appear in some respects to do an injustice. Suppose the report is printed in the debates: the Senator says there is a large mass of testimony accompanying it. I presume he does not intend to print that in the debates. If he does not, what is the consequence? The conclusions of the committee go out to influence the action of the Executive, without at the same time furnishing the Executive with the evidence upon which they are founded, and enabling him to draw his own conclusions; and that, too, in regard to a report which cannot be considered as unanimous. It seems to me, under these circumstances, the usual course of the Senate ought not to be departed from; and I concur in the suggestion of the Sena--for it must have been by an omission, as I can tor from Virginia, that if the Senator from Arkansas will signify to the Superintendent of Printing that it is desirable that the report should be printed immediately, he will take it out of its course, and have it printed without waiting for the ordinary delay. Mr. BORLAND. For the very reason which the Senator from North Carolina has suggested, I desire to present the whole question to the Senate. I might have gone on and read a portion of the report as a part of my remarks, and it would have been printed, but I should have considered that as taking an advantage of the Senate, and keeping back something which it had a right to On motion by Mr. HAMLIN, the Senate proceeded to consider the following resolution, which was submitted yesterday: "Resolved, That the same extra compensation be allowed to the Superintendent of Printing and the clerks and mes senger under him, as is paid by the resolution of the Senate to other clerks and messengers of a similar grade." Mr. HAMLIN. I desire to say that by the ordinary legislation of the Senate, we pay to the Librarian and laborers around the Capitol, to our engrossing clerk, and to the clerks of committees, a certain additional compensation. By an omission see no other reason for it-the clerks of the Superintendent of the Public Printing of this and of the other House of Congress are overlooked, and they are made a marked case, and set aside as distinct from all the others. Now, I undertake to say that however industrious the clerks may be in this or the other end of the Capitol, there are none who, in the year, will perform more service, or so much service as these. They remain here during the year, and are employed most of the time. Many of the clerks are employed only during the session, and they have got their additional compensation, and all except these have received it. I hope the resolution may pass. 32D CONG.....3D SESS. Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I want to inquire of the Senator from Maine whether these gentlemen have received a pro rata compensation from the House of Representatives. Mr. HAMLIN. They have received nothing. Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I make the inquiry, because sometimes in these cases duplicate compensation is given, the House of Representatives and the Senate both giving additional compensation. The reason why these persons were not embraced in the resolution giving extra compensation to the clerks and other officers of the Senate, was because they were an entirely new class of officers, unknown before. They are officers whose offices have been created since the original resolution was passed. But there is another point. Extra compensation is granted upon the supposition that the clerks have performed long and arduous service. If these clerks have been in service for a long time, it is right to give it; but if they have been in service but a short time it is not right. Mr. HAMLIN. They have been in service as long as any clerks around the Capitol, clerks of committees or any others, and they will be in service till December next, which is not true of others. Mr. BADGER. I will suggest to the Senator from Maine, that the phraseology of the resolution should be altered, so that it will be: "That there be allowed and paid under the direction of the Committee to Audit and Control the Public Expenses of the Senate, out of the contingent fund of the Senate the same," &c., and then at the end," as was paid at the last session. Mr. HAMLIN. I accept the modification. Mr. DOUGLAS. I have no objection to the resolution, if the Senator from Maine will add: Provided, It be expressly understood that hereafter no extra compensation shall be given. I think that the greatest abuse which has grown up here is this extra compensation to all the persons about this Capitol, leading persons to seek for places here just before the close of a session for the purpose of getting the extra compensation, or getting pay which bears no sort of proportion to the service rendered. It is an abuse which is growing up here yearly, and I do hope we will fix the salaries at what they ought to be, and then put an end to this growing enormity, which I believe is more corrupting than any other thing about the Capitol. I hope that the proviso may be added, by way of a notice with respect to the future. Mr. HAMLIN. I would certainly place these clerks on the same footing as others, and I do not know that any proviso is necessary. They will stand at the end of another session precisely as the other clerks, only they do not come within that class of clerks to which the Senator has alluded. These are clerks that have performed service during the session, and will perform it during the recess. Special Session-Extra Compensation is not an officer of this House or of the other. I suppose the same is true of his clerks. They are not the peculiar employees of this or the other House. Mr. HAMLIN. Yes, they are. They take care of our printing. They do much of what the Printing Committee formerly did. Mr. PEARCE. I think this practice has gone far enough, and should be stopped. Mr. STUART. I move to strike out of the resolution the words, " Superintendent of the Public Printing;" thus modifying the resolution so that it shall apply only to the clerks. I have asked about me for some reason why that officer should receive extra pay. I recollect distinctly when this system was adopted in the other House, economy was one of the strongest arguments used there. I believed it myself. But if we are to take the very first opportunity after an officer is created, to increase his pay, we shall make but a sorry exhibition of our effort to carry out our principles of economy. I think you might as well take the President of the United States, and increase his pay by a resolution of the Senate. I confess to you, I see no reason for it whatever, which would not exist in the case of any other officer under this Government, and I certainly cannot vote for it. Mr. HAMLIN. I hope that amendment will not be agreed to. It is true that the Superintendent of Printing is an officer whose salary is fixed by law. It is equally true that the Secretary of the Senate is an officer whose salary is fixed by law. It is equally true that the Clerk of the House is an officer whose salary is fixed by law. The Librarian, all the clerks around the Capitol, all the officers in the Senate and House are officers whose salaries are fixed by law; and you have given to them all an additional compensation. The only reason why I would give it to the Superintendent of the Public Printing is, that I would place him upon the same footing with the other officers who are properly officers of Congress. They are not, truly speaking, officers of the Senate, but they are officers of the Senate and House. They superintend our printing; they take care of it; they audit the accounts; they are established for that purpose as much as the Secretary of the Senate is placed here for the purpose of taking care of and making up the records of the Senate. I can see no reason why you should exclude the Superintendent and make a distinction between his case and that of all the rest. I agree with the remarks which have fallen from the Senator from Illinois, and I will most cheerfully concur in fixing the sum which we are to pay to all our officers, and not give any of them increased compensation. But when you have given to all the classes of persons which I have named, I hope my friend from Michigan will not make an invidious distinction against the Superintendent, who, I believe is as meritorious as any of our officers. Mr. BADGER. We are reduced now, accord The motion was agreed to, and the Senate adjourned. Mr. DOUGLAS. I do not make the objectioning to the count which I make, to 16 Senators; I to the clerks particularly who are provided for in the resolution; but the principal reason why I therefore move an adjournment. wish to have the proviso adopted is this: Each session we are told we must give the extra compensation this time, but that we will put a stop to the practice hereafter. If the proviso is not now put upon it, we will be next year in precisely the same situation as we have been in before, and we shall be told we must give it now, but we will stop it hereafter. But it never will stop unless some proviso is made giving notice that it will not be paid. I move as an amendment: Provided, It is distinctly understood, that hereafter no extra compensation of any kind will be allowed to any of ficer of the Senate, or any person in the employ of the Sen WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1853. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. C. M. BUTLER. Mr. BADGER submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to: Resolved, That the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate, inquire and report whether the compensation for the expenses of the agent employed to procure and compile the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of March 8, 1851, is payable out of the appropriation for the contingent expenses of the Senate; and if not, how the same should be paid. PAPER WITHDRAWN. On motion by Mr. SEWARD, it was Ordered, That Mr. Rossemeyer have leave to withdraw from the papers submitted by him a certificate of a certain contract entered into by him. EXTRA COMPENSATION. The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the following resolution: Resolved, That there be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate, under the direction of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate, SENATE. to the Superintendent of Public Printing, and the clerks and messenger under him, the same allowance as was paid to the clerks of the Senate at the last session of Congress. The pending question being on the amendment of Mr. STUART to strike out " Superintendent of Public Printing.' The amendment was agreed to. Mr. BADGER. It now