H. OF R.] Road from Ohio to Michigan. [JANUARY, 1823 into two distinct Territorial governments; that | heresy in politics to state that the Northwestern a separate board of commissioners may be ap-frontier was equally entitled to protection with pointed to ascertain titles and claims to land in other parts of the United States. If this land the eastern section of said Territory; that the was in reality worth two dollars and a half per expenses attending the exhibition of proof of acre, it would amount only to a total of one title to lands may be defrayed out of the Public hundred and forty-four thousand dollars, which Treasury; that settlements may be allowed on was a very small amount, certainly, compared the public lands, with permission to the set- with the magnitude of the object of protecting tlers, subsequently, to purchase their improve-that frontier by this military road. In addition ments at the minimum price established for to all these arguments of expediency and necessaid lands; that the aid of Congress may be sity, in favor of this measure, there is, he said, extended in the opening and repairing of roads, a treaty stipulation by which the United States and the erection of bridges in said Territory; have bound themselves to make the road, (rethat lighthouses and buoys may be erected and ferring to the Treaty of Brownstown;) and he placed at certain points, designated in said me-made some statements to show that the Indians, morial; that adequate measures may be adopted to insure the tranquillity and security of the Territory against the aggressions of the Seminole Indians; that measures may be adopted for settling the claims to land derived from grants from the British Government, commonly called British grants; that the members of the Legislative Council may hereafter be elected by the people; that the operation of an act, passed by the said council, for the levying and collection of taxes, which the memorialists complain of as oppressive and unjust, may be suspended by act of Congress. The memorialists further complain against another act of the said council, whereby common soldiers of the Army of the United States, quartered in said Terri-ested in it. The defent at Frenchtown, during tory, are permitted to vote in the election of a delegate to Congress, and praying for a correction of the evil. And further, that the judicial system of said Territory may be so altered as to be better suited to the genius and condition, and the present political situation of its inhabitants; which memorial was read; and its subjects referred to the proper committees. THURSDAY, January 9. Road from Ohio to Michigan. The House then, on motion of Mr. VANCE, took up the bill to appropriate a certain quantity of land to defray the charge of laying out and making a road from the mouth of the Miami of Lake Erie to the Connecticut Reserve. Mr. VANCE delivered, more at length than heretofore, the views which he entertained of the importance of the measure proposed by the bill. He stated facts showing the enormous charge of transportation of supplies from Ohio to Michigan, during the late war, for the want of a passable road. He replied to anticipated objections, on the score of the value of the land proposed to be applied to this object. The whole quantity to be granted to the purpose he estimated at 57,000 acres, worth, at the minimum price, $72,000, but in fact worth much less to the United States, from its inaccessibility. He did not believe, however, it was worth, in the market, more than sixty-two and a half cents per acre, which would make only an amount of $36,000 to be applied to this great object. He hoped it would not be considered a who were parties to that treaty, were desirous the road should be made. There was such a disposition to impute to the Western members interested motives, in regard to all measures concerning public lands, he had rather ask this as a matter of right, under the treaty, than as a matter of favor. But, in the name of the people of Michigan, though there had been no treaty, he would ask the passage of this bill as a matter of justice as well as favor to the people of Michigan, to connect them with the settled parts of the United States. As respects the State of Ohio, though somewhat interested in the road, it was much less so than the people of Michigan. Nor was the whole Union less inter the late war, was occasioned by the want of it, from the impracticability of uniting the dif ferent detachments of the army, and during the whole war there was much waste of life and treasure from the same cause. Mr. V. added other remarks illustrative of these positions. After moving an amendment, which was agreed to by the House Mr. SIBLEY, the delegate from Michigan, also spoke in favor of the bill, in which he said his constituents were deeply interested, separated as they were from the rest of the United States, and in a manner isolated from the Territory with which they are particularly connected He first adverted to the provision of the treaty, held under the authority of the United States, wherein a grant of the land for the road, and of a mile deep on each side of it, was made by the Indians to the United States, on the condition and for the purpose of making this road. Since that time the remainder of the territory had been ceded by the Indians to the United States, but nothing had been done by the United States towards making the road. The interest of the Government, in making this road, with a view to military operations, Mr. S. said, was in fact much greater than the local interest in it. It was a portion of the territory of the United States, weaker, more exposed, and more likely to fall into the hands of an enemy during war than any other. During a war, (with Great Britain, should it ever again happen,) it would be of the first importance to make this