32D CONG.....3D SESS.

which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved. That the Secretary of the Navy be requested to inquire whether it will not be advantageous to the Government of the United States, to establish a naval depôt at Newport, Rhode Island, and that he report to the Senate at its next session.

LATE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS.

On motion by Mr. SHIELDS, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the following resolution, which was ordered on Thursday last to lie upon the table:

"Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate pay to Robert Beale, late Sergeant-at-Arms, the salary for the residue of the present year."

Mr. SHIELDS. I hope there will be no opposition to the resolution, and if so, I do not want to say a word in relation to it. The only object I had in view in introducing it was this: the late Sergeant-at-Arms, who has served since I came into the Senate and I think with great fidelity and has done everything which a man could do to make himself useful to Senators, has been removed without any notice. It is well known that there has been no term fixed for these changes; that he had no previous notice; that the action of the Senate electing another person in his place, came unexpectedly upon him. He has been left with a considerable amount of property on his hands, of which of course he will be unable to dispose in such a way as to make it advantageous to himself. If there had been a term, as for instance' four years, during which he knew he was to hold office, and then a new election was to come on, it would be very different; but I think this case stands upon a different footing altogether. There has been no definite term for the appointment of these officers. In fact they have looked upon themselves as here for life. It is true that the Senate has only performed its duty perhaps in reëlecting its officers; but at the same time, this falls a little hard upon this officer, who has done everything a man could do, to discharge his duty to the Senate. I hope the resolution will pass without opposition.

Mr. PETTIT. I am opposed to the resolution for the reasons which I stated the other day, and I will not trouble the Senate by repeating them. It seems to me it is without precedent and propriety. We have dismissed an officer who held his office dependent upon the will of the Senate. The Senate has expressed its will. It does not want him any longer; and why he should still be in our pay I am totally unable to see. I will ask for the yeas and nays upon the passage of the resolution.

Mr. WALKER. I am opposed to the resolution. I think it ought not to be adopted. If we do this, we shall constitute a precedent for almost everything that can be considered a gratuity. Now, can any Senator in the Chamber mention to me upon what principle the salary of the Sergeant-atArms should be paid to Mr. Beale for the rest of the year, unless it be upon the ground stated by

the Senator from Illinois? I think that no man can mention any good ground upon which the allowance should be made. Is the ground stated by the Senator from Illinois a good one? Why, sir, have we displaced an officer who is left destitute and pennyless, and without support? Not at all. We have exercised the privilege that belonged to the Senate of electing a Sergeant-at-Arms to supersede Mr. Beale; but it is not the fact, if I understand it aright, that Mr. Beale is left in a destitute condition. He is not left as one of those helpless and poor office-holders who is suddenly taken by surprise and turned out. We shall have in every Department of the Government, in all probability, cases which will excite our commis. eration much more than this; and shall the legislative branch of the Government take up the case of every clerk who is turned out by surprise, and left without anything to fall back upon, and make him an allowance for one year following his removal? I hope not. Your Treasury would be insufficient for it; and yet we propose to set an example which would be one of the most memorable of the kind in regard to one of our own officers. We pay Mr. Beale! Why the position which he occupies is not even a sinecure, and we pay the gentleman whom we have elected for the actual discharge of the duties. I can see no good

reason for it.

NEW SERIES.No. 20.

Special Session-Ringgold's Charts.

Mr. SHIELDS. If the Senator will permit me, I do not want to go into this matter, but I will state that if there had been a term fixed for the office, and Mr. Beale had been an officer who knew he was to be removed at the expiration of that term, the case would be very different. The Sergeant-at-Arms is compelled to procure stabling and forage and make various preparations in order to manage the affairs of the Senate; and, sir, the salary proposed to be given by the resolution will not compensate Mr. Beale for the injury which he has sustained. What is it? It is at best only $1,800 a year, and the resolution proposes to pay only to the end of the fiscal year; and here he is left to dispose of forage, of stabling, of a variety of things which he had prepared in order to the performance of his duties in this body. The horses and carry-alls are all left on his hands. In my humble opinion there is a strong equity in this case. I do not say the Senate is bound to make the allowance, but I say it is equitable when an officer is cut off in the midst of the term to make

an allowance.

Mr. WALKER. I believe I understand the Senator's idea. I am sorry that this last matter has been brought up. I feel as little disposition to say anything which may be afflictive to Mr. Beale's feelings as any Senator on this floor, but I must mention a fact in connection with this matter, for it seems to be the strongest ground upon which the resolution is based. I procured from the Secretary of the Senate-I made it a part of his duty to furnish me-a paper showing that during one long session of Congress there was paid to Mr. Beale for the service of his horses and his carry-alls, upwards of $5,000. Sir, the Committee on the Contingent Expenses of the Senate have been making their exertions to reduce this matter in the hands of Mr. Beale; and I must now say to the Senator that in defiance of that committee, while I was a member of it, Mr. Beale would employ his extra horses, and carry-alls, and wagons, and when the committee refused to allow it, he dogged us from one end of the Capitol to the other, and all around and over it; and in the last six days he has been dogging me, although not now a member of the committee, to use my influence with them to get the allowance of the last batch for the horses. That is the last thing for which he should be compensated. I hope that nothing more of that kind will be mentioned as a merit. I think now, to speak plainly, that the least said about the matter the better, for I should be extremely sorry, in justification of my own course, and of the Committee on Contingent Expenses, to bring forth other matters that might be, and shall be brought forth, if necessary, from my desk.

Mr. SHIELDS. As far as I am concerned, the honorable Senator can bring forth what he pleases. I know nothing about what the Committee on Contingent Expenses have done, and I from it. I presume Mr. Beale received no money have made no charges against that committee, far out of the contingent fund that was not allowed him by the Senate. Whether it was allowed by the committee or not, I know not. The Senate must have supposed that they gave that money for some object. I cannot understand the honorable Senator when he says that this money has been allowed to Mr. Beale against the wishes of the Senate for extra services. Is that what I am to understand? I know nothing of that. All I say is-and I understand the honorable Senator does not pretend to gainsay it-that Mr. Beale is left with a large amount of property on his hands which he had to procure for the service of the Senate.