becomes necessary to strike out the word "him" after "under," and insert "Superintendent of Public Printing.' Mr. HAMLIN. I can see no reason why the Librarian and the Secretary of the Senate should be paid, and the Superintendent omitted. Mr. BADGER. Voluntas stal pro ratione-the will of the Senate makes the reason. Mr. BADGER's amendment was agreed to, and the resolution was reported to the Senate as amended. Mr. HAMLIN. The question is now, I suppose, on concurring in the amendment adopted in committee. I wish to say but one word in regard to that. You have paid the Secretary of the Senate, the Librarian, and all your clerks an additional compensation, and now the question which I submit to the Senate is, why shall you exclude the Superintendent of your Public Printing from the rule which you apply to every other officer of the body? Mr. STUART. The amendment which was agreed to in Committee of the Whole was proposed by me. I agree to what was said by the that the whole system of extra compensation is a honorable Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DorGLAS,] bad one-a decidedly bad one. But, sir, I thought I could see a distinguishing reason why we should not apply the principle to the Superintendent of Public Printing. He is an officer appointed on the recommendation of the President; an officer over whose appointment neither House of Congress has any control, except in the mode pointed out. The officers named by the Senator from Maine are appointed by one or both Houses of Congress, and this system, bad as it is, has, therefore, a reason in its application to them, but has none stated yesterday, no more than to any other officer whatever to the Superintendent of Printing, as I appointed under the Government. The reason to which I have alluded, applicable to other officers, might, perhaps, be so extended as to apply to the but you might as well apply it to any officer who public printer, elected by the vote of both Houses; is appointed on the nomination of the President as to the Superintendent of Public Printing. Besides, Mr. President, I do not like the reasoning upon which the thing is founded, to pay an individual because you have paid somebody Printing too small? Then increase it permanentelse. Is the pay of the Superintendent of Public ly. If the system is a bad one, as I think it is, it should not be extended. If it is a good one, it should not be extended beyond the principle which it embraces, and that is to confine it to officers elected or appointed by one or the other or both Houses of Congress. This, sir, it seems to me, ought to be satisfactory. It was with great reluctance I said anything upon the question at all. I did not intend at this session to say a word upon any question. Especially did I not intend to say anything about the subject of paying out money. But I would conclude by asking the question, and let every Senator apply it to his own case: By what rule of propriety will you pay out of the contingent fund of the Senate an officer appointed on the nomination of the President? Mr. HAMLIN. I will merely say to my friend from Michigan that some of the officers whom we have already paid by our resolution are nominated to, and confirmed by the Senate before they can occupy their places. I refer to the Librarian and Commissioner of Public Buildings. Still they are properly the officers of the House and Senate. The Librarian takes care of the Congressional Library. The Superintendent of Public Printing is also properly an officer of the House and Senate; and I only insist that we shall not make fish of one and flesh of another. Mr. ADAMS. I concur with the suggestion made, that these extra allowances are all wrong. I think every officer should be paid a fair compensation for his services. I do not intend now to participate in this debate, for it is too late to do anything with the system on this resolution; but 32D CONG.....3D SESS. I give notice to the Senate that if I shall live to the commencement of the next session, I will introduce a resolution at an early period instructing the proper committee to inquire into the compensation allowed to the employees of the Senate; and if it is not sufficient in the judgment of the Senate, that they fix by law the amount to which they are entitled. Increase their compensation if it is not enough. I am willing to do that, but I am opposed to the extra compensation. I am willing to pay them what is fair and reasonable. But I shall not oppose this resolution. As the extra compensation is allowed to others, I see no reason why it should not be allowed to the persons mentioned in this resolution. can Mr. BORLAND. As chairman of the Committee on Public Printing, I feel it to be my duty to state to the Senate, that if there are any employees of the Government, who, on account of arduous and important services rendered to us, in any way be considered entitled to the extra allowance, the Superintendent of Public Printing, his clerks, and messenger are entitled to it. I know the amount of labor which they have to perform. I was astonished when the Superintendent of Public Printing told me that with two clerks and a messenger he could perform the duties required of him. I thought, and so stated at the first session of the last Congress, that it would take six clerks; and I think his reducing them to two, and