After some conversation as to the proper course for this business
to take, it was referred to a select committee, to consist of seven
members, to consider and report thereon.
Mr. QUINCY, Mr. RANDOLPH, Mr. ROANE, Mr. LACOCK, Mr. TROUP, Mr. EMOTT,
and Mr. DINSMOOR, were appointed the committee.
MONDAY, December 28.
_Public Lands--Cash System and Reduction of
Price._
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the report
of the Committee on the Public Lands, made on the second instant,
respecting an extension of the time limited by law for the payment of
lands purchased of the United States.
The report concludes with the following resolutions, the adoption of
which the committee recommend:
"_Resolved_, That such part of the laws for the sale of public
lands as allow a credit on part of the purchase money, be
repealed; and that the price at which lands shall be offered in
future shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.
"_Resolved_, That in future sales a portion of the public lands
be offered in tracts of eighty acres.
"_Resolved_, That two years be given in addition to the time
allowed by law to the purchasers of public lands, whose time
of payment shall have or may expire on or before the first day
of January, 1814, on condition that all the interest that has
accrued or may accrue on or before the 18th day of March next,
shall be paid at that day, and the interest that may become
due thereafter shall be paid at the day on which the time,
according to existing laws, shall expire for making payment."
Considerable desultory debate took place on these propositions; but the
committee rose without coming to any decision thereon, and obtained
leave to sit again.
TUESDAY, December 29.
_Additional Military Force._
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill
"supplementary to the act for the more perfect organization of the Army
of the United States," and on the bill "in addition to the act for
raising an additional military force."
The bills having been read through, a motion was made by Mr. DAVID
R. WILLIAMS to fill the blanks in the first bill, for the amount of
bounty, &c., and the question having been stated--
Mr. D. R. WILLIAMS said, the embarrassment which he felt on the present
occasion, was not of an ordinary kind; he was so solemnly impressed
with the importance of the subject before the committee, he was fearful
its success might, in some degree, depend on his efforts to sustain it;
and, feeling that the interest, perhaps the character of his country,
might be committed by the decision, he was humbled that its cause could
not by him be more ably supported. He felt, however, some confidence
from the circumstance that the Military Committee was entitled to the
candor of the House, because it had not presented mere fragments,
to be acted on in detail, but a system on which to rest the future
prosecution of the war. An explanation of its merits, from the relation
in which he stood to that committee, was probably expected of him.
Without going back to the unavoidable and just causes of the war in
which we were engaged, he would presume it was the object of all to
terminate it successfully, and that there now remained no other mode
than to call into the field a force adequate to the command of every
honorable object. The force was abundant throughout the community, to
secure, if directed with skill, spirit, and enterprise, our defence
everywhere; and, by offence, to make the enemy feel it had become his
interest to abstain from plunder and oppression.
The character of our Government had been so depressed in Europe, not
more by foreign than domestic misrepresentation, as much even within
these walls as without them, it had become necessary to make war to
place our backs against the wall and prove to European marauders
there is a point beyond which we will not recede. This good the war
has accomplished; but it has become more than ever necessary to prove
that we will not only declare war, but can prosecute it with energy
and courageous enterprise. The honor, the character of the nation,
require that the British power on our borders shall be demolished in
the next campaign--her American provinces once wrested from her, every
attempt to recover them will be chimerical, except through negotiation.
The road to peace then lies through Canada. When we shall once be in
possession of it, peace, honorable peace, the sole object of us all, is
secured. But some gentlemen affect a sympathy for the Canadians--why,
say they, will you make war on them? They have not injured us. Nor,
sir, has the British tar injured us, although he is the instrument of
plunder and impressment. It is to conquer the sovereignty of the soil,
to raze the British power, to reach, by such means, her profligate and
unjust ministry, that war is waged at all--the unarmed will never fall
on American bayonets; it is not against the people of either Canada or
Great Britain, but against the English subject in arms, that the war is
directed. By physical force then alone can we proceed.
Having shown the necessity of augmenting the regular forces, it was
equally material to provide for filling the ranks, and for keeping
them at their full complement when filled. With this view was the 1st
section introduced. The greatest evil, incident to the recruiting
service, results from the number of persons to whom the public money
was necessarily distributed; in proportion to the number of persons
with whom it is intrusted, will be its misapplication. To remedy
this it is proposed to appoint officers to each regiment, for that
particular purpose, in no way different from those already appointed,
who shall be employed in recruiting for their respective regiments;
these to be under the order of a major, who shall receive and be
accountable for the issue of money and clothes for that service.
The ranks filled, the presence of all the officers on the present
establishment will be indispensable, as in our service the proportion
of privates to the officers is greater than in any other service
whatever. The new organization which was given to the Army at the last
session increased the number of privates in each company, without a
corresponding increase of officers. If two lieutenants were necessary
in a company, for the purpose of discipline and recruiting, when it
consisted of only sixty-four privates, assuredly three are as much so
now it is raised to ninety. The recruits, as fast as they are enlisted,
may be concentrated under the eye of the major, where they may be
exercised and drilled, so that when he joins the regiment, they will be
qualified to enter the ranks and face the enemy.
