SENATE.

Home Department-Attorney General—Accounts.

a bill entitled "an act for the relief of William Haslet;" in which bill they request the concurrence of the Senate. The bill last mentioned was read, and passed to the second reading."

On motion by Mr. HARDIN, the appointment of an Assistant Doorkeeper was further postponed until the first Monday in February next.

The bill for the relief of the legal representatives of Ignace Chalmet Delino, deceased, was read a third time, and passed.

HOME DEPARTMENT, &c.

Mr. SANFORD, from the committee to whom was referred so much of the Message of the President of the United States as relates to an addition Executive Department, and to the office of Attorney General, reported a bill to establish a new Executive Department, and for other purposes; and the bill was read, and passed to the second reading.

The bill is as follows:

JANUARY, 1817.

ATTORNEY GENERAL.

Mr. SANFORD, from the same committee, reported a bill concerning the Attorney General of the United States, and the bill was read, and passed to the second reading. The bill is as follows:

A Bill concerning the Attorney General of the United
States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That a suitable apartment, in some of the public edifices at Washington, shall be assigned to the Attorney General of the United States; that until such an apartment can be provided, the rent of the place, occupied by the Attorney General for his office, shall be paid by the United States; and that the necessary expense of fuel and stationery, used in the office of the Attorney General, shall be paid by the United States.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Attorney General shall be authorized to employ one clerk in his office, whose annual compensation shall not exdollars.

A Bill to establish a new Executive Department, and ceed for other purposes.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Supreme Court shall be authorized to allow, as a part of the contingent expenses of holding that court, the necessary expense of printed statements, on the part of the United States, in causes before that court in which the United States are parties; which sums, when allowed by the Supreme Court, shall be paid by the United States.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That there shall be an Executive Department, to be denominated the Home Department, and there shall be a principal officer therein, to be called the Secretary of the Home Department, who shall execute and perform such orders and duties as shall be given or intrusted to him by the President of the United States, in conformity to the Constitution Mr. SANFORD, from the same committee, to and laws, relative to correspondence and communication with the Governors of the several States, relative whom was referred the joint report from the Secto correspondence and communication with the Terri-retaries of the different Departments respecting tories of the United States, and the territorial offices the annual settlement of the public accounts, reand governments, relative to the Indian nations, and ported a bill to provide for the prompt settlement to trade, intercourse, and treaties with them, relative of public accounts; and the bill was read, and to the General Post Office, relative to the District of passed to the second reading. The bill is as folColumbia, and the public concerns thereof, and relative to the Patent Office.

lows:

A Bill to provide for the prompt settlement of Public

Accounts.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be, in the said Department, an inferior officer, who Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represhall be called the chief clerk; he shall be appointed sentatives of the United States of America, in Conby the Secretary of the Department, shall be employed therein, as the Secretary may direct; and when-gress assembled, That the offices of Accountant and ever the office of Secretary may be vacant, the chief Additional Accountant of the Department of War, clerk shall, during the vacancy, have the charge and the office of Accountant of the Navy, and the office custody of all records, books, and papers, appertaining of Superintendent General of Military Supplies, be, and they are hereby, abolished. to the Department.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That instead of a chief clerk in the Department of State there shall be an under Secretary of that Department, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of State, shall be employed as the Secretary of State may direct, and whenever the office of Secretary of State may be vacant, the under Secretary shall have the charge and custody of all records, books, and papers, appertaining to that Department; and the under Secretary shall receive the same compensation as is now allowed to the chief clerk.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Mint of the United States shall be under the superintendence and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the survey of the coasts of the United States, shall be made under the superintendence and direction of the Secretary of the Navy.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That hereafter all claims and demands whatever, by the United States or against them, and all accounts whatever, in which the United States are concerned, either as debtors or as creditors, shall be settled and adjusted in the Treas ury Department.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That in addition to the officers in the Treasury Department, already established by law, there shall be the following officers, namely, four auditors, one comptroller, and solicitor of the Treasury.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the first auditor to examine and settle all accounts accruing in the Treasury Department; it shall be the duty of the second auditor to examine and settle all accounts relative to the pay and clothing of the Army, the subsistence of the officers, bounties, and premiums, and the contingent expenses of the

By a reference to the accounts rendered by Joseph Nourse, Register of the Treasury, and acting as agent of the Joint Library Committee, which are annexed to, and the committee pray may be considered as part of, their report, it appears that since the last account rendered there was paid at different times by order of the Joint Library Committee a sum of $3,074 09; leaving in the hands of the agent of the Library Committee, subject to their order, an unexpended balance of $1,526 61. The committee have now under consideration several proposals, which, when finally acted upon, shall have employed the whole of the appropria-pired.

