Mr. J. RANDOLPH observed that the Constitution of the United States was
a grant of limited powers for general objects, which Congress had no
right to exceed, although they might think the powers too limited. This
position he considered as of primary importance. Its leading feature was
an abhorrence of exclusive privileges; it might be called the key to that
instrument; every thing which rose up in the shape of privilege, was
repressed in a peculiar manner, whether it related to orders or classes
of men. Whenever they have touched the doctrine of privilege, the framers
of that instrument, and the people of the United States adopting it, have
been careful that nothing should be got by inference, or construction;
the privileges of this House even have been precisely defined, and
nothing is left for its extension, whatever may be the wishes or
disposition of its members. The principle that this constitution is
but a limited grant of power occurs, if not directly, yet frequently
and effectually, so that it cannot be mistaken. On the privilege asked
for, to permit colleges and universities to import their books free of
impost, we refer to the eighth section of the first article, where it
is declared that Congress shall have power to levy and collect taxes,
duties, imposts and excises; but all duties, imposts and excises, shall
be uniform throughout the United States. The impost shall be uniform. It
is a lamentable fact, but nevertheless it is a fact, and cannot be too
much dwelt and insisted upon, nor too well known, that the ambiguity of
language gives our constitution that character which leaves it in the
power of civilians to say it means any thing or nothing. Whatever may
have been said on other points, I think in this instance the language is
so definite that it cannot possibly be mistaken. They shall be uniform,
that is to say, there shall be but one quantum, one mode of collecting,
and one manner; there shall not be two measures to mete with. If Congress
undertake to exempt one class of people from the payment of the impost,
they may exempt others also. If they begin with colleges and universities
for the advancement of learning, surely they may go on to exempt the
clergy and congregation for the advancement of religion; they may exempt
their own members. Indeed, it cannot be seen where they are to stop,
having once overleaped the constitutional barrier and entered on the wide
field of privilege. The duties must be uniform! Nobody can be exempted:
the President, if he chooses to import books, must pay the duty as well
as any private citizen. In this country we have no privileged class,
all must fare alike, every man must bend to the law, and the tax must be
uniform whether on land or books.
Mr. FINDLAY observed, that in addition to the constitutional objections
urged, he had others on the ground of expediency. The country colleges
and seminaries whose funds were small, had seldom or never an opportunity
of importing books; they were happy to receive them in the country
as donations, or by cheap editions; they would therefore receive no
corresponding accommodation, and yet they were more useful and their
use more universally felt than those called higher institutions, which
claim to be exempted from paying impost. There are only a few of the
well-endowed academies that can afford to procure foreign books, and when
they have them, their circulation is extremely confined; to say nothing
more, these reasons would engage me to support the resolution.
Mr. R. GRISWOLD.--The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH) must have
misunderstood me when he supposed I objected to the report because the
committee had assigned no reason for the resolution: I mentioned the
circumstance merely to show that we ought not then to decide. With
respect to the constitutional objection he has set up, I acknowledge
it is new to me. Such an inquiry may be of great weight, but it does
not appear so to me. The paragraph quoted from the eighth section of
the first article, “that Congress shall have power to levy and collect
taxes,” has never struck me in the way it has that gentleman. The words
are, “levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises;” but it drops
the word _taxes_, it being settled in another part of the constitution,
and declares that duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform. The
one speaks of direct taxes, the other of indirect--meaning that if an
indirect tax is laid, it shall be uniform. No one State is to have an
excise laid upon its inhabitants unless it extends to the citizens of
every other: one part is not to be excised and another excused. This has
always been the construction of that section of the constitution till
the present moment, and I think it the true one. It is now said that
Congress can only promote science and literature in one way. Why, have
not Congress made grants of lands to promote those objects in the Western
country? They have. I believe the power of Congress adequate to promote
literature in the way applied for; and it has been frequently the case
that, even after duties have been paid into the Treasury upon the uniform
system, yet individuals have had those duties returned. I do not want to
detain the House; but I am well persuaded that the constitution forms no
impediment, and the expediency must be apparent.
Mr. J. CLAY said he was one of the committee, and had agreed to the
report. Since reasons had been called for, he would in a few words assign
those which influenced him. The gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. DANA)
mistakes in thinking that a denial to exempt books from impost is a tax
on literary institutions, and therefore not uniform, as the constitution
requires all imposts should be; but he did not make his stand on the
ground of the constitution--he rested the question upon its expediency.
Giving literary institutions the privilege of exemption from imposts
would open a wide door for fraud: we should soon have them importing
books for sale duty free, rivalling the booksellers, who are subjected
to the payment of impost, and vending them in every street and avenue of
the nation. But why privilege colleges and universities to accommodate
the rich; for we may believe that the rich, and the children of the rich,
are the only persons who have access to these collections? The poor have
little leisure and less opportunity to improve the advantage which even
_neighborhood_ would give them to peruse works of the kind alluded to;
and sure it would be thought unjust to tax their pittance of imported
articles, in order to enable gentlemen to read the classic authors, or
the sublime and beautiful of the modern writers.
Mr. FINDLAY spoke of colleges, not of universities. We have three
in Pennsylvania--one of them, to be sure, has also the title of
university--but two of them have not funds to import books on their own
account. It is only rich institutions that have this advantage: the
poorer class of seminaries buy of booksellers, and pay them the impost as
well as their retail profit. Indeed, this remission of duties will rather
tend to create disgust than give satisfaction; and those seminaries which
have large collections of books would be induced to sell them at their
present price in order to procure new ones cheaper, as they have had to
pay the duty on the former, but would have none to pay upon those they
should hereafter import.
The question being called for, it was put on agreeing to the report of
the Committee of the Whole, that it is inexpedient to remit the duty on
books, and carried in the affirmative--seventy-nine members voting in the
affirmative.
The House then adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, November 28.
_Potomac River._
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill
authorizing the corporation of Georgetown to make a dam or causeway from
Mason’s Island to the western shore of the river Potomac.
Mr. MACON (Speaker) moved to strike out the first section of the bill,
with a view of trying its merits.
Mr. J. RANDOLPH seconded the motion of his respectable friend, (the
Speaker.) The river Potomac was the joint property of the States of
Maryland and Virginia under compact between those States. This property,
at least on the part of Virginia, had never been relinquished. Congress,
in his conception, had no right to pass the law in question; but if they
had, there was another objection. The corporation of Georgetown were
empowered to lay a tax which would be unequal and oppressive, since the
property on which it was to be levied would not be equally benefited by
deepening the harbor, supposing that effect to be accomplished. He hoped
a prompt rejection of the bill would serve as a general notice to the
inhabitants of the District to desist from their daily and frivolous
applications to Congress, to the great obstruction of the public business.
Mr. SMILIE understood there was a rival interest between the towns of
Alexandria and Georgetown, and as this rivalry had been exhibited on many
former occasions, he deemed it proper, before they passed any bill for
the encouragement of either place, that the parties should be obliged
to publish their intentions some weeks before the application, that if
there were any objections to the measure contemplated, they might be
before the House at the same time. He stated this merely as a ground of
postponement, not saying whether he was in favor or against the measure.
