The House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the bill to establish an uniform system of bankruptcy thoughout the United States; and after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Bloomfield reported that the committee had made further progress therein, and directed him to ask leave to sit again.

Ordered, That the committee of the whole, have leave to sit again on the said bill.

And then the House adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, February 18, 1818.

Mr. Mason, of Rhode Island, presented petitions of sundry inhabitants of the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, praying that no alteration may take place in the post route, between Providence and Boston.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee on the Post Office and Post Roads.

Mr. Comstock presented documents in suppport of the application of Catharine Low, for a pension, which were referred to the committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, presented a petition of Nicholas Boilvin, praying compensation for property, destroyed by the hostile Indians, at Pairie du Chien, in the territory of Illinois, during the late war with Great Britain.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee of Claims.

Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, also presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the state of Kentucky, on behalf of James Ferguson, praying that the said Ferguson may be remunerated for his trouble and expenses, in procuring the conviction of certain offenders against the laws of the United States.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. Scott presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the territory of Missouri, praying that the said territory may be admitted into the Union as a state, on an equal footing with the original States.

Ordered, That the said petition lie on the table.

Mr. Scott also presented a petition of William Rector, surveyor general for the territories of Illinois and Missouri, praying for an increase of his compensation, as also, that he may be allowed some additional compensation for services heretofore rendered, as a deputy surveyor.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Williams, of North Carolina, from the committee of Claims, made reports on the petitions of William Esenbeck, and James Van

Horn, which were read, and the resolutions therein contained, were concurred in by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the prayer of the petition of James Van Horn ought not to be granted; and, that the petitioners respectively, have leave to withdraw their petitions and documents.

Mr. Robertson, of Louisiana, from the committee on the Public Lands, made an unfavorable report on the petition of Samuel Sprigg, which was read and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Robertson, from the same committee to whom was referred the bill from the Senate, entitled "An act supplimentary to the act, entitled An act further extending the time for issuing and locating military land warrants, and for other purposes;" and the bill from the Senate, entitled "An act to authorize certain purchasers of public land to withdraw their entries, and transfer the moneys paid thereon," reported the said bills without amendment.

Ordered, That the said bills be severally read a third time to

morrow.

Mr. Robertson, from the same committee, to whom was also referred the resolution from the Senate, relative to the distribution of the late edition of the land laws," reported the same without amendment.

Ordered, That the said resolution be read a third time to-day. Mr. Rhea, from the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, made reports on the petitions of Catharine Robertson, Enos Granniss, and George Smith, which were read, and the resolutions therein contained were concurred in by the House, as follows:

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioners respectively, ought not to be granted, and that Enos Grannis have leave to withdraw the documents accommpanying his petition.

Mr. Rhea also made unfavorable reports on the petitions of Richard Frothingham, Isaac Thompson, and Daniel Jones, which were read, and severally ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Herrick, from the committee on Private Land Claims, reported a bill for the relief Daniel Burnett, Gibson Clark, and the legal representatives of Hubert Rowel, which was read the first and second time, and committed to the committee of the whole, to which is committed the bill confirming the claim of Tobias Rheams to a tract of land granted by the Spanish government.

Mr. Herrick, from the same committee, also reported a bill for the relief of Narcissus Broutin and others, which was read the first and second time, and committed to a comittee of the whole, last mentioned.

Mr. H. Nelson, from the committee on the Judiciary, reported a bill to provide for the more convenient organization of the courts of the United States, and the appointment of circuit courts, which was read the first and second time, and committed to the committee of the whole, to which is committed the bill to establish an uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States.

Ordered, That the report of the committee of Ways and Means on the petition of Taylor & Walker, and Daniel Manley, be referred to the committee of the whole, to-morrow.

Ordered, That leave be given to withdraw the petition of sundry inhabitants of Knox county, in the late territory, now state, of Indiana, presented on the 7th January, 1813.

The Speaker laid before the House, a letter from Richard Bland Lee, Commissioner of Claims, transmitting reports of the facts, in the cases of Whitmore Knaggs, of the territory of Michigan, of Tobias E. Stansbury and William Stansbury, and of Hickman Johnson, guardian of Juliet Eliza Sellers, of the state of Maryland, with the evidence accompanying each, which was referred to the committee of Claims.

An engrossed bill, entitled "An act to fix the compensation of the Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the clerks employed in their offices," was read the third time and passed.

Ordered, That the title be as aforesaid, and that the Clerk carry the said bill to the Senate and ask their concurrence therein. The resolution from the Senate, "relative to the distribution of the late edition of the land laws," was read the third time and passed.

Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate therewith.

Ordered, That the report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the petition of Joseph Wellington Page, together with the said petition be referred to the committee of Claims.