the amount of labor which I know he performs, which requires all day and sometimes late at night, entitle him and those who assist him, if anybody is entitled, to this extra compensation. There is another circumstance which would make it peculiarly hard as well as invidious to make this distinction against them. The bill which passed at the recent session making appropriation for their compensation failed to receive the signature of the President, and is not a law. They will have to wait until the next session before they can get any compensation for their services at all. It would therefore be very hard to refuse them this allowance. I do hope it will not be done. I will go as far as any Senator, at the next session, to get clear of the system of extra allowance and fix the regular salaries of our employees at a fair rate, and oppose always afterwards any extra compensation; but do not let us begin with this case, and make this invidious distinction. Mr. BADGER. I was persuaded by the clear and distinct statement made by the honorable Senator from Michigan [Mr. STUART] yesterday, that there was a propriety in striking out "the Superintendent of the Printing" from the proposition to give extra pay, and I consequently voted with him this morning in Committee of the Whole to strike it out; but, sir, I am obliged to say, for truth and candor require it, that the Senators from Maine and Arkansas have satisfied me that I was misled by the plausible statement of the Senator from Michigan, and that the strength of the argument is the other way. The Senator from Maine has shown that we are in the habit of paying extra compensation to two officers who are appointed precisely as the Superintendent of the Public Printing is appointed; and the reason why we have been in the habit of paying them is precisely in full force and operation, as a reason for paying this officer; that is, that they are engaged in discharging duties which properly are connected with the two Houses of Congress. The real difficulty and incongruity, Mr. President, has arisen from this, that Congress by its legislation has given the appointment of the Librarian, of the Superintendent of Public Buildings, and of the Superintendent of their own printing to the President. That is the error. You ought to have retained the appointment of every officer who is concerned in discharging duties in which we alone are primarily interested. But there can be no reason, under the circumstances, why we should except the Superintendent of the Public Printing, after having paid to others standing in precisely the same relation as to the mode of appointment and the duties which they have to discharge towards us; and therefore my attention being called to that fact, I am obliged to say that the honorable Senator from Michigan, I think, will, by persisting in his amendment, be accomplishing what the Senator from Maine says: making fish of one and flesh of another. SENATE. edge I have done injustice, and that Senators ought to have the constructive mileage; nay, it ought to be more than it ever has been, [laughter,] and if I had the liberty now, I would take it most conscientiously. [Laughter.] Mr. BADGER. So would I. [Laughter.] The question was taken on the amendment, and it was not concurred in. Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I offer the following amendment: Provided, That no extra compensation shall hereafter be allowed to any one out of the contingent fund of the Sen ate. Mr. BADGER. I hope my friend will not insist on that. What does it signify? Suppose we pass a resolution hereafter to make the allowance, will that control us? Mr. FITZPATRICK. I never received it. Mr. BADGER. Here is an honorable Senator who says he never took it. Then he did not find it inconvenient to receive it. [Laughter.] No man can be inconvenienced by receiving a thing which he does not receive; therefore my proposi-resolution say? Just what has been said at every tion remains in full force. Mr. ADAMS. Will the Senator allow me Mr. BADGER. I am in the midst of my argument now, and I cannot give way. Mr. BUTLER. The Senator from Mississippi will help you. Mr. BADGER. I know he will. He is always right, [laughter;] but I shall prefer at present to go on. We found it convenient to ourselves to receive this mileage. I did, though my amount was small. The honorable Senator from Mississippi found it much more convenient, because his was larger. (Laughter.] I did not grudge him his. I was never for leveling his down, but I would have been always willing to level mine up. [Renewed laughter.] We cannot retain this for ourselves. It is said to be an abominable system with regard to our officers; we are told to raise their salaries to the amount requisite and pay them that, and no more. Now, sir, I think there is something extremely agreeable at the close of the session, when the officers have been serving us with fidelity and attention and kindness, doing everything they could to promote our convenience as Senators, and enable us, by their assiduity and attention, to discharge our public duties with more advantage to ourselves and to the country, and promoting our personal convenience-I say there is something to me exceedingly grateful in this "free-will offering," by which we tell them, beyond the demands of law, "You are to receive this as a