"That the several circuit courts of the United States shall have power to issue writs of mandamus, within their respective jurisdictions, according to the usages of law:" It was determined in the negative, Nays On motion by Mr. Prentiss, The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are, 15, 27. Messrs. Bayard, Clay, of Kentucky, Clayton, Crittenden, Davis, Foster, Knight, Merrick, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Ruggles, Smith, of Indiana, Swift, Tallmadge. Those who voted in the negative are, Messrs. Allen, Benton, Brown, Buchanan, Clay, of Alabama, Cuthbert, Fulton, Hubbard, King, Linn, Lyon, Morris, Mouton, Nicholas, Niles, Norvell, Pierce, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut, Strange, Wall, Williams, of Maine, Williams, of Mississippi, Wright, Young. On the question, "Shall this bill pass?" It was determined in the affirmative, On motion by Mr. Tallmadge, Yeas The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are, 27, 15. Messrs. Allen, Benton, Brown, Buchanan, Clay, of Alabama, Cuthbert, Fulton, Hubbard, King, Linn, Lyon, Morris, Mouton, Nicholas, Niles, Norvell, Pierce, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut, Strange, Wall, Williams, of Maine, Williams, of Mississippi, Wright, Young. Those who voted in the negative are, Messrs. Bayard, Clay, of Kentucky, Clayton, Crittenden, Davis, Foster, Knight, Merrick, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Ruggles, Smith, of Indiana, Swift, Tallmadge. So it was Resolved, That this bill pass, and that the title thereof be "An act to explain and limit the powers of the circuit court of the District of Columbia." Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives therein. The following bills having been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, were severally read a third time : S. 71. A bill to amend an act confirining certain land claims in the State of Michigan; S. 132. A bill for the relief of J. and W. Beeson and others; S. 106. A bill to authorize the payment of equitable commissions to the agents or attorneys of persons in whose favor awards have been made under three several treaties between the United States and certain foreign powers, which awards have been retained in the Treasury in payment of debts due to the United States; S. 149. A bill to revive an act authorizing certain soldiers in the late war to surrender the bounty lands drawn by them, and to locate others in lieu thereof, and for other purposes. Resolved, That the said bills pass, and that their respective titles be as aforesaid. The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (S. 24) to set apart a belt of land on the western borders of the States of Missouri and Arkansas, as bounty lands to be granted to settlers engaged for a term of years in the defence of the frontier; and, On motion by Mr. Fulton, Ordered, That it lie on the table. The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (S. 99) for the relief of the administrator of the estate of Joseph Edson; and, On motion by Mr. Hubbard, Ordered, That it be postponed indefinitely, Mr. Williams, of Maine, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 79) for the relief of James H. Clark, reported it without amendment. The Senate proceeded to the consideration of the bill (S. 79) for the relief of James H. Clark, as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being made thereto, it was reported to the Senate. On the question, "Shall this bill be engrossed, and read a third time?" It was determined in the negative. So the bill was rejected. The Senate proceeded to consider the following bills, as in Committee of the Whole: S. 109. A bill to authorize the inhabitants of township 8 north, range 32 west, in the State of Arkansas, to enter a section of land in lieu of the sixteenth section in said township, upon condition that the same is surrendered to the United States for military purposes; S. 108. A bill to authorize the location of the pre-emption certificates given by the register of the land office at Batesville, in Arkansas, under the act of the 26th of May, 1824, on any of the public lands for sale in the State of Arkansas; S. 143. A bill for the relief of Daniel B. Bush; S. 147. A bill for the relief of the heirs of Francis Newman, late collector of internal revenue and direct taxes in Maryland; S. 121. A bill for the relief of John Richey; S. 122. A bill for the relief of John S. Scott; and no amendment being made thereto, they were severally reported to the Senate. Ordered, That they be engrossed, and read a third time. The following bills were read the second time, and considered, as in Committee of the Whole: S. 157. A bill for the relief of John S. Billings; S. 159. A bill to provide for additional clerks in the Post Office Department and the Auditor's Office connected therewith,and for other purposes; S. 165. A bill granting a pension to Hannah Leighton; S. 166. A bill for the relief of Richard Robertson ; S. 174. A bill for the relief of the widow and other heirs at law of Alexander Hamilton, deceased; S. 179. A bill for the relief of John Burke ; S. 180. A bill for the relief of Josephine Nourse; and no amendment being made thereto, they were severally reported to the Senate. Ordered, That they be engrossed, and read a third time. The resolution (S. 6) to authorize the purchase of an island in the river Delaware, called the Pea Patch, was read the second