The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Eighteenth Congress, First Session, [Volume 2] Page: 1,763
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1763
HISTORY OF CONGRESS.
1764
H. of R.
General Appropriation Bill.
March, 1824.
was filled with the sum of $265,140. That in the
tenth and eleventh lines, with " 19th January."
In the fourteenth line, for the " contingent ex-
pense's of the two Houses of Congress," the word
"sixty" was substituted for "fifty-eight," and an
item of $3,000 was added to the bill to provide
for extra services in the Land Office, (in the em-
ployment of clerks to fill up military land warrants,
twenty thousand of which are in arrear, some for
purchases made seven years since.)
Several attempts were made to amend different
items of appropriation, which, after much desultory
discussion, were not successful.
The members who engaged in the debate, or
rather in the multiplied inquiries and explana-
tions which necessarily arise on a bill of this de-
scription, were Mr. McLane, Chairman of the
Committee of Ways and Means, who introduced the
bill, Messrs. Cooke, Trimble, Taylor, S.Wood,
Forsyth, Rankin, Cook, Little, Wright,
Dwight, Cobb, Foot, of Connecticut, Tucker,
and Sibley.
The items which occasioned the most discussion
were, the additional aid in the Land Office, the
salary of a clerk for the Attorney General, (whose
existence became a matter of inquiry,) that of a
reporter for the Supreme Court, the clause for
extra clerk hire, newspapers, and books, in the
Department of State, and that for the erection of
a courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina, for
the courts of the United States.
Having proceeded in the bill as far as this last
item, the Committee rose, and the House adjourned.
Wednesday, March 10.
Mr. Rich, from the Committee of Claims, made
a report on the petition of David Cooper, accom-
panied by a bill for his relief; which was read
twice, and committed to a Committee of the
Whole.
Mr. Hamilton, from the Committee on Military
Affairs, to which the subject had been referred,
reported a bill concerning the distribution of arms
to the militia, accompanied by a detailed report;
which bill was read twice, and committed to a
Committee of the Whole..
The joint resolution offered yesterday by Mr.
Breck, (in relation to Peale's portrait of Wash-
ington,) was read a second time, and referred to
a Committee of the Whole.
The resolutions yesterday offered by Messrs.
r loyd and Cooke, (in relation to the brevetted
officers m the Army,) were agreed to.
Mr. Sloane, by leave of the House, presented
Vlrfi™0" ofth'e General Assembly of the State
°l i10' uP?n object of the lands set apart in
that State for the support of schools; which was
referred to the Committee on Public Lands.
general appropriation bill.
t*rTh,e ?-,°*ustUthen went int0 Committee of the
Whole, (Mr. Campbell, of Ohio, in the Chair.)
on the bill " making appropriations for the support
ol Government for the year 1824."
Mr. McLane, of Delaware, withdrew the amend-
ment offered by him yesterday, respecting the
court room of the United States, in Charleston,
in order that the entire subject of providing ac-
commodations for the United States' courts in the
several States might be submitted to the Commit-
tee on the Judiciary.
On motion of Mr. Taylor, of New York, the
298th, 2,99th, and 300th lines of the bill, which
are in the words following: " For erecting the
eastern portico of the Capitol, and completing the
interior of the building, one hundred thousand
dollars," were stricken out, and, on motion of Mr.
Coshman, (Chairman of the Committee on Public
Buildings,) the following was substituted :
For continuing the work on the centre building,
eighty-six thousand dollars.
For alterations and repairs in the room occupied
by the Supreme Court, six hundred and forty
dollars.
For improving the Capitol square, and painting
the railings around the same, eleven hundred and
sixty dollars.
For making a foot-way in front of the public
grounds, and open spaces between the Capitol and
Navy Office, five thousand dollars,
For finishing the north portico to the President's
House, twenty-six thousand dollars.
An item was added, after the 307th line, in the
words following: " For sick, and disabled, and des-
titute seamen in foreign countries, forty thousand
dollars."
The 3!4th and 315th lines, were altered to read
thus: " for salaries of the Ministers of the United
States to London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Mad-
rid, from the 3d March to 4th November, 1823,
and also for the Charges des Affaires at Stock-
holm, and the Hague, sixty-seven thousand five
hundred dollars."
The item for building a north portico to the
President's House, and that for the construction
of a graveled walk in front of the public grounds,
met with considerable opposition.
Mr. Forsyth also opposed that item which
makesappropriation for the payment of the salaries
of some of our foreign Ministers, on the ground
that the number of Ministers was, unnecessarily
great, as Charges .des Affaires might be substituted
for some of them without detriment to the public
service and with a saving of the public money,
and we should thereby avoid the sacrifice of self-
respect now arising from our sending Ministers
Plenipotentiary to Powers who send no Ministers
of the same grade to represent them at this Gov-
ernment—of which number were our Ministers to
Spain and Portugal; and he moved to strike out
that clause of the bill until farther information
could be obtained, as to the necessity or expediency
of such Ministers being sent where they were not,
or continued where they were.
After a protracted debate on the subject, the ^
question was taken on Mr. Forsyth's motion,
and lost—ayes 51, noes 75.
He then moved to strike out the word " Lima,"
in the list of the Ministers to South America. The
debate was renewed on this motion, but, before
the question was taken, the Committee rose.
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Gales and Seaton. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Eighteenth Congress, First Session, [Volume 2], book, 1856; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30369/m1/36/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.