Abridgement of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 (4 of 16 vol.)

Monday, November 7, 1808

Conformably to the act, passed the last session, entitled "An act to alter the time for the next meeting of Congress," the second session of the tenth Congress commenced this day; and the Senate assembled at the city of Washington.

• George Clinton, Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.

• Nicholas Gilman and Nahum Parker, from New Hampshire.

• Timothy Pickering, from Massachusetts.

• James Hillhouse and Chauncey Goodrich, from Connecticut.

• Benjamin Howland and Elisha Mathewson, from Rhode Island.

• Stephen R. Bradley and Jonathan Robinson, from Vermont.

• Samuel L. Mitchill and John Smith, from New York.

• John Condit and Aaron Kitchel, from New Jersey.

• Samuel Maclay, from Pennsylvania.

• Samuel White, from Delaware.

• William B. Giles, from Virginia.

• James Turner, from North Carolina.

• Thomas Sumter and John Gaillard, from South Carolina.

• William H. Crawford, from Georgia.

• Buckner Thruston and John Pope, from Kentucky.

• Daniel Smith, from Tennessee.

• Edward Tiffin, from Ohio.

James Lloyd, jun., appointed a Senator by the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, to supply the place of John Quincy Adams, resigned, took his seat in the Senate, and produced his credentials, which were read, and the oath prescribed by law was administered to him.

Ordered, That the Secretary acquaint the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business; and that Messrs. Bradley and Pope be a committee on the part of the Senate, together with such committee as may be appointed by the House of Representatives on their part, to wait on the President of the United States and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled.

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that a quorum of the House is assembled and ready to proceed to business; and that the House had appointed a committee on their part, jointly with the committee appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States and notify him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled.

Resolved, That James Mathers, Sergeant-at-Arms and Doorkeeper to the Senate, be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ one assistant and two horses, for the purpose of performing such services as are usually required by the Doorkeeper to the Senate; and that the sum of twenty-eight dollars be allowed him weekly for that purpose, to commence with, and remain during the session, and for twenty days after.

On motion, by Mr. Bradley,

Resolved, That two Chaplains, of different denominations, be appointed to Congress during the present session, one by each House, who shall interchange weekly.

Mr. Bradley reported, from the joint committee, that they had waited on the President of the United States, agreeably to order, and that the President of the United States informed the committee that he would make a communication to the two Houses at 12 o'clock to-morrow.

Tuesday, November 8

Samuel Smith and Philip Reed, from the State of Maryland, attended.

The following Message was received from the President of the United States:

To the Senate and House ofRepresentatives of the United States:

It would have been a source, fellow-citizens, of much gratification, if our last communications from Europe had enabled me to inform you that the belligerent nations, whose disregard of neutral rights has been so destructive to our commerce, had become awakened to the duty and true policy of revoking their unrighteous edicts. That no means might be omitted to produce this salutary effect, I lost no time in availing myself of the act authorizing a suspension, in whole, or in part, of the several embargo laws. Our Ministers at London and Paris were instructed to explain to the respective Governments there, our disposition to exercise the authority in such manner as would withdraw the pretext on which aggressions were originally founded, and open the way for a renewal of that commercial intercourse which it was alleged, on all sides, had been reluctantly obstructed. As each of those Governments had pledged its readiness to concur in renouncing a measure which reached its adversary through the incontestable rights of neutrals only, and as the measure had been assumed by each as a retaliation for an asserted acquiescence in the aggressions of the other, it was reasonably expected that the occasion would have been seized by both for evincing the sincerity of their professions, and for restoring to the commerce of the United States its legitimate freedom. The instructions of our Ministers, with respect to the different belligerents, were necessarily modified with a reference to their different circumstances, and to the condition annexed by law to the Executive power of suspension requiring a degree of security to our commerce which would not result from a repeal of the decrees of France. Instead of a pledge therefore of a suspension of the embargo as to her, in case of such a repeal, it was presumed that a sufficient inducement might be found in other considerations, and particularly in the change produced by a compliance with our just demands by one belligerent, and a refusal by the other, in the relations between the other and the United States. To Great Britain, whose power on the ocean is so ascendant, it was deemed not inconsistent with that condition to state, explicitly, on her rescinding her orders in relation to the United States, their trade would be opened with her, and remain shut to her enemy, in case of his failure to rescind his decrees also. From France no answer has been received, nor any indication that the requisite change in her decrees is contemplated. The favorable reception of the proposition to Great Britain was the less to be doubted, as her Orders of Council had not only been referred for their vindication to an acquiescence on the part of the United States no longer to be pretended, but as the arrangement proposed, whilst it resisted the illegal decrees of France, involved, moreover, substantially, the precise advantages professedly aimed at by the British Orders. The arrangement has, nevertheless, been rejected.

