stated to the House, and a select committee appointed, to whom the whole subject was referred. The object of the appointment being to inquire into the expediency of equalizing the pay of the army and navy in the manner proposed by the resolution of the Senate, and attempted by the honorable Secretaries of the War and Navy Departments. That committee had accordingly taken up the whole subject, and had given it a careful and anxious investigation. On the 28th February, 1834, they made, through me, a report to the House, accompanied by a bill, which was intended to cover the whole ground, and which a majority of them believed would obviate the objections made to the proposal of the Departments. A reference to that report will at once explain to honorable gentlemen all the principles and views upon which the committee had acted-it treats of, and at large, the merits of the naval service, and aims to place the same in as just a point of view as possible before Congress and the country. No doubt whatever had existed upon the mind of any honorable member of that committee as to the entire inadequacy of the existing pay of the navy. The question which arose was one of expediency and economy: Whether it was not proper to compensate the country for the increased expenditure necessarily called for by the increase of the pay of the navy, by a corresponding reduction of that of the army. A majority of the committee believed that it was, and acted accordingly. The bill, No. 334, "to equalize the pay of the army and navy of the United States" was reported, and at the same time was referred for analysis and investigation to the Departments of War and the Navy. It was soon ascertained that the equalization bill, in endeavoring to effect what was just and proper, both in relation to the army and the navy, had failed to accomplish that which a majority of the committee had considered practicable and of paramount importance, to wit: an economical reduction, without injustice, of the pay of the army to meet the increase called for in that of the navy. I ask honorable gentlemen to refer to the documents appended to the supplemental report, No. 467, now on their tables. It will then be found that, instead of any decrease, there is actually an increase to the amount of seventy thousand dollars in the already ample pay of the army. It is true that, by a reference to the report of the quarter master general, a probable decrease of allowances to the estimated amount of thirty thousand dollars was ef fected; still, however, leaving a balance of increase to the amount of forty thousand dollars in army pay. The committee had, likewise, subsequently become possess ed of a report, made by the paymaster general of the army to the Secretary of War, in April, 1826. This report was made to enable the Secretary to judge of the expediency of changing the present mode of compensating officers of the army, and of the effect likely to be produced by substituting a fixed sum of money in lieu of allowances. This report is dictated by the experience of a sound practical head. It emanates from one of the most distinguished and honorable men of our country, and is believed to put the question of the expediency of army allowances entirely at rest. It is appended to the report of your committee, and a candid perusal of it is respectfully asked of the honorable members of this House. Under all these circumstances, then, the line of conduct to be pursued by your committee was plain and obvious. It was not their intention, nor had it been the intention, it is believed, of Congress, either to increase the pay of the army, or to derange its present efficiency and organization. Your committee, therefore, asked of the House that the bill purporting to equalize the pay of the army and navy might again be [DEC. 16, 1834, recommitted to them; and it was accordingly so ordered. And this, sir, brings me to the bill now under consideration. It is "a bill to regulate the pay of the navy of the United States." For the reasons above stated, and as they appear in the report No. 467, your committee confine themselves exclusively to the subject of naval pay. I now proceed, Mr. Chairman, to explain the general features and principles of the present bill. They are the result of four years' close investigation of the whole subject, and of a general communication with every grade in the service, either personally or by letter. Great pains have been taken, as well by the late honorable Secretary of the Navy as by myself, to distribute it universally, not only among all our home stations, but likewise to send it to all our squadrons abroad; and I am happy to state, sir, that, up to the present day, I have not heard of one single individual, of any grade, who does not give it his most cordial concurrence and support. I may be permitted to hope, sir, that, notwithstanding the very unusual and hasty procedure on the part of my colleague, it will, to a great extent at least, meet with a like concurrence on the part of this House. It was the endeavor of the committee to establish a principle of justice bearing equally upon all grades-to pay liberally where high responsibilities were incurred -to