The New Hampshire Gazette

CONGRESS.

SENATE.
Tuesday, January 27.

Mr. Ewing moved the Senate to proceed to the consideration of the Post Office Report; which being agreed to, the reading of the Report of the Committee was resumed.

At quarter before two o'clock, Mr. Ewing terminated the reading of the Report; when, Mr. Grundy rose and stated that the report which had been read contained the views of three Senators in the committee, constituting the majority. The Senator from Illinois (Mr. Robinson) and himself had prepared a document, giving their views of the subject, without any reference to the report of the majority. He would now move that this paper be also received.

The Senate having agreed to receive the paper; Mr. Grundy proceeded to read the same occupying until about half past three o'clock.

Mr. Grundy rose to move the printing of the reports. In order to avoid any collision on the subject, the Committee had come to an unanimous opinion on the subject, in conformity with which he was instructed to move that seven thousand five hundred copies of the report and twenty-five hundred copies of the documents, be printed.

At the suggestion of Mr. Calhoun, it was determined that the motion should not be made, until the bill reported by the Committee should have been read.

The bill was then read.

Mr. Grundy moved the second reading by title. He stated that the bill had not had full consideration before the committee in consequence of the pressure of business. He believed the committee would all agree, that to make the bill perfect, some additional provisions must be reported. He wished the bill to be read a second time and recommitted, pledging himself that the committee would very shortly report it, with the necessary amendments.

A considerable discussion arose on the question of the disposition of the bill, in which Messrs. Ewing, Clay, Grundy, Clayton, Porter, Calhoun, Preston, Cuthbert, and Benton took part. Mr. Southard had also risen when on motion of Mr. Ewing, the Senate adjourned.

SENATE.
Wednesday, Jan. 28.

Mr. King presented the Resolution of the Legislature of Alabama, instructing the Senators from that State to use their influence to expunge from the Journals of the Senate the Resolution adopted by that body in relation to the conduct of the President in removing the Public Deposites from the Bank of the United States. Mr. King of Alabama, and Mr. Benton, spoke in support of the object contemplated by the resolution, whereupon Messrs. Clay, Calhoun, and Preston rejoined.

Mr. Benton spoke in loud condemnation of the whole proceedings of the Senate against the President, and against the Postmaster General. The House was the grand inquest of the nation for the investigation.

The Alabama Resolutions were finally laid on the table, after a very warm debate, in the course of which Mr. Calhoun made an attack on the P. O. Department, and hoped a declaratory resolution in regard to that Department would also be passed by the Senate.

HOUSE. The House was engaged the whole day in the consideration of the General Appropriation bill.

SENATE.
THURSDAY, Jan. 29.

Mr. Benton submitted a resolution, which was adopted, instructing the committee on Military Affairs to consider the expediency of increasing the appropriation for arming the fortifications of the United States. The death of Warren R. Davis, a member of the House of Representatives, being announced in a message from the House, the customary resolution relative to the funeral services was passed, after some remarks had been made by Mr. Calhoun, on the character of the deceased.

HOUSE. The death of Mr. Davis was announced by his colleague Mr. Pickens, and no public business was transacted. The funeral services were to take place on the following day.

[Both Houses of Congress were engaged on Friday, in attending the funeral services of Hon. Warren R. Davis of South-Carolina.]

SENATE.
SATURDAY, Jan. 31.

The Senate did not sit.

HOUSE. But little public business was transacted this day. The resolution offered by Mr. Adams, calling on the President for any information not incompatible with the public interest, in relation to the French treaty of July 4, 1831, was adopted.

SENATE.
Monday, February 2.

Mr. Benton, agreeably to notice, and on leave given, introduced a joint resolution, repealing a joint-resolution of Congress with regard to the election of printer; which was read the first time and ordered to a second reading.

On motion of Mr. Grundy, the bill for re-organizing the General Post Office, was taken up.

Mr. Grundy said that the bill was framed principally by the majority of the committee; that the minority had some amendments to offer; which, on his motion, were received and ordered to be printed.

The Senate then proceeded to the consideration of Executive business, after which The Senate adjourned.

HOUSE, The Speaker presented several memorials and petitions from various States, &c. which petitions and memorials were appropriately referred.

On motion of Mr. McKim,

Resolved, That the Committee of Claims inquire into the expediency of paying Hugh McDonald for a horse lost in the service of the United States during the late war with Great Britain.

SENATE.
Tuesday, February 3.