This candid and liberal experiment having thus failed, and no other event having occurred on which a suspension of the embargo by the Executive was authorized, it necessarily remains in the extent originally given to it. We have the satisfaction, however, to reflect, that in return for the privations imposed by the measure, and which our fellow-citizens in general have borne with patriotism, it has had the important effects of saving our mariners, and our vast mercantile property, as well as of affording time for prosecuting the defensive and provisional measures called for by the occasion. It has demonstrated to foreign nations the moderation and firmness which govern our councils, and to our citizens the necessity of uniting in support of the laws and the rights of their country, and has thus long frustrated those usurpations and spoliations which, if resisted, involved war, if submitted to, sacrificed a vital principle of our national independence.

Under a continuance of the belligerent measures, which, in defiance of laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean with danger, it will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the course best adapted to such a state of things; and bringing with them, as they do, from every part of the Union, the sentiments of our constituents, my confidence is strengthened that, in forming this decision, they will, with an unerring regard to the essential rights and interests of the nation, weigh and compare the painful alternatives out of which a choice is to be made. Nor should I do justice to the virtues which, on other occasions, have marked the character of our fellow-citizens, if I did not cherish an equal confidence that the alternative chosen, whatever it may be, will be maintained with all the fortitude and patriotism which the crisis ought to inspire.

The documents containing the correspondences on the subject of foreign edicts against our commerce, with the instructions given to our Ministers at London and Paris, are now laid before you.

The communications made to Congress at their last session explained the posture in which the close of the discussions relating to the attack by a British ship of war on the frigate Chesapeake, left a subject on which the nation had manifested so honorable a sensibility. Every view of what had passed authorized a belief that immediate steps would be taken by the British Government for redressing a wrong, which, the more it was investigated, appeared the more clearly to require what had not been provided for in the special mission. It is found that no steps have been taken for the purpose. On the contrary, it will be seen, in the documents laid before you, that the inadmissible preliminary, which obstructed the adjustment, is still adhered to; and, moreover, that it is now brought into connection with the distinct and irrelative case of the Orders in Council. The instructions which had been given to our Minister at London, with a view to facilitate, if necessary, the reparation claimed by the United States, are included in the documents communicated.

Our relations with the other powers of Europe have undergone no material changes since our last session. The important negotiations with Spain, which had been alternately suspended and resumed, necessarily experience a pause under the extraordinary and interesting crisis which distinguishes her internal situation.

With the Barbary Powers we continue in harmony, with the exception of an unjustifiable proceeding of the Dey of Algiers towards our Consul to that Regency. Its character and circumstances are now laid before you, and will enable you to decide how far it may, either now or hereafter, call for any measures not within the limits of the Executive authority.

Of the gun boats authorized by the act of December last, it has been thought necessary to build only one hundred and three in the present year. These, with those before possessed, are sufficient for the harbors and waters most exposed, and the residue will require little time for their construction when it shall be deemed necessary.

Under the act of the last session for raising an additional military force, so many officers were immediately appointed as were necessary for carrying on the business of recruiting; and in proportion as it advanced, others have been added. We have reason to believe their success has been satisfactory, although such returns have not yet been received as enable me to present you a statement of the number engaged.

The suspension of our foreign commerce, produced by the injustice of the belligerent powers, and the consequent losses and sacrifices of our citizens, are subjects of just concern. The situation into which we have thus been forced has impelled us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to internal manufactures and improvements. The extent of this conversion is daily increasing, and little doubt remains that the establishments formed and forming will, under the auspices of cheaper materials and subsistence, the freedom of labor from taxation with us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions, become permanent. The commerce with the Indians, too, within our own boundaries, is likely to receive abundant aliment from the same internal source, and will secure to them peace and the progress of civilization, undisturbed by practices hostile to both.

The accounts of the receipts and expenditures during the year ending on the thirtieth day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct statement will hereafter be transmitted from the Treasury. In the mean time, it is ascertained that the receipts have amounted to near eighteen millions of dollars, which, with the eight millions and a half in the Treasury at the beginning of the year, have enabled us, after meeting the current demands, and interest incurred, to pay two millions three hundred thousand dollars of the principal of our funded debt, and left us in the Treasury, on that day, near fourteen millions of dollars. Of these, five millions three hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be necessary to pay what will be due on the first day of January next, which will complete the reimbursement of the eight per cent. stock. These payments, with those made in the six years and a half preceding, will have extinguished thirty-three millions five hundred and eighty thousand dollars of the principal of the funded debt, being the whole which could be paid or purchased within the limits of the law and our contracts; and the amount of principal thus discharged will have liberated the revenue from about two millions of dollars of interest, and added that sum annually to the disposable surplus. The probable accumulation of the surpluses of revenue beyond what can be applied to the payment of the public debt, whenever the freedom and safety of our commerce shall be restored, merits the consideration of Congress. Shall it lie unproductive in the public vaults? Shall the revenue be reduced? Or, shall it not rather be appropriated to the improvements of roads, canals, rivers, education, and other great foundations of prosperity and union, under the powers which Congress may already possess, or such amendment of the constitution as may be approved by the States? While uncertain of the course of things, the time may be advantageously employed in obtaining the powers necessary for a system of improvement, should that be thought best.

Availing myself of this, the last occasion which will occur, of addressing the two Houses of the Legislature at their meeting, I cannot omit the expression of my sincere gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested to me by themselves and their predecessors since my call to the administration, and the many indulgences experienced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments are due to my fellow-citizens generally, whose support has been my great encouragement under all embarrassments. In the transaction of their business I cannot have escaped error. It is incident to our imperfect nature. But I may say with truth my errors have been of the understanding, not of intention, and that the advancement of their rights and interests has been the constant motive for every measure. On these considerations I solicit their indulgence. Looking forward with anxiety to their future destinies, I trust that, in their steady character, unshaken by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law, and support of the public authorities, I see a sure guarantee of the permanence of our Republic; and retiring from the charge of their affairs, I carry with me the consolation of a firm persuasion that Heaven has in store for our beloved country long ages to come of prosperity and happiness.

November 8, 1808.

The Message and papers were in part read, and one thousand copies ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.

A confidential Message was also received, with sundry documents therein referred to, which were read for consideration.

Wednesday, November 9

Jesse Franklin, from the State of North Carolina, attended.

Friday, November 11

A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that the House have appointed the Rev. Mr. Brown a Chaplain to Congress, on their part, during the present session.

Monday, November 14

Joseph Anderson, from the State of Tennessee, and Andrew Moore, from the State of Virginia, attended.

Wednesday, November 16

Andrew Gregg, from the State of Pennsylvania, attended.

Monday, November 21

This being the day fixed for the discussion of the following resolution, offered by Mr. Hillhouse:

Resolved, That it is expedient that the act, entitled "An act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States," and the several acts supplementary thereto, be repealed; and that a committee be appointed to prepare and report a bill for that purpose:

Mr. Hillhouse opened the debate. When the reporter entered the Senate chamber, Mr. H. had been speaking for a few minutes, and was then discussing the effect which the embargo had had upon France, and the light in which it was viewed by her rulers. He alluded to the declaration of satisfaction at the measure, contained in a late French exposé, and made many observations tending to show that it was not a measure of hostility or coercion, as applied to France.

On England it had little or no effect. Her resources were immense. If deprived of a supply of grain here, she could obtain it elsewhere. The Barbary Powers were at war with France and at peace with England, who might thence obtain wheat in any quantity she pleased. Great Britain, he said, was a nation with the whole world before her; her commerce spread over every sea, and she had access to almost every port and clime. Could America expect to starve this nation? It was a farce, an idle farce. As to her West India Islands, they raised Indian corn; all their sugar plantations could be converted into corn-fields, and would any man say that they would starve because they could not get superfine flour? Was this a necessary of life without which they could not subsist? On the contrary, a great proportion of the American people subsisted on it, and enjoyed as good health as if they ate nothing but the finest of wheat flour. The moment people understood that they could not get their necessary supplies from a customary source, they would look out for it in another quarter, and ample time had been given to them to make arrangements for this purpose. A man of the first respectability in the town in which Mr. H. lived, had been there during this embargo, under the President's permission. What accounts did he bring? Why, that the trade in corn-meal and live cattle, articles of great export from Connecticut, and comprising not only the product of that State, but of parts of the neighboring States, would be entirely defeated; that, where they had formerly sent a hundred hogsheads of meal, they would not now find vent for ten; and that, from South America, where cattle had, in times past, been killed merely for their hides and tallow, cattle in abundance could be procured. Were these people to be starved out, when they could actually purchase cheaper now from other places than they had formerly done from us? No; the only consequence would be, and that too severely felt, that we should lose our market; the embargo thus producing, not only present privation and injury, but permanent mischief. The United States would have lost the chance of obtaining future supplies, they would have lost their market, and ten or twenty years would place them on the same footing as before. Mr. H. said the West Indians would have learnt that they can do without us; that they can raise provisions cheaper on their own plantations than we can sell them; and knowing this, they would never resort to us. Though we might retain a part of this commerce, the best part would be lost forever. The trade would not be worth pursuing; though this might answer one purpose intended by the embargo, and which was not expressed.