time, and considered, as in Committee of the Whole; and having been amended, it was reported to the Senate, and the amendment was concurred in. Ordered, That it be engrossed, and read a third time. The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (S. 150) granting to certain persons therein named the right of preemption to a fraction of a section of land in Ottawa county, in the State of Michigan; and having been amended, it was reported to the Senate, and the amendment was concurred in. Ordered, That this bill be engrossed, and read a third time. The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (S. 123) for the relief of Charles A. Dodd, together with the amendments reported thereto; and having been amended, the bill was reported to the Senate, and the amendments were concurred in. Ordered, That this bill be engrossed, and read a third time. The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (H. R. 896) making appropriations for the naval service for the year 1839; and having been amended, it was reported to the Senate, and the amendment was concurred in. Ordered, That the amendment be engrossed, and the bill read a third time. The following message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Van Buren, his secretary: To the Senate of the United States: I lay before Congress several despatches from his excellency the Governor of Maine, with enclosures, communicating certain proceedings of the Legislature of that State, and a copy of the reply of the Secretary of State, made by my direction, together with a note from H. S. Fox, Esq., Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, with the answer of the Secretary of State to the same. It will appear from those documents that a numerous band of lawless and desperate men, chiefly from the adjoining British provinces, but without the authority or sanction of the Provincial Government, had trespassed upon that portion of the territory in dispute between the United States and Great Britain which is watered by the river Aroostook, and claimed to belong to the State of Maine; and that they had committed extensive depredations there by cutting and destroying a very large quantity of timber. It will further appear that the Governor of Maine, having been officially apprised of the circumstance, had communicated it to the Legislature, with a recommendation of such provisions, in addition to those already existing by law, as would enable him to arrest the course of said depredations, disperse the trespassers, and secure the timber which they were about carrying away; that in compliance with a resolve of the Legislature, passed in pursuance of his recommendation, his excellency had despatched the land agent of the State, with a force deemed adequate to that purpose, to the scene of the alleged depredations, who, after accomplishing a part of his. duty, was seized by a band of the trespassers, at a house claimed to be within the jurisdiction of Maine, whither he had repaired for the purpose of meeting and consulting with the land agent of the province of New Brunswick, and conveyed as a prisoner to Frederickton, in that province, together with two other citizens of the State, who were assisting him in the discharge of his duty. It will also appear that the Governor and Legislature of Maine, satisfied that the trespassers had acted in defiance of the laws of both countries, learning that they were in possession of arms, and anticipating (correctly, as the result has proved) that persons of their reckless and desperate character would set at nought the authority of the magistrates, without the aid of a strong force, had authorized the sheriff, and the officer appointed in the place of the land agent, to employ, at the expense of the State, an armed posse, who had proceeded to the scene of these depredations, with a view to the entire dispersion or arrest of the trespassers, and the protection of the public property. In the correspondence between the Governor of Maine and Sir John Harvey, Lieutenant Governor of the province of New Brunswick, which has grown out of these occurrences, and is likewise herewith communicated, the former is requested to recall the armed party advanced into the disputed territory for the arrest of trespassers, and is informed that a strong body of British troops is to be held in readiness to support and protect the authority and subjects of Great Britain in said territory. In answer to that request, the Provincial Governor is informed of the determination of the State of Maine to support the land agent and his party in the performance of their duty, and the same determination, for the execution of which provision is made by a resolve of the State Legislature, is communicated by the Governor to the General Government. The Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, in calling upon the Governor of Maine for the recall of the land agent and his party from the disputed territory, and the British Minister in making a similar demand upon the Government of the United States, proceed upon the assumption that an agreement exists between the two nations conceding to Great Britain, until the final settlement of the boundary question, exclusive possession of, and jurisdiction over, the territory in dispute. The important bearing which such an agreement, if it existed, would have upon the condition and interests of the parties, and the influence it might have upon the