Congressional

Drc. 20. Mr Webster assmneJ liis seit. Among oiher re-olutons of' State Legislatures, ihe following were presented . Bv Mr UnHerwood : From the Lpgis lalure ot Kentucky.urging the importance of the passage of such lawsas will enable the ciüzfins of slaveholding States to recover tlieir slaves when escaping to non slnveholding Statfs. [Mr. U. briefly adverted to the importance of this sjbject to the slaveholHing States. lt M represented Iha' the clause of the constituían ndinitting fugiine slaves to be rectaimed was ir. many inttances wholly disregarded. He spoke of i instanc-es of bis owr, knowledge vhere claves bid been pursupd, and when captured had been released by the inteiTerenes of mot. A gentleman who had lost a riave followed him to Detroit nnd arrested him there, but he wns taken from the powession of his mnster by a mob, nnd the onner was arrested on an action of trespass ut lh nslar.ee of his own slave and imprisoned, nnd had it not been for the kind interference of Mr Norvell, formerly of the Sennte, who went his bail, he nrght have remained shut up in a close prison for a great length o( time. After the necessary proof of ownership had been sent on, and ihe slave ogain arrested, he was, through the instrumentalily of a mob, released and escapeé to Canada. He expressed the hope that the Committee on the Judiciary would revise the law, or see what else could be eSected in the premises ] By Mr Hale : From the State of New Hampshire, in faror of the compromises of the constitution, and declaring it lo be no part of the duty of State Governments t, legislate upon slavery within slaveholding States, and that all territory hereafter added or to be acquired,whpre slavery does not exist should forever remain free, &c. By Mr Atherton : From the State of New Hampshire, djclaring that the enlargement of the franking privilege and the increae of postage on papers not sent from the offices of publication was not demanded by the public sentiment or the public interest, but isclearly in derogation of both. Dec. 21. The proceedings of the Senate to-day were of liltle import, "oeing mostly petitions. Bills jntroduced, Reports and Resolutions of Instructions upon minor matte rs. HOUSE. The States were called for petitions, when Mr Giddings presented a memorial of rertain citizers of the District of Columbia, rppresenting - ''That the slave trade is now carried on in the District of Columhia to a large exten?. Your pptitionprs, therefore, re spectfully a-k that all latvs aulhorizing or sanclioning such traHa within said District may be repealed. " Mr G moved to refer this memorial to the Comrnittee on the Judiciary. Mr J R lngersoll said he rose to a point of order. He said his point of order was that it was a mere abstract proposition which was proposed to be referred to the Judiciary Uommittee, and that no aetion could result from the reference of the petition. Mr. Clmgman inquired if a motion to lay the peiition on the table had been made. After 6ome conversation, the question was put on laying the pe'.ition on the table, ond dreided by veas and nays : yeas 97, nays 97. The Speaker said the Chnir had uniformly voled In the negative. The motion to lay on the table was therefore rejeeled. Mr John G Chapman said, as the memorial had reference to the District of Columbin, he therefore moved iis reference to ie Ciimrnittee on the District of Columbia. Mr Howe'.l Cobb stating dis desire to débale the memorial, it was laid over under the rule. REPORTS OP C0MMITTEE8. Mr Vinton, from the Committee of Waysand Means, reported a bilí making an appropriation to supply in part a deficiencyintheappropriationsforsubsislence in kind of the army and volunteers during the year ending the 20th of June, 1848. Read a first and second time and committed to the committee of the whole on the state of the Union. Various resolutions in regsrd to the Mexican War were then presented; but the objeciions being made were laid over under the rule. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. Mr Wentworth submitted a resolution, and on it he asked for the previous question. The clerk read the resolution as follows : R solved, That the General Government hai the power to construct such harbors and improve such rivers as nre "necefsary and proper" fur the protection of 'ur navy and our commerce, and aho for iht Jefences of our country. Mr Venable moved to lny ihe resolution on ihe table. Mr Wentworth colled for (lie veas and nays on lliat molion. Mr Venable witlidrew his motion. A briof convprsation ensued betwpen Mr G.nyle, ibe Speaker, Mr G S Hiuston, and Mr Wentworth on a pointof order. Mr. Root :lien cnlled f r tellers on seoii'üng the d;mand for the previous queslion, and wrre ordered. Messrs Root and McClelland were nrpointed lellers, and they reponed 104 in the affinnative. There wa? iherefore a seoond. The Spratrr stateJ the next question O be, "Shnll the main quesiion be now pjt?" Mr C J Ingersoll, befare he volpd, desired ihe rnovrr of tlie resolulion to g'ive hiin s'ime iníormation resperting a lerin u-ed n ii, as he was sninewhni at a loss to know its irecise meining. VVhat did tlie gentleman mean by tht lerm "government ?" The main question wasordeied. Mr Wentworth called for the veas and nays on tlie adoption of the resolution ; and they were oi-dered. Mr Cumrtiings nsked fur a división of the question, so that the vote should Le taken separately on the portions referring to the militan' and commercial purposes. The Spenker said the cali for a división carne too late. The main question was ihert put ; "Will the House agiee to the said resolution ?" and it was agreed to, 138 to 54. The House then adjourned. SENATE. Dee. 22. Mr Hule presented a memorial of tlie Yearly Meeting of Friendo in Indiana, praying Congress to legislate so as to put ari end to the war and abolish slavery. Mr Hale said that as this petition referred tü the subject of slavery generally, he suoposed it might be considered to embrace the subject of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and as such to come within the usual course acopted by the Senate of laving the queslion of reception on the table. As that custom, however, did not meet his views of duty, he should be compelled to ask the yeas and nays upon the motion. The question was then taken by yeas and nays and it was decided thnt the motion to receive the petitions should lie upon the table. Yeas 33, nays 9, as follows : Yeas- Allen, Ashley, Alchinson, Athcrton, Badgcr, Bell, Berrien, Bradbury, Brcese, Bright, Butler, Calhoun, Css, Dnvis, of Miss., Dickinson, Dix, Downs, Fairfield, Felch, Foote. Hunter, Johnson, of Md., Johnson, of La., Mangum, Mason, Niles, Rusk, Sevier, Spruanee, Sturgeon, Turney,Westcott, Yulee- 33. Nays- BaIdwin,Clarke,Corwin,Green, Hale, Miller, Phelps, Underwood, Upham - 9. Mr Hale also presented a peiition praying the abolition of slavery Ihroughout the Union. The quesiion being upon a mo'ion to lay the question of reception on the table, Mr Hale said that his course in this matter was dictated solely by a sense of duty, and not fom any desire to provoke a discussion upon this exciting subject. Hetook the ground tint hose who advocnted slavery, and opposed all investigation upon tho subjec!, placed that institu. tion above the institutes of God himself, and he could not ncquiesce in the course adopied by the Senate in disposing of the-e memoiials. The motion to receive the petition was then laid upon the table. Mr Cass, from thecommittee on military affairs, reported a bilí to mise, for a limited timp, nn additionnl number of troops, and gave notice that hc would cali it up as soon ; s it should be printed. HOUSE. After the usual reading of journal, presentation of petitions and reports, Mr Lincoln moved the following preamble and resolutions, which were read and laid over under the rule : Whereas the President of the United States, in his message of May 11, 1846, has declared that "the Mexican Government not only refused to receive him, [theenvoy of the United States,] or listen to his propositions, hut, aftera long continued series of menaces, have at last invaded our lerrilory, and shed the blood of our fellow citizens on our own soil." And again, in his message of December 8, 1846, that "we had ampie cause of war against Mexico long before the breaking out of hostilities, but even then we forbore to take redressinto our own hands until Mexico herself became the aggressor, by invading our soil in hostile array andshedding the blood of our citizens." And yetngain, in his message of December 7, 1847, that "the Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of adjustment which he [our minister of peace] was authorized to propose, and finally, under wholly unjustifiable pietexts, involved the two countries in war, by invading he territorv of the State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the blood of our citizens on our own soil." And whereas ihis House is desirousto ob'.ain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particular spot on which the blood of our citizei s was so shed was or was not at thai lime our own soil. Therefore, Resolved by the House of Reprcsentatives, That the President of the United States be respecifully requested to inform this Houe - lst. Whether ihe spot on which the blood f our cilizeiis was shed, ns in his message declared, was or was not within the lerritory of Spain, nt least rfter the treaty of 1819 unlil tho Mexican revoluLon. 