Having considered the article of provisions as important to various parts of the Union, Mr. H. said he would now turn to another article, cotton. It had been very triumphantly said, that the want of this article would distress the manufacturers of Great Britain, produce a clamor amongst them, and consequently accelerate the repeal of the Orders in Council. Mr. H. said he would examine this a little, and see if all the evil consequences which opened on him at the time of the passage of the embargo law were not likely to be realized. He had hinted at some of them at that time, but the bill had gone through the Senate like a flash of lightning, giving no time for examination; once, twice, and a third time in one day, affording no time for the development of all its consequences. This article of cotton was used not only by Britain, but by France and other nations on the Continent. Cotton, not being grown in Europe, must be transported by water carriage. This being the case, who would now be most likely to be supplied with it? Not the Continental Powers who have so little commerce afloat nor any neutrals to convey it to them; for the United States were the only neutral which, of late, traded with France, and now the embargo was laid, she had no chance of getting it, except by the precarious captures made by her privateers. To Great Britain, then, was left the whole commerce of the world, and her merchants were the only carriers. Would not these carriers supply their own manufacturers? Would they suffer cotton to go elsewhere, until they themselves were supplied? America was not the only country where cotton was raised; for he had seen an account of a whole cargo brought into Salem from the East Indies, and thence exported to Holland, with a good profit. Cotton was also raised in Africa, as well as elsewhere; and this wary nation, Great Britain, conceiving that the United States might be so impolitic as to keep on the embargo, had carried whole cargoes of the best cotton seed there for the purpose of raising cotton for her use. Great Britain had possessions in every climate on the globe, and cotton did not, like the sturdy oak, require forty or fifty years to arrive at maturity; but, if planted, would produce a plentiful supply in a year. Thus, then, when this powerful nation found America resorting to such means to coerce her, she had taken care to look out for supplies in other quarters; and, with the command of all the cotton on the globe which went to market, could we expect to coerce her by withholding ours? Mr. H. said no; all the inconvenience which she could feel from our measure had already been borne; and Great Britain was turning her attention to every part of the globe to obtain those supplies which she was wont to get from us, that she might not be reduced to the humiliating condition of making concession to induce us to repeal our own law, and purchase an accommodation by telling us that we had a weapon which we could wield to her annoyance. Mr. H. wished to know of gentlemen if we had not experience enough to know that Great Britain was not to be threatened into compliance by a rod of coercion? Let us examine ourselves, said he, for if we trace our genealogy we shall find that we descend from them; were they to use us in this manner, is there an American that would stoop to them? I hope not; and neither will that nation, from which we are descended, be driven from their position, however erroneous, by threats.

This embargo, therefore, instead of operating on those nations which had been violating our rights, was fraught with evils and privations to the people of the United States. They were the sufferers. And have we adopted the monkish plan of scourging ourselves for the sins of others? He hoped not; and that, having made the experiment and found that it had not produced its expected effect, they would abandon it, as a measure wholly inefficient as to the objects intended by it, and as having weakened the great hold which we had on Great Britain, from her supposed dependence on us for raw materials.

Some gentlemen appeared to build up expectations of the efficiency of this system by an addition to it of a non-intercourse law. Mr. H. treated this as a futile idea. They should however examine it seriously, and not, like children, shut their eyes to danger. Great Britain was not the only manufacturing nation in Europe. Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, manufactured more or less, and most of them had colonies, the exclusive supply of whose manufactures they had heretofore reserved to themselves. While we had enjoyed the carrying trade, we had supplied the deficiency in navigation of those nations; and all the inconvenience felt for the want of it ceased because we stepped in and aided them. This trade had been cut up, and perhaps it was not a trade which the energies of the nation should be embarked in defending. Who was there now to supply all these various colonies that used to be supplied by us? None but England, the sole mistress of the ocean. Whose products, then, would Great Britain carry? Would she carry products of other nations, and let her own manufacturers starve? No; and this exclusion from the colonies of other manufactures, and leaving her merchants the sole carriers of the world, produced a greater vent for her manufactures than the whole quantity consumed in the United States.