Mr. WALKER. If the honorable Senator will allow me, I will state that he was authorized, if I understood the last order of the Senate aright, to employ one wagon for the mail service, and one for document purposes. Now, if that is the great amount to be left upon his hands, and he is to be paid a year's salary in consequence of it, be it so. I do not think they would be a great burden to him. I understand that horses and wagons fact of the large receipts that he had to show that bring pretty good prices here. I mentioned the the ground of sympathy for him is not well taken, ground to make him an allowance which in reality, and that we ought not to be called upon on such a

SENATE.

on the score of sympathy or anything else, is not due to him.

Mr. BAYARD. I am opposed generally to everything like contingent allowances, and shall always be. I think I stated the other day that they necessarily lead to corruption. The case, however, now before us seems to me to form an exception. The practice of the Senate has hitherto been for its officers to hold during pleasure, without any specific term, without any known time at which the office would expire and they would be liable to reelection. Suddenly, during an Executive session, you removed the late Sergeant-at-Arms, without notice, without investigation. I do not know that there was any ground of objection, but simply on the ground of mere will, by which you choose to place a new person in the situation. The act was right and proper in itself, if in the judgment of Senators they could procure a better officer by so doing; but when no charges were made, I think by the general practice and usage of the Senate, it would be an act of ordinary liberality to make the allowance which the resolution proposes. It is widely different from the case of an officer who holds office for a specific term, when he knows his office will terminate unless he is reelected or reappointed. Such has not hitherto been the practice of the Senate. It is for these reasons that I am disposed to vote for the allowance, because unless we make it, it will seem like an implied reflection upon the character of the officer.

The resolution was then reported to the Senate without amendment, and was read a third time. On the question of its passage the yeas and nays were ordered, and being taken, resulted-yeas 27, nays 12, as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bayard, Brodhead, Butler, Clayton, Cooper, Dodge of Wisconsin, Everett, Fish, Fitzpatrick, Gwin, James, Morton, Norris, Phelps, Pratt, Rusk, Sebastian, Seward, Shields, Smith, Soulé, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Thomson of New Jersey, and Wright-27.

NAYS-Messrs. Adams, Atherton, Borland, Chase, Evans, Houston, Mason, Pettit, Sumner, Toucey, Walker, and Weller-12.

So the resolution was passed.

Mr. BRODHEAD subsequently moved a reconsideration of the vote, and said: I thought that the resolution made the allowance for the residue of the fiscal year which ends in June; but upon a critical examination of it, I think it may be construed to extend the pay until December next. It says "the present year." I understood, in the hurry and confusion which prevailed in the Chamber-for there is a good deal of "noise and confusion" here-that it was during the fiscal year.

Mr. SHIELDS. My intention was that it should be so understood. I have no objection to inserting "fiscal." The alteration can be made by common consent.

The motion to reconsider was agreed to, and the question recurred on the passage of the reso

lution.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to purchase one thousand copies of Ringgold's maps, charts, and sailing directions, of the coast of California, for the use of navigators upon that coast: Provided, The price shall not exceed four dollars per copy."

Mr. MASON. I think very clearly that the resolution is against the meaning, if it is not within the letter, of the act of the last session, to which called the attention of the Senate on Saturday, you, Mr. President, (Mr. BADGER in the chair,) prohibiting the purchase of books, unless by a joint vote of the two Houses. I think that is a suffi

cient objection to it; but were it not so, I think it

32D CONG....3D SESS.

incumbent upon me to vote against the resolution, and to state my reason for doing so. The gentleman who compiled the charts is one that I have the fortune to know personally and well, and I apprehend a more meritorious and distinguished officer does not belong to the service. He has rendered very great service in compiling these charts. It afforded me pleasure at a former day to go with the majority of the Senate for their publication; and I think they were published by an order of the Senate, as an act of deserved distinction to the officer who compiled them; and at the same time the Senate provided that a certain number of copies should be purchased. I think it would be not only wrong, but in bad taste for the Senate to go further in making the purchase. I have no doubt, from the evidence of which we have heard, as well as from the ability of the compiler of the charts, that they are very useful to navigators on the Pacific coast; but I have yet to learn, and if I should learn it would be with great concern, that it is the province of the Senate to enter on the course of purchasing charts for the use of navigators. If they are required, as doubtless they are, there is an abundance of money ability in those who use them to purchase them. I shall therefore vote against the resolution.

Mr. GWIN. In regard to the first objection which is made to the resolution, I will merely say that the charts are not a book; and we published at this session, by order of the Committee on Printing, fifteen hundred extra copies of a chart, showing the route from California to Shanghai for mail steamers, which was very similar in its character, though not so accurate as this. But in regard to this work, I have reason to know this officer of the Navy, of whom I can speak in as much praise as the Senator from Virginia. He lost largely by the publication of the charts, and I wish, on my part, to remunerate him, and through the hands of the Secretary of the Navy to put the charts in possession of those who navigate those waters. I am perfectly confident that we cannot make an expenditure of an equal amount by which more good can be brought to the Government than by purchasing these maps; but I will not detain the Senate.

Mr. BORLAND. I wish to say to the Senator from Virginia, that I think he is mistaken in supposing that Congress published these charts. They were published, I believe, by Captain Ringgold himself, and Congress purchased some of them. Mr. MASON. Yes, sir.

Mr. BORLAND. They were published at his own expense. At first I was opposed to the resolution, but when I have evidence furnished me from the Coast Survey office, and from other distinguished and competent sources, of their great value, indeed of their almost indispensable necessity to all our ships navigating the Pacific coast, and when I ascertained further, that the compiler has not been reimbursed by several thousand dollars for the cost which he has personally incurred, I am in favor of the resolution. He has conferred upon navigation in all that coast of the country, one of the greatest benefits which ever has been conferred. We have the testimony of the Coast Survey, that in the preparation of the maps which they have since made, they derived great benefit from these charts, and found them indispensable to the work, and saved a large expense and labor by having them. If we purchase these charts, it will be for the benefit of navigation. The compiler has incurred great expense, and has not yet been reimbursed; and it does seem to me nothing more than simple justice-to say nothing of the benefit conferred upon the interests of navigationto pay him as much for the use of the work as it cost him; and the additional copies which we propose to purchase will not do more than repay the money which he has paid out, and which has gone to the benefit of the country.