In revising the laws passed by Congress concerning the Library, the committee observed that no provision had ever been made to extend to the Heads of Departments the privilege of using the books in the Congress Library, on the same terms on which members of The British Review, the Annual Register, the Ana-Congress are permitted to use them. In the bill maklytical Review, and Cobbett's Political Register, pub-ing a further appropriation for the purchase of books, the committee have inserted a section to remedy that omission.

lates to weights and measures, to consider and report thereon.

The PRESIDENT communicated a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibiting the sums respectively paid to each clerk in the several offices of that Department, for services rendered during the year 1816, made in obedience to the provisions of the act of April 21, 1806, to regulate and fix the compensation of clerks; and the report

was read.

The following Message was received from the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
To the Senate and House of Representatives :

I communicate, for the information of Congress, the report of the Director of the Mint, of the operation of that establishment during the last year.

JANUARY 6, 1817.

JAMES MADISON.

The Message and report were read.
Mr. VARNUM presented a petition of Peter Mills.
praying an increase of pension.-Referred to the
Committee on Pensions.

Mr. RUGGLES presented the petition of David Chambers, praying to have refunded to him the first payment on a section of land, forfeited in consequence of the non-payment of the subsequent instalments.-Referred to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. SANFORD presented the memorial and representation of the commissioners of the State of New York on the subject of canals; and praying the aid of Congress in the construction of canals and locks, between the navigable waters of Hudson river and Lake Erie, and the said navigable waters and Lake Champlain, as stated in the memorial; which was read, and referred to the committee to whom was referred so much of the Message of the President of the United States as lates to roads and canals, to consider and report thereon, by bill or otherwise.

JANUARY, 1817.

The PRESIDENT communicated a report of the Secretary for the Department of the Navy, on the expenditure and application of moneys drawn from the Treasury, from the first of October, 1815, to the 30th of September, 1816, inclusive, and of the unexpended balances of former appropriations remaining in the Treasury on the 1st of October, 1815; and the report was read.

The bill to establish a new Executive Department, and for other purposes, was read the second time; and, on motion of Mr. SANFORD, the further consideration thereof was postponed to, and made the order of the day for, Friday next.

The bill concerning the Attorney General of the United States was read a second time; and, on motion of Mr. SANFORD, the further consideration thereof was postponed to, and made the order of the day for, Friday next.

The bill to provide for the prompt settlement of public accounts was read the second time; and, on motion of Mr. SANFORD, the further consideration thereof was postponed to, and made the order of the day for, Friday next.

The bill entitled "An act for the relief of William Haslet," was read the second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

The bill to increase the salaries of the register and receiver of public moneys of the land office at Marietta, was read the second time; and the further consideration thereof postponed until tomorrow.

The bill making a further appropriation for the re-purchase of books for the Library of Congress, and for other purposes, was read the second time; and the further consideration thereof postponed until to-morrow.

Mr. HARDIN Submitted the following motion for consideration:

Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be instructed to inquire into the expediency of requiring the attorneys employed in the collection of moneys due to the United States, to give bond and security for the faithful accounting for all demands placed in their hands for collection; with leave to report by bill or otherwise.

Mr. TAIT submitted the following motion for consideration:

On motion by Mr. TAIT,

Resolved, That the memorial of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory, praying the admission of the said Territory, as a State, into the Union, be referred to a select committee, to consist of five members, to consider and report thereon, by bill or otherwise.

Messrs. TAIT, BROWN, CHACE, MASON, of New Hampshire, and STOKES, were appointed the committee.

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy lay before the Senate any information in the possession of The bill to authorize a new edition of the colthe Department, respecting any surveys and examina-lection of laws respecting the public lands, was tions which may have been had in the Chesapeake read a third time, and the blank filled with bay, in reference to the situation of a site for a naval "$1,500." depot.

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH submitted the following

motion for consideration:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before the Senate, the amount of money paid by the Government of the United States for the services of militia during the late war, stating the amount to each respective State, and distinguishing, as far as possible, what has been paid

Resolved, That this bill pass, and that the title thereof be, "An act to authorize a new edition of the collection of laws respecting the public lands."

Mr. TAIT, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom the subject was referred, reported a bill respecting the heirs and legatees of Thomas Turner; and the bill was read, and passed to the second reading.

On motion of Mr. CAMPBELL, the Committee

JANUARY, 1817.

United States' Branch Bank.

on Finance, to whom was referred the petition of Amasa Porter, and others, grocers in the city of New Haven, and its vicinity, were discharged from the further consideration thereof.