One other objection he could anticipate--perhaps those who can sneer
at the disasters and misfortunes of the late campaign may object that
there is no encouragement to vote additional forces, seeing those which
have been already raised have been so illy employed. It becomes us all
to be equally faithful to our country, whether her arms are victorious
or not; it is in times of discomfiture that the patriot's resolution
and virtues are most needed. It is no matter by what party names we
are distinguished; this is our country--we are children of the same
family, and ought to be brothers in a common cause. The misfortune
which befalls one portion, should sink deep in the hearts of the others
also. What misfortune so great as the loss of character? If we shall
forget our impatience under disgrace, and look back on the events that
have passed, with only as much candor as becomes us, this objection
must vanish. Under the circumstances in which it found itself, without
experience, either in itself or others to guide it, Administration
ought not to be censured for the bad military appointments it may have
made, however much it may deserve, if it shall retain men in employ,
when found incapable to discharge the duties intrusted to him. He
was fearless of contradiction in declaring, all our disasters sprung
from a cause which no man in the nation could have anticipated. It
was next to impossible any human being could have foreseen, much less
provided against it. It was with pain and reluctance he felt it his
duty to speak of an officer fallen and disgraced; he wished he could
discover any cause for the surrender of Detroit, less heinous than
treachery or cowardice--between them he saw nothing to choose. Justice
will hereafter, if party heat denies it now, pronounce the plan of the
campaign, as intrusted to General Hull, easy to be accomplished and
judicious in its objects. The commandant was furnished with every means
necessary for success--with money, men, provisions, and munitions of
war, in abundance. What better mode could have been adopted, to prevent
Indian hostility and intercept British supplies of the instruments of
massacre? That your army had not been protected beyond the point with
which communications could have been maintained, is evident from the
events which followed. What was there to mar success? The commandant
at Maiden needed only an apology to surrender! What if the other Hull
had commanded? Every thing would have fallen before him--great science
was not necessary; courage and faithfulness would have accomplished
every thing. A train of heavy artillery was not required to batter a
breach for the assault; it was not necessary to fire a single gun--not
a cartridge need have been expended--the bayonet alone was adequate
to have taken Maiden at any hour from the moment the American army
crossed into Canada, till its most shameful retreat. The fort was not
enclosed--one entire side was open to assault. Yes, sir, had the brave
Hull, who bore your "thunder on the mountain wave," directed the valor
of the army, he would have poured the storm of victory resistless on
the foe. This black deed, without a battle, was consummated in the
_solicitous_ surrender of the brave corps which were hastening to his
relief; these, too, were arrested and thrown back on the community,
leaving the whole Western frontier exposed to savage inroad. Hence
all our misfortunes! After this, will it be contended that the
accidental appointment of an improper agent shall cause a refusal of
the force necessary to drag our drowned honor up from the ocean of
infamy into which it has been plunged? Impossible! Economy of life and
treasure call for a vigorous campaign--away with lifeless expedients;
miserable inertness must be banished--zeal and energy must be infused
everywhere. One protracted campaign will cost twenty-fold more than the
expenditure now asked for. Let this be the signal for resolution--the
first evidence of energetic policy. Let us suppose ourselves leading
the forlorn hope, and assume the spirit and vigor characteristic
of such an enterprise--the army will feel it--the people will feel
it--disaster and disgrace will then disappear. It is to save the public
treasure--the people's blood; it is for the reclamation of character,
I ask for high bounties and premiums; and, so asking, I hope not to be
denied.
The question was then taken on filling the several blanks in the first
bill, and carried.
Mr. H. CLAY congratulated the committee and the nation on the system
which had been presented to their consideration, and the prospect
of prosecuting the next campaign with a vigor which should insure
a successful result. He rose at this time, however, to propose an
amendment to the bill, the object of which was to repeal so much
of former laws as authorizes a bounty of land to the recruits. He
was satisfied that, as respected the nation, this was a waste of
its capital, without producing a single provident result. As to the
recruiting service, he was convinced, from what he had heard, that it
added scarcely any inducement to the recruit--that it had not added
a hundred men to the army. He confessed he had been much mistaken as
to the effect it had been expected to produce, &c. Mr. C. added many
remarks going to support his positions, stating, among other things,
that the land would in the end get into the hands of speculators, and
the individuals for whose benefit it was intended would derive no
advantage from it. Now that it was proposed to increase the bounty in
money, he thought it would be a proper occasion to repeal so much of
the existing laws as allowed a bounty in land, on which the recruits
set generally as much value as if it were located in the moon. Mr. C.
concluded by making a motion to that effect.
Mr. TROUP and Mr. BIBB stated objections to the motion, as going
to withdraw what was certainly, in many parts of the country, an
inducement to enlistments, at a time when every means ought to be
called into action for the purpose of filling the ranks of the army.
Mr. CLAY'S motion was then agreed to by the committee.
The other bill before the committee, going to authorize the raising an
additional force of twenty thousand men for one year, was then taken
up, and the blanks therein severally filled.