Mr. BAYARD called for the yeas and nays on the resolution, and they were ordered.

Mr. CHASE. I desire simply to say that the remarks submitted by the Senator from California would convince me, if I needed any conviction upon this subject, that this is a very meritorious work; and I would cheerfully vote for the resolution, if I were not fully satisfied that it is against both the letter and spirit of the prohibition in the law; and I trust the Senate will not, at this spe

Special Session-Hour of Meeting.

cial session, violate a law which they assisted in passing at the close of the last session.

It is said that this does not fall within the letter of the law because it is a chart. Sir, there are numerous decisions, as all lawyers know, which establish the doctrine that the word "book" does in point of fact comprehend charts. That is the legal sense of the term. It is a sense which of course would apply to the word "books" in the law to which reference is made. If, then, we pass the resolution it will certainly, according to the import of language, violate that law.

Mr. BAYARD. The objection mentioned by the Senator from Ohio is the only reason why I must vote against this resolution. Were it a joint resolution, I am inclined to think I would vote cheerfully for it. But the law to which reference is made, clearly, in its letter and intent, restrains the action of the Senate in this matter, and I cannot violate that law.

Mr. BORLAND. I shall not contend with the Senators who have just spoken, upon the meaning which they attach to the word "chart" and the similarity of meaning which they seem to think exists between that and the word "book;" but there is another ground which I think very satisfactory, upon which this proposition is not excluded by the terms of the law. The third section of the act referred to, in which the prohibition is made, is in these words:

"That hereafter no books shall be distributed to mem

bers of Congress except such as are ordered to be printed by the Congress of which they are members."

case.

We well know the reason for that. We well know that there was a great complaint that members of Congress were in the habit of voting themselves large quantities of books to be paid for out of the contingent fund of the respective Houses. It was considered an abuse; and the cry had gone through the country and got into the newspapers that we were voting ourselves libraries. The section which I have read was intended to meet that But, sir, here is a very different thing. It is proposed to purchase a valuable chart, call it a book if you please, which the interests of navigation very much require, because our commerce upon the Pacific ocean is very rapidly extending and increasing; and it is also intended, as I said, while subserving that great public purpose, to reimburse a meritorious public officer, who, at his own expense, published the work and has not yet received any return for it, notwithstanding its great public value. He is yet out of pocket several thousand dollars. By passing the resolution, therefore, we shall not disregard the law, but we shall subserve the public interest and at the same time do an act of justice to a meritorious officer.

The yeas and nays being taken on the resolution, resulted-yeas 22, nays 16; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Atherton, Borland, Brodhead, Dodge of Wisconsin, Douglas, Everett, Fitzpatrick, Gwin, Hamlin, Houston, James, Jones of Iowa, Morton, Norris, Pettit,

Pratt, Sebastian, Seward, Shields, Stuart, Thomson of New Jersey, and Weller-22.

NAYS-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bayard, Butler, Chase, Clayton, Evans, Fish, Mason, Phelps, Smith, Soulé, Sumner, Thompson of Kentucky, Toucey, and Wright-16. So the resolution was agreed to.

Mr. PRATT. I would suggest to the Senator from California, the propriety of making some alteration in the terms of the resolution, because it occurs to me, that under it, there is no power conferred to distribute the charts. The law of last session prohibits their being distributed to Senators when they are purchased. Where are they to go? Mr. BUTLER. To navigators.

Mr. PRATT. How are they to get to navigators? I suggest that the resolution needs some modification in that respect.

Mr. BORLAND. I suppose, in authorizing the Secretary to purchase the charts for the use of navigators, there is a general power given to him to put them into the hands of navigators. That follows as a necessary consequence; and we are to suppose that he will take a common-sense view of the subject, and adopt some reasonable practicable plan by which they will go into the hands of those for whom they are intended.

Mr. BAYARD. Where is the authority on the part of any officer of this body to turn these books over to any one else? Where does it spring from? When I made my remarks upon the resolution, I supposed it stood as it was originally

SENATE.

framed "for the use of the members of the Senate. Where is your warrant for publishing books, by order of the Senate, for distribution by any other persons than Senators? It seems to me that the resolution is more objectionable in the form in which it passed than it was originally. It contains no provision as to who is to distribute the charts. We are told that the Navy Department will do it. How is the Navy Department to get them? Under the resolution who is to delegate the power to it to distribute them? When you print books for the use of the Senate, you have a general rule for their distribution; but you have none to apply to this at all. The charts may be bought, but they will lie here and require the subsequent action of the Senate, or both Houses, in order to distribute them.

The PRESIDENT. The resolution cannot be altered unless by unanimous consent, or by moving a reconsideration.

HOUR OF MEETING.

Mr. WALKER. I submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That hereafter the hour of meeting of the Senate shall be ten o'clock, a. m., until otherwise ordered by the Senate.

I will state to the Senate the reason why I shall ask for the consideration of that resolution at this time. As we meet now, we do not sit while the Cabinet are in Cabinet council. They are in council during the morning, and come out about the same time we commence our session. We therefore cannot see them while we are idling away the morning. When our hour of meeting arrives, they have left Cabinet council and gone to the Departments. Then we commence our sitting, and the result is that a great many Senators who have business at the Departments have to go away, and we are left often without a quorum. Now, I have no doubt that there are a great many Senators who have business to attend to at the Departments which they must transact, and they have gone away to attend to it, and I should not be surprised in a short time to-day, and on every subsequent day, after this hour, to find ourselves left without a quorum. If we can meet at ten o'clock, and sit until one, we shall be sitting during the time when the Cabinet are in council, and the Cabinet council and the session of the Senate will break up about the same time, and then we can have an opportunity to transact our business at the Departments. It is for this reason that I offer the resolution, and ask for its consideration now.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does any Senator object to considerimg the resolution at this time?