The amendments of the House to the bill making an appropriation for presenting a gold Medal to Col. George Croghan, and Swords to the officers who served under him at the defence of Fort Sandusky, during the late war, were concurred in, and a further verbal amendment having been made, on motion of Mr. Preston, the bill was sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

French Spoliations.—The bill making appropriations to satisfy the claims of American citizens, who suffered by spoliations committed on their commerce prior to the year 1800, was read the third time and passed; yeas 25, nays 20, as follows:

YEAS—Messrs. Bell, Buchanan, Clay, Clayton, Ewing, Frelinghuysen, Goldsborough, Kent, Knight, McKean, Moore, Naudain, Poindexter, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Robins, Shepley, Silsbee, Smith, Southard, Swift, Tipton, Tomlinson, Webster—25.

NAYS—Messrs. Benton, Bibb, Brown, Calhoun, Cuthbert, Grundy, Hendricks, Hill, Kane, King, of Alabama, King, of Georgia, Leigh, Linn, Mangum, Morris, Robinson, Talmadge, Tyler, White, Wright—20.

HOUSE. Mr. Clayton, from the Committee on Public Lands, reported an act amendatory of an act passed in 1833, in relation to the pre-emption right of settlers on the public lands: which was read twice and postponed to Friday next.

Mr. Sutherland, From the Committee on Commerce, reported a bill to allow drawback of duties on merchandise exported from the United States to the provinces of New-Mexico, which was read twice and committed.

SENATE:
Wednesday, February 4.

On motion of Mr. Ewing, the Senate proceeded to consider, as in the Committee of the Whole, the bill to change the organization of the Post Office Department.

At the suggestion of Mr. Grundy, the reading of the bill was dispensed with, and the amendments prepared by the minority of the committee were considered.

The first amendment, proposing to strike out the provision in the bill for the appointment of an officer to be called the Solicitor of the Post Office, and to impose the duties of that office on the Solicitor of the Treasury, was taken up.

After some explanatory remarks from Mr. Grundy, Mr. Ewing accepted the amendment, and it was agreed to.

The next amendment proposed to strike out the provision of the bill, which prohibits the Postmaster General from granting any more extra compensation than shall amount to double the amount of postages received on the route, and to insert in lieu thereof, a provision that the expenditures for the transportation of the mail shall not exceed the revenues of the Department.

After some remarks in support of the amendment by Mr. Grundy, it was opposed by Messrs. Ewing, Bibb, and Southard.

Mr. Porter also objected to the amendment, but as it required some further consideration, and it was now late, he moved an adjournment, which was agreed to, and The Senate adjourned.

HOUSE. The bill from the Senate to provide satisfaction for the claims of certain American citizens on account of spoliations committed by the French prior to 1800, was read the first and second time, and committed to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Wise from the Committee on Naval Affairs, reported a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to cause to be constructed a Steam Plough Ship; which was read twice and committed.

Mr. Harper, of New-Hampshire, from the Committee on Commerce, reported a bill for the relief of Gilbert A. Smith and others; which was read twice and committed.

GOVERNMENT DIRECTORS—BANK U. STATES.

Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, in relation to the official proceedings of the Government Directors of the Bank of the United States.

DECEMBER 29, 1834.

Referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

Treasury Department,
December 29, 1834.

Sir: In obedience to a resolution of the House of Representatives, passed on the 16th inst. requesting the Secretary of the Treasury "to communicate to this House any information he has received or can obtain concerning the official proceedings of the Government Directors in the Bank of the United States," I have the honor to submit the enclosed correspondence, No. 1 to No. 4.

It is believed to contain all which comes within the scope of the resolution.

I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

LEVI WOODBURY,
Secretary of the Treasury.

To the Hon. John Bell,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.

No. 1.

Washington, October 14, 1834

Gentlemen: The profits made on the stock held by the Government in the Bank of the United States, constitute a portion of the public revenue.

To perceive the operations of the entire revenue system of the United States, it is essential to the Executive to know what those profits are, and what deductions are made from them, and for what purpose, before they come into the Treasury. That I may be able to take a proper view of the subject of the public revenues in my communication to Congress, as well as the general administration of the Government, I request that you will report to me, with as little delay as possible, the gross profits made by the Bank, of every description whatever, for each half year since the 1st of January, 1832. the deductions in detail made from those profits, and the disposition made of any surplus beyond the semi-annual dividends, and, if the nett profits have been less than the dividends, state how the deficiency has been made up.

The charges upon the profits of the Bank are entered, it is presumed, chiefly, if not entirely, under the following heads, to wit:

Expense account,
Discount, exchange, and interest,
Foreign exchange account,
Profit and loss,
Contingent account.

I desire to obtain the items under each of these heads, and any others under which charges may have been made in detail, in sufficient detail to enable me to understand distinctly to whom and for what service the moneys have been paid. This part of your report I wish brought down as near to the present time as practicable.