On motion of Mr. Tucker, of Virginia,

Resolved, That the committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of allowing a further compensation for his services to the postmaster at Stratsburg, Shenandoah county, Virginia.

On motion of Mr. Walker, of Kentucky,

Resolved, That the committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of so altering the post route from Glasgow to Burksville, in the state of Kentucky, so that it shall pass through Tompkinsville, in Barren county.

On motion of Mr. Claggett,

Resolved, That the committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing by law, a post road from Amherst, through the westerly part of Bedford, by Goffstown west meeting house, through Hopkinton to Concord, in New Hampshire; and from Concord, upon the turnpike road, to Isle Hookset, in Dunbarton; thence on the river road, to Piscataquas bridge, in said Bedford; thence by Bedford meeting house, to the county road, so called, and from thence to said Amherst.

On motion of Mr. Hubbard,

Resolved, That the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of increasing the pension of lieutenant Aaron Stafford, of the New York militia, late an adjutant in the service of the United States.

On motion of Mr. Slocumb,

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be requested to lay before this House, information, whether any of the paymasters of the armies of the United States, during the late war, have failed to perform their duty in making their returns and settlements, and the names of such delinquents, and the reason why coercive measures have not been used to compel a performance of duty.

On motion of Mr. Drake,

Resolved, That the Clerk of this House be directed to furnish each of the members of Congress with a printed copy of the reports of the committee of Commerce and Manufactures, made 13th of February, and 6th of March, 1816.

On motion of Mr. Edwards,

Resolved, That the committee on the Public Lands, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of adding to the land district, established at St. Stephens, in the Alabama territory, the lands lately acquired from the Chickasaw, and Choctaw Indians, and adjacent to said district.

The House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the bill to establish an uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, and after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Bloomfield reported that the committee had made further progress therein, and directed him to ask leave to sit again.

Ordered, That the committee of the whole have leave to sit again on the said bill.

And then the House adjourned.

THURSDAY, February 19, 1818.

Mr. Butler presented a petition of John Taylor, praying for a pension.

Mr. Claiborne presented a petition of Robert Farmborough, praying to be paid the amount due for the services of his father, as a soldier in the revolutionary war.

Mr. Campbell, of Ohio, presented a petition of Nicholas Reel, brother and heir at law, of Henry Reel, deceased, a soldier in the revolutionary army, praying to be allowed and paid for the services of the deceased, as also, for a grant of the land to which he was entitled for said services.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee of Pensions and Revolutionary Claims.

Mr. Morton presented a petition Job W. Gardner, and John Gardner, praying that the amount of two judgments obtained

against them for the duties upon a distillery may be remitted, as the said distillery, together with its contents, was subsequently demolished by the wind and tide, by which, the petitioners allege, they are reduced to extreme poverty.

Mr. Mason, of Massachusetts, presented a petition of sundry merchants and distillers, in Boston and its vicinity, praying that a drawback of five cents a gallon may be allowed on the exportation of spirits distilled within the United States, from foreign materials.

Mr. Slocumb presented a petition of Bridges Arendell, collector of the customs for the district of Beaufort, in the state of North Carolina, praying for an increase of compensation.

Mr. Middleton presented a petition of David Bailey, of the city of Charleston, in the state of South Carolina, merchant, pray, ing to be allowed the drawback of duties on a quantity of wines, imported by him into the said city, with the intention of exporting the same, which he was prevented from doing by the passage of the act in 1808, laying an embargo; in consequence of which he was compelied to keep the same until it become sour, and sold for a price, not more than sufficient to pay the import duties.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania, presented a petition of John Baldy, late a captain in the army of the United States, praying to be allowed and paid the discount of five per cent. which he was compelled to pay, in changing a treasury note of one thousand dollars, placed in his hands for the public service, and that he may be allowed and paid for services rendered in the quartermaster's department, in the late war with Great Britain.

Mr. Claiborne presented a petition of Robert Evans, a captain in general Coffee's brigade of militia, in the service of the United States during the late war with Great Britain, praying to be paid for a negro servant, the property of the petitioner, who died on the march from New Orleans to Tennessee, after the war.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the committee of Claims.

Mr. Moore presented a petition of Stanton Shales, praying compensation for his baggage, which he lost whilst a captain of artillery, in the late war with Great Britain.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Hitchcock presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the state of Ohio, praying, that in the sale of lands adjoining the Indian reservations, no person may be permitted to become a purchaser, but such as are christians, and who may have obtained certificates from trustees, select men, or justices of the peace, that they are of good moral character, sober, discreet, and well disposed, in order that facilities may not be afforded to the Indians, in obtaining ardent