Mr. Mills, also presented a petition of Alpheus Colton, praying compensation for his services as a soldier in the revolutionary army.

Mr. Tallmadge, presented a petition of James Duffie, executor of capt. William Sloo, deceased, praying to be paid for the services of the deceased, as a blacksmith and master of public vessels in the revolutionary army.

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

Mr Holmes, presented a petition of the noncommissioned officers, musicians, and privates, now residing within the state of Connecticut, whose term of service expired, at the close of the late war with Great Britain, praying to be allowed an additional bounty of 160 acres of land, in consideration of their service as aforesaid.

Mr. Tallmadge, presented a petition of Ruth Kirk, guardian to the heir of Job Kirk, deceased, a soldier in the army, in the late war with Great Britain, praying that the said heir may be allowed the half pay pension granted by law in such cases.

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

Mr. Sergeant, presented a memorial of sundry inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, praying that the acts prohibiting the importation of slaves into the Uuited States, may be so amended, as that people of color, unlawfully introduced into the United States, may not be sold as slaves.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee on that part of the President's message, which relates to the illicit introduction of slaves into the United States.

Mr. Sergeant, also presented a memorial of the American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and Improving the Condition of the African Race, praying that in any negotiations between the United States and Spain, and between the United States and the Republics of South America, measures may be adopted for suppressing the African slave trade.

Ordered, That the said petition lic on the table.

Mr. Sergeant, also presented a petition of the commissioners of a turnpike road, from the borough of Gettysbugh, in Pennsylvania, to the dividing line between that state, and the state of Maryland, in a direction to Wheeling, in the state of Virginia, praying for the aid and assistance of the government of the United States, in completing their said road.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee on Roads and Canals.

Mr. W. P. Maclay, presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of Huntington and Bedford counties, in the state of Pennsylvania, praying for the establishment of a post route.

Mr. Hitchcock, presented a petition of sundry inhabitants of the county of Portage, in the state of Ohio, also praying for the establishment of a post route.

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

Mr. McLean, of Delaware, presented a petition of John Rudolph, praying to be allowed an additional price for rations furnish ed the troops of the United States, within the state of Delaware, for two years, during the late war with Great Britain.

The Speaker presented a petition of John Caldwell, of the city of Montreal, in the province of Canada, late a cornet in the second regiment of dragoons, praying compensation for property destroyed in Plattsburg by order of general Macomb, in the late war with Great Britain.

Mr. Crowell, presented a petition of Samuel Dale, praying compensation for a quantity of coffee which he alledges to have been illegally seized and condemned in the year, 1813.

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

On motion of Mr. Little,

Ordered, Thrt the petition of sundry inhabitants of the city of Baltimore, presented on the 7th of January, 1817, in relation to vessels sunk in the harbor of Baltimore, in the late war with Great Britain, be referred to the committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. Crawford, presented a petition of Jonathan Battelle, merchant, of Savannah, in the state of Georgia, praying for the remission of the duties, secured by him, on a quantity of merchandise, imported into the United States, which were soon after accidentally consumed by fire.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the committee of Commerce and Manufactures.

On motion of Mr. M'Lean, of Illinois,

Ordered, That the petition of the legislature of the late territory of Illinois, presented on the 21st February, 1817, be referred to the committee on the Public Lands.

The Speaker laid before the House a letter addressed to him by Benjamin H. Latrobe, late surveyor of the public buildings and of the Capitol, in the city of Washington, in relation to his conduct while in the capacity aforesaid; which was referred to the committee on the Public Buildings.

Mr. Smith, of Maryland, from the committee of Ways and Means, made a report on the petition of John Gooding and James Williams; which was read; when,

Mr. Smith, of Maryland, reported a bill for the relief of the said John Gooding and James Williams; which was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole to-morrow.

Mr. Hugh Nelson, from the committee on the Judiciary, made a report on the petition of Martha J. Cobb; which was read, and the resolution therein contained, was concurred in by the House, as fol, lows:

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted.

Mr. Poindexter, from the committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill from the Senate, entitled "An act for the relief of John Rice Jones," reported the same without amendment.

Ordered, That the said bill be committed to a committee of the whole, to-morrow.

Ordered, That the committee on the Public Lands, be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of James Hughes, and that it be referred to the committee on Private Land Claims.