Mr. SEWARD and Mr. BUTLER. I object. Mr. WALKER. Withdraw the objection. Mr. BUTLER. I cannot withdraw the objecaion. I think our hour of meeting is well arranged its it is. The Senate ought to deliberate separately and let the Cabinet officers do their own business. This thing of Senators going to transact business with the Departments and making an excuse for altering our hour of meeting is all wrong. Whatever business they have with the Departments ought to be done in writing.

Mr. WALKER. I do not mean that this is to give Senators an opportunity to go to the Cabinet councils-of course they cannot get there. But there are many Senators who desire to see the heads of Departments on business; and the Cabinet council breaks up just about the time that we go into session now, and consequently we have no opportunity to attend to our departmental business. If we go to the Departments in the morning we cannot find the heads of the Departments, for they are in Cabinet council, and as soon as they come out of council our session commences, so that we have no time to see them; but if we should meet at ten and adjourn at one we could attend to departmental business and senatorial business also. The Senator asks me what business I have at the Departments?

Mr. BUTLER. I do not.

Mr. WALKER. I do not know whether the Senator has any or not, but I can tell him that if he hailed from Wisconsin or any of the western or northern States, he would find the duty an onerous one, which could not be thrown off. It is imposed upon us, and some time must be taken

32D CONG....3D SESS.

to attend to it; and I will say that if the Senate continues meeting at the time at which we now meet, and are in session the only time when we can see the members of the Cabinet, I shall be compelled to leave the Senate at some hour of the day to attend to my business at the Departments. Mr. PETTIT. I simply desire to say to the Senator from Wisconsin, that I object to one of his remarks, and that is the one which indicates that we are idle in the forenoon. I do not know any Senator who is idle. (Laughter.]

Mr. SEWARD. I desire to ask the Senator from Wisconsin, whether the Cabinet have expressed any particular desire to see more of the Senate than they can see now? If they have not, I shall object to the resolution.

Mr. WALKER. We are not consulting their comfort. We do not propose to ask them when we shall go; and I do not propose to ask the Senator from New York, nor will my constituents, who have imposed the duty upon me be likely to ask him, as to when and how I shall attend to the duty. I presume those of us who have business to attend to, will do it whether the Cabinet are willing to see us or not.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. As the consideration of the resolution is objected to, it goes over one day under the rule.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

On motion by Mr. MASON, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business, and after some time spent therein, the doors were reopened,

And the Senate adjourned.

TUESDAY, March 29, 1853.

Prayer by the Rev. J. G. BUTLER.

On motion by Mr. JONES, of Iowa, it was Ordered, That Avery Downer have leave to withdraw his papers from the files of the Senate.

FOLDING OF DOCUMENTS.

Mr. BADGER submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms be authorized to continue the messengers in the employment of the Senate, for two months after the termination of the present session, for the purpose of folding and transmitting documents.

READING CLERK.

Mr. ADAMS. I move to take up the resolution which I submitted a few days ago, in relation to a reading secretary. I will state to Senators that if it is taken up I will make such a modification of it as I suppose will make it acceptable to every one.

The motion was agreed to, and the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.

Mr. ADAMS. I desire to modify the resolution, so that it will read as follows:

"Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to employ a clerk, who shall, under his direction, read at the desk of the Secretary and discharge such other duties as the Secretary may assign him; and who shall receive the same compensation as the principal clerk."

I will state, in a very few words, the substance of an explanation which I made a few days ago. I understand that the duties legitimately belonging to the Chief Clerk, are to keep a minute of the proceedings of the Senate and to make up the record; that the duties performed at the desk by Colonel Hickey are extra duties; and this proposition is to relieve him. His business, which is enough for any one man to perform, is elsewhere, and not at the desk. The resolution is only to authorize a proper organization of that desk. I think we are entitled to it. It increases the compensation allowed, from $1,500 to $1,800-which I apprehend is not unreasonable. I think really that there can be no serious objection to the resolution. It is intended not to affect any one's rights, but to enable the Secretary to perform, in a proper manner, the duties which devolve upon him. It meets his approbation, and that of all concerned, so far as I know.

Mr. MASON. I very respectfully submit to the Senator from Mississippi, whether it would not be proper to let the matter lie for the present. We do not now want a reading clerk. We may want one at the next session. There is no reason

Special Session-Reading Clerk.

in the world why we should go into an organization of the officers of the Senate at the close of this special session. I have heard a great deal on this subject. I have read some things about it, and I am strongly disposed to think that the officers of the Senate, the police officers, the ministerial agents, and probably those in the office of the Secretary of the Senate may want some organization. I am disposed to think it would be found expedient at the commencement of the next session to refer the subject to a committee to ascertain what the existing organization is, and inquire into the necessity which may exist for reorganization. If no other Senator should move in it, I may feel it incumbent upon me to ask for a committee at the next session to take into consideration the reorganization of the whole department of our officers. For the present, however, to test the sense of the Senate, move that the resolution lie upon the table.

The motion was not agreed to, there being on a division-ayes 14, noes 18.

Mr. BUTLER. I am sure such an officer as the resolution proposes to appoint is not necessary now. The desk does not require it; the business of the Senate does not require it; and who is it that requires an additional officer at this time-at the close of this session? Is the resolution proposed with the view that the Secretary shall select from his own clerks one to fill the office, or select one that he may think entirely suitable? or is it that there is somebody who wants the office, who is in the view of the gentleman who moves the resolution?

Mr. ADAMS. If the Senator will allow me, I will inform him that the resolution authorizes the Secretary to select whoever he may think proper.

Mr. BUTLER. I understand a little behind these things. [Laughter.] I suppose the Secretary has a pretty strong hint of who the incumbent is to be. Mr. President, if our patronage were to be dispensed in this way, I would have it that the gentleman who is to be selected for it, if an additional one be selected, should be some aspiring literary young man who, with $1,500 or $1,800 a year, would be enabled to improve his mind in the Library. I would have a man of literature, not one who is identified merely with party. If I had the assurance that the office would be disposed upon a man who would avail himself of the opportunity to improve his mind upon the subject of literaturesome young clergyman, or young man looking to a distinction of that kind-perhaps I might be less reluctant upon the subject; but at the close of the session I do not like to see the Senate subjected to terms to have an appointment made when there is no occasion for it; and I shall therefore vote against the resolution.