2d. Whether that spot isor is not within the territory which was wrested from Spnin by the ievolut:on;iry governmenl of Mexico. 3d. W I ether thai spot is or is not with' in aseitlement of people,wh'ch settlemert has existed ever since long before the Texas revolution, and utitil its inhabitanls fled before the npproach of t'.ie U. States army. 4th. Wlvther that settlemenl is or is not solated from nny nnd all other settlemenis by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on Ihe south and west, nnd by wide uninhabited regions on the north and east. 5lh. Whether the people of that settlement, er a majority of them, hnve ever eubmilted therrselves to the governmenl or laws of Texas or of ihe United Siates, by consent or by compulsión, eilher by accepiing office, or voting at elections, or paying ta.t, or serving on juries, or having procedes served upon them, or in any other way. 6(h. Whether the penpleof that settlement did or did not flee from the approach of the United Staies army, leaving unprotected their homes and their growing crops, before the blood was shed, as in the messages stated, and whether theñrst blood, so shed, was or was nol shed within the encloure of one of the people who had thus fled from it. 7th. Whether our citizen,whose blood was as in his messages declared, were or were not at that time, armed officers and soldiers, sent into that settlement by the military order of the President through the Secretary of VVar. 8th. Whether the military force of the United States wasor was not so sent into that settlement after Gen. Taylor had more than once intimaied to the VVar Department, that, in his opinión, no such movíment was necessiry to the defence or protection of Texus. SUPPLIKS FOR THE ARMY. On motion of Mr Vinton, the House resolved itself into Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, (Mr C J Ingersoll in the chair,) and proceeded to the consideration of the bill making an appropriation to supply in part a deficiency in the appropriations for subsistence in kind of the army and volunteers during the year ending June 30, 1848. The Bill provided for an appropriation of one million uf dollars to meet drafts on the Comissary department which had been cashed in Mexico by resident brokers, and to meet which there was but sixty thousand dollars in the hands of the Commissary Genera!. The commitlee afier proper consideration rose and reported to the house in fuvor of the adoption of the Li 1, which was rea'1, engrossed, read a thiid time, passed and sent to the Senate for conctirrenc-, and the house ajain resolved itself into committee of the whole on the st ite of the Union, for the consideration of the President's mes a je. Mr Vinton offered n set of resolutions referring the different ports of the message to the different committees. Mr Clitigman ofTered the fullowing amendmrRt : Resolved, Thai so much of the President's message as relates to the acquisition of territory, be referred to the committee on Foreign Affairs, with instructions that, if they shall think it expedient that territory be acquired, then they shall state on what ternis and con itions said territory should be recehed. In support of which he addressed the committee in a long speech. On motion of Mr Giddings, the resolutions were divided, and the first resolution referring so much of the message as relates to foreign affairs to the committee on that subject was read. Mr Giddings wished to inquire whether that portion of the Presideni's message which calis upon Congress to make an appropriation to pay for slavej lost on board the Amistad by that resolution wo'd be referred lo the committee on foreign affairs. Mr Vinton replied that that resolution referred to the committee on foreign affaira all our relations with foreign countvies. This, as he understood, was a claim set up on the part of Spain for an indemnity. It would therefore go to this committee. The committee rose and the ch airman reported progress. Mr McKay moved that the resolutions moved by Mr Vinton in committee of the whole on the state of the Union on the President's message this doy be printed. Agreed lo. Mr