point safe; and to do this securely, the population of the adjacent States, on which its defence must greatly de JANUARY, 1823.] it. pend, ought to have the means of concentrating | the country, as well as its blood, had been its strength, the want of which means was so severely felt during the late war. Mr. S. added other arguments in support of the bill; such as that the road is necessary to secure any thing like a regular transportation of the mail; that the Michigan Territory must people slowly until an access is opened to it, without being obliged, as was now necessary at some seasons of the year, to go through foreign territory to get to Thus, Mr. S. said, supposing there was no right derived from the treaty, the object was of the utmost importance, and the bill proposed no new principle. Lands had been often granted by Congress for objects of much less importance, and, as for this land, it would be of no value to the United States until a road was made, and it became worth the trouble to drain it. The quantity of land proposed to be allotted to this purpose would not, in his opinion, be sufficient to accomplish it, but it was probable that, by the aid of this grant, those who were interested would be able to complete the work. Mr. COCKE said, that a reference to almost every treaty with the Indians, for twenty years past, would exhibit provisions for roads in almost every direction. It was no new thing to prevail upon the Indians to give their consent to have a road made. The Indians are pressed into the measure; and it was the first time he had ever heard it suggested that the Indians were desirous of having a highway through their lands. Such an idea was contrary to their nature; their pursuits are repugnant to it. He could not therefore yield to the argument, in favor of this bill, that the Indians are desirous to see the road made. He did not understand, he said, how the making of a road through it was to drain the swamp, and he wished for information on that head. And why were the United States to pay for making this road any more than roads in other parts of the country? Were the people of Michigan so regardless of their interest that they would not make a road to lead to their Territory? If it was necessary to appropriate this land to this object, for the benefit of the people of Michigan, why was it to be given to the State of Ohio? Why not let Michigan have it? No, Mr. C. said, let us keep it in our hands, that we may ourselves regulate the matter, if the road is to be made. He was obliged to the gentleman for the suggestion that the proceeds of the land would not be sufficient to make the road. This bill would then be but a beginning. And, said he, once enter the wedge, and you will not get clear of it for ten years to come. Mr. C. concluded by requiring the yeas and nays on the question of ordering this bill to a third reading. Mr. LITTLE said that, to any measure calculated to promote the prosperity and happiness of any section of our country, and not impairing the rights of anybody, he felt himself bound to give his support. That the public is greatly interested in the measure proposed by this bill, had been sufficiently shown. The treasure of wasted for want of the road. His reflection on the subject, too, had induced him to believe, that it was in consequence of the access being so difficult, that the Michigan country had filled up so slowly. It was an inconvenience which ought to be remedied; that, in order to get into the United States, it was for one half of the year necessary for the people of Michigan to pass through the territory of a nation with whom we have already had two wars, and with whom he should not be surprised to live to see a third. It was no reason against this bill, that application might be hereafter made from other quarters for similar grants. This is not the first grant which has been made for similar purposes, but no grant had been made for any as important. The facts which had been stated respecting the evils suffered in the late war for want of this road were undoubted; and Mr. L. hoped that, on further consideration, the gentleman from Tennessee would withdraw his opposition to the bill. Mr. MITCHELL, of South Carolina, said that he knew very little of the merits of this question, but what he had gathered from the report which accompanied the bill. He was of opinion, however, that this cession ought to be made. In the first place, he said, this land was conveyed to the United States for the express purpose of making the road; and with the same object the land had been surveyed, without any thing further being done upon it. If we choose to give this land, he said, while we do not diminish the funds of the nation, we comply with the condition of the cession to us, and effect a valuable object to the nation. It was, he said, a matter of great importance to the United States that this road should be made. The country between the Miami River and the Connecticut Reserve is a swamp, often impassable, and intercepts the communication between Michigan and Ohio. Michigan is a frontier country; it adjoins Upper Canada; its population is so small that it cannot defend itself in the event of a war again occurring with the owners of Upper Canada, and must fall, unless a communication be established between it and the more populous parts of our country. It is our interest, therefore, if we wish to hold the Territory of Michigan, to have the road cut. At present, it is understood that the communication to and from Michigan with the United States must, for a considerable portion of the year, be carried on through Upper Canada. Ought we, he asked, to permit our territory to be so dissociated as to have to communicate with it through the medium of a foreign territory? He thought not, and was therefore in favor of this bill. Mr. HARDIN said that, of