Mr. CHASE. I am quite satisfied that the officer is not needed at this session. We cannot tell what we may need at the next session; and in order that we may act with all the lights before us, I move that the subject be postponed until the first Monday in December next.

Mr. BAYARD called for the yeas and nays on the motion, and they were ordered.

Mr. WALKER. Would it be in order to propose an amendment to the resolution now?

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. BADGER in the chair.) It will not be in order pending the motion to postpone.

Mr. BORLAND. I shall vote for the postponement, for the reasons which have been so well stated by the Senators from Virginia and South Carolina, that at this session, at any rate, we do not need the addition to our clerical force, and that at the beginning of the next long session, if we do need it, we can take the subject up and dispose of it deliberately. We shall then have plenty of time before business accumulates on our hands, and we shall avoid the incurring of what I consider a very unnecessary expense, and also the doing with a very thin Senate—a bare quorum I apprehend-what would seem more properly to belong to a full Senate at the beginning of a new Congress.

Mr. ADAMS. This is a matter in which I have no feeling; but I deemed it necessary to introduce the resolution, for the advantage and convenience of the Senate. My opinion is that not one man out of ten thousand reading clerks, can be procured to discharge, in a suitable manner,

[SENATE.

the duties intended to be assigned to the individual embraced in the resolution, and I therefore desire to give the Secretary time to make the selection. It is a matter of very little patronage. Three hundred dollars a year, for the convenience of the Senate!

Mr. BORLAND. Eighteen hundred dollars. Mr. ADAMS. That is the salary which the resolution proposes to allow; but the Secretary is now authorized to give $1,500, if he should choose to appoint a person. Talk about patronage! Economical as I usually am, no objection on the score of economy entered into my mind to such a proposition. But as I said before, I have no feeling in the matter. If it is the pleasure of the Senate to postpone it indefinitely, I have a convenient seat near the desk, where I can hear any reading that may be thought necessary. I have deemed it a matter of importance, for the convenience of the Secretary, that the Secretary should have the opportunity of selecting the individual. Having confidence, as I have, in his discretion, I embraced in the resolution the privilege of suffering him to make the appointment. All I ask now is a vote.

Mr. WALKER. It is said that the Secretary has the power to appoint a $1,500 clerk, and that the resolution, in its operation, only increases the pay $300. Now, sir, we are at the close of an Executive session; very nearly nine months are to pass away before we shall enter upon the duties of another session; and suppose the Secretary should now exercise the power to appoint a reading clerk at $1,500 per annum, three fourths of whose salary would run on when he had not a word of reading to do, what would you say? For one, I am in favor of visiting, by investigation and punishment, those who are guilty of wrong-doing; and I say emphatically that I should be after him, for one, if he should exercise that power. I be lieve the Senate would revolt at the idea that he should employ a reading clerk whose salary should run nine months in the vacation of the Senate to start with. We propose, then, to do what we would censure the Secretary for doing. We are asked to resort to the unjustifiable patronage of employing a reading clerk for the Secretary, to sit down for nine months without the necessity of opening his mouth to read one word. That is the proposition. And besides, what do we want with more clerks at the Secretary's desk? I asked you, sir, if it was in order to offer an amendment. I have one here, which, if the original resolution be adopted, should also be adopted. It is to add to it the words,

"And that the desk of the Secretary be lengthened about five feet, five-and-a-half, or six feet."

Sir, it would be necessary to have more room there, if you get another reading clerk; for unless you extend the desk there will be no place for him to sit. We are to appoint a clerk to read nine months for us when we are scattered all over the Union! An act for which, if performed by the Secretary, we should censure him; yet it is proposed to pass the resolution and do it ourselves.

Mr. BUTLER. I understand from the Senator from Mississippi, that this clerk is to be a man of very rare endowments. I believe he said that not one in ten thousand could be got exactly suitable. I suppose, then, the object of the resolution is to authorize the Secretary of the Senate to employ a person who, during the nine months between now and the commencement of the next session, may come here and rehearse. I should like to hear the rehearsals, and the gentleman's practice in elocution. It would be an exhibition worth witnessing. Who would not come here every morning to hear that fellow sing out until he had almost got the records by heart? [Laughter.]

Mr. ADAMS. If the Senator will allow me, I will say that my remarks justified no such criticism as he has thought proper to put upon them with his great facility of turning everything into ridicule. I only suggested that there were but few reading clerks who would answer the purpose, and I desired to give the Secretary time to look around him to make the selection. How the Senator can, from my remarks, come to the extraordinary conclusion to which he arrives, I cannot see, though for that gentleman to come to an extraordinary conclusion is not strange.

Mr. BUTLER. I had not given up the floor when the Senator from Mississippi anticipated me.

32 CONG.....3D SESS.

I do not think the public service is so urgent that it is necessary to make an appointment at this time. That is my opinion. The Senator wants an opportunity for the Secretary to look around that he may determine whom to select. In that case I would advise the Secretary to attend the theater. [Laughter.] Very good voices can be found there, somtimes; but I rather think there is very little necessity to look around if the man is already decided upon.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I have taken no part in this matter. I have not been consulted as to the propriety of offering the resolution; but as there is an attempt, on the part of the Senator from South Carolina, to ridicule it, I will say that I am of the opinion that a reform in the reading here is necessary. I believe the Senate thinks so. There is a complaint that while our duties are discharged well in other respects, the reading is not done intelligibly. There is no use in our avoiding or trying to conceal the fact. We all confess it to one another. Why then not meet the evil and remedy it? For one I am in favor of doing it, and doing it now or at the next session. I would prefer that the resolution should say that the duties and pay of the person to be appointed should commence at the next session, though he may be appointed in the mean time.

