The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 237
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CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
S^ss
make void the laws of the several States. They
were called " upon, ih this instance, to decide, a most
important question^—a question affecting the organi-
zation of that House—affecting the rights of the
people who were to be represented here, and af-
fecting the constitutional power of Congress. It was
declared by the coijgtitution that this House
should be the judge of the qualification and return of
its .own members; and in forming their judgments it
was absolutely necessary that they should consider
not only the construction of the law, but its validity.
No question of election returns could come before
the House without involving the very same duty of
deciding upon the constitutionality of the laws which
regulated the elections. He made this remark, be-
cause the right had been questioned. The same du-
ty, in such cases, was imposed upon the House as
would be upon the Supreme Court of the United
States; which court has the right to go into all ques-
tions concerning the constitution and laws, and to
decide as to their constitutionality and validity. He,
for his own part, was very far from desiring to de-
cide upon the constitutionality and validity of an act
of Congress; indeed, he lamented the necessity
there was that such a question should come for de-
cision before a body constituted as that was; but it
was a necessity which they could not avoid. The
question could not come before the ordinary judi-
cial tribunals of the land; it must be decided here;
and if they should decide that the law was uncon-
stitutional, it would not be the first which had been so
decided. The joint resolution of 1819, approved by
the President, and having the force of a law, direct-
ing in what manner the printers of the two Houses
should be elected, was subsequently declared un-
constitutional. There were various other cases
which might be mentioned.
But gentlemen holding high stations—gentlemen
whose opinions were entitled to much weight—had
come forward and prejudged the right of certain
members in that House to their seats, and declared
that they had not even the color of a claim to their
seats, although that claim had been authenticated by
the broad seal of the States from which they came.
This, to say the least, was a very precipitate judg-
ment. It was the remark of Elihu, the friend of
Job, that great men were not always wise. Had
Elihu lived in these days, he would have found his
saying verified. But, to come to the point, as to the
constitutionality of the law. He had come to the
conclusion, as he had already remarked, that this
law was unconstitutional, though his individual
opinion was certainly not entitled to much weight,
upon this or any other question, and he had come
to it as the friend of the districting system, which
this law professed to establish. It was not because
he had any hostility to the system, or because he
had any doubt as to the right of the States to estab-
lish that mode of election, that he determined this
law to be unconstitutional.
He was for taking a middle course, keeping the
federal government within its own proper bounds,
and respecting the rights of the States; and in this
way our complicated system of government would
work harmoniously, and the federal and State gov-
ernments would not jdr each other. The gentleman
had said that he could not contemplate a conflict be-
tween Congress and the State governments without
the most gloomy forebodings. What cause for
alarm was there? Why should not Congress re-
trace its steps if it had gone wrong? They were
brought to a point at which they must decide whether
their laws which they could not sustain, or the
State laws which came in conflict with them, must
prevail; then it was their duty to recede from the
ground they had taken. Mr. E. here took a review
of the powers of Congress in relation to the man-
ner of holding elections, and contended that though
they might pass a law prescribing a rule of action
for the people of the United States, they had no
power to pass a law directing the State legislatures
to act in the matter; and, therefore, the law of the
last Congress was void, and not binding 011 the
States.
Mr. E. pursued this course of argument for a
brief space, when he gave way to
Mr. CAMPBELL of South Carolina, on whose
motion,
The House then adjourned.
The following notices of petitions presented to-
day, were handed to the reporters by the members
presenting them:
•By. Mr. HUGHES: Petition of W. Farmer, of
Pade county, praying Congress to establish a mail
route' froih Warsaw, Benton county,' Missouri, via.
Humansville, in Polk" county, Dade coiiri-liouse, is
Bade county, to Sarcoxee, in Newton county. ■
By Mr. DAVIS of Indiana: The joint resolution
of the Legislature of Indiana on the subject of com-
pleting the Wabash and Erie canal to the Ohio
river. The petition of Elijah Chapman, and fifty
other citizens of Davis county, Indiana, asking a
donation of land to complete the Wabash and Erie
canal to the Ohio river. Petition of Elizabeth Wil-
son of Indiana, asking a pension in right of her late
husband, accompanied by sundry vouchers, and a
copy of Butler's History of Kentucky.