guard sacredly, by fixed and positive statute, the rights and privileges of all--placing the lowest as well as the highest grades of the service equally beyond the caprice of regulation-to cut off all allowances whatever, except such as are specified, and as it is believed cannot be dispensed with without gross injustice. The scale of pay is as high as the committee considered themselves authorized to make. They assumed that submitted by the President of the United States himself as the highest point to start from; increasing, however, greatly beyond the scale contained in the same proposal, all the amounts allowed the lower grades. And this was done with the view to make the service a desirable one; to present the inducement to a brave, hardy, and intelligent class of native born American citizens, to devote their lives to a service in which the pecuniary reward was greater than that which they can hope to obtain by their own exertions in the civil marine of the country, after an exposure to much se verer toils and to infinitely greater dangers. My colleague, [Mr. HARPER,] therefore, does the committee very great injustice when he asserts that we have overlooked the merits and services of the lower grades. And of this a more minute perusal of the details of the bill, in that spirit of candor which distinguishes him, will at once convince him. It will be observed that an increased compensation is allowed to the senior officers of the navy. This is done in compliance with immemo rial usage, and with the express terms of the act of 25th February, 1799, the third section of which expressly states, "That whenever any officer, as aforesaid, shall be employed in the command of a squadron on separate service, the allowance of rations to such commanding officer shall be doubled during the continuance of such command, and no longer, except in the case of the commanding officer of the navy, whose allowance, while in service, shall always be at the rate of sixteen rations per day." The increased compensation, therefore, to the senior officer is in lieu of the double rations which have always been allowed him, and to which he is justly entitled, as well by universal usage, and by every principle of sound discipline, as by law. It is not a privilege granted in favor of any one officer in particular; it is one open to all in succession; allowed before the highly distinguished gentleman who now stands at the head of the list attained that point, and to be retained by his T successor. To annul it now would be to degrade the pride of rank so essential to the discipline of the service; to wound the brave veteran whose long life has been faithfully and laboriously devoted to your service, and to commit a flagrant act of injustice, which I cannot permit myself for a moment to think honorable gentlemen will entertain. Gentleman will please remark that the discrimination between pay when off and on duty is introduced into the bill in all cases. It has existed by law, to a certain extent, since, I believe, 1806, and, in the language of the Secretary of the Navy, is deemed essentially material to the efficiency of the service. It will be observed, in reference to all other captains, that, when subjected to similar responsibilities, they are all placed upon an equal footing, and so likewise when relieved from all responsibilities; and this was intended as a compromise, and was so received, to do away with certain difficulties which had existed for some time past between the senior and junior captains. The discriminations of ten and fifteen years, which now exist in the regulations of the service, in defining the relative rank between officers of the army and the navy, have likewise been dropped for the same purpose. That of five years has been retained in the spirit of the original resolution, of which I have spoken, as being the least objectionable in itself. The difference of pay is but trifling. The principle itself is greatly limited, while the compensation allowed, whether over or under five years, far transcends, in both cases, that at present received. The moral effect is believed to be good, while the inducement to continue in the service, even when the highest grades are attained, is enhanced by the certainty of prospective reward. I can assert that, as yet, no complaints have reached me on this subject. And now as to the masters commandant. It is admitted on all hands that their pay is degra dingly low; it amounts to only $1,174, with an allowance for cabin furniture of $180 per annum additional. Upon this miserable stipend is the commanding officer of one of your finest sloops of war expected to meet all the high responsibilities of his station, and the very great liabilities to expense to which he is necessarily exposed; at the same time he has left behind him a wife and family, altogether dependent upon his pay. These liabilities to expense cannot be avoided. The custom of our own and of every service requires at the hand of the captain all the courtesies which can be shown, not only to all the officers of his ship, but also to all the foreign agents and strangers with whom he may be brought in contact. To the officers of his ship