Mr. ADAMS. I have no objection to that. Mr. DOUGLAS. I have no faith in these reforms which are to commence at the next session, and then at the next and the next, so that they are postponed interminably, and never acted on at all. I think, sir, we had better meet the question, and if we need a reading clerk let us have him. Perhaps we have clerks enough. I have no complaint to make except upon the point which I have mentioned, and upon that there is a universal complaint, not only by the Senate, but by all who witness our proceedings. It is true; and we may as well acknowledge it as try to conceal it. For one I think we ought to act, and act promptly and boldly; but let the pay commence when the service commences.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Chair understand the Senator from Mississippi to modify his resolution according to the suggestion of the Senator from Illinois?

Mr. ADAMS. Yes, sir.

Mr. MASON. In reply to the Senator from Illinois, I desire to say that I suspect my nerves are as sensitive to the proprieties of reading as his or other Senators, yet I have never had occasion to complain of the manner in which papers and documents are read at our desk. I will not specify the officers by name, but there are those who read habitually at that desk, who read better than most men we find. They read in a most articulate and distinct tone, and with a propriety which it is difficult to attain. It may not be so when the proper reader is engaged in other duties, and a substitute is in his place. In the attempt of the honorable Senator to reform, he may make a change, but I doubt exceedingly whether he will make an improvement. Of course I do not know who it is proposed to put in the place of our present reading clerk, but I have heard the name of one person mentioned whom I have heard read, and read a great deal in the other wing of this Capitol; and a more discordant, nasal, sawing tone than he possesses I have never heard. I do not know whom it is proposed to put there. I have no doubt if the resolution should pass, and the Secretary is left to himself, he will make as judicious a selection as he can; but it is a very difficult thing to select a competent reader; and I should very much apprehend, instead of a reform, we should have an alteration very much for the worse.

Mr. WALKER. I wish to join with the Senator from Virginia, in saying that I cannot think the complaint that our reading has been imperfect has been universal.

Mr. BUTLER. I do not complain. Mr. WALKER. For my own part I can bear testimony with the Senator from Virginia, that the reading at our desk is the best I ever heard; and if the Senator from Illinois cannot distinctly hear it, let him complain of those who stand behind him, and near to him, who make noise by their talk and their movements, and not complain of the Secretary. It will be difficult for us to get a better reader than the one whom we now have. I never

Special Session-Reading Clerk.

heard a person who could take up different handwritings, and read them with so little hesitation as that gentleman. I have wondered at it. I believe in one instance which I recollect, he misread a word, but it was so peculiar that he immediately became aware of the fact, and it was a subject of amusement to me. In reading the word "railroad," he called it "nailrod," and that I believe was the only mistake I ever heard him make. That was during the time when the subject of Pennsylvania iron was before us, and I do not wonder that nailrod and railroad iron should have been jointly occupying the mind of the reader.

SENATE.

the gentlemen who say that they are indisposed to bring in a new man to rank our clerks. I do not agree with my colleague that the reading here is bad or indifferent; on the contrary, when I contrast it with that in the House, I think we have excellent reading. In the House they have bawling and shouting; here we have reading: our clerk reads like a gentleman. I might have no hesitation in agreeing to something of this kind, if it were not that our Chief Clerk, one of the most faithful officers of the Senate, is to be superseded by it.

Mr. ADAMS. Not at all.

Mr. SHIELDS. Well, another is to be placed above him. That will be the effect of it, and it would be a great injustice. We all know that he has discharged his duties faithfully, and to the satisfaction of every one, not only at the desk but away from the desk. He has performed an amount of labor to my own knowledge that has astonished me; and I think it would be great injustice to bring in a man, not to supersede him exactly, but to rank him, for that is what it amounts to. If you make a change, place him in the position proposed, and let another take his place. That would be doing something like justice.

Mr. ADAMS. If the effect be as the Senator from Illinois seems to think, I certainly did not so intend it. One object in introducing the resolution, was to relieve the clerk to whom he has

But I do not know where the Senator has heard so much of these complaints. Doubtless he feels that there is a defect in the reading, but I think he attributes it to the wrong source. He is in the outside circle of seats in the Senate, and there is a good deal of noise there, and he doubtless has more reason to complain than those of us who are not so much subjected to the noise and confusion which surrounds him. Sir, I should regret exceedingly to see the risk run of getting a worse reader; and we have the testimony of the Senator from Virginia, that if the prominent man who is set up for this position should be selected, we shall have no reform, but a step backward in the conveniences adopted for the Senate. If it is intended to bring in a clerk here, new and inexperienced, who is to rank the old corps of clerks, who is to stand at the head of them, put them down and take pre-referred, Colonel Hickey, from the extra service cedence of them, I think it might justly be a subject of complaint. I hope it will not be done. I think we have tried our present clerks sufficiently to know that they will bear the test; and if we bring in a new clerk and put him over them, it may be a great inconvenience to us, and a great injustice both to the feelings and to the interests of the men whom we have so long tried. I think we shall be running a risk in doing it, and I am sorry to see the Senator from Illinois come forward with his influence to aid the proposition. I believe the resolution had better be postponed. I hope it will be, and that we shall at all events take the time which is proposed to be given to the Secretary to reflect and select, for our own reflection before we act in the matter.

Mr. PHELPS. During the short period of my service in this body, I have never heard the complaints of bad reading at the desk. That short period amounts now to about thirteen years, during which time we have had the same Secretary and I believe the same reading clerk. I have heard complaints that the reading at the desk could not be heard. I have had occasion very often to make that complaint; but the difficulty is not at the desk; it has grown out of a practice, which practice has grown up since I have been here, of admitting so many on the floor of the Senate. It is the conversation, the confusion produced by the introduction of persons who have no business here, which, in my judgment, produces the difficulty.

Now, Mr. President, I will ask a question which has been asked before. Where is the necessity of acting now? What duties is this new clerk to perform? Is there any deficiency in the force in the Secretary's office? It seems to me, that there is not. I think it will be a waste of money to appoint a reading clerk whose salary is to run from this time to the commencement of the

next session.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will suggest that the Senator who offered the resolution has modified it by directing the compensation to commence on the first day of the next session. Mr. ADAMS. I will add that the Secretary will have until that time to make the selection.