testimonial of the estimate in which we hold your assiduous and voluntary service beyond the demands of your official duties." Therefore, sir, I wish merely to pay a testimony of my respect and consideration for a system which is soon to leave nothing but its memory behind. I would say to the Senator from Mississippi that his resolution at the next session will be entirely unnecessary, for we have already burdened a most laborious and overburdened committee of this body-that is the Committee on Retrenchment, one of the standing committees of the body provided for by our rules, because it is necessary that it should always be in existence and ready to meet the large demands of the public upon its service-by a resolution introduced by the Senator from Virginia, with the duty of producing a scheme of compensation to be adopted at the next session, which will relieve us of what some gentlemen consider a painful necessity, but what I look upon as the agreeable office of voting extra compensation to our officers. Therefore, we have nothing at present to do but simply to pass this resolution, and then the whole system will be broken up, because at the next session, should such be the decided sense of the Senate, we will revise the salaries of the officers and stop the contingencies. Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I am aware that we can override it. But what does the Senator from Arkansas and every other Senator who advocates the other session: "This is the last time we will make the allowance." I have been made the instrument under which these things have been brought here, under the pressure of men, women, and children; at midnight and daylight I have been dragooned, and bedeviled, and hunted down, until I had to succumb. [Laughter.] You are now taking in everybody connected with the Senate-officers created and appointed by the President as well as the others. You fixed the salary of the Superintendent of the Public Printing, upon your deliberate judgment, at $2,500, the highest price which anybody says should be given for the talents and knowledge which he possesses; and yet you immediately vary the proposition to add to his pay $250 or $300. You have also included the reporters in the list of those to whom you give the extra compensation; and the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate are annoyed day after day to give such a construction to the allowance as will bring in every man who is engaged in cutting stone, or has anything to do on the Capitol extension. It is now extended so far that the whole thing is about to fall by its own weight. My proviso is in the shape of a proclamation to everybody connected with the Senate, that hereafter this thing is to stop, and when the Committee on Retrenchment and Reform, will because it was committed to them, take up the subject at the next session, they will not be put off with the apology that "this is the last time" that the extra allowance shall be made. That is all I ask. I know we can hereafter disregard the proviso. My friend from North Carolina comprehends my motive. He knows I am the last man who would deal illiberally with any of our employees. Mr. BADGER. I know it, and therefore I will make an appeal to the Senator for the last time [laughter] to withdraw his amendment, not on account of any objection to the principle contained in it, but I think it will place us in rather a ridiculous attitude. Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I withdraw it. Mr. BRODHEAD. I think the amendment ought not to be withdrawn. I do not think it is the last time; I do not believe this is an expiring sys tem. Mr. BADGER. Oh, yes; it is dead. [Laughter.] Mr. BRODHEAD. At the extra session of the Senate in 1851, I heard you, Mr. President, (Mr. ATCHISON in the chair,) say it was the last time; and I could not understand till this morning why it was that my friend from lowa [Mr. DODGE] was so anxious at the last night of the last session to have a resolution passed, giving the sum of between twenty and thirty thousand dollars to the employees. I now understand it. I can comprehend his feelings. I believe he said he was drain-gooned and bedeviled and hunted down by men, women, and children. How much do you think we paid under this resolution? Mr. ADAMS. My object in attempting to terrupt my friend from North Carolina, was to make an acknowledgment to him and other Senators. If I do injustice to any one I always take pleasure in retracting it. Heretofore, I have with most of the country condemned what has been known as constructive mileage; but since I have had the honor of being a member of this body, and experienced during the last six weeks especially, the labor of sitting up here all night when the public interest required it-the labor which we have had to perform here and elsewhere connected with the duties of a Senator, I say now that I acknowl Mr. BADGER. Fifty thousand dollars? Mr. BRODHEAD. We paid about $28,000. The plain honest people throughout the country, who work as hard as our employees, think that $30,000 ought to be enough altogether. But, sir, this is extra compensation. I know the officers of the Senate are most worthy officers, and the most accommodating gentlemen that I was ever associated with. I am willing to give them a liberal compensation, but it is a miserable system of |