It is presumed that no objections will be made to your inspecting and using the books of the Bank for this purpose. Indeed, your right as directors to examine any book in the Bank, without assigning to the officers or other directors any motive, is to my mind entirely clear, and I trust you will not yield to any thing short of actual force and constraint, your right to examine them for the purpose I now designate.

I am, gentlemen,

With due respect,

Your most obedient servant,

ANDREW JACKSON.

Messrs. Edward D. Ingraham,
CHARLES MACALESTER, and others.
Government Directors in the U. S. Bank.

No. 2.

PHILADELPHIA, October 29, 1834

Sir: On the 24th instant, we informed the Board of Directors of the United States Bank, that the Government Directors were desirous to obtain information as to the gross profits from every source of the Bank, or each half year since the 1st January, 1832; the deductions in detail made from the profits; the disposition made of any surplus beyond the semi-annual dividends; and, if the nett profits had been less than the dividends, how such deficiencies had been made up, as also the charges upon the profits of the Bank: that, for the purpose of obtaining this information, we should require the Cashier to produce to us the books containing, 1st. The expense account; 2d. The books showing the discount, exchange, and interest accounts; 3d. The foreign exchange account; and 4th. The contingent account.

We stated at the same time to the Board, that, inasmuch as we desired to do whatever we deemed matter of duty in such a way as not to be liable to the suspicion even of secrecy, the information, when obtained, would be laid before the President of the United States, from whom we had received a communication, but that no motion was made, and no action of the Board desired upon what was stated; and that our application to the Cashier would be in our character as directors of the institution.

We did not desire any order to be taken on this communication by the Board, and none was taken; and, after its adjournment, we gave notice, verbally, to Mr. Samuel Jaudon, the cashier, that we should call at the Bank the next day, to commence our examination of the books. He requested us to inform him by note, what books we wanted, and copies of our note to him, and his answer accompanying this letter.

To have waited until the Board met, and to have suffered the question of our right to make the examination which we desired, to be discussed, or passed upon by it, would have been, in our opinion, an unqualified surrender of all rights as directors.

We went to the Bank on Monday last, and stated to the cashier, that, as directors of the institution, we demanded of him the books of the Bank, which were necessary for to obtain the information which we sought. A compliance with our demand was promptly refused. We proceeded immediately to take possession of one of the books and to take from it the credit side of the profit and loss account for January, 1832, condensed in the usual form for the use of the dividends committee, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. We then adjourned, intending to resume the examination. On Tuesday last, the 28th instant, the Board met, and our note of the 25th instant to the cashier, and his answer to it, were referred to a committee of five, appointed by the President of the Bank. In this last proceeding we took no part, deeming the proceeding itself beyond the legal powers of the Board.

On the 29th instant, we again met at the Bank to resume our examination, and finding that the cashier was absent, we required the second assistant cashier, whom we found in the cashier's room, to furnish us the book which we had used when making the examination, the result of which we now furnish. He refused to do so. We required to be informed where the book was, and were told by him that it was locked up in the vault, the key of the iron door of which was then in his pocket, which key upon being required so to do, he also refused to deliver to us. Having ascertained that the iron door of the vault was locked, we proceeded to the room of the first assistant cashier, and demanded of him the expense book, and were informed by him that it was in the vault, and that we could not have it.

You will perceive, sir, that we have found it impossible further to execute what we deemed a matter of duty. We submit the statement to you, and await your instructions.

We are, very respectfully,

Your obedient servants,

EDWARD D. INGRAHAM.
C. MACALESTER,

To the President of the United States.

No. 3.

PHILADELPHIA, October 24, 1834

Sir: As Directors of the Bank of the United States, we wish to obtain an account of the gross profits of the Bank and branches for each half year since the 1st. of January, 1832, and up to this time, as nearly as they can be ascertained.

We wish also to ascertain the deductions in detail made from those profits, and the disposition which has been made of any surplus beyond the semi-annual dividends.

It is our desire to obtain these statements (which are intended for the President of the United States) as early as practicable. We shall call at the Bank this morning at 11 o'clock, and you will oblige us by having the necessary books ready for our inspection.

Very respectfully yours,

EDWARD D. INGRAHAM
C. MACALESTER.

To S. Jaudon, Esq.
Cashier of the Bank of the United States.

No. 4.

Bank of The United States,
October 25, 1834.

Gentlemen: I have just received (10 o'clock A. M.) your letter of this morning, in which you state your intention to call upon me at 11 o'clock to-day for the "necessary books," to enable you to make certain "statements which are intended for the President of the United States."

Not considering myself at liberty to furnish the books of the Bank for such a purpose, I shall submit your letter to the board of directors on Tuesday next, for their order.

I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient humble servant,

S. JAUDON, Cashier.

To Edward D. Ingraham and
C. Macalester, Esqrs.