Mr. PHELPS. Then, I have only to add that I think the next Congress can take care of its own affairs, without our making such a preparation. I may as well speak plainly. I have regarded this rather as a movement-though not perhaps so intended-to increase the patronage of the body; and I confess it reminded me of a presiding officer of a town meeting in Rhode Island, which was called for the purpose of electing a member of the Legislature, who opened the meeting and then called upon them to cast their votes for Dick Harris for the town's representative.

Mr. SHIELDS. I think the corps of clerks which we have now is sufficient, and I agree with

which he now performs. We know that the duties which properly belong to him, could not be attended to by any other man, or at least, not without a great deal of experience; and it was in part, to relieve him from extraordinary labor, that I introduced the resolution.

Mr. SHIELDS. That is what I understand; but if we relieve him, let us do it by placing him in a higher position, and another in his place, for I apprehend we cannot get a better reader than Colonel Hickey, at least I have to hear a reader who satisfies me better than he does. I will ask another question. Do our officers ask for the change? Do they require this assistance? Does this emanate from them? If so, I would like to know it.

Mr. ADAMS. I can state that I am informed by the Secretary, that the legitimate business of the Chief Clerk, is to keep the minutes and record of the proceedings of the Senate; that the proper business belonging to the other clerk (Colonel Hickey) does not require him to come to the desk at all, but the duties which he performs here, are extra duties; that he needs aid. He did not ask this to be done, but he informed me that he needed a clerk whose business it would be to read.

Mr. BUTLER. I do not wish to protract this discussion, but as I have been brought into the debate justice requires me to bear my testimony, as far as it may be, as a matter of criticism. It has been said by the honorable Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] that there is universal complaint that the reading at our desk is not done in a way acceptable to the Senate. I say I have heard of no such universal complaint, and if I were to pronounce a criticism, it would be that in pronunciation, emphasis, and deliberation-I do not say enunciation, because it may not be loud enough to suit the ears of some gentlemen, but in pronunciation, emphasis, and that deliberate intonation which can express the meaning of the paper-I think it is done with admirable propriety at our desk, and especially as regards the pronunciation of proper names. I say it is done with beautiful propriety. You may get a reader who can talk louder and speak as though he were calling for a ferry-man on the other side of the Potomac, or so fast that he could count shot rolled down from the Capitol. [Laughter.] You may have one with all that mechanical skill, loudness, facility, and rapidity, but as a matter of criticism, I do not agree that it suits my taste. It is a matter of taste; that is all. De gustibus non est disputandum.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I certainly have no special interest in this matter. I spoke of the complaint, which I thought was generally conceded to exist, and which I really believe has been smothered by kind feelings towards the officers. But it is more agreeable to us all to get up and compliment gentlemen, than to complain; and if I had consulted

32D CONG....3D Sess.

my own feelings of delicacy, I would have complimented too, and aided in throwing this matter over; but I have thought for years that that complaint did exist. As my colleague has, injudiciously, I think, referred to one of the clerks by name, I will state that I have never seen a man in the public service whose business talents and prompt performance of duties, I more universally admired than those of Colonel Hickey.

I have no special desire about this matter. If the Senate are content, very well. I had nothing to do in originating it. I was not consulted about it; but when I saw an attempt to laugh it out of the Senate, I felt it due to frankness to express what I have so often heard in private-a deep anxiety that we could remedy it without changing the Secretary. I do believe that most of the desire to change the Secretary of the Senate, has arisen from the wish to remedy that evil; and my impression is that it will terminate in changing the Secretary in order to remedy the evil. But perhaps that is a mistake; I do not desire to see that. I have no feeling on the subject, and if the Senate are content with the reading, I have no more to say on the subject.

Mr. BORLAND. I never cast censure upon any one, if it be possible to avoid it, and I do not unnecessarily take any occasion to pay compliments; but the subject has been introduced, and as some difference of opinion has been expressed, I feel it but an act of justice, to say for myself, so far as the reading has been done by the gentleman referred to, I have not only been satisfied, but eminently gratified with it, on all occasions, and I should be sorry, as a member of the body, to see any change made, whereby we should lose his services in this particular.

Mr. DOUGLAS. To whom does the Senator allude?

Mr. BORLAND. To the one whose name the Senator mentioned-Colonel Hickey.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I do not understand that he has been reading clerk at all. I confess, if I am driven to particulars, that I think Colonel Hickey is the best officer at the desk; but I did not, in the first place, refer to him.

Mr. BORLAND. I have various reasons for opposing the resolution which has been offered, but if there is one stronger than another that induces me to oppose it, it is the fear of losing the services of that officer.

The question being taken by yeas and nays on the motion to postpone the consideration of the resolution until the first Monday in December next, resulted-yeas 25, nays 16; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Badger, Bayard, Borland, Butler, Chase, Clayton, Evans, Everett, Fish, Fitzpatrick, Houston, Hunter, Jones of Iowa, Mason, Morton, Phelps, Pratt, Seward, Shields, Smith, Soulé, Sumner, Thompson of Kentucky, Walker, and Wright-25.

NAYS-Messrs. Adams. Atchison, Atherton, Brodhead, Dodge of Wisconsin, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Hamlin, Norris, Pettit, Rusk, Sebastian, Stuart, Thomson of New Jersey, Toucey, and Welter-16.

So the motion was agreed to.

STUART'S NAVAL WORKS.

Mr. MORTON. Some days since I introduced a resolution directing the Secretary of the Senate to purchase for the use of the Senate five hundred copies of two works called "The Naval Dry Docks of the United States," and "The Naval and Mail Steamers of the United States," by the Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy. The works are very valuable, and I should have liked very much to have them purchased for distribution; but on reference to a clause in the deficiency bill of last session, to which reference was made yesterday, I see that it excludes such a proposition, and I

therefore ask leave to withdraw the resolution.

Mr. SEWARD. I suppose that requires unanimous consent.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator has no particular desire to withdraw the resolution, it can lie on the table without being acted upon.

Mr. MORTON. I do not desire its consideration. It was called up yesterday, and passed over at my request, and for the reason which I have stated I do not desire it to be acted upon. It is immaterial to me how it is disposed of.