the power of Congress to pass this bill, he entertained no doubt. One of the most vulnerable points of our country to an enemy is the Michigan Territory. It has not within itself strength for its defence, and has to call on the neighboring States for H. OF R.] Road from Ohio to Michigan. succor to repel invasion. Mr. H. adverted to the enormous expense to which the United States were put on that frontier during the late war, which would not have been one-fourth as great had the proposed road then existed. The whole army, when at Fort Meigs, &c., had to be supplied by transportation on horses for a hundred or a hundred and fifty miles, so that every barrel of flour consumed had cost the United States some fifty dollars per barrel. It was important, therefore, that a direct intercourse should be opened between the settled country and that part of our territory. There could be no objection, in a constitutional view, to making this road, in the character of a military road. As to the expediency of the road, Mr. H. said, he entertained no doubt. The two vulnerable points of our country are Florida and Michigan. Mr. H. said he wished to see them strengthened as much as possible and as fast as possible. He also adverted to the increased value which would be given to the lands of the United States in that quarter by the increased facility of access. There was but one objection to the bill, that he could see. It was this: that, if we cede the land to the State of Ohio, and she does not make the road, we shall have no power to get it back again. But, Mr. H. said, he had so much confidence in the integrity of the State of Ohio, that he was willing to pass the bill without a clause providing for its reversion in such case. He had no doubt the State of Ohio would lay out every cent of the proceeds of the sales of the lands in making or repairing the road. This case being clearly distinguishable from the exercise of the general power of internal improvement, as contemplating a military road, he hoped his friend from Tennessee would withdraw his opposition, and let the bill pass by a unanimous vote. He hoped, too, when the question regarding the Cumberland road came up, to witness the same spirit of unanimity in its favor which was to be seen on this occasion. [JANUARY, 1823. thousand acres of land to those who would settle it, or he would sell the land at fifty cents per acre if it would induce a settlement of it. He would use every means to accomplish an object so desirable. On the score of money, which was said to be the sinew of war, much that was expended during the late war would have been saved, had the proposed road then existed; and the petitions even at this day presented by the delegate from that Territory remind us in what condition the fortune of war has once placed it. In a pecuniary point of view, Mr. C. said, the House could not err in passing this bill. As far as he knew the sentiment of the State of Ohio, she would take a deep interest in making the road. Mr. C. examined the treaty provision respecting this road, which, he argued, did not assimilate itself to the general treaty provisions respecting roads, adverted to by Mr. COCKE, inasmuch as those provisions were inserted to accommodate the United States, and to be executed at our pleasure, whilst in this case the stipulation was obligatory and binding on the United States. The population of Upper Canada, Mr. C. said, had greatly increased in consequence of the liberality of the British Government to settlers. That Government considers its possessions in that quarter vulnerable; but they are not as vulnerable as ours. Whilst they are increasing their strength in that direction, ought we not to be increasing ours? Any course different from this must be a blind one, and such as the Government ought not to pursue. The gentleman from Tennessee had said, if the people of Michigan are interested, let them make the road. But, Mr. C. asked, will their physical means enable them to make it? They are interested in the road, it is true; but there is no population in the Union of ten thousand souls able to make a road of forty-five miles in length through such a swamp as that. They are already weighed down with_taxation, and are perhaps the most oppressed people under the Government of the United States. In answer tion would be hereafter made to the United States for further aid to complete the road, Mr. C. said, when those applications were made it would be the duty of Congress to act upon them as should appear to be right. They must stand or fall on their own merits or demerits. If rightful, they would be granted; if otherwise, they would be rejected. Mr. CAMPBELL, of Ohio, rose, not so much to urge arguments in support of the bill, as to no-to the remark that, if this bill passed, applica tice a remark which fell from the gentleman who had just taken his seat, as to what might be the conduct of the State of Ohio in regard to the road. A year ago, Mr. C. said, the Legislature of Ohio had passed an act on this subject, in which she had evinced her willingness to take upon herself the trouble and expense of making this road, if the right of the United States to the land in question were ceded to her. He did not pretend to say that this road would not be an advantage to the State of Ohio, but it would be of more importance to the interests of the Union generally. The country in which this road lies is one of the most valuable in the Union, and as little had been done for it as for any section of the Union. On this point he would only observe, he said, that so great was his zeal to increase the population of the Peninsula of Michigan, he was willing to vote even two or three hundred Mr. FARRELLY observed, that he lived on the Northwestern frontier, and rose to communicate facts which every one on that frontier must know. Michigan was, without doubt, the most exposed point, and also the weakest of the Union. The Territory was inhabited by numerous nations of Indians, who had been accustomed to war with the people of the United States. From the close of the war of the Revolution down to the defeat of General Wayne, they were in a state of continual hostility. During the late war they desolated that Terri JANUARY, 1823.] Pension to Sarah Perry. States. 