By Mr. McCLAY: Petition of 275 citizens of the
city of New York, praying for a reduction of post-
age, and the abolition of the franking privilege.
By Mr. CALDWELL: Petition of various citi-
zens, praying the establishment of a post route from
Lancaster, by way of Crab Orchard, and Elkins-
ville, to Somerset, in Pulaski county, Kentucky:
referred to the Committee on the Post Office and
Post Roads.
By Mr. BLACKWELL: The memorial of
a number of the members of the Tennessee bar,
praying that Congress cause the reports of the
Supreme Court of the United States to be published.
Mr. RELFE withdrew from the files the papers
relating to the land claim of James Journey, of
Missouri, and they were referred to the Committee
on Private Land Claims.
By Mr. LABRANCHE: Petition of citizens of
St. Mary, State of Louisiana, protesting against the
removal of the surveyor general's office from Don-
aldsonville to Baton Rouge: referred to the '^Com-
mittee on the Public Lands.
By Mr. McCAUSLEN: Petition of Juliana Shaw
for a pension: referred to the Committee on Revolu-
tionary Pensions.
By Mr. WM. J. BRO^N: The petition of John
0. Mahany and one hundred and eighteen others,
praying the establishment of a mail-route from In-
dianapolis (via Broad Ripple, Bethlehem, Farming-
ton, Sluelville) to Peru: referred to the Committee
on the Post Office and Post Roads. Also, the peti-
tion and accompanying papers of Richard S. Paris,
Isaac Whitman, and Phineas Thomas, citizens of
Clinton county, Indiana, praying indemnity for dep-
redations committed by the Miami Indians: referred
to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
By Mr. JOSEPH A. WRIGHT: The petition of
John Burson and sixty other citizens of Polk coun-
ty, Indiana, asking for a portion of the vacant lands
in the districts of Palestine and Shawneetown,
Illinois, and Yincennes, Indiana, for the purpose of
improving the rapids of the Wabash river: referred
to the Committee on Roads and Canals. Also, the
petition of General Arthur Patterson and seventy-
five other citizens of Polk county, Indiana, asking
for the same purposes; which was referred to the
same committee.
By Mr. AUGUSTUS C. DODGE: The petition
of sundry citizens of Jackson county, Iowa, pray-
ing the establishment of a mail-route from Galena,
Illinois, via Bellview, Iowa, to Andrew, the county
seat of Jackson county, Iowa: referred to the Com-
mittee on the Post Office and Post Roads. Also,
three petitions from citizens of Wappello county,
Iowa, praying Congress to continue the mail-route
from the late Sac and Fox agency, in said county,
via Ottumwa, to Eddyville, in Wappello county,
Iowa; which was referred to the same committee.
By Mr. FRICK: Petition from 238 citizens of the
borough of Milton, Pennsylvania, praying for a re-
duction of postage on letters, periodicals, and news-
papers. Petition from the citizens of Northumber-
land and Columbia counties, Pennsylvania, for the'
establishment of a post route from Sunbury to Dan-
ville, on the east side of the Susquehanna river, via
Snydertown and Rushvilie.
By Mr. STEW ART of Connecticut: Petition of
H. Trowbridge, Sons & Dwight, and 160 others,
praying Congress to erect a permanent beacon or
light-house on the southwest ledge, at the entrance
of New Haven harbor, Connecticut. The petition
was signed by many shipmasters from Maine, Mas-
sachusetts, New York, and Philadelphia. Also
presented the report of the plan and expense of said
light-house. Petition of F. R. Griffin, and other citi-
zens of Guilford, Connecticut, for the erection of
a light-house at Sachem's Head, 011 the north shore
of Long Island sound.