he stands in the relation, as it were, of father; his attentions to them spring from a sense of duty. The harmony, good order, and proper training of the young gentlemen under his command, demand that a respectful intercourse should subsist between himself and them. He is bound, too, by his very orders, to cultivate the most friendly and kind relations with foreign ships of war, of whatever nation, and with the authorities on shore with whom he may come in contact. A regard to the true interests of his country exacts this at his hands, without reference to the expense he may incur. All these duties he faithfully fulfils; with all these demands he honorably complies; and what are the consequences? No officer returns from a cruise who is not from six to twelve months' pay in debt. Is it to be wondered at, then, that many of them are made miserable in their domestic relations? It is certainly time for us to show some regard to them who have done so much for their country, and no longer to permit the brave man who has faced death in every form, to carry in his bosom the corroding canker of debt which he has it not in his VOL. XI.-51 [H. OF R. power to avoid, nor is able to meet when incurred. With regard to the scale of pay provided for the lieutenants, I have only to say, Mr. Chairman, that it is such as meets with their entire concurrence. It was arranged after a full consultation with a deputation of that grade representing all their brother officers, and was made to coincide entirely with their own views. The principle of discrimination between shore and sea pay is carefully guarded, as of paramount importance, and ample provision is made for the lieutenant commanding. The distinction over ten years is adopted in consequence of the number of valuable officers who have been from eighteen to twenty years in service, and have now reached the middle period of life, encumbered with families. It is intended to operate both as a reward for long and faithful services rendered, and as an inducement to the junior officers to retain their commissions. A higher scale would most willingly have been adopted, but prudence forbade it, and it is hoped no objection may arise to the present. The same remarks apply to the scale fixed for the I hold in my grade of surgeons and their assistants. hand, sir, the views of these two grades, very fully expressed to me, in the form of a memorial, accompanied This schedule was by a schedule of proposed pay. adhered to as far as it was deemed proper; and, up to this day, no dissenting voice has been heard. The grade of surgeons, Mr. Chairman, is one of the most responsible in the service, requiring the highest order of moral courage and intellectual attainment. Their duty is equally arduous in war and peace-on shore or at sea. They are exposed equally with their brother officers, to all the toils and dangers of the sea, besides being condemned to a life of severe mental labor and trouble, and to many cares and anxieties peculiar to their stations. They are put not only to an increased expense of education to prepare themselves for their profession, but they are likewise required, subsequently, to continue that expense in providing themselves with standard works, always costly, and all the periodicals of the day absolutely essential to keep them even with the rapid advances of their daily improving profession. They enter the service at a late period, in consequence of the length of time indispensable to the acquirement of a professional education. Few of them I have seen, Mr. reach an advanced period of life. Chairman, a calculation by which it appeared that not more than twenty-five per cent. of them ever attained the grade of surgeons of ten years' standing, fifteen per cent. of them that of surgeons of fifteen years' standing, and not eight per cent. that of twenty years' standing. And finally, sir, it must be borne in mind that the graduation of their pay, increased by length of service, is the only promotion to which they can ultimately look. Equity and justice, therefore, both demand that they should be placed upon the most liberal footing of com pensation. It The bill provides, further, sir, ample compensation for the two grades of chaplain and schoolmaster. has been thought that the importance and value of the latter would be greatly enhanced by a denomination of more dignity than that by which he has hitherto been known; and as it is proposed to exact, hereafter, of him duties of the highest character, he is styled in the bill, and will be in future known as, the professor of mathematics. With regard to the remaining grades, sir, every regard has been entertained towards their rights and convenience; their sea and shore pay have, in every instance, been much enhanced. More would have been willingly asked for them, if it had been thought more could have been obtained. As it is, no discontent has as yet been heard. It has been the anxious desire of the committee, Mr. Chairman, to provide in the most liberal manner for the boatswains, gunners, sailmakers, and carpenters. They rank among the most useful and efficient of the service. Their duties are of the most responsible and important character, and