manding the Home Squadron, a copy of which, so far as they relate to the case of the Prometheus, is herewith transmitted to the Senate.

WASHINGTON, December 15, 1851.

The message was read.

On motion by Mr. Brodhead,

MILLARD FILLMORE.

Ordered, That it lie on the table, and be printed.

The following message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. McCormick:

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State in answer to their resolution of the 8th of March last.

WASHINGTON, December 15, 1851.

The message was read.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Commerce, and printed. The following message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. McCormick:

To the Senate of the United States :

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, requesting the communication of a despatch addressed to the Department of State by Mr. Niles, late chargé d'affaires of the United States at Turin, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, which is accompanied by a copy of the despatch.

WASHINGTON, December 16, 1851.

The message was read.

On motion by Mr. Mason,

MILLARD FILLMORE.

Ordered, That it lie on the table, and be printed.

The President pro tempore laid before the Senate a report of the Secretary of War, accompanied by statements showing the expenditures from the appropriations for the contingent expenses of the offices and bureaus of that Department: which was read.

Ordered, That it lie on the table, and be printed.

The President pro tempore laid before the Senate a report of the Secretary of War, communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 15th of February last, a report of the Chief of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, giving the rules for the government of that corps, and the duties on which each officer has been employed since 1838; which was read.

On motion by Mr. Borland,

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Chase presented a petition of citizens of Ohio, praying an amentment to the laws relating to the diplomatic intercourse between the United States and foreign countries; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Chase presented the petition of Zachariah Lawrence, praying con

pensation for the capture of a British sloop, called the Venture, during the last war with Great Britain; which was referred to the Committee of Claims. Mr. Downs presented a petition of the late and present land officers at Monroe, Louisiana, praying additional compensation for locating bounty land warrants.

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Gwin presented a petition of the officers of the United States sloopof-war Falmouth, attached to the Pacific squadron, praying extra pay; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. Gwin presented documents relating to the claim of Mariano G. Vallejo, to indemnity for property taken for the use of the United States troops under the command of Captain J. C. Fremont; which were referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Clemens presented a memorial of the Legislature of Alabama, praying the sale of reserved lands in Clarke county, in that State; which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. Brodhead presented a memorial of citizens of the United States, praying a modification or repeal of the law abolishing flogging in the navy and the commercial marine;

On motion by Mr. Stockton,

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Underwood presented the memorial of Peter G. Washington, John F. C. Saloman, and William Selden, proposing to enter into a contract for supplying the cities of Washington and Georgetown with water from the Potomac river, above Georgetown; which was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia.

Mr. Butler presented a petition of citizens of the districts of Kershaw and Lancaster, South Carolina, praying the establishment of a mail route from Camden, in that State, to Monroe, in North Carolina; which was referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads.

Mr. Walker presented the memorial of Benjamin H. Mooers, for himself and the other heirs of Benjamin Mooers, deceased, an officer in the revolt tionary army, praying to be allowed the depreciation on the commutation certificates issued to their ancestor in lieu of his half-pay for life; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

On motion by Mr. Upham,

Ordered, That the memorial of Sylvester Churchill, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

On motion by Mr. Hunter,

Ordered, That the petition of the heirs of Charles Lewis, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

On motion by Mr. Hamlin,

Ordered, That the petition of James Dunning, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee of Claims.

On motion by Mr. Bradbury,

Ordered. That the petition of John O. Means, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

On motion by Mr. Dawson,

Ordered, That the documents on the files of the Senate, relating to the application of John Shly for a renewal of a patent, be referred to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office.

On motion by Mr. Dawson,

Ordered, That the petition of George Talcott, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

On motion by Mr. Sebastian,

Ordered, That the memorial of J. K. Rogers, legal representative of David Cordery, deceased, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

On motion by Mr. Hunter,

Ordered, That the Committee of Claims be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of the legal representatives of John Moore, and that it be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

On motion by Mr. Hamlin,

Ordered, That the Committee on Commerce be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society of New Orleans, and that it be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. Walker submitted the following resolution for consideration:

Whereas, the signs of the times are portentious of an approaching struggle in Europe, between the republican masses for constitutional government on one side, and the advocates of monarchy for absolute governments on the other; and whereas, it pressingly behooves the representatives of the American people, and of the united sovereign States of America to seriously consider, and betimes to inquire into the relations of the Government and country in this struggle, and their duty in view of it to themselves, to foreign nations, and the international law; therefore,

Be it resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Relations be instructed to inquire into, and report upon the expediency of an open declaration by Congress, to foreign nations and the world, that the United States hold strictly to the policy and principle that each individual nation, state, or power possesses, for itself, the exclusive right and sole power to take care and dispose of its own internal concerns, without and exempt from the intervention and interference of any foreign government, state, confederacy, alliance, or power whatsoever; and that any such intervention or interference by, or on the part of any foreign government, state, confederacy, alliance or power, constitutes an infraction of the law of nations, authorising and justifying the interposition of any or all other governments, confederacies, or powers, at their discretion, to prevent such intervention, and to repair such infraction of the law of nations.