Mr. GREGG thought the House bound to legislate for these people, until
they relinquished the claim to the jurisdiction, either by authorizing
them to legislate for themselves, or retroceding them to the States to
which they originally belonged. He approved of the idea of publishing, as
expressed by his colleague, (Mr. SMILIE,) which he considered absolutely
necessary. If Alexandria were opposed to the bill, it is probable they
would have sent in a memorial on the subject before this time; their not
having done so inclined him to believe that they were satisfied that the
measure should go into operation. He did not think the bill perfect, but
nevertheless he should not oppose its progress.
Mr. LEWIS said the landholders of Georgetown had very generally signed
the petition to Congress. And no person out of the walls of this House
gave it opposition. The people of Alexandria were content, and the owner
of the island and the west shore of the river was the person most likely
to be affected, yet he had given it his hearty assent. He was well
persuaded that no injury would be done to the navigation of the Eastern
branch, or to the port of Alexandria; if, therefore, they could render a
benefit to Georgetown, without injuring any other property, he trusted
the House would agree to the bill.
Mr. SLOAN felt interested in the result of this measure. The people here
have nobody to look to but Congress to make legislative provision for
their well-being; he therefore considered it a duty to attend to their
desires; but he wished the applicants to give notice of their intentions,
in order that any person conceiving himself likely to be aggrieved should
have an opportunity of being heard. This was the usual course pursued in
the State where he resided.
Mr. CLAIBORNE was by no means satisfied that the removal of the mud bank
would do no injury to the Eastern branch and to Alexandria.
Mr. NELSON said that on a question so important to the upper parts of
Maryland and Virginia, he could not refrain from stating some reasons in
favor of the measure, and against the motion of the Speaker, which was
intended to destroy the bill. It had been urged that the sediment which
now obstructed the navigation to Georgetown, if set afloat by increasing
the current and volume of water across it, would impede the navigation of
the Eastern branch or fill up the harbor of Alexandria. Those who would
take a view of the Eastern branch would be convinced it could make no
deposit there, it being intercepted or turned aside by the point which
projected into the Potomac; and as the water of the Eastern branch was
more rapid than the Potomac, the breadth of the latter being much wider
than the former, there certainly was no danger to be apprehended in that
quarter. As to Alexandria, it was not to be supposed that the solid
mass of sediment was to be taken off the bar at once and lodged in that
harbor; the probability was, it would remove gradually and deposit at the
eddy on each side of the river, while the union of the Eastern branch
with the Potomac would increase the celerity of the current and carry it
far below Alexandria.
The compact mentioned by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH)
between the States of Maryland and Virginia, he acknowledged to exist;
but as the measure contemplated the improvement of the navigation of the
Potomac, instead of obstructing it, the right of each State to the free
navigation thereof remained unimpaired. He imagined that the inhabitants
of Alexandria and the citizens of Virginia wished success to the measure.
He knew his constituents had it much at heart, knowing that a choice of
markets is a great accommodation to farmers; and if defeated, it would be
as much to their advantage to bring their produce to a shipping port at
once by land, as to use the canal recently constructed at such prodigious
expense, having afterwards to go with their produce to Alexandria by land.
Mr. SMILIE should not be against the bill, if upon full and fair inquiry
it was found proper to pass it. But he could not agree to be hurried
along without allowing time to acquire information. He therefore moved
that the committee rise and report progress.
Mr. MACON (Speaker) opposed the rising of the committee, because it
was leaving the business exactly where it stood, unless it was meant
to recommit it to a select committee for modification. But as he was
determined to vote against it in any and every shape, he was prepared to
decide now. As to the mode he had taken to come at his object, he should
only say it was a fair one, and such as had been the uniform practice of
the House since he had a seat in it.
The gentlemen in favor of this dam or causeway, say it will do no harm;
but where is the demonstration? On the other side, serious apprehensions
are entertained of its injurious effects upon the United States navy
yard in the Eastern branch, and its causing obstructions in the harbor
of Alexandria. He would assure the committee he was ready to promote the
welfare of any of the citizens; but it must in justice be done, without
injuring any other portion whatever.
At the last session, an application was made for a permanent bridge
across the Potomac, with a draw for the passage of vessels; the
petitioner urged the general utility of the measure to all persons
travelling North or South, but particularly the vast benefit accruing to
the inhabitants of the district, by affording a solid and secure means
of intercourse between its several parts. This measure was opposed by
the present petitioners, on the ground of the compact between Maryland
and Virginia securing the right of free navigation to the river, and
also alleging that their navigation to Georgetown would be impeded. The
argument which they applied then, now applies against them, and it ought,
in the minds of the same legislators, to apply with equal success.
Mr. FINDLAY was rather in favor of the bill, believing the mode proposed
would be successful in deepening the channel, which would certainly
improve the navigation to and from Georgetown, and in that object the
citizens of some of the western counties of Pennsylvania were materially
interested; several of their boatable creeks nearly interlocking
with those of the Potomac. He would, however, agree to the committee
rising, with a view to postpone the bill, until gentlemen acquired the
information they asked for.
Mr. GODDARD hoped the committee would rise, and the subject be postponed
until sufficient light was obtained to guide their votes to a proper
decision. He also hoped that no member might be considered as the friend
or the foe of the present bill, until he became such by an examination
into its merits or demerits. He narrated the course the business had
taken since its introduction into this House, and inferred that the same
deliberate mode ought to be pursued to the end. Whether the measure was
good or evil could only be determined in that way, and gentlemen ought
not to object to doing positive good, unless it was demonstrated that
positive evil would result to counterbalance the good that was intended.
He conceived the members ought to inquire for themselves on this point,
and legislate accordingly. He would on all occasions endeavor to promote
the interests of the district; and as it had no immediate representative
on the floor, he considered every representative bound to serve them,
while the seat of Government remained among them.
Mr. G. W. CAMPBELL would not declare whether he should vote for the final
passage of the bill or not. But he was disposed to take notice of the
applications made from time to time by the inhabitants of the district;
whether to redress grievances, or procure benefits. But he by no means
approved of the principles of legislation without representation. He
regretted that they were placed in this unfortunate situation; but he
should decide on the present question according to its merits; and if it
was found to be of great consequence to the petitioners, and not likely
to work an injury to others, he presumed the bill would finally pass.
But he wished the committee to rise, in order to give further time to
obtain information. It had been alleged that the friends of the measure
ought to demonstrate that the erection of a causeway would do no injury
to any one. This was not a fair position; it was requiring them to prove
a negative. The burden of proof should lie on those who oppose the
bill, and it was for them to demonstrate that injury would result. The
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. J. RANDOLPH) has stated that the boats from
the western country have a choice of passing by the western or eastern
channel to the market below Georgetown, and this, it is presumed, he
means they should be still entitled to under the compact between Maryland
and Virginia. Let us hear from those persons also, and then ascertain
whether they have any objection to the project on that account. This was
also an argument in favor of the rising of the committee, and perhaps it
may be added, that a little delay will enable the House so to modify the
bill as to render it less exceptionable than at present.
Mr. SOUTHARD had not considered this subject of much consequence in the
outset, but he found that its importance increased as it toiled along.
He thought this morning it would have occupied but a short portion of
their time; in that he found himself deceived; and he believed he was not
singular in these opinions. He suspected many other members were in the
same predicament. He therefore would vote for the committee’s rising.
That navigable waters are considered as highways, is a matter of great
notoriety; but he did not know that to deepen a channel, by contracting
its surface, was considered as obstructing the free navigation of a
river, nor could he conceive that the body of sediment meant to be
removed, would descend _en masse_ and deposit itself at the confluence
of the next stream it met. On the contrary, he imagined it would be
separated by the force of the current giving it action into millions of
particles, some of which would settle promiscuously on either side, while
a part would ultimately be deposited in the ocean.
The committee hereupon rose and reported progress, and asked leave to sit
again. On the question, Shall the committee have leave to sit again?
Mr. J. RANDOLPH requested that the act of cession by Virginia might
be read, by which it would clearly appear that she had not ceded, or
intended to cede to the United States any right acquired under her
compact with Maryland. [The act was read.]
It is plain from the preamble, said Mr. R., that the intention of the
State was to make a cession above the tide water; that the expected seat
of Government would be fixed in some place contiguous to the limits of
Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is not contended that the United States
were bound to select any particular spot. This circumstance is mentioned
only to show what was contemplated at the time by the Legislature of
Virginia. Her act of cession was more broad. It extended to any tract
of country not exceeding ten miles square, “to be located within the
limits of the State.” Over this she had relinquished to Congress her
jurisdiction as well of soil as of persons. But her limits did not extend
beyond high water mark on the western bank of the Potomac. Her right of
highway on the river was a natural right acknowledged and secured by
convention with Maryland. Her civil jurisdiction over its waters was a
conventional right, entirely derived from compact with that State, was a
jurisdiction not within her limits, and which the words of the act just
read could not embrace or convey.
Mr. DAWSON would vote against the committee having leave to sit again. He
was convinced that the objection made by his colleague (Mr. J. RANDOLPH)
was conclusive: the fact was, that neither Maryland nor Virginia had
ceded their joint rights to this river, nor could they do so, by their
separate acts; the terms of the compact requiring that any thing done
respecting the navigation of the Potomac, should be done by their joint
act. It was worthy of remark, that the petitioners for the causeway were
the identical persons who petitioned against the bridge as a violation of
the compact between the two States, and denied the authority of Congress
to legislate on the subject of the navigation of the Potomac. He thought
them right then, and he voted against the bridge. His opinion had not
changed with their opinions, and, therefore, he should vote against the
causeway now.
Mr. R. GRISWOLD said that from the vote just taken, he presumed that
the question of expediency had been settled. But it is now objected
that Congress have no exclusive jurisdiction over the Potomac. In reply
he would submit a few observations. By the constitution, Congress were
empowered to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over any place not exceeding
ten miles, which might be ceded by particular States. The States of
Maryland and Virginia had ceded this district to Congress, and the
cession had been accepted. But the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. RANDOLPH)
had said that Virginia did not cede the jurisdiction of the Potomac,
because she did not own it separately. To this he would answer, that the
river Potomac must have been under the jurisdiction of either Maryland
or Virginia, or both. And as both allowed Congress to accept of any part
of their territory not exceeding ten miles square, and Congress had
chosen to accept of part from one and part from the other, he presumed
the jurisdiction of the Potomac, let it have been held by either of the
States, or jointly, must have passed to the United States. He was of
opinion, that if Congress had no jurisdiction over the Potomac, they had
none over the district. The constitution provides only for the cession
of one district of country not exceeding ten miles square. The act of
Congress, made in pursuance of the constitution, had also provided for
the laying out one district. If the arguments of the gentleman from
Virginia were correct, and Congress had no jurisdiction over the Potomac,
the Commissioners and the then President of the United States, under
whose direction the district was laid off, had been mistaken, and had
taken two districts of territory instead of one. This being the case,
Congress had no jurisdiction in the district, because it not being
laid off conformably to the constitution and the law of Congress, the
acceptance by Congress was absolutely void. If this was correct, there
was an absolute necessity for giving leave to the committee to sit again,
for the purpose of deliberating whether Congress had jurisdiction or not.
If they had not, and were legislating for the people of the district
without authority, the sooner they put an end to such an assumption of
power, the better.
Mr. J. RANDOLPH declared that the opinion which he had just given was the
result of his most deliberate judgment. To what it might lead he should
not at that time undertake to determine; but when that question should
come before the House he was not sure that he should deny the corollary
of the gentleman from Connecticut, (Mr. R. GRISWOLD,) at least as far as
related to the testimony on the other side of the river. The question,
however, then was, whether Congress possessed exclusive jurisdiction
over the Potomac. How could they acquire it? From Maryland? It was more
than she had to give. At farthest she could only grant her own qualified
right. Had they obtained it from Virginia? Not at all. She had granted
a jurisdiction exclusively her own, over a tract of country within
her limits. And could any man pretend to say that this was a grant of
her concurrent jurisdiction over the Potomac, confessedly without her
limits? She had, to use the expression, issued her warrant to Congress,
to be located somewhere within the State, and, under this pretext, her
property out of the State was about to be usurped. Suppose the gentleman
from Connecticut were to convey by deed his exclusive property, by
certain metes and bounds, would his joint interest in other property
not contained within those bounds pass by such a deed? Surely not. To a
person setting up a claim to such property he would probably say, produce
the evidence of your title; and in like manner Mr. R. demanded to be
shown the conveyance by which Virginia had relinquished her concurrent
jurisdiction over the Potomac? And in answer to this, gentlemen refer to
a conveyance relinquishing something else in nowise connected with it,
and tell us we always believed that we had a grant for this jurisdiction;
we shall be grievously disappointed if we have not; it will be a great
inconvenience to us to do without it, and, therefore, we must have it.
And Virginia is to be forcibly dispossessed of her right, to suit the
convenience of Congress.
Mr. NELSON said, it was with diffidence he again troubled the House
after the lengthy discussion which had taken place. But doubts having
been originated as to the authority of Congress to pass the bill in
question, he felt compelled to remove those doubts, as far as lay in
his power. As the House had decided the expediency of the measure by
a large majority, if upon an investigation it should be demonstrated
that Congress possessed ample power to pass the bill, he trusted the
same majority would still be found in favor of it. He would proceed to
examine the power which Congress possessed to pass the bill, and he
trusted that he should be able to satisfy a majority of the House, that
they had sufficient power. Previous to the compact between Virginia and
Maryland, which had been so much talked of, Maryland claimed the sole
jurisdiction of the Potomac river, and Virginia claimed Cape Henry and
Cape Charles, also the jurisdiction of the Pocomoke as her property. In
order to prevent any duties from being imposed upon their vessels at
either of those places, the two States entered into a compact by which
Maryland agreed that the navigation of the Potomac should be free to the
people of Virginia, and Virginia contracted not to impose duties on the
vessels of Maryland coming by Cape Henry, or navigating the Pocomoke.
By this compact, the Potomac became the joint property of Maryland and
Virginia as to the free navigation, but all the islands were under the
jurisdiction of Maryland. This being the situation, each of these States,
by a law, ceded to Congress any part of their territory not exceeding ten
miles square, which they might choose to accept. Congress chose to accept
of part from one and part from the other; and, among the rest, this joint
property the river Potomac. There was no exception made in the act of
cession as to the water courses, and it would be needless to inform the
members that a grant of land necessarily carried with it a grant of the
waters thereon, unless an exception was made.
Mr. J. RANDOLPH.--The gentleman asks in the body of what county is the
river Potomac passing through the District of Columbia? Will he take it
for an answer that its jurisdiction is within the bodies of the same
counties it was in before the acceptance of the territory on each side?
In addition to the observations made on passing joint property with
exclusive property, suppose England and France to hold Malta in joint
possession, and that they cede to Germany, for her acquiescence in that
measure, some of the exclusive property held by each within the German
empire, will they say that their joint property in Malta passed by the
treaty?
Mr. CLARK was unwilling to trouble the House at that late hour with
any remarks, and would have entirely forborne, was not the question on
which we were about to decide, and which had become extremely important,
susceptible of a position which it had not assumed. It had been stated,
and generally agreed to, and he supposed was correct, that the State of
Maryland, previous to her compact with Virginia, rightfully claimed the
whole river Potomac to the high-water mark on the western bank. Virginia
owned the Capes. This collision of interest produced, in the year 1786,
an adjustment of their interfering interests, and it was expressly
stipulated that the river Potomac should remain a highway, free for the
navigation of each State. In the year 1799, the Legislature of Virginia
passed a law making a cession to the United States of a territory ten
miles square, or any less quantity that should be accepted for the seat
of the General Government, to be located and laid off within her limits;
thus by the terms of her cession confining it to her territory. Maryland,
nearly at the same period, made a similar cession. Out of these two
cessions is the present Columbian Territory made. It is contended by
the gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. NELSON,) that the two States uniting
in the cession makes the grant complete, and the right in the United
States predominant and exclusive. He acknowledges, at the same time,
this correct principle that they could grant no greater right than they
possessed. This doctrine I hold incontrovertible, that the alienee
can have no greater or better title than the alienor, otherwise the
derivative would be superior to the original title, a principle not to be
admitted.
Let it be distinctly recollected that, prior to the cession, Virginia had
purchased a right out of the soil of her sister State, distinct from the
land--an incorporeal hereditament, a franchise which she had the right of
exercising, unconnected with the use of the soil--so that, while Maryland
owned the land, Virginia owned the right of way. She never passed this
right by the terms of her cession or by any other act. Maryland could
not, having already parted from it. No strength of argument can be
derived from the terms of the constitution; for, if Virginia never parted
with her right, the United States could never have acquired it. I trust
I have shown that Virginia purchased a right in the navigation of the
Potomac, which she never parted from, and, of course, retains to this
moment. We, therefore, cannot constitutionally legislate on this subject.
Let it not be said that the object is improvement and not obstruction.
Is not building the wall from Mason’s Island to the Virginia shore an
obstruction, and the improvement at best problematical? But, this is
begging the question. On a fair admission of my construction, I contend,
and have endeavored to prove, that we possessing no jurisdiction over
the river, it cannot be touched by any legislative act of ours in any
point whatever. For, if it be touched in one way, it may be in another,
and may finally end in whatever arrangement Congress may think expedient
to make.
Mr. JACKSON did not stop to inquire whether it was proper for Congress to
retain the jurisdiction over this district, but he was willing to remove
a grievance which the people complained of and required to be done.
He was not one of those who was disposed to guard the people against
their worst enemies, themselves, as he did not believe the doctrine to
be true. The objection that Virginia and Maryland had only ceded their
exclusive property, and not the joint property of the free navigation of
the Potomac, might, perhaps, be extended further than gentlemen wished,
or were aware of. By the Treaty of Paris, France had ceded Louisiana in
full sovereignty to the United States, but expressly reserved the right
of free navigation of the Mississippi; if, then, the United States were
disposed to shorten the navigation by cutting through the bend of that
river, or in any other way improve the same, will it be necessary for the
United States to consult and obtain the assent of France to the measure
before they ventured to put it in execution?
Mr. NICHOLSON had but few observations to make upon the question before
the House. His opinion was the same as at the last session, when a
petition was presented for the erection of a bridge. He then thought
that the erection of a bridge over the Potomac would tend much to the
improvement of the place. He thought so still. But he then thought that
Congress had no right to interfere in the least with the free navigation
of the Potomac, and, of course, was opposed to the bridge. The same
reason operated, in his mind, against the bill now in question. Neither
of the States of Maryland or Virginia could have passed such a law
previous to the cession of the district to Congress. The question to
be determined, then, was “whether the jurisdiction of the Potomac was
ceded to Congress.” If this should be answered in the negative by the
committee, all questions as to the expediency of the measure would be
at an end. Previous to the compact between Virginia and Maryland, the
latter claimed the river Potomac as its exclusive property. By that
compact it was declared that the navigation of the said river should be
free. Virginia, therefore, acquired a kind of property in the river,
inasmuch as she acquired the right to the free navigation thereof. The
question, then, to be inquired into, was, Had Virginia parted with this
right? He conceived she had not. By the act authorizing the cession of
ten miles square or less to the United States, this could not have been
done; Virginia had no power to make the cession of the Potomac, because
she had not the jurisdiction over it, and could not grant more than she
possessed. After this grant by Virginia, the State of Maryland granted
to Congress a portion of territory not exceeding ten miles square for
the seat of Government. Had Maryland the sole property in the river, it
could have passed in this grant, provided Congress accepted that part
of her territory. But she had not this sole property, because the State
of Virginia had a right by compact to the free navigation thereof. How,
then, had the United States acquired the jurisdiction over the Potomac?
Would it be contended that they had acquired it from Maryland? This did
not appear from the act of cession. Had they acquired it from Virginia?
That could not be, because Virginia had no power to make such a grant.
So long as he had the honor of a seat in the House, he would hold up his
hands against any measure like the present, which would go to affect the
rights of any of the States. If Congress had a right to interfere in the
least with the free navigation of the Potomac, they had a right to stop
it altogether. He conceived they had no right to pass any law on the
subject; and, believing so, he would certainly vote against the committee
having leave to sit again.
On motion the committee rose and the House adjourned.
THURSDAY, November 29.
_Recession of the District of Columbia._
On a motion made and seconded that the House do come to the following
resolutions:
_Resolved_, That it is expedient for Congress to recede to
the State of Virginia the jurisdiction of that part of the
Territory of Columbia which was ceded to the United States
by the said State of Virginia, by an act passed the third
day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-nine, entitled, “An act for the cession of ten miles
square, or any lesser quantity of territory within this State,
to the United States in Congress assembled, for the permanent
seat of the General Government;” provided the said State of
Virginia shall agree thereto.
_Resolved_, That it is expedient for Congress to recede
to the State of Maryland the jurisdiction of that part of
the Territory of Columbia within the limits of the City of
Washington, which was ceded to the United States by the
said State of Maryland, by an act passed on the nineteenth
day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-one, entitled, “An act concerning the Territory of
Columbia and the City of Washington;” provided the said State
of Maryland shall consent and agree thereto:
_Ordered_, That the said motion be referred to a Committee of the whole
House on Wednesday next.
THURSDAY, December 6.
The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter from the Governor of the State
of Virginia, enclosing a return of the election of ALEXANDER WILSON, to
serve in this House, as a Representative for the said State, in the place
of ANDREW MOORE, appointed a Senator of the United States; which was
referred to the Committee of Elections.
FRIDAY, December 7.
_Post Roads._
Mr. JACKSON, from the committee appointed on the sixteenth ultimo,
presented a bill making provision for the application of the money
heretofore appropriated to the laying out and making public roads
leading, from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic, to the
Ohio river; which was read twice and committed to a Committee of the
Whole on Monday next.
On a motion made and seconded, that the House do come to the following
resolution:
_Resolved_, That a post road ought to be established from
Knoxville, in the State of Tennessee, by the most direct and
convenient route that the nature of the ground over which it is
to pass will admit, to the settlements on the Tombigbee river,
in the Mississippi Territory, and from thence to New Orleans;
and that a post road ought also to be established from ---- in
Georgia, to the said settlement on the Tombigbee, to intersect
the former road at the most convenient point between Knoxville
and the Tombigbee.
_Ordered_, That the said motion be referred to a Committee of the whole
House on Monday next.
_Duty on Salt._
Mr. THOMAS said, he rose with a view to propose an inquiry relative to
the duty on salt. On this article a duty of six cents per bushel was
first laid, in the year 1790 it was raised to twelve cents, and in the
year 1797 eight cents more were added, making the duty twenty cents per
bushel of 56 lbs.; at which rate it now stands. But, as every measured
bushel of good strong salt which is imported into this country will weigh
80 or 90 lbs., this is in reality a duty of 30 cents per bushel.
Three years ago, when the repeal of the stamp act, excise, and other
internal tax laws, were before Congress, an attempt was made to reduce
the duty on salt, and retain a part of that system.
At that time, although he was conscious the duty on this article of real
necessary consumption was too high, and fell extremely heavy on the
agricultural part of the community, particularly those living back from
the seaboard, who were obliged to use large quantities of it, for their
black cattle and other beasts of pasture, notwithstanding the increased
price at which it came to them, in consequence of the transportation, and
the profits charged on the amount of duty as well as original cost by the
several merchants or traders through whose hands it passed, yet he did
believe it better to allow this duty to remain as it was a while longer,
rather than not be enabled to abolish that expensive, inconvenient and
anti-republican system of internal taxation.
And should it now be found, on due inquiry, that a reduction of the duty
on this article, at this time, would be incompatible with the great
object of paying off the national debt and meeting the other exigencies
of Government, for his part he would not urge it; but he was persuaded
this was not the case--he believed our finances are amply sufficient to
authorize the measure.
On examining the report of the Secretary of the Treasury he found,
that besides meeting all the calls of Government, including the sum
appropriated annually towards the reduction of the public debt, there was
a surplus of $4,882,225 in the Treasury, and although there are several
payments to be made out of this sum, there will still be a large balance
remaining.
It also appears, from a comparative view of the bonded duties of the
present with former years, that there will be an increase of revenue
coming into the Treasury the ensuing year, and he believed there was no
reasonable probability of any new causes for expenditure.
This being the case, he flattered himself it would not be deemed
unseasonable or improper to propose a reduction of the duty, on this
article of necessary consumption, at this time.
With this object, however, said Mr. THOMAS, I wish to couple another
which I consider of equal importance, as it respects the reputation of
our beef, pork, fish, and butter, put up for exportation, as well as the
health of our seaport towns, and seamen employed on foreign voyages.
He said, by the Treasury accounts it appears that the aggregate amount
of salt imported into the United States during the year, ending the 30th
September last, was 3,858,195 bushels of 56 lbs. each, of this about
one-fourth part, or 868,355 were imported in foreign vessels. All this
salt was brought from foreign places, and no part of the salt prepared
from the briny waters near the Onondaga, in New York, the various springs
in the Western States, and the sea water of Cape Cod, Portsmouth, &c., is
taken into this calculation.
Of this salt some parts came from the Swedish, Danish, and Dutch West
Indies--other parts were imported from the British West Indies, and
other British colonies, from the French West Indies, from Spain, from
Teneriffe, and the other Canaries, and the Spanish West Indies; parcels
of the same salt were likewise brought from Portugal, Madeira, Cape de
Verd Islands, and Italy, and about 20,000 bushels of a similar kind has
heretofore annually been brought from Louisiana, which is now a part of
the United States.
But notwithstanding all this trade in salt, to so many parts of the
earth, the commerce in that article between the United States and Great
Britain is very extensive and important. During the year he before
mentioned, the proportion of imported salt which was furnished by England
alone, and of the manufacture of that country, amounted to 1,271,537
bushels of 56 lbs. So that it is evident at least one-third of the salt
consumed in our country is exported from that part of Great Britain
called England, and chiefly from those countries of which Liverpool is
the mart.
This salt, as he understood, was prepared by the process of boiling the
brine of the rock salt from Cheshire, and the water of the sea; and on
account of the great plenty and cheapness of coal in Lancashire, there
being also, as he believed, no export duty laid on it, this salt was
produced in abundance and sold on very low terms; it is employed as
ballast for British ships coming into our ports, and when arrived is sure
to sell and pay the freight and frequently afford a profit; our own ships
also very commonly take it in for ballast, and often as part of the cargo.
This traffic would be perfectly fair and convenient if English salt was
of a strength and quality fit to preserve animal flesh for provisions.
But he was clearly of opinion, from his own knowledge, this was not the
fact, and he had lately observed a discussion on this subject in the
British Parliament which confirmed that opinion.
The British Government long ago made a distinction between English salt
and foreign salt on their importation into Ireland. To encourage the
introduction of salt from the Bay of Biscay and the Portuguese dominions,
they permitted it to be imported into that kingdom at the rate of 84 lbs.
the bushel, while Liverpool salt was charged with the same duty of two
shillings on the bushel of 56 lbs. The reason of this distinction was
undoubtedly wise and cogent; experience had proved that British salt, as
brought to the market, was destitute of that purity and strength which
was necessary to preserve animal flesh from taint and corruption, and fit
for human food in hot climates and on long voyages.