require attentive, sober, upright men for the faithful performance of them. Peculiar skill, experience, and tact, are necessary in them. Their compensation is at least equal to any thing they could hope to earn by their exertions in private life. Mr. Chairman, I will occupy no more of the time of the committee. Fully prepared, it will give me great pleasure to impart any information it may have been in my power to obtain, and meet any objection that may arise in the discussion likely to ensue. Permit me, however, here to add that the increased annual expe diture called for by the bill amounts to something over two hundred thousand dollars. Let not It is honorable ge, tlemen be startled by this amount. not to be weig beda moment in the scale with the equivalent given. It is but a small premium offered for the security of a commerce which extends over the surface of the whole globe, and exceeds two hundred millions of dollars in amount. Withdraw your four squadrons from the foreign stations they now occupy, and what security do you hold for this vast amount of wealth? What becomes of your character as a maritime Power? How will you stand in your foreign relations? What bulwark remains to preserve your free republican institutions from the encroachments of foreign despotism? None, sir; none whatever. Then, sir, let this amount not be considered as idly squandered. Let it rather be viewed, as it ought to be, as a debt of justice, an equiv. alent rendered for services of incalculable value. I have thus endeavored, sir, in a spirit of entire candor, to fulfil my duty to the brave men whose rights and interests it has fallen to my lot to advocate, and to the honorable members on this floor. Whatever may be the fate of this bill, I shall carry with me the consolation that my effort, though humble, has been to effect a great good for my country. The eyes of the whole service are anxiously bent upon the action of this House. Their future hopes and prospects hang upon its decision. I implore honorable gentlemen not to let them fall to the ground, nor to permit them to be blighted. The subject before us, Mr. Chairman, is one entirely distinct from a political aspect. The navy is the common property of the whole country. Its fame is indissolubly connected with the brightest pages of our history. It is the right arm of our defence. It is an institution most consistent with our form of government, and most congenial to the habits, feelings, and character, of the great mass of our population. I trust, sir, it will so be viewed: and that, standing as we do towards it, in the light of a parent, we will be actuated in our decisions by the broadest and most liberal principles of equity and justice. Mr. MANN said that he had looked at the report with some considerable care, and with a desire to come to the same conclusion as the committee. He wished to see in the report some reason for the reference of the subject to a select committee, instead of the usual standing committee, but he had found none, and had now to learn if there were any. He remarked on the basis of perfect equality, assumed by the committee, in the pay of the two branches of the service. To this all would assent; but he could not give his assent to the process by which the committee proposed to reach this object. It was proposed to raise the pay of the navy to the standard of the army. It might be well to see what was the present pay of the two branches. He adverted to the documents accompanying the report, to show the present [DEC. 17, 1834. pay of the navy, and stated that the pay of commanders of squadrons was intended to be raised from somewhat nore than $2,660 to $5,500. He stated that he knew little of the service, but, after being here one session, he had discovered that no officer of the Government, from the President downwards, was content with the salary now allowed to him by law. He remarked on the perquisites and privileges and allowances at present granted to the officers of the navy; and before he would vote for the bill, in any shape, be must be informed why it is necessary to give $4,500 or $5,500 to the senior captains, with all the perquisites, when they are absent on leave. If gentlemen would take the trouble to go through the scale of allowances, as estimated by the Departments, under what authority he did not know, they would find that there were no officers in the service of the Government who were not well paid, well fed, and well clothed to boot. He was desirous to bring down the pay of the army to the pres ent pay of the navy, instead of raising the pay of the navy to the standard of the army. He then took a view of the pay and emoluments of the army, beginning with the commanding major general, and going downwards, showing the difference which now existed between the pay and emoluments of the two services. He was willing to give something additional to commanding officers while on foreign stations, because he thought the allow ance, in that situation, was at present inadequate. He moved to strike out the enacting clause of the bill. The CHAIR decided that the motion was not now in order; but, on reference to the 32d rule, reversed the opinion, and