Mr. PITKIN, adverting to the provision of the bill which gives the
appointment of officers below the rank of colonel to the President
alone, inquired the reasons why, contrary to the general usage, the
Senate were precluded from concurrence in these appointments?
Mr. WILLIAMS stated that the motive of the committee in proposing this
provision was, to avoid the delay incidental to the minor appointments,
which could be much more easily and effectually made by the colonels of
the regiments, respectively, who would be personally acquainted with,
and responsible for, the good conduct of those who were appointed.
Mr. TALLMADGE moved to strike out the section of the bill which directs
the manner in which the company officers shall be appointed. He said
he had hoped that the committee would have risen and given at least
one day for consideration; that they would have maturely weighed and
deliberately made up their minds on this question. It is true that, in
1798, there was a power given to the President of the United States
to appoint all officers for ten thousand men under the rank of field
officers; but the appointment of all field officers was retained to
the President and Senate. Mr. T. said he knew how perfectly easy it
was to go on step by step, and yield power till it all passed out of
our hands. The argument now is a plea of urgency. What was the case in
1798? Not the same as now. Congress had been making preparations on the
contingency of war. The language of the law which has been referred to
is to this effect: in case of war being declared by any foreign power,
or the country actually invaded, then the President shall have the
power of appointing these officers. Such a provision was very different
from that now proposed. Mr. T. was also opposed to this section in the
bill, because he would not pass a bill going, as far as in the power
of this House, to take away the power of appointment from the Senate.
It was a disrespect he would not offer to them, to call upon them
to ratify a law depriving themselves of a power they have uniformly
possessed and exercised.
The question was taken on Mr. TALLMADGE'S motion to strike out the
section, and lost.
The committee rose and reported the two bills and the House adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, December 30.
_Additional Military Force._
The question was then taken on engrossment of the bill for a third
reading, and passed in the affirmative--yeas 70, nays 37, as follows:
YEAS.--Willis Alston, jr., Stevenson Archer, Daniel Avery,
Ezekiel Bacon, David Bard, William Barnett, Burwell Bassett,
William W. Bibb, William Blackledge, Robert Brown, William A.
Burwell, William Butler, John C. Calhoun, Francis Carr, Langdon
Cheves, Matthew Clay, James Cochran, John Clopton, William
Crawford, Richard Cutts, Roger Davis, Joseph Desha, Samuel
Dinsmoor, Elias Earle, William Findlay, James Fisk, Meshack
Franklin, Charles Goldsborough, Isaiah L. Green, Felix Grundy,
Bolling Hall, Obed Hall, John A. Harper, Aylett Hawes, John
M. Hyneman, Joseph Kent, William R. King, Abner Lacock, Peter
Little, Aaron Lyle, Nathaniel Macon, Thomas Moore, William
McCoy, Samuel McKee, Samuel L. Mitchill, Jeremiah Morrow,
Anthony New, Thomas Newton, Stephen Ormsby, Israel Pickens,
James Pleasants, jr., Benjamin Pond, William M. Richardson,
Thomas B. Robertson, John Rhea, John Roane, Jonathan Roberts,
Ebenezer Sage, Thos. Sammons, John Sevier, Adam Seybert, George
Smith, John Taliaferro, Uri Tracy, George M. Troup, Charles
Turner, jr., Robert Whitehill, David R. Williams, William
Widgery, and Richard Wynn.
NAYS.--John Baker, Abijah Bigelow, Harmanus Bleecker, Adam
Boyd, James Breckenridge, Elijah Brigham, Epaphroditus
Champion, Martin Chittenden, John Davenport, jr., William Ely,
James Emott, Thos. R. Gold, Edwin Gray, Jacob Hufty, Richard
Jackson, jr., Lyman Law, Joseph, Lewis, jr., George C. Maxwell,
Archibald McBryde, Jonathan O. Mosely, Thos. Newbold, Joseph
Pearson, Timothy Pitkin, jr., Elisha R. Potter, Josiah Quincy,
John Randolph, William Reed, Henry M. Ridgely, William Rodman,
Daniel Sheffey, Richard Stanford, Lewis B. Sturges, Samuel
Taggart, Benjamin Tallmadge, Laban Wheaton, Leonard White, and
Thomas Wilson.
So the bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.
The House then proceeded to the consideration of the report of the
Committee of the Whole on the other bill reported by the committee,
entitled "A bill in addition to the act to raise an additional military
force, and for other purposes"--the first section of which is as
follows:
_Be it enacted, &c._, That, in addition to the present Military
Establishment of the United States, there be raised twenty
regiments of infantry, to be enlisted for the term of one year,
unless sooner discharged.
[The remainder of the bill is mere detail; the bounty on enlistment
sixteen dollars.]
Mr. GOLD said this was a bill involving questions of great importance,
as well in principle as in its details. There was one feature
especially of the bill which required mature consideration; he alluded
to the limited period of service of the proposed additional force.
There was no pressing emergency to hurry the bill; and he, therefore,
moved to postpone the further consideration of it to Monday, which was
negatived.
_Death of Mr. Smilie._