adjustment of the dispute, are too obvious to allow the error upon which this assumption seems to rest to pass for a moment without correction. The answer of the Secretary of State to Mr. Fox's note will show the ground taken by the Government of the United States upon this point. It is believed that all the correspondence which has passed between the two Governments upon this subject has already been communicated to Congress, and is now on their files. An abstract of it, however, hastily prepared, accompanies this communication. It is possible that in thus abridging a voluminous correspondence, commencing in 1825 and continuing to a very recent period, a portion may have been accidentally overlooked; but it is believed that nothing has taken place which would materially change the aspect of the question as therein presented. Instead of sustaining the assumption of the British functionaries, that correspondence disproves the existence of any such agreement. It shows that the two Governments have differed not only in regard to the main question of title to the territory in dispute, but with reference also to the right of jurisdiction, and the fact of the actual exercise of it in different portions thereof. Always aiming at an amicable adjustment of the dispute, both parties have entertained and repeatedly urged upon cach other a desire, that each should exercise its rights, whatever it considered them to be, in such a manner as to avoid collision, and allay, to the greatest practicable extent, the excitement likely to grow out of the controversy. It was in pursuance of such an understanding that Maine and Massachusetts, upon the remonstrance of Great Britain, desisted from making sales of lands, and the General Government from the construction of a projected military road in a portion of the territory of which they claimed to have enjoyed the exclusive possession; and that Great Britain, on her part, in deference to a similar remonstrance from the United States, suspended the issue of licenses to cut timber in the territory in controversy, and also the survey and location of a railroad through a section of country over which she also claimed to have exercised exclusive jurisdiction. The State of Maine had a right to arrest the depredations complained of; it belonged to her to judge of the exigency of the occasion calling for her interference; and it is presumed that, had the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick been correctly advised of the nature of the proceedings of the State of Maine, he would not have regarded the transaction as requiring, on his part, any resort to force. Each party claiming a right to the territory, and hence to the exclusive jurisdiction over it, it is manifest that, to prevent the destruction of the timber by trespassers, acting against the authority of both, and at the same time avoid forcible collision between the contiguous Governments during the pendency of negotiations concerning the title, resort must be had to the mutual exercise of jurisdiction in such extreme cases, or to an amicable and temporary arrangement as to the limits within which it should be exercised by each party. The understanding supposed to exist between the United States and Great Britain has been found heretofore sufficient for that purpose, and I believe will prove so hereafter, if the parties on the frontier, directly interested in the question, are respectively governed by a just spirit of conciliation and forbearance. If it shall be found, as there is now reason to apprehend, that there is, in the modes of construing that understanding by the two Governments, a difference not to be reconciled, I shall not hesitate to propose to her Britannic Majesty's Government a distinct arrangement for the temporary and mutual exercise of jurisdiction, by means of which similar difficulties may in future be prevented. But between an effort on the part of Maine to preserve the property in dispute from destruction by intruders, and a military occupation by that State of the territory, with a view to hold it by force, while the settlement is a subject of negotiation between the two Governments, there is an essential difference, as well in respect to the position of the State, as to the duties of the General Government. In a letter addressed by the Secretary of State to the Governor of Maine, on the first of March last, giving a detailed statement of the steps which had been taken by the Federal Government to bring the controversy to a termination, and designed to apprise the Governor of that State of the views of the Federal Executive in respect to the future, it was stated, that while the obligations of the Federal Government to do all in its power to effect the settlement of the boundary question were fully recognised, it had, in the event of being unable to do so specifically, by mutual consent, no other means to accomplish that object amicably, than by another arbitration, or by a commission with an umpire in the nature of an arbitration; and that, in the event of all other measures failing, the President would feel it his duty to submit another proposition to the Government of Great Britain, to refer the decision of the question to a third power. These are still my views upon the subject; and until this step shall have been taken, I cannot think it proper to invoke the attention of Congress to other than amicable means for the settlement of the |