declared the motion in order. The question being on this motion, after a few words from Mr. WARD, the motion was negatived without a division. The question then recurring on the motion of Mr. HARPER to amend, Mr. HARPER expressed his regret that he could not coincide in the opinion of his colleague, [Mr. WATMOUGH] but must persist in his motion. Mr. WATMOUGH then vindicated himself and the select committee from the imputation of having interfered with the province of a standing committee of the House, and from all the other allegations of the gentleman from New York, [Mr. MANN,] reiterating what he had before said, that the committee had taken the report of the Department for its basis. Mr. WAYNE said that, in a bill of such importance as the present, it was to be expected, at the first consideration, there would be differences of opinion. To enable the House to investigate the subject more fully, he moved that the committee rise. The motion being agreed to, the committee rose, reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again. On motion of Mr. WATMOUGH, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17. Among other memorials presented to-day, was one by Mr. REYNOLDS from the Legislature of Illinois, pray ing that certain grants of lands may be made to indivi uals, founded upon cultivation, and heads of families, & Upon presenting the above-mentioned memorial, M R. said: Mr. Speaker, I present to this House a memorial fr the General Assembly of the State of Illinois. This m morial contains some cases of ancient settlers in 1. nois, praying a confirmation to certain land claims These persons emigrated to Illinois and became citize of that country between the years 1780 and 1790. The also improved the soil to such an extent as to entite them to an improvement right, so called, of four hundred acres, under the acts and resolves of Congress, and the cession act of the State of Virginia. The Virginia cession act passed in the year 1784, and the last act of Congress passed in 1791-all recognising and confirming those individuals in their possessions and rights, who improved and cultivated the soil. These settlers resided in the country between those dates, and made improvements, and were, as I conceive, entitled to a confirmation of their claims of four hundred acres to each indi vidual. The Governors of the then Territories, Northwestern and Indiana, who were authorized by various acts of Congress to adjust these claims to land, did not grant to each person named in this memorial, who was by the Governor's own acts entitled to such grant, the full quantity of four hundred acres; and to obtain the balance of the four hundred acres, is the prayer of this memorial, and that of your humble servant. I person ally know these claimants, and know them to be entitled, in justice and equity, to the quantity of land to make up to each the four hundred acres. The memorial was referred. REMISSION OF DUTIES. [H. OF R. per. My proposition is to refer to this committee the propriety of reducing the duties on locomotive engines, railroad car-wheels with rolled iron tires, &c. If the Government cannot spare this amount,.then my application will be abandoned. But we are told that the object sought by my resolution affects the manufacturing interests of the country, and consequently it ought to be referred to the Committee on Manufactures. To show how unreasonable is this view, let me refer the House to the nature and objects of the committees of this House. There is, besides the committees I have named, one on agriculture. Now, sir, my proposition comes peculiarly from this interest. In the section of country where I live, it costs us almost one-third of our produce to get it to market, and, on the returns, a great deal moreupon that most necessary article of salt we pay 150 per cent. for freight. We are seeking to ameliorate this condition of things by railroad facilities, and the first step towards it is to get relief from the heavy taxes upon the articles enumerated in my resolution. I might, with great propriety, contend that the subject ought to be referred to the Committee of Agriculture, being the interest most concerned; but I am told that will not be right, because that interest is to be benefited; and yet, when I retort that the Committee on Manufactures is The House resumed the consideration of the follow-equally interested in rejecting the measure, oh! then ing resolution, offered yesterday by Mr. CLAYTON: Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means inquire into the expediency of reporting a law for the purpose of remitting the duties on locomotive engines, railroad car-wheels with rolled iron tires, axles, springs, &c. already imported, or which may hereafter be imported within two years. The question being on striking out "Committee of Ways and Means," and inserting "Committee on Manfactures" Mr. DICKERSON supported the amendment, on the ground that the most important matter of inquiry, embraced in the resolution, was its effect on the internal improvements and the domestic manufactures of the country, and that this, according to the common course of proceeding, was referrible to the Committee on Manufactures. Mr. MASON said that though the resolution proposed merely an inquiry, yet the question was argued as if it involved the fate of the proposition. He did not think it proper, at this time, to go into the merits of the inquiry. The subject was fully discussed at the last session, and a bill was passed this House, remitting duties on articles imported by companies engaged in internal improvements. He could not see on what ground the reference of the subject to the Committee of Ways and Means was now opposed. At the last session, there was some opposition to a similar measure, but none to the reference of the subject to that committee. Mr. CLAYTON said he would not trouble the House with any remarks on this subject, but for the confident belief that, if the amendment prevailed, it would defeat his proposition. This House, said Mr. C., is designed to protect all the great interests of the country within its constitutional right; and, preparatory to this, in its organization, it has divided itself into various committees, each of which is to take care of a particular interest; and these committees are so constituted that a majority of each is in favor of the particular interest confided to its care. It will, then, be perceived how important it is to withhold a great general concern from one of these committees, whose particular interest may be invaded. Now, sir, the first great object of the Government is to have a competent revenue to carry on its operations. This matter is committed to the Committee of Ways and Means. Without resources no other interest can pros the argument does not apply. The agricultural interest, by far the greatest of any in the country-one which, it would seem, ought to chal. lenge the support of every other interest-must, when it comes to this House for its deserved encouragement, knock at the door of the Committee on Manufactures, an interest (I speak of the interest and not of the committee) which would sooner part with its eye-teeth than its profits upon a ten-penny nail; and if that interest is willing to yield the favor, why, forsooth, it will be well and good; if not, it will not receive the attention of this House. And have we come to that, that legislation, in reference to the great agricultural interests of the country, must first seek the smiles of manufactures? Sir, is this right? No, sir, let it go to the Committee of Ways and Means, a proper arbiter between us, and let them report the matter, and we will then battle it out with the manufacturing interest before this House. But no one believes that the Committee on Manufactures will report favorably on the subject. Besides, sir, to show that it is not the proper committee, suppose (which I confess is very improbable) they should report that the duties may be remitted, and it turns out that the Government cannot spare them, does not every one perceive their report would be of no consequence? And does not this prove that the Committee of Ways and Means ought to be first consulted? Sir, if this proposi tion fails, it will be an express denial of justice to the greatest interest of the country, merely to satisfy the cravings of one much inferior, and will justly incur the reprehension of all concerned in that great interest. Mr. DENNY was surprised, he said, at the tenor of the remarks which he had heard from the gentleman last up, and from the gentleman from North Carolina, who spoke yesterday. In the cases referred to, of remission of duties, the goods were imported, and the money actually paid into the treasury or secured by bonds. But the proposition before us took a wider range. It was not to remit duties, but to change the tariff, and abolish the duties altogether for two years. Gentlemen would recollect the course of proceeding last year on the memorial from Vermont for increasing the duties on foreign marble imported. It was referred to the Committee on Manufactures. Now the proposition was to reduce duties, and we are urged to send it to the Committee of Ways and Means. The gentleman from Georgia had spoken of the agricultural interest. There was no memorial from that interest on this subject. It was an isolated proposition from an individual member. The gentleman had remarked, in reference to the friends of the protective system, that they would rather have their eye-teeth drawn out than to submit to the loss of their profit on a ten-penny nail. He might retort the remark, and say that there were gentlemen who would destroy the Union rather than pay the duty on a tenpenny nail. It was certain that the course of the friends of domestic industry here, and in the country generally, did not justify the charge. The proposition was simply this: to allow the importation of certain articles of British manufacture free of duty, for two years. The question was, whether our manufactures should be forced into unequal competition with the British articles. He hoped the House, by countenancing this proposition, would | not, at this moment, bring up the agitating questions relative to the tariff. | | [DEC. 17, 1834. test the disposition of the House to go into the question, On this motion, Mr. CLAYTON asked the yeas and Mr. SPEIGHT