417 3d. A general statement of the quantity and value of domestic articles exported. 4th. A general statement of the quantity and value of foreign articles exported. 5th and 6th. Summary statements of the value of domestic and foreign articles exported. 7th. A general statement of the amount of Ameri- 8th. A general statistical view of the commerce tory; and, in case of any rupture between us | submit the following statements of the commerce and and the British Government, we know, from navigation of the United States, during the year end1st. A general statement of the quantity and the experience of the past, on which side they ing on the 30th September, 1822, viz: will be engaged. If the Territory of Michigan were able to protect itself during the late war, value of merchandise imported into the United 2d. A summary statement of the same. what a saving it would have been to the nation in treasure and blood; the Kentucky militia would not have been massacred-which happened after they passed that swamp. It is an object of the greatest importance to the United States to encourage the population of Michigan, which has been hitherto kept down by the impracticability of going to it. By passing the bill, the United States will secure the most important advantages. I know it to be a fact that the merchants of the place where I reside, and generally of the district I represent, who have commercial relations with Detroit, have to go there and return, at some seasons of the year, through Upper Canada, in consequence of the obstacles opposed by the Black Swamp. The United States fleet has disappeared on Lake Erie; and it is of the utmost importance to strengthen the interior of the country, which has not resources itself to make this road. There was, he said, Mr. SIBLEY again rose. in reply to Mr. COCKE, no want of patriotism and liberality in the Territory of Michigan. He mentioned large appropriations of money which they had had to make for roads, of which the United States were deriving the benefit; and also that there was a road of considerable length which the Territory would have to make to meet the very road embraced in this bill. He appealed to the House whether Michigan, who had been doing her utmost to connect herself with the rest of the Union, ought to be expect-Hon. ed to make this road. The question was then taken on ordering the bill to be engrossed and read a third time, and decided-yeas 130, nays 21. MONDAY, January 20. JOHN SERGEANT, from Pennsylvania, appeared, and took his seat. Naval Peace Establishment. Mr. FULLER, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the Message from the President, upon the subject of a Naval Peace Establishment, made a report thereon, accompanied by a bill to fix and render permanent the Naval Peace Establishment of the United States; which bill was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the whole House on the state of the Union. Commerce and Navigation. The SPEAKER communicated the following letter from the Secretary of the Treasury: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Jan. 18, 1823. SIR: In conformity with the provisions of the act of 10th January, 1820, entitled "An act to provide for obtaining accurate statements of the foreign commerce of the United States," I have the honor to VOL. VII.-27 From these statements, it appears that the imports, during the year ending on the 30th of Septemamount $76,984,331 were imported in American ber, 1822, have amounted to $83,241,541, of which vessels and $6,257,210 in foreign vessels: That the exports have, during the same period, amounted to $72,160,281, of which $49,874,079 were domestic, and $22,286,202 were foreign articles: That of the domestic articles $39,931,913 were exported in American vessels, and $9,942,166 in foreign vessels; and, of the foreign articles exported, $20,783,655 were exported in American, and $1,502,547 in foreign vessels: That 787,961 tons of American shipUnited States; and that 100,541 tons of foreign ping entered, and 813,748 cleared from ports of the of the United States during the same period. shipping entered, and 97,490 cleared from the ports I remain, with respect, &c. PHILIP P. BARBOUR, WM. H. CRAWFORD. Speaker of the House of Representatives. The letter was read, and, with the documents, ordered to be printed. TUESDAY, January 21. Pension to Sarah Perry. Mr. FULLER, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the petition of Sarah Perry, mother of Oliver H. Perry, late a Captain in the Navy of the United States, made the following report; which was read twice, and committed to a Committee of the Whole. By the decease of the son of the petitioner, Captain Oliver H. Perry, and, subsequently, by the decease deprived of the support which those sons had succesof another son, a lieutenant in the Navy, she has been sively bestowed; and is, as sufficiently appears to the committee, advanced in years, and incapable of providing for herself. The eminent services of her son first mentioned having called forth the bounty of the Government in providing for his widow and children, by an act for their relief, passed on the 3d of March, 1821, the committee believe that his mother, the present petitioner, is entitled to consideration, in at least an equal degree, and for similar reasons. They therefore report a bill in her favor. H. OF R.] Death of William Lowndes. (JANUARY, 1823 To the honorable the Speaker of the House