The trade of Ireland in beef, pork and butter, was of great importance,
not only to that country itself, but to the whole navy and army of
Britain. To keep up the character and wholesomeness of their provisions
was a matter of immense national importance, and this could only be done
by attention to have it preserved with salt of purity and strength.
Experience had proved that the salt formed by crystallization in the open
sunshine on the western shores and islands of Southern Europe, was vastly
better than that produced by artificial concretion, in a boiling heat
over a fire in the North. And the Government had with prudent discernment
favored the introduction of Bay salt into Ireland, by permitting 84 lbs.
to be imported for the same duty that was paid on the introduction of 56
lbs. of Liverpool salt.
The people of Liverpool have lately expressed uneasiness at this
partiality, and an attempt has been made in Parliament, so to equalize
the duty, as to give to both Bay and English salt a fair competition
in the Irish market. This, however, was repelled by the Irish members,
with manly discernment and spirit, on the ground that Bay salt was of a
stronger quality, less easy to dissolve, and indispensable to the salters
of meats; that English or Liverpool salt would not answer for this
extensive and important branch of business; that the discrimination in
favor of Bay salt was politic and proper, especially connected with the
provision trade and the health of the fleets and armies.
It is my wish, said Mr. T., that such a distinction should be made on
the introduction of English salt into the United States, as has been
made by the British laws themselves, on its importation into Ireland.
There certainly exists the same causes for it. Like Ireland, our country
abounds in provisions--beef, pork, fish and butter, are great and staple
articles of export; but their quality is very far inferior to the
provisions of Ireland. The putrefaction of beef, pork and fish, to a very
serious extent, has often occurred; the loss of the property thereby was
great, and the reputation of our provisions materially affected. But that
was not the greatest evil; there is no doubt but that the exhalation from
tainted and corrupted meats and fish, in our towns as well as on board
our vessels, poison the atmosphere and excite malignant fevers and other
diseases.
His object was to retrieve and establish the reputation of our salted
provisions in foreign markets--to prevent the loss of property by those
who put up provisions for exportation, and also to prevent the evils
resulting to our citizens and seamen from tainted and spoiling meats
and fish. With this view of the subject he should propose, in the first
place, an inquiry into the expediency of reducing the duty on salt
generally; and, in the second, the propriety of making a distinction, so
as to encourage the importation of strong and pure salt, in preference to
the weak and impure salt manufactured in England.
He, therefore, moved the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed
to inquire into the expediency of reducing the duty on salt,
and also into the propriety of making a distinction in the
duty, so as to encourage the importations of salt from the
dominions of Denmark, Sweden, the United Netherlands, Spain,
France, Portugal, and the British West Indies, in preference to
any other place or places; and that they report thereon by bill
or otherwise.
Mr. J. RANDOLPH said, that the resolution which the gentleman from New
York had submitted, and in relation to which he had favored the House
with such copious details, embraced two objects: the reduction of the
duty on salt, generally, and the encouragement of the importation of a
particular description of that article. The last subject belonging to a
class which was consigned to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures,
he should confine himself to the first branch of the resolution; nor
should he have troubled the House at all were not the motion of the
gentleman from New York calculated to excite an expectation, which he
wished to repress, because he feared it could not be gratified. It was
not to oppose inquiry, but to apprise the mover and the public that the
result was likely to prove unpropitious to his wishes, that he had
risen. The country on which the salt duty fell with peculiar force was
that middle region, near enough to the seaboard to be supplied altogether
by importation, but too remote to have its consumption diminished by
vicinage to the sea. Those whose stock had access to salt water felt
the duty but partially; those whose situation obliged them to use salt
of home manufacture only, not at all. As an inhabitant of that district
of country by which the duty was principally paid, and as a friend to
agriculture, he had at an early period of the session, in conjunction
with his friend the Speaker, turned his attention to the practicability
of reducing the duty on salt, and you well know, sir, (said Mr. R.)
that the result of our inquiry satisfied us that this desirable object
was not at present attainable. He mentioned this to show that other
members felt an interest in this subject, as well as the gentleman
from New York, although they had not brought it before the House. The
Treasury statements on which that gentleman relied for the support of his
position, that we can dispense with a portion of our existing revenue,
establish the opposite opinion, beyond controversy.
MONDAY, December 10.
Two other members, to wit: MATTHEW WALTON, from Kentucky, and NATHANIEL
ALEXANDER, from North Carolina, appeared, and took their seats in the
House.
TUESDAY, December 11.
_Recession of District of Columbia._
The SPEAKER laid before the House a letter addressed to him from George
Washington Parke Custis, chairman of a meeting of the inhabitants of
the county of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, enclosing sundry
resolutions of the said inhabitants, expressive of their disapprobation
of so much of a motion now depending before the House, as relates to a
recession of jurisdiction to the State of Virginia, of that part of the
District of Columbia which is contained in the county of Alexandria,
aforesaid.--Referred.
_Potomac River._
The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill
authorizing the Corporation of Georgetown to make a dam or causeway from
Mason’s Island to the western shore of the river Potomac.
Mr. MACON gave it as his opinion that it would be improper at this time
to take up the subject, as there was a motion on the table to recede the
territory of the district back to the jurisdiction of the States out of
which it had been carved. If it is intended to recede the territory,
it would certainly be better to recede with as few encumbrances or
alterations as possible; indeed, the striking propriety of the business
taking the course he had just mentioned, had led him to expect that the
present bill would not be again agitated until the question of recession
had been investigated and decided. He would therefore move that the
committee rise and report progress.
Mr. SMILIE voted against going into a Committee of the Whole, on
the ground mentioned by the Speaker. If it be the intention of the
Legislature to recede this territory, there was certainly no necessity
of discussing the propriety of erecting a causeway; if it be not the
intention, when this is manifest it will be time enough to consider
the bill before them. From what he had observed on the part of
the inhabitants of the District of Columbia, there seemed to be a
disposition, if not a determination, to give Congress as much trouble
in legislating for them as they had for all the rest of the Union.
During the present session, this single ten miles square had occupied as
much of the time of the House as the whole of the United States, whose
general and important business was daily caused to be suspended for the
local concerns of this place. From observing this to be the settled
course of proceeding, he was convinced that Congress must do one of two
things, either recede them to their respective States, or put them in a
situation capable of managing their own affairs, in their own way. The
daily pay of the members amounted to a considerable sum, and the length
of time consumed on every trifling application for want of some member
able to explain the true situation of the district, occasioned by its
unrepresented state on this floor, were evils much to be lamented, if
they could not be remedied. He thought members could hardly justify the
waste of time, intended to be devoted to the public, whatever they might
think of the expense it occasioned. He hoped the committee would agree to
rise.
Mr. LEWIS did not think it fair to anticipate the opinion of the House on
the subject of recession, which he considered would be the effect of the
committee’s rising. If, however, the committee shall determine that they
would not, at this time, discuss the present bill, he had no objection to
enter on the consideration of the other subject.