said, if this was a question relating to manufactures, he should probably agree with the gentleman from Pennsylvania, but he did not consider it as such. This was not the first time we had had the question of jurisdiction raised between the Committee of NAYS-Messrs. J. J. Allen, Chilton Allan, Archer, Ways and Means and the Committee on Manufactures. | Barringer, Beale, Bean, Beardsley, Binney, Briggs, What is the question? Perhaps, as the gentleman from Bull, Bunch, Bynum, Cage, Cambreleng, Campbell, Georgia suggests, it is more strictly agricultural than Carmichael, Carr, Casey, Chinn, Claiborne, S. Clark, any other. That part of the country which he and the Clay, Clayton, Clowney, Coffee, Connor, Corwin, gentleman from Georgia represented, labored under Crane, Davenport, Day, Deberry, Dickinson, Dunlap, great disadvantages from the want of facilities for send- Ewing, Felder, Ferris, Foster, William K. Fuller, ing its produce to market. This evil was attempted to Fulton, Gamble, Gholson, Gillet, Gordon, Graham, be remedied by the construction of railroads. Now, Grayson, Griffin, Joseph Hall, Thomas H. Hall, Hanneshall we be obliged to buy the home articles for these gan, Joseph M. Harper, Hawkins, Hawes, Howell, Hubrailroads, or may we buy them where we can get them bard, Huntington, Inge, William Jackson, Jarvis, R. M. cheapest? Shall we be sacrificed to promote the inter- | Johnson, Noadiah Johnson, S. Jones, Kavanagh, Kil ests of the manufacturers? He had heard much said here gore, King,Kinnard, Lane, Luke Lea, Lewis, Lincoln, about the great tariff compromise made two years ago. Love, Loyall, Abijah Mann, Manning, Mardis, John Y. He was not disposed to touch it, and he was sure it was Mason, Moses Mason, May, McCarty, McComas, Mca sort of compromise which the gentleman from Penn- Kinley, Mercer, Miner, H. Mitchell, Moore, Murphy, sylvania had every reason to be pleased with, for it in- Page, Parks, Peyton, F. Pierce, Pinckney, Polk, jured none of the interests which he was friendly to. Repcher, Reynolds, Robertson, Shepperd, Spangler, But it had been thought proper, in some particulars, Speight, Stoddert, W. Taylor, Thomson, Tompkins, and on some occasions, to infringe a little upon that Trumbull, Vance, Wardwell, White, Williams, Wisecompromise. A bill was reported by Mr. BINNEY, from the Committee of Ways and Means, for the remission of duties on iron prepared for a railway and inclined plane by the Schuylkill Company, and it passed the House. The measure met with no opposition from gentlemen belonging to that part of the country from which the petition came. He referred also to a bill reported by Mr. BINNEY, for the remission of duties on locomotive engines, which passed this House, and failed in the Senate for want of time. He had rarely ever known a proposition to reduce duties to be referred to the Committee on Manufactures. Mr. STEWART said that this proposition was likely to elicit a general discussion of the tariff question. He should make a motion with a view to ascertain whether the House was disposed to go into the discussion. If the gentleman from North Carolina was dissatisfied with the tariff compromise, and would bring in a bill to repeal it, he would promise to support him, with his whole heart and strength. The manufacturing interests were undergoing a consumption rapidly enough under that compromise, without the adoption of any further measures for their destruction. If the House went into those questions, our time would be exclusively occupied by them through the session. One proposition after another would be made for the reduction of duties on different articles. If the proposition now before us was offered for the relief of the agricultural interest, so might propoCons be made for remitting the duties on ploughs and nd every agricultural instrument. With a view to 107. So the motion to lay the resolution on the table was negatived. The question recurring on the adoption of the resolution, Mr. CHAMBERS contended that the subject was not deserving of consideration as a revenue question. It was its operation on other interests, and chiefly on the manufacturing interest, which would be principally considered. The House would inquire whether the country was supplied, or could be supplied, with American man. ufactures. If the tariff was to be assailed, notwith standing the compromise of 1832, in any one particular, it might, under that precedent, be, in like manner, assailed in every item. Here the debate was arrested by the expiration of the hour allotted to the consideration of resolutions. PAY OF THE OFFICERS OF THE NAVY. The House then went into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. BRIGGS in the chair,) and resumed the consideration of the bill to regulate and equalize the pay of the officers of the navy-the question being on the motion of Mr. HARPER, of Pennsylvania, to strike out $5,500 as the pay of a senior captain, commanding a squadron, and inserting $4,500. Mr. WATMOUGH rose to express the hope that the motion of his colleague [Mr. HARPER] would not prevail. He confessed that he had not expected opposition from that quarter, and felt assured that, if his colleague [Mr. |