Brodhead, by general consent, sent to the clerk's table a series of resolntions. which he said he inlended to move in committee of the whole on the state of the Union in reference to the President's message. The reïolutions ere referred o the same committee as the President's Tiessage. And then the House ndjourned. Dec. 21. In ihe Senate, Mr Bradbury announ:ed the death of Senator Fairfield, of Maine. Mr Niles of Conn., followed with a feeling eulogy on the character of the late senator ; Rnd stated that a warm p.'ivate friendship existed between the deceased and hini, and that he was admired by all for his open charac'.er, as well as Por his high integrity. Mr Niles, after concluding his remarks, oflered a resolution that a committee of arrangements be appointed to take charge of the luneral, which was carried. The following senators composed the committee : Messrs. Niles, Berrien, Dix, líreese, Crittenden and Green. ATter appointing the above committee, as a mark of respect, the Senate adjourned. Dec. 28. The Senate resolved to attend the funeral of Mr Fairfield from the lodgings of the deceased, and appointed Mr Clark to convey the remains to Maine. Adjourned. In the House, Mr Hunt gave notice that to-moirow heshould offer a joint resolution of thanks to Gen. Scott and the officers of the army for their distinguished services in Mexico. Mr Sawyer,of Ohio.ofTered resolutions to regúlate trade between Indians and whites. Mr Smith, of Indiana, presented petitions to abolish ilavery in the District of Columbia. Mr Cabell, of Florida, moved to lay tlie petitions on the table. Yeas 76, nays 70. The House adjourned to attend the funeral of Mr Fairfield. SENATE. Dec. 29. The V . President laid before the Senate a report from the Secretary of the Navy, in relation to the expenditure of the contingent approprittions. He also laid before the Senate a report from the Secretary of Treasury, in relation to overflowed public lands in Arkansas. Also a communication from that functionary relating to the public lands. Mr Cass from committee on military affairs, reported a bilí to provide for the farther prosecution of the Mexican war - he also report,ed a bilí relating to the volunleers. Mr Atherton, Irom the committee on finance, reported a bilí from the House providing for deficiency in subsistence appropriation. Read a third time and passed. Agreeable to notice, the bilí relating to the preemption laws, carne up. Mr. Wescott, from the Committees on Patents and Patent Office, reported a bilí to increase the numbers of examining clerks. House. - Mr. Stuart of Michigan announced the death of Edward Bradley, of that State. The eulogy will be delivered to-morrow. The members of Congress hold a Taylor meeting to-night at Coleman's. Dec. 30. In the Senate, a message in writing was received from the President of the Uunted States by the hands of his Private Secretary. Several memorials and petitions were presented. Mr. Dick, from the Committee on Commercp, reported a bilí issuing a register of foreign vessels in New York harbor. The bill was ordered to a third reading,and was, by unanimous consent, read a third time, and passed. The Senate then re3umed the special order of the day being a bilí for the purchase of the Madison papers. - The bill was passed by yeas 32 nays 13. The rcsolution carne up for consideration requiring the Department to report the number of troops in service, the number of deaths, &c, since the commencement of the war. It was agreedto after a few words of explanation. Mr. Cass moved to take up the bill for raising more troops. An interesting debate, ensued in which Messrs. Calhoun, Berrien, Piale and Mangum opposed the bill, and Messrs. Cass and Allen defended it. The yeas and nays being ordered, on taking up the bill, stood yeas 19, nays 19, when the Vi-ce President gave his casting vo!6 in the affirmative. The bill will be taken up on Monday next. The Senate went into executive session, and after a short time spent therein, the Senate opened their doors ahd ndjourned. In the House, among the petitions presented, was one Trom citizens of Phüadelphia agaiost slavery. Laid on the table. Mr. Goggin reported a bill for restoring the southern mail to its old route. This gave rise tq a warm debate, which was continued up to the hour of adjournment. Tne House adjourned over until Monday next. After the closing of my morning dispatch, mi;ch discussion prevailed in the Senate on the nominntions by the President, Mr. Davis, lo Chinn; Mr. Ron, to Naples; and Mr. Niles, to Sardinia.