_Resolved_, That the members of the Senate, from a sincere desire
of showing every mark of respect to the Honorable SAMUEL J. POTTER,
deceased, late a member thereof, will go into mourning for him one month,
by the usual mode of wearing a crape round the left arm.[13]
TUESDAY, January 15.
The VICE PRESIDENT being absent, the Senate proceeded to the choice of a
President _pro tempore_, as the constitution provides, and the Honorable
JOSEPH ANDERSON was elected.
_Ordered_, That the Secretary wait on the President of the United States
and acquaint him that, the VICE-PRESIDENT being absent, the Senate have
elected the Honorable JOSEPH ANDERSON President of the Senate _pro
tempore_.
_Ordered_, That the Secretary make a like communication to the House of
Representatives.
JAMES A. BAYARD, from the State of Delaware, attended. His credentials
having been presented and read on the 23d of November last, the oath was
administered to him by the President, as the law prescribes, and he took
his seat in the Senate.
THURSDAY, January 17.
_General Moses Hazen._
The bill entitled “An act for the relief of Charlotte Hazen, widow and
relict of the late Brigadier General Moses Hazen,” was read the third
time, further amended, and the blank filled with the words “two hundred;”
and on the question, Shall this bill pass as amended? it was determined
in the affirmative--yeas 20, nays 8, as follows:
Yeas.--Messrs. Anderson, Bradley, Breckenridge, Brown, Cocke,
Condit, Ellery, Franklin, Howland, Logan, Maclay, Mitchill,
Moore, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, Smith of Vermont,
Stone, Sumter, Worthington, and Wright.
Nays.--Messrs. Adams, Baldwin, Dayton, Hillhouse, Olcott,
Plumer, and Tracy.
So it was _Resolved_, That this bill do pass as amended.
MONDAY, January 21.
_African Slavery._
Mr. LOGAN presented a petition signed Thomas Morris, clerk, on behalf
of the meeting of the representatives of the people called Quakers,
in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, &c., stating that the petitioners, from
a sense of religious duty, had again come forward, to plead the cause
of their oppressed and degraded fellow-men of the African race; and
on the question, Shall this petition be received? it passed in the
affirmative--yeas 19, nays 9, as follows:
Yeas.--Messrs. Adams, Bayard, Brown, Condit, Franklin,
Hillhouse, Howland, Logan, Maclay, Mitchill, Olcott, Pickering,
Plumer, Smith of Ohio, Smith of Vermont, Stone, Sumter, White,
and Worthington.
Nays.--Messrs. Anderson, Baldwin, Bradley, Cocke, Jackson,
Moore, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York, and Wright.
So the petition was read.
TUESDAY, January 29.
_Government of the Territory of Orleans._
Mr. GILES, from the committee to whom was referred, on the 4th instant,
the petition of the merchants, planters, and other inhabitants of
Louisiana, reported a bill further providing for the government of the
Territory of Orleans; and the bill was read, and ordered to the second
reading.
The bill is as follows:
A Bill further providing for the government of the Territory of
Orleans.
_Be it enacted, &c.,_ That the President of the United States
be and he is hereby authorized to establish within the
Territory of Orleans, a government in all respects similar
(except as is herein otherwise provided) to that now exercised
in the Mississippi Territory, and shall, in the recess of the
Senate, but to be nominated at their next meeting, for their
advice and consent, appoint all the officers necessary therein,
in conformity with the ordinance of Congress, made on the 20th
day of July, 1787, and that from and after the establishment
of the said government, the inhabitants of the Territory
of Orleans shall be entitled to and enjoy all the rights,
privileges, and advantages, secured by the said ordinance, and
now enjoyed by the people of the Mississippi Territory.
Sec. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That so much of the said
ordinance of Congress as relates to the organization of a
General Assembly, and prescribes the power thereof, shall,
from and after the ---- day of ---- next, be in force in the
said Territory of Orleans; and in order to carry the same into
operation, the Governor of the said Territory shall cause to
be elected twenty-five representatives, for which purpose he
shall lay off the said Territory into convenient election
districts, on or before the ---- day of ---- next, and give
due notice thereof throughout the same and first appoint the
most convenient place, within each of the said districts, for
holding the elections; and shall nominate a proper officer or
officers to preside at and conduct the same, and to return to
him the names of the persons who may have been duly elected.
All subsequent elections shall be regulated by the Legislature;
and the number of representatives shall be determined, and
the apportionment made in the manner prescribed by the said
ordinance.
Sec. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That the representatives
to be chosen as aforesaid, shall be convened by the Governor,
in the city of Orleans, on the ---- day of ---- next. The
General Assembly shall meet at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall be on the ---- Monday in ---- annually,
unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Neither
House, during the session, shall, without the consent of the
other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place
than that in which the two branches are sitting.
Sec. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That the laws in force in
the said Territory, at the commencement of this act, and not
inconsistent with the provisions thereof, shall continue in
force, until altered, modified, or repealed by the Legislature.
Sec. 5. _And be it further enacted_, That the second paragraph
of the said ordinance, which regulates the descent and
distribution of estates; and also the sixth article of compact
which is annexed to and makes part of said ordinance, are
hereby declared not to extend to, but are excluded from all
operation within the said Territory of Orleans.
Sec. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That the Governor,
Secretary, and Judges, to be appointed by virtue of this
act, shall be severally allowed the same compensation which
is now allowed to the Governor, Secretary, and Judges, of
the Territory of Orleans. And all the additional officers
authorized by this act shall respectively receive the same
compensations for their services, as are by law established
for similar offices in the Mississippi Territory, to be paid
quarterly out of the revenues of import and tonnage, accruing
within the said Territory of Orleans.
Sec. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That whenever it shall
be ascertained by an actual census or enumeration of the
inhabitants of the Territory of Orleans, taken by proper
authority, that the number of inhabitants included therein
shall amount to at least ---- thousand souls, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons,
including those bound to service for a term of years, and
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons,
the inhabitants of the said Territory, upon application to
Congress for that purpose, and upon producing satisfactory
proof that the number of souls included therein, ascertained
as aforesaid, does actually amount to at least ---- thousand,
shall thereupon be authorized to form for themselves a
constitution and State government, and be admitted into the
Union upon the footing of the original States, in all respects
whatever, conformably to the provisions of the third article
of the Treaty concluded at Paris, on the 30th of April,
1803, between the United States and the French Republic:
_Provided_, That the constitution so to be established, shall
be republican, and not inconsistent with the Constitution of
the United States, nor inconsistent with the ordinance of
the late Congress, passed the 13th day of July, 1787, so far
as the same is made applicable to the Territorial government
hereby authorized to be established: _Provided, however_,
That Congress shall be at liberty, at any time prior to the
admission of the inhabitants of the said Territory to the
rights of a separate State, to alter the boundaries thereof as
they may judge proper: except only, that no alteration shall be
made which shall procrastinate the period for the admission of
the inhabitants thereof to the rights of a State Government,
according to the provision of this act.
Sec. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That so much of an act
entitled, “An act erecting Louisiana into two Territories,
and providing for the temporary government thereof,” as is
repugnant with this act, shall, from and after the ---- day of
---- next, be repealed.
WEDNESDAY, January 30.
_Army Uniform._
The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate the petition of Andrew Jackson,
Major General, and sundry other militia officers and other citizens
of the State of Tennessee, praying Congress to amend the articles and
rules for the future government of the army, in respect to certain parts
of their dress and uniform; and, on the question, Shall this petition
be referred to the committee appointed on the 25th instant, who have
under consideration the bill, entitled “An act for establishing rules
and articles for the government of the armies of the United States?” it
passed in the affirmative--yeas 16, nays 15, as follows:
Yeas.--Messrs. Adams, Anderson, Baldwin, Bayard, Bradley,
Cocke, Condit, Franklin, Hillhouse, Maclay, Mitchill, Olcott,
Pickering, Plumer, Stone, and Worthington.
Nays.--Messrs. Breckenridge, Brown, Dayton, Giles, Howland,
Jackson, Logan, Moore, Smith of Maryland, Smith of New York,
Smith of Ohio, Smith of Vermont, Sumter, White, and Wright.
THURSDAY, January 31.
JOHN GAILLARD, appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of
South Carolina, in the room of Pierce Butler, resigned, took his seat
in the Senate, and the oath prescribed was administered to him by the
PRESIDENT.[14]
TUESDAY, February 12.
_Opening and Counting Votes for President and Vice President._
_Resolved_, That the Senate will be ready to receive the House of
Representatives in the Senate Chamber, on Wednesday the 13th instant,
February, at noon, for the purpose of being present at the opening and
counting the votes for PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
That one person be appointed a teller on the part of the Senate, to
make a list of the votes for President and Vice President of the United
States, as they shall be declared, and that the result shall be delivered
to the President of the Senate, who shall announce the state of the vote,
which shall be entered on the Journals, and, if it shall appear that a
choice hath been made agreeably to the constitution, such entry on the
Journals shall be deemed a sufficient declaration thereof.
_Ordered_, That the Secretary do carry this resolution to the House of
Representatives.
WEDNESDAY, February 13.
_Counting of Electoral Votes for President and Vice President._
About twelve o’clock the Senators took their seats; and immediately after
the SPEAKER and members of the House of Representatives entered; the
SPEAKER and Clerk occupying seats on the floor on the right side of the
PRESIDENT of the Senate, and the members of the House being seated in
front.
Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, teller on the part of the Senate, and Mr. JOSEPH CLAY,
and Mr. ROGER GRISWOLD, tellers on the part of the House, took seats at
a table placed in front of the Chair, in the area between the Senate and
House.
The Secretary of the Senate read the resolutions of the two Houses,
previously agreed to.
The PRESIDENT (Mr. BURR) stated that, pursuant to law, there had been
transmitted to him several packets, which, from the endorsements upon
them, appeared to be the votes of the Electors of a President and Vice
President; that the returns forwarded by the mail, as well as the
duplicates sent by special messengers, had been received by him in due
time. You will now proceed, gentlemen, said he, to count the votes as
the constitution and laws direct; adding that, perceiving no cause
for preference in the order of opening the returns, he would pursue a
geographical arrangement, beginning with the Northern States.
The PRESIDENT then proceeded to break the seals of the respective
returns, handing each return, and its accompanying duplicate, as the
seals of each were broken, to the tellers through, the Secretary; Mr. S.
SMITH reading aloud the returns, and the attestations of the appointment
of the Electors, and Mr. J. CLAY and Mr. R. GRISWOLD comparing them with
the duplicate return lying before them.
According to which enumeration, the following appeared to be the result.
------------------+----------------------+-----------------
| President. | V. Pres’dt
+-----------+----------+---------+-------
STATES. | Th. | C. C. | Geo. |Rufus
|Jefferson. |Pinckney. |Clinton. |King.
------------------+-----------+----------+---------+-------
New Hampshire | 7 | - | 7 |
Massachusetts | 19 | - | 19 |
[A]Rhode Island | 4 | - | 4 |
Connecticut | - | - | - | 9
Vermont | 6 | - | 6 |
New York | 19 | - | 19 |
New Jersey | 8 | - | 8 |
Pennsylvania | 20 | - | 20 |
Delaware | - | 3 | - | 3
Maryland | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2
Virginia | 24 | - | 24 |
North Carolina | 14 | - | 14 |
South Carolina | 10 | - | 10 |
[B]Georgia | 6 | - | 6 |
Tennessee | 5 | - | 5 |
Kentucky | 8 | - | 8 |
[C]Ohio | 3 | - | 3 |
------------------+-----------+----------+---------+-------
Total | 162 | 14 | 162 | 14
------------------+-----------+----------+---------+-------
[A] In this return, after stating the whole number of votes given
for Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton, each Elector certifies
distinctly his vote for Thomas Jefferson as President, and for
George Clinton, as Vice President.
[B] The return certifies the votes to have been given as stated in
an enclosed paper.
[C] In this return, the votes are not certified to have been given
by ballot, but agreeably to law.
After the returns had been all examined, without any objection having
been made to receiving any of the votes, Mr. S. SMITH, on behalf of the
tellers, communicated to the PRESIDENT the foregoing result, which was
read from the Chair; when, the VICE PRESIDENT said, upon this report it
becomes my duty to declare, agreeably to the constitution, that THOMAS
JEFFERSON is elected President of the United States, for the term of
four years from the third day of March next, and that GEORGE CLINTON is
elected Vice President of the United States, for the term of four years
from the third day of March next.
[Previous to the above proceedings, a short debate arose in the Senate on
the keeping of the doors open or shut during the counting of the votes.
Mr. WRIGHT submitted a motion for their being kept open, which, after
some opposition, was agreed to.]
SATURDAY, February 16.
_Absent Members._
A motion was made,
“That a call of the Senate take place every morning at the
hour to which the Senate is adjourned, and that absent members
be not permitted to take their seats until a satisfactory
excuse be made, or the opinion of the Senate be had thereon.”
WEDNESDAY, February 20.
_Tripolitan War._
The following Message was received from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES:
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States_:
I communicate, for the information of Congress, a letter of
September 18th, from Commodore Preble, giving a detailed
account of the transactions of the vessels under his command,
from July the 9th, to the 10th of September last past.
The energy and judgment displayed by this excellent officer,
through the whole course of the service lately confided to
him, and the zeal and valor of his officers and men, in the
several enterprises executed by them, cannot fail to give high
satisfaction to Congress and their country, of whom they have
deserved well.