of Represent- | capable of bearing it. She knows not that she has atives of the United States, the Memorial of Sarah Perry, of the State of Rhode Island, respectfully showeth : That your petitioner has at length determined to intrude her sorrows and distresses on your notice, confident of obtaining your sympathy and commiseration, should she even fail in adducing any claims to your justice and liberality. any other claims on the liberality of her country, than and that she is the mother of that hero who earned Your petitioner therefore humbly hopes that your Your petitioner, after the death of her husband, (who had the honor of bearing a commission in the naval service of his country,) subsisted on the bounty of her deceased son, Oliver Hazard Perry, whose filial devotion and affection were such as to leave none of her wants, and few of her desires, in this world, unsatisfied. During his life, he invariably set aside a liberal proportion of his pay and emoluments for Mr. HAMILTON, of South Carolina, rose and the support of your petitioner, notwithstanding the many claims of his immediate family on his compara-nounced in the gazettes of yesterday, of the said, the melancholy intelligence which was antively slender income. The lamentable death of this son, on board of the John Adams, at Port Trinidad, in August, 1819, deprived your petitioner of this succor, and the burden of the support of herself and an unmarried daughter devolved on the younger branches of her family, more especially on her son, the late Lieutenant James Alexander Perry, whose recent loss your petitioner has also to deplore. It must be within the knowledge of your honorable body, that, after the death of your petitioner's son, Oliver H. Perry, a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives, and finally passed both branches of Congress, making a provision for his immediate family. In this bill, as originally reported by the committee to whom it was referred, there was a clause affording a competent support for your petitioner. In its progress, however, through the House, some of its best friends, fearful that the whole bill might be lost if too much was asked, consented that the clause in your petitioner's behalf should be stricken out, which was accordingly done; and, in this shape, the bill ultimately passed, with an unanimity on the part of Congress that conferred an inestimable value on the gifts of their patriotic benevolence. Your petitioner did not repine that the consideration of her claims, whatever they might have been, should have been thus postponed; it was enough that such a sacrifice was deemed essential in procuring a support for the wife and children of such a son. About this period, the son of your petitioner, James Alexander Perry, who had recently been promoted to a lieutenantcy in the Navy returned from the Mediterranean, and forthwith contributed a large proportion of his pay and emoluments to the support of your petitioner. Had his precious life been spared, your petitioner would not have been constrained to make this application. The calamity by which this last resource has been cut off from your petitioner is known to you; and, although she cannot boast that this son has fallen in the battles of his country, she has the consolation of reflecting that, at the early age of thirteen, he fought by his brother's side in the memorable engagement on Lake Erie; and that the life which he had devoted to his country was sacrificed, ultimately, in a generous and noble effort for the preservation of another. To confess our poverty is a humiliating declaration. Your petitioner is destitute, and her support, small as it is, is thrown on hands but inadequately Death of William Lowndes. death of my distinguished predecessor, the pri vate advices which I have received from South Carolina have but too fully confirmed. When, sir, (said he,) it is recollected that Mr. LOWNDES was constructively a member of this House at the period of his death, for I believe that his resignation at that time had not then reached his home; but, above all, sir, when we consider the station which he occupied on this floor, with such remarkable honor to himself, and advantage to his country; when we are sensible that he was here as it were but yester day, occupying that place which I now so feebly and inefficiently fill; that the impression left by his delightful character and commanding intellect, is yet almost animated by the vigor of life, I am sure you will not regard the few observations I shall offer on this mournful occa sion, as an unseasonable trespass. I know too well how you cherish the recollection of his vir tues, not to be certain of your kindest and most respectful sympathy. It might, sir, be seemingly presumptuous in me to descant on his public virtues in this as sembly, where they were so conspicuously exer cised for a period of ten years, in which the richest and most various knowledge was suc cessfully blended with the purity and ardor of an ingenuous spirit, and the intelligence of s lofty intellect. But, of his private virtues, I may be permitted to speak. At home, "where we knew him best and loved him most; " where our opportunities were most abundant for observ ing the delightful sway which the simplicity and modesty of his character exercised over the higher faculties of his nature, it will be allowed us to indulge in an affection for the individual which is quite equal to the admiration which accom panied him abroad. In the softer charities of human life, in the relations of husband, parent, friend, and master, he was amiably and conspicuously loved and distinguished. There was a belief in which public opinion is supposed to have indulged, in regard to Mr. LOWNDES, which was radically unsound; that he was deficient in decision of character. The mistake naturally grew out of the extreme |