By Mr. SLIDELL: Petition of James Pepper,
for the confirmation of certain entries of land: re-
ferred to the Committee on Private Land Claims.
By Mr. SAMPLE: Petition of Abner E, Yan-
public lands;
By Mr. McCLERNAND: Petition of John
Edgerly and '456 other citizens of the'
Franklin, Gallatin, Perry, and Washington^ iW|he
State of Illinois, playing the establishment of a pest
route from Shawneetown, via CypressVille, Equal-
ity, Benton, Nashville, and Belleville,"to the city of
St. Louis, in the State of Missouri.
IN SENATE. ..
Wednesday, February 7j 1844.
Mr. SIMMONS presented the credentials of J^ohn
Brown Francis, a senator elected by the Legplai-
turc of Rhode Island, to fill the unexpired term of
William Sprague, who resigned. -
The credentials were read, and he was qualified.
OREGON TERRITORY.
Mr. ATCHISON presented a memorial from 60
or 70 citizens of the United States, residents of- the
Territory of Oregon, setting forth the great injuries
to which they are subjected by the British author-
ities there; and, among other things, that they are
driven from their homes by the Hudson Bay com-
pany, or the principal agents of that company; and
that a Dr. McLaughlin, an English subject, was in
the habit of selling and making deeds for land which
belonged to the United States alone, and from which
the American citizens were driven. This, the me-
morialists, after stating other complaints, pray Con-
gress to extend to them the protection of the laws
of the United States.
Mr. A. also presented copies of deeds made there
by the English subject alluded to. He remarked
that, in the report made to the Commissioner of In-
dian Affairs, by a Mr. Elijah White, a sub-Indian
agent, the following paragraph appeared, viz:
"A petition has started from this country to-day,
making bitter complaints against the Hudson Bay
company and Governor McLaughlin. On reference
to it, (as a copy was denied,) I shall only say, had
any gentleman disconnected with the Hudson Bay
Company been at half the pains and expense to es-
tablish a claim to the Wallamette falls, very few
would have raised an opposition. His half-bushel
measure I know to be exact, according to the Eng-
lish imperial standard. The gentlemen of this com-
pany have been fathers and fosterers of the colony,
ever encouraging peace, industry, and good order;
and have sustained a character for hospitality and
integrity too well established easily to be shaken."
Mr. A. said an issue was made up between this
Indian agent and the petitioners; one side or the
other had stated a falsehood as to the conduct of the
Hudson Bay company. He believed it could be
easily shown, from tne papers he then submitted,
that this agent, and not the petioners, had told the
lie. The petition clearly proves the lie on the agent.
For that reason, he moved that thepetition and pa-
pers accompanying be printed. The motion was
agreed to by unanimous consent.
Mr. ATCHISON presented a'memorial signed by
A. A. Bradford, and a large number of ciuzens of
Holt, county, Missouri, representing that, within the
last year, a great many murders had been committed
on the northwestern frontier, by the Pottawatamie
and Ottoe Indians, and asking that military posts
may be established on that frontier for the better
protection of the inhabitants there: referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. CLAYTON presented a memorial from a
large number of citizens of New Castle county,
Delaware, asking that an appropriation may be
made by Congress for the repair of the piers at
Fort Penn, in the Delaware river. The memorial-
ists represent that these piers were originally built
at the expense of the State of Delaware, and that
the work was ceded to the United States in 1820,
with the understanding that it would be kept in re-
pair by the government: referred to. the Committee
011 Commerce. .
Mr. ALLEN presented a memorial from Anna
Maria Baldwin, who was brought to Washington
by the government as a witness against the Whites,
charged with burning the treasury building, repre-
senting that she was 149 days in the service of the
United States as a witness, and that she was com-
pelled to travel 1,448 miles in consequence; and rep-
resenting that the compensation allowed her by law
as a witness did not cover her expenses. She prays
Congress to pass a law allowing her further com-
pensation: referred to the Committee on the Judir
j] ciwy.
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, book, 1844; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2367/m1/261/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.