Mr. Williams, of North Carolina, from the committee of Claims," made an unfavorable report, on the petition of John J. Johnson, Samuel Plumb, Ralph Palcham, Samuel Boutin; Hannah Debois and Margaret Duffield; which was read and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Pleasants, from the committee on Naval Affairs, who were directed to inquire into the expediency of increasing the amount of the security to be required from navy agents, made a report; which was read; when,

Mr. Pleasants, reported a bill concerning navy agents; which was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole, to-morrow.

Mr. Pindall, from the Select committee appointed at the last session, on the subject, by leave of the House, reported a bill to authorize, the prosecution of suits, in the nature of petitions of right and informalities of intrusion, in cases in which the United States are concerned; which was read the first and second time, and committed to a committee of the whole, to morrow.

Mr. Cobb, from the Select committee, to which was committed yesterday, the bill explanatory of the act, authorizing the sale of certain grounds, belonging to the United States, in the City of Washington, reported the same with an amendment; which was read; and the said bill was ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Bloomfield, from the committee on Revolutionary Pensions, made an unfavorable report on the petition of Anna Fields; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Bloomfield, from the same committee, also made an unfavorable report on the several petitions of Joseph Anderson, David Perry, Daniel Hosford, Lyman Hall, Rosewell Hopkins, Abijah Fisk, James Gibson, Robert Ferrell, George Alverson, Solomon Pierce, George Batterson, Josiah Cumming, John Petitt, Charles Powers and William Herrick; which was read; when,

Mr. Strother, moved to amend the said report, by striking out the name of Joseph Anderson, which was rejected; and it was then, Ordered, That the said report lie on the table.

Mr. Rhea, moved that the House do now proceed to consider the unfavorable report of the committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, on the petition of John Polhemus; which motion was rejected.

On motion of Mr. Campbell,

Resolved, That the committee on the Public Lands, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of passing a law, to vest in the legislature of the state of Ohio, power to sell the remaining thirtyfive sections of land, in the reservation at the Sciota Salt Works, and to apply the proceeds of the sale, to such purposes, for the use of the state, as the said legislature may deem most proper.

On motion of Mr. Taylor,

Resolved, That the daily hour of meeting of this House, until otherwise ordered, be eleven o'clock in the forenoon.

On motion of Mr. Southard,

Resolved, That the committee on the subject of the Militia, be instructed to inquire whether any, and, if any, what alteration or amendment to the laws of the United States, are necessary to ensure an equitable enrollment, and annual returns of the militia of the respective states.

On motion of Mr. Sampson,

Resolved, That the committee of Ways and Means, be instructed to inquire into the expediency of amending the 5th section of the act, entitled "An act laying a duty on imported salt; granting a bounty on pickled fish exported; and allowances to certain vessels employed on the fisheries," so that the owner of every vessel above twenty tons, employed in the fisheries, shall receive an allowance of four dollars, for each and every ton of such vessel's burden: Provided, That the allowance aforesaid on any one vessel, for one season, shall not exceed three hundred and sixty dollars.

On motion of Mr. Alexander Smyth,

Resolved, That the committee of Commerce and Manufactures. be instructed to inquire into the expediency of fixing the standard of weights and measures.

The Speaker laid before the House, a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting two hundred copies of the Naval Register of the United States, for the year 1819, for the use of the members of this House; which was ordered to lie on the table.

The Speaker also laid before the House, a letter from the First Comptroller of the Treasury, transmitting a list made out by the Register of the Treasury, of those persons who have not rendered accounts for settlement within the year; which was ordered to lie on the table.

Ordered, That the committee of the whole, to which is committed, the bill to authorize the president and managers of the Rockville and Washington Turnpike Road Company, of the state of Maryland, to extend and make a turnpike road, to or from the boundary of the City of Washington, in the District of Columbia,

through the said District, to the line thereof, be discharged from the consideration thereof, and that the said bill be engrossed and read a third time, to-morrow.

The House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the bill for the relief of Samuel Burr, and on the bill for the relief of John Delafield; and after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Desha, reported the said bills, with an amendment to each, by striking out the first sections thereof.

The first section of the last mentioned bill, is as follows:

"That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, be directed to settle the claim of John Delafield, for 43 loan office certificates, and of James Bott, for one loan office certificate, of four hundred dollars each, nominal amount, issued the 23d of December, 1777, together with the interest due thereon, according to the principles and rules established at the Treasury Department."

The question was taken to concur with the committee of the whole in striking out this section.

And passed in the affirmative,

{

Yeas.............90,

Nays.

64.

The yeas and nays being required by one-fifth of the members.