Mr. NELSON thought this the proper time to discuss this question, even
in preference to that of recession. It appears from the petition of the
inhabitants of Georgetown, that the channel of the river, on which the
salvation of that town depends, is filling up daily; that the mass of mud
would soon increase to such a degree as totally to ruin the navigation
to that port. If even it should be agreed by Congress to recede the
territory to the States of Virginia and Maryland--which he wished and
hoped in God would not be the case--it would be late in the session, and
in all probability, at a time when neither of those State Legislatures
will be in session. Supposing both States were willing to accept the
recession, which he believed would not be found to be the case, the
petitioners could not apply to the Virginia Legislature until next
December, as their session began in that month, nor to Maryland until
next November. A twelvemonth’s delay might defeat the object altogether,
for the petitioners assert that it requires immediate exertions to
prevent the channel filling up altogether.
Mr. SLOAN reminded the committee of an old saying: “The time present only
is in our power, the future we know not of.” The time present, then,
is the time to redress the grievances of the suffering part of this
community, and as the citizens of Georgetown were really embarrassed, and
their apprehensions excited of greater danger, he hoped the committee
would proceed with the business.
Mr. STANFORD seldom troubled the House with any motion; but the one
alluded to by his colleague, (Mr. SPEAKER,) he had brought forward from
a sense of duty. The reiterated applications of the inhabitants of this
district for legislative provisions, he had always listened to with
attention, and he had no objection to proceeding in the discussion of the
present bill, convinced that it would only serve to show the necessity
of receding the territory. From all that had hitherto been done, it was
apparent that they could not attempt to accommodate one part of the
district without drawing forth petitions against the same from another
part. Counter-petitions were constantly coming in. He was willing to hear
every thing, but he did not believe the House could agree to any thing,
and it was not to be wondered at when the inhabitants could not agree
among themselves; or, if the House agreed at this time relative to the
objects of the bridge company and the causeway petitioners, it would be,
he suspected, to do nothing in either case. All this tended to evince the
propriety of adopting the resolution he had laid on the table to recede
the territory to the States of Virginia and Maryland, who would then have
competent powers to gratify both parties, if they deemed it expedient, of
which he was convinced they were better judges than this, or any future
Congress was ever likely to be.
The question on the committee rising was taken, and lost--only
forty-three members voting in the affirmative.
Mr. MACON then proposed to amend the bill in such a way as to provide for
regulating the ferries that might be established across the eastern part
of the stream to the causeway, and applying the fund arising from the
same for the purpose of keeping the causeway in repair.
Mr. LEWIS did not consider it useful to travel over the ground assumed on
a former occasion, but would confine himself to state to the committee
some information he had acquired since, in respect to the damage the
Eastern Branch or the port of Alexandria was likely to sustain, as had
been alleged. Before the year 1784, the channel on the western side was
so shallow that vessels only of very ordinary burden could pass, while
on the Maryland side vessels of great draught of water could easily pass
up to Georgetown. The uncommon hard winter of 1783-’4 was followed
in the spring by the greatest torrents ever known in the Potomac. The
bodies of ice were of immense magnitude, and many of them lodged upon the
island, and under the rocks of its bed, prizing with a force beyond all
credibility: it tore the rocks asunder and pressed them over into the new
channel, occasioning a rise of thirty or forty feet on the Georgetown
shore. On the Virginia side the torrent also forced itself and deepened
that channel, while it left a vast quantity of mud, rocks, and sand, in
the eastern channel, which has been constantly accumulating since that
period. The situation of the present bar is at the meeting of the two
arms of the river, below the island, and does not permit the passage of
vessels over it drawing more than twelve feet water. The consequence of
this alteration in the bed of the river below the island has been to
narrow the mouth of the Eastern Branch, but it had no effect upon the
harbor of Alexandria. This may serve to explain what may be the effect of
opening the old channel in the way proposed: it may operate to widen the
mouth of the Eastern Branch harbor, but it cannot injure Alexandria.
Mr. CLARK.--When this bill was under consideration, some days past, I
endeavored to show (and hope with satisfaction) that Congress had not the
power of legislating on this subject. The ground I then assumed was, that
Virginia had, by contract with the State of Maryland, before the cession
to the United States, acquired the right of highway on the river Potomac,
which she has never granted. It is now unnecessary to inquire into the
reasons of this policy; it is sufficient for our present purpose to say
it is the fact.
In retracing this subject, I find my arguments very much strengthened by
examining the Articles of Agreement between the States of Maryland and
Virginia, and this circumstance is the only inducement for my troubling
the committee again. The sixth article of the Agreement declares that
“the river Potomac shall be considered as a common highway for the
purpose of navigation and commerce to the citizens of Virginia and
Maryland, and of the United States, and all those in amity with them.”
The eighth article declares that “all laws and regulations which may be
necessary for preserving and keeping open the channel and navigation
of the river shall be made with the mutual consent and approbation of
both States.” If a doubt remained, therefore, it appears to me this must
remove it, and time will be spent in vain to illustrate the subject.
Mr. NELSON did not expect that this point would have been brought up
again, but since it had so happened, he felt a propriety, not to say
a duty, in recapitulating also what he had urged before, and adding
some further reasons to show that Congress had the right, and exclusive
right, of jurisdiction over all that part of the river Potomac within the
District of Columbia. The burden of the song appears to be this: that
because the States of Maryland and Virginia entered into compact before
the formation of the present constitution, by which it was agreed that
the river should be considered a common highway, and as both possessed
the right of way, it was a joint right, which, as they did not jointly
convey the right, has never been ceded to the United States. Does the
gentleman (Mr. CLARK) mean to say that the States of Virginia and
Maryland had not the power of granting this joint right? If he does not
assert this, or if he admits they had the power, we shall be able to
demonstrate that they have granted it to Congress. After two States have
made a division of a part of each of their particular property, cannot
they mutually give to another the property they have thus acquired?
Surely common sense cannot deny them the right so to do: if you cannot
grant away a right, it is no right, for a right cannot be complete if it
cannot be conveyed to another; the very idea of right implies the power
of disposal. They say that Maryland had the exclusive right of navigating
the river Potomac, and that she gave by compact a qualified property in
that exclusive right to Virginia. Cannot Virginia convey this qualified
right? If one holds a right to an estate for life or a term of years, is
it not as competent for the party to convey such right, as it would be to
convey an estate in fee simple? Whether the right be a special right, or
a limited right, or of whatever nature it be, every man has a right to
convey it to another, unless there be exceptions or reservations; but in
the compact between Maryland and Virginia there are no reservations or
stipulations that abridge or preclude a conveyance. Then he asked them
to propound this case: Maryland has a common right with Virginia in the
Potomac, and Maryland declares that she gives up all her right to ten
miles square of her territory--the Potomac is a part--Virginia also says
that, so far as she has a right, she gives it up also. Well, then, both
States have given up their respective rights. Does not the relinquishment
of their rights by both States produce the same effect as if it had been
done by a joint instrument? Maryland, he asserted, had given up her
right; no matter whether it was a real right or qualified right, she gave
up all but what she had conveyed to Virginia, and Virginia has given up
all she possessed.