HOUR OF MEETING.

submitted by Mr. WALKER yesterday, changing the hour of meeting to ten o'clock, a. m.

Mr. MASON. I intended to have said, when that resolution was up before, that I think it would be particularly inopportune now. The object is that we may adjourn by one o'clock. Now, sir, we were called here particularly to deliberate upon Executive nominations, and those nominations generally come in between one and two, and we ought therefore to be in session then.

Mr. WALKER. I do not know whether I am correct or not; but my impression is that we do not get the nominations of one day until the day subsequent. My desires are not otherwise than I expressed yesterday, to sit here while the Cabinet are in session, so that we may have an opportunity to attend to business at the Departments.

Mr. MASON. I move to postpone the further consideration of the resolution until to-morrow, for the purpose of going into Executive session. The motion was agreed to.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

The Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business; and after some time spent therein, the doors were reopened.

THE MEXICAN BOUNDARY.

Mr. HOUSTON submitted the following resolution for consideration:

Resolved, That John R. Bartlett, late Commissioner, and A. B. Gray, late United States Surveyor of the Mexican Boundary, be authorized to furnish a report and plans to the Senate of the explorations made by them and by others connected with the Commission under them, on the topography, geography, and natural history of the regions adjacent to the line, with such information as was collected relative to the Indian tribes through Texas, California, and New Mexico; and that the work be executed under the supervision of the Department of the Interior in a style and form corresponding with the publication of "The History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes," of H. R. Schoolcraft, now in course of publication, and Owen's Report on the Geology of Lake Superior: Provided, That the same shall not exceed two volumes. That one thousand copies be published for the use of the Senate, at as early a period as practicable, and the Secretary of the Senate is hereby authorized to contract for the publication thereof, and to defray the expenses out of the contingent fund. The Senate then adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, March 30, 1853. Prayer by the Rev. J. G. BUTler.

DEATH OF MRS. FILLMORE.

Mr. SEWARD. Mr. President, I wish to make a motion which I hope will receive the favorable consideration of the Senate. Intelligence has been received here of the death of Mrs. Fillmore, wife of Millard Fillmore, late President of the United States. She died this morning. As a mark of respect, I move that the Senate do now adjourn.

The motion was unanimously agreed to, and The Senate adjourned.

THURSDAY, March 31, 1853. Prayer by the Rev. J. G. BUTLER.

On the motion of Mr. GWIN, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business; and after some time spent therein the doors were reopened.

CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.

Mr. HAMLIN submitted the following resolution for consideration:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to contract with John C. Rives for a number of copies of the Congressional Globe and Appendix, equal to thirtyseven copies to each Senator, in addition to the number of copies now received by them; and that the price per copy shall not exceed the sum paid under the existing contract. ADJOURNMENT.

Mr. HOUSTON. I desire to submit a resolution, for the purpose of asking its adoption now, that the Senate will adjourn on Saturday next. Several SENATORS. Of this week?

Mr. HOUSTON. Yes; I am perfectly satisfied if we do not adjourn then that we shall be left without a quorum.

SENATE.

the Senate that I wrote a note to the President this morning, asking him if he could, for the convenience of Senators, inform me when we could probably be adjourned. I received for answer that he thought he could probably get through a great share of the public business on which he would desire our action now, by Wednesday or Thursday of next week. As to a quorum, we had forty-two Senators here the day before yesterday, and I suppose there are at least forty now in the city.

Ševeral SENATORS. And there are some coming back.

Mr. MASON. I think, with all respect to the honorable Senator from Texas, that it would not be altogether courteous to the President, under these circumstances, to adopt such a resolution.

Mr. HOUSTON. I am sorry that I cannot concur with the Senator from Virginia. If we do not adjourn by Saturday, I shall certainly go home. I offer the following resolution:

Resolved, That unless the President of the United States shall have further communications to make, the Senate will adjourn on Saturday next.

Mr. MASON. Let it lie over.

NANTUCKET LIGHT-HOUSE REPORT. Mr. HAMLIN submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That one hundred copies of the report of the Secretary of War, with the report of Major Bache, relative to the light house structure on New South Shoals, off Nantucket, heretofore ordered to be printed for the Senate, be printed for Major Bache.

MESSENGER TO THE SENATE.

Mr. BADGER submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms be authorized to employ Preston Starritt, as messenger, from the first day of April, and that during the recess he shall, under the direction of the Sergeant-at-Arms, take care of the Senate committee rooms, and perform such other duties as may be assigned to him.

PATENT OFFICE BUILDING.

Mr. HOUSTON submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, instructed to furnish the Senate with a report of an examination, on file in the Department of the Interior, made of the Patent Office building in 1851, under the direction of the Commissioner of Public Buildings.

On motion by Mr. JONES, of Iowa, the Senate adjourned.

FRIDAY, April 1, 1853.

Prayer by the Rev. J. G. BUTLER.

Mr. MASON. I desire to withdraw the memorial of Francis W. Rice, late American Consul at Acapulco, and the documents accompanying it, relative to outrages committed upon him and other American citizens by the Mexican authorties. In asking leave to withdraw these papers, I wish to say that the memorial was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations at the last session, but it was at a very late day and it was imposible for the committee to act upon it. I have since examined it together with a communication from the President, communicating information relative to the same subject. It manifestly appears that very great and cruel oppression was exercised by the Mexican authorities at Acapulco on the person of this consul. He was treated with indignity and eventually imprisoned; and so far as we are informed no redress was obtained by the Government of the United States. The consul, as he informs me, desires to lay his memorial before the present Administration, with the view to obtain the redress which it is manifest from the papers is due to him and to this Government. I ask leave to withdraw the papers. Leave was granted.

UNITED STATES BONDS ABROAD. Mr. BRODHEAD. I desire to lay upon the table the following resolution, which I will call up in a day or two:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be required to procure, so far as practicable, and furnish the same to the Senate at the commencement of the next session of Congress, the following information, to wit:

The aggregate amount of Federal, State, city, county, railroad, canal, and other corporation bonds, stocks, or other