UNITED STATES' BRANCH BANK.
Mr. CAMPBELL, from the Committee on Fi-
nance, to whom the subject was referred, reported
a bill, requiring the Directors of the Bank of the
United States to establish an office of discount
and deposite in the District of Columbia; and the
bill was read, and passed to a second reading.
The bill is as follows:

A Bill requiring the Directors of the Bank of the United
States to establish an office of discount and deposite

in the District of Columbia.

Be it enacted, &c., That the President and Directors of the Bank of the United States be, and they are hereby, required to establish a competent office of discount and deposite in the District of Columbia, pursuant to the provisions of the act to incorporate the Bank of the United States, passed the 10th day of April, 1816. Accompanying this bill, Mr. CAMPBELL handed in the following document:

TREASURY DEpartment,

WEDNESDAY, January 8.

SENATE.

Legislative Council and House of Representatives

Mr. MORROW presented the memorial of the

of the Mississippi Territory, representing that many persons have settled upon the lands lately ceded by the different nations of Indians to the United States, and praying that they may be permitted to continue until those lands shall be offered for sale, for reasons stated in the memorial; which was read, and referred to the Committee on Public Lands, to consider and report thereon, by bill or otherwise.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion of the 7th instant, for instructing the Committee on Finance to inquire into the expediency of requiring the attorneys employed in the collection of moneys due to the United States to give bond and security; and agreed thereto.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion of the 7th instant, which, having been amended, was agreed to as follows:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy lay before the Senate any information, in the possession of the Department, respecting any surveys and examinations which may have been had in re-selection of a site for a naval depot. any part of the United States, in reference to the

thereto.

Mr. LACOCK, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, to whom was referred the petition of a number of the inhabitants of Washington county, in the State of Pennsylvania, praying a change of a part of the route of the western turnpike road, made a report, together with the following resolution:

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be granted.

The report and resolution were read.

December 28, 1816. SIR: In reply to your letter of the 26th instant, questing me to furnish information as to the expediency of requiring the Directors of the Bank of the Uni-motion of the 7th instant, requesting the Presi The Senate resumed the consideration of the ted States to establish, in the City of Washington, a dent of the United States to cause to be laid becompetent office of discount and deposite, with my opin- fore the Senate the amount of money paid by the ion of the facilities which would result from that measure in the management of the national finances, and Government of the United States, for the services the advantages which might accrue from it to the pub- of the militia, during the late war; and agreed lic interest, I have the honor to state, that, in the present disordered state of the currency, the establishment of a branch bank in the city could not fail to be highly useful in the management of the national finances. During the existence of the former Bank of the United States, when the evils of a fluctuating and depreciated currency did not exist, it was deemed expedient that a branch bank should be established in this city, for the convenience of the Treasury, notwithstanding there were several incorporated banks within the District. From the best information which I have been able to collect, there is good reason to believe, that the effect of a branch bank in the District of Columbia will be highly beneficial to the public, and advantageous to the Bank of the United States. As an evidence in favor of this opinion it is proper to state, that the banks of Alexandria and Washington, both chartered and unchartered, have applied to the Treasury Department,mined in the negative. to use its influence with the Bank of the United States, to have a branch bank established within the District. In a national point of view, it would seem to be proper that the Seat of the Federal Government should have the immediate benefit of an institution, which has been created with an express view of aiding the exertions of the Government to restore the circulating currency to informed the Senate that the House have passed A message from the House of Representatives the specie standard, and, in fact, of giving a currency to the nation, which shall everywhere be of equal value a bill, entitled "An act directing the discharge of with gold and silver. The power reserved by the Gov-Oliver Spellman from imprisonment:" in which ernment of compelling the establishment of a bill they request the concurrence of the Senate. tent office of discount and deposite within the District, The bill last mentioned was read, and passed it is presumed, was the result of a general conviction to the second reading. of the propriety, if not the necessity, of that measure. I have, &c. WM. H. CRAWFORD Hon. C. W. CAMPBELL, Chairman.

compe

The bill respecting the heirs and legatees of Thomas Turner, deceased, was read the second time, and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and on the question, "Shall this bill be engrossed and read a third time ?" it was deter

the United States to establish an office of discount The bill requiring the Directors of the Bank of and deposite in the District of Columbia, was read the second time; and ordered to be engrossed and read a third time.

Mr. DAGGETT, from the committee to whom the petition of Thomas Law and others was referred, reported a bill authorizing the sale of cer

The bill authorizing the sale of certain grounds belonging to the United States, in the City of Washington, was read the second time, and conThe PRESIDENT communicated a letter from sidered as in Committee of the Whole; and, on Jonathan Jennings, President of the late Conven-motion of Mr. MASON, of New Hampshire, the tion of Indiana, with a copy of the constitution further consideration thereof was postponed until as adopted for the government of the State of In- Monday next. diana, which were read.