Mr. J. RANDOLPH had hoped that the very perspicuous statement of his
colleague, (Mr. CLARK) when the subject was last under consideration,
had satisfied the most incredulous that Congress were not competent to
pass the bill before them. Indeed, he had hoped that the bill would have
been suffered to sleep through the rest of the session, and the House
no more troubled on the subject. The reasoning of the gentleman last
up was to his mind utterly fallacious and inconclusive. The district
was not necessarily divided into two bodies politic, because of the
intervening jurisdiction of Virginia over the Potomac. Did Massachusetts
constitute two States, because its parts were completely separated by
New Hampshire, through which you must necessarily pass to get into Maine
from old Massachusetts, as it was called? For the purpose of division
the mathematical line which marked the boundary between the two States
of Maryland and Virginia was equivalent to the whole breadth of the
Potomac. On the ground of natural right, Congress could not obstruct the
navigation of the river. They could not do it without admitting the right
of Virginia and Maryland to raise obstructions above and below. Those
States had as good a claim to stop the passage of ships of the United
States as Congress had to interrupt their bateaux. But gentlemen say they
are not stopping the navigation, they are improving it. How? by damming
up the best channel. Did not this justify any species of obstruction? It
was only to term it an improvement, and every objection was silenced.
Whatever might be the decision of the House, he trusted no member from
Virginia would be found to concede her right over the Potomac. He hoped
also that the subject would be suffered to remain at rest until the
question of recession was decided; but, in whatever shape it should
appear, he should always protest against it, as a violation of the rights
of the State which he represented.
Mr. SLOAN would leave the dispute, as to the right of jurisdiction over
the river, to be settled by those who were more competent to investigate
law questions than he was himself. But, from what he had heard, he had
brought his mind to this conclusion, that, whatever right Maryland
possessed to the jurisdiction of the Potomac, Congress was now entitled
to exercise. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. J. RANDOLPH) has said that
Congress has no right to obstruct the navigation. True; but it does
not follow that Congress has no right to remove obstructions. He says,
also, that we might stop both branches. Not so; it is intended to stop
one only, in order to deepen the other, so as to render the navigation
more useful and safe. The case before us has been occasioned by the act
of God, or a great movement in nature; a great quantity of ice has been
lodged, and tore up from the shore and the island the materials that
form, perhaps, the base of this sand-bar, by which the navigation has
been obstructed. Now, suppose another case, that this ice had pent up the
whole body of the river, and compelled the waters to form themselves a
channel for escape through the lower grounds of the Virginia side, and
thereby have given a new course to the river; and it would not be the
first time that ice had been the cause of changing the bed of a river.
Mr. ALSTON did not intend to consume much of the time of the committee in
delivering his sentiments, as the discussion had already been protracted
to a much greater length than he, at the first view of the subject,
supposed it merited. It has been contended by several gentlemen that
Congress have no power to legislate at all upon the subject of the
navigation of the river Potomac. This really, to him, appeared to be a
very extraordinary doctrine indeed. That because Virginia and Maryland
had not jointly conveyed a common property, their conveyances separate,
although including this very common property, was not obligatory, and did
not convey to Congress exclusive legislation and jurisdiction over such
part of the river as lay within the District of Columbia. He admitted
that the river Potomac was a common highway, and ought ever to remain
so, for the benefit not only of the people of Virginia and Maryland,
but likewise for all the citizens of the United States choosing to
navigate the same; and to do any act whereby the navigation would, in
the slightest degree whatever, be obstructed, was more than we had a
right or ought to do. But would it follow, in consequence, that we had no
right to improve or benefit the navigation of the river? Most indubitably
not. It was, in his mind, clear, from the information he had received,
that, unless something was done for the benefit of the navigation of
the river, an end would soon be put to Georgetown as a commercial spot.
He believed it to be universally the case that the uniting of any two
streams of nearly equal size produced a bar or shallow place just below
their junction. If, then, the bar complained of, just below Mason’s
Island, has been produced in consequence of the uniting of the two arms
of the river, it seemed to him an inevitable consequence that, if one of
them was dammed up, the channel would return to its former depth. Mr. A.
could not see the force of an argument made use of by his colleague, the
honorable Speaker, if he understood him correctly, to say that, if the
dam contemplated should be effected, it would tend to injure the ferries
established on the river. In what manner the erecting the dam from
Mason’s Island to the Virginia shore could affect them, he was not able
to discover, as the land on the Virginia shore, opposite the ferries, and
the island, belong to the same person. He entertained no doubt but that
the same privileges would extend to the island as were now enjoyed at the
landing on the Virginia shore.
Mr. CLAIBORNE asked if the ten miles square, located and surveyed to the
United States, included the river? He rather suspected that they had laid
off ten miles square, exclusive of the river. If this were the case,
Congress had assumed jurisdiction over more territory than they were
constitutionally entitled to.
Mr. J. LEWIS.--My colleague has expressed a hope that no member from
Virginia would be found to sanction a measure so hostile to the rights
of that State. I lament extremely that I should, upon any occasion,
differ in sentiment with that gentleman, and particularly upon this;
but, because I am so unfortunate as not to agree with my colleague upon
this question, I hope I shall not, on that account, be charged with
an abandonment of the interests of Virginia. I am as tenacious of her
rights as my honorable colleague, or any other Representative from that
State, and I must, at the same time, be permitted to express my regret
that any member from Virginia shall be found to oppose a measure so very
interesting to a large portion of the citizens of that State.
Mr. MACON.--Although it may be a good rule, yet it is not a general one,
that people are well satisfied when they do not complain; yet gentlemen,
when they are sent here to legislate, must exercise their own judgment on
the probable consequences. If all the people of the district were to say
that this was a proper measure, he should still exercise his own opinion.
The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. LEWIS) had narrated the history of this
river, and informed us there was no impediment prior to 1784. He did not
doubt the correctness of the statement; but he should have gone further,
and informed us what was the population on the waters of the Potomac at
that time, and what it is at present, and likely hereafter to be; because
if such a mud bank was raised in the river when its banks had little or
no cultivation, what was it likely to be when thickly settled, for every
new farm and every additional cultivation, loosened the earth, which was
swept away by every fresh, and the mud bank at the head of tide water
would proportionally increase in magnitude. Such had been the case with
the Rappahannock, and if it should turn out that these two rivers are in
a similar situation, their trouble would be thrown away.
Mr. HOLLAND admitted that the quantity of mud would increase by
cultivation; but if the channel is deepened by narrowing the river, the
mud would descend lower and deposit itself in that part of the bed of
the river where the channel was deeper. He had no doubt of the right of
Congress to the exclusive legislation over the river, as well as over
every other part of the district. He should therefore vote for the bill,
believing that they had the right, and that the measure would be greatly
beneficial to the commerce of the country.