Resolved further, That the same committee be instructed to inquire, also, into the expediency of requesting the President of the United States to cause negotiations to be opened with all other constitutional governments, with a view, and to the end of obtaining their co-operation with the United States in the declaration aforesaid, and the policy and principle thereof, and in the observance, defence, and maintenance of the law of nations in this respect.

Mr. Hamlin, from the Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the petition of William P. Greene, submitted a report, accompanied by a bill (S. 66) for the relief of William P. Greene.

The bill was read and passed to a second reading.

Ordered, That the report be printed.

Mr. Hamlin, from the Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred

the petition of John A. McGaw, submitted a report, accompanied by a bill (S. 67) granting relief to John A. McGaw, of New York.

The bill was read and passed to the second reading.
Ordered, That the report be printed.

Mr. Hamlin, from the Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 25) supplementary to the several acts of Congress providing for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam, and for other purposes, reported it without amendment.

Agreeably to notice, Mr. Davis asked and obtained leave to bring in a bill (S. 68) for the relief of Charles A. Kellett; which was read the first and second times, by unanimous consent, and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

Agreeably to notice, Mr. Davis asked and obtained leave to bring in a bill (S. 69) for the relief of Enoch Baldwin, and others; which was read the first and second times, by unanimous consent, and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

Mr. Hunter, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was referred the bill (S. 59) to provide compensation to such persons as may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, to receive and keep the public money, under the fifteenth section of the act of 6th August, 1846, for the additional services required under that act, reported it without amendment.

The Senate proceeded to consider the said bill (S. 59) as in Committee of the Whole; and, no amendment being made, it was reported to the Senate.

Ordered, That it be engrossed, and read a third time.

Mr. Felch, from the Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2) to grant to the State of Ohio the unsold and unappropriated public lands remaining in that State, reported it with an amendment.

The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (S. 32) for the relief of Margaret L. Worth; and, no amendment being made, it was reported to the Senate.

On the question: Shall this bill be engrossed, and read a third time? It was determined in the affirmative,

On motion by Mr. Underwood,

Nays...

Yeas

The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

38

5

Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Borland, Bradbury, Brodhead, Butler, Chase, Clemens, Davis, Dodge of Wisconsin, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Downs, Felch, Fish, Foot of Vermont, Geyer, Gwin, Houston, James, Jones of Iowa, Jones of Tennessee, Mallory, Mangum, Mason, Miller, Morton, Norris, Sebastian, Seward, Shields, Smith, Spruance, Stockton, Sumner, Upham, Wade, Walker.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Dawson, Hunter, King, Pratt, Underwood.

So it was

Ordered, That this bill be engrossed, and read a third time.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution submitted by Mr. Foote, in relation to the adjustment of the questions growing out of the institution of slavery; and,

Afer debate,

On motion by Mr. Foote,

The Senate adjourned.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1851.

Mr. Underwood presented the petition of Leslie Coombs, praying the payment of certain bonds issued to him by the late Republic of Texas; which was referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. Underwood presented a memorial of John A. Ragan, proposing to execute a plan, discovered by him, for draining the lands overflowed by the Mississippi and its tributaries, on condition of a grant of a portion of the lands reclaimed; which was referred to the Committee on Roads and Canals.

Mr. Mason presented the petition of Charles Fletcher, proposing to establish a line of steam packets between Norfolk, Virginia, and the ports of Cadez and Gibralter, in Spain, and praying that the Secretary of the Navy may be authorized to contract with him for carrying the mail between those ports; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. Mr. Hale presented the memorial of Caleb Dustin, praying the redemption of certain continental scrip issued to his grandfather for his services in the revolutionary war; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

Mr. Hale presented a resolution passed by the legislature of the State of New Hampshire, in favor of the establishment of a Bureau of Agriculture in the Department of the Interior, at Washington.

Ordered, That it lie on the table, and be printed.

Mr. Borland presented a memorial of Robert Mills, architect, praying to be allowed an opportunity to justify his acts as architect and superintendent of the Patent Office wing building, against certain charges by the Commissioner of Public Buildings, in his report to the Secretary of the Interior; which was referred to the Committee on Public Buildings.

Mr. Fish presented a petition of the assistant marshals for taking the seventh census of King's county, New York, praying to be allowed additional compensation for their services; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. Pratt submitted additional evidence in relation to the claim of the legal representatives of William Somerville, deceased; which was referred to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. Butler submitted additional evidence in relation to the petition of the representatives of John Moore, deceased; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

Mr. Butler presented the petition of Derrill H. Darby, for himself and the other heirs of Colonel William Johnson, an officer in the revolutionary army, praying to be allowed commutation pay; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

Mr. Downs presented the petition of Francis Gardere, praying compensation for certain land claimed by him under a Spanish grant, and occupied by the United States for military purposes; which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands.