Show y CONGRESS IONI loni proceedings DECEMBER la in the senate mr air clark dark moved r oved to take up fp the resolution of inquiry offered by him in relation to the forts at charleston mr green sure suge suggested ested that the senator from ore oregon on who wab was not present wished to amend tte the resolution air clark dark then withdrew his motion 2 mr toombs made his appearance in the senate chamber chambel mr air hunter from the committee on finance reported the house bill making appropriation for the payment of invalid and other other pensions for the year ending june 1860 also the bill making appropriations for the support of the military academy both of which bills passed mr johnsons resolutions proposing amendments to the constitution were then taken up mr johnson resumed and concluded his speech in favor of preserving the union and against secession recession advocating alie application of force foyce for fot ce by the united states to prevent the dissolution of the national compact at the close of his speech mr lane said eaid the democracy would never march under the banner of mr johnson to trample on south carolina that state ought to resist Lincol ns rule and if any oe oce atte attempted t ed to coerce her he lane would say bay to such sir you must meet your humble servant and walk over his dead body before you can do it after an executive session ahe the senate adjourned jour ned in the hose mr washburn of illinois a res solution that when the house adjourned on the it should be to meet on the of january which was laid on the table by a vote of only three majority the consideration of the territorial business was wag postponed mr sherman from the committee on ways and means reported a bill makin making an appropriation pria tion for legislative executive anda nd judicial uricial expenditures for fhe be year ending june 1860 lle ile also offered a resolution which was adopted instructing the committee on public lands to inquire whether any officers connected with the surveyor generals Gene raPs office can be dispensed w tb after which the house went into com coin in atee on the deficiency ampro appropriation bill mr sherman offered an amendment amenT amendment ment appropriating pria ting to carry out the law for the suppression of the african slave trade which produced a lengthy discussion amendments we 0 offered and voted down and the he bill pas sed fied DECEMBER Dr cEEn in the senate vice pre pres ment breckenridge announced the committee ordered by the resolution of mr bir powell con einung of powell hunter crittenden sf St ward wards toombs douglas collamer davis IV vmae wage a ae bigler rice doolittle and grimes mr aft davis asked to be excused on account of the position in which his state stood and he was excused dir sir lr hunter from the committee on f fin in ance reported back the tariff bill with a recommendation that I 1 it be postponed u until itil the 40 41 40 of march next which was laid on the f able abik an e gort effort was made to have mr air clarks darks resolution of inquiry taken up tip A warm discussion was the result which occupied much ule at length mr nicholson Ki cholson obtained the fluom but moved to postpone the subject until tomorrow to morrow in order to take up the bill giving 0 the baltimore and ohio railroad authority t to cross the long bridge over the potomac riva niver river mr pearce moved that when the senate adjourn nd journ it be until monday dir mr cameron ra ved to amend so as to adjourn over every airee days until new years day mr davia davis was opposed to the adjournment ile he trusted the senate would be continued for good if goi goki grant or for evil if we would have it discussion followed until mr air kennedy mik aik a ik d what was in order when the motion to adjourn was disagreed to in the house mr dir delano asked leave to offer the following f ol lowing which he read for anfor mation whereas by report of the proceedings in the sa S a se e convention of south carolina held on tib tle tie lath iusi lust the hon wm win porcher miles a member number of thib this house used the following language in a conversation co and subsequently in a britten vr itten communication to the president I 1 kaow know this to have been said if you send a solitary sofi tary soldier to these parts the instant the intelligence reaches our people and we will take care that it does reach us before it can reach the forts the forts will lii ill be taken because such a course is necessary to our safety and self seif preservation therefore resolved thattie that the president be requested to communicate to the house what information he has received either oral or in writing to tae tile effect that if the forts of the harbor of Ch charleston Cha aleston teston are reinforced the forts will be taken by any armed force or aut authority autho holty ity hostile 3 the authority and supremacy of the united sa saes es considerable excitement followed an and d IN mr I 1 r ashmore wanted hinted to know where the information came from mr air delano replied it was published shed in the proceedings of the south carolina convention tiie the speaker ruled that neither the debate nor the resolution were in order but bilt the latter be taken up another time the house went inep committee of the whole on an the state of the union on the bill granting lands lanes to nebraska for railroads mr air sherman offered an amendment belfio the select cord cold committees mit tees pacific railroad bill mr curtis submitted a substitute therefore therdore being baing ne nearly arly the tife sain eara eias eras the latter points of order arder was raised that these propositions ions lons wens vene lot not hot germaine germai ae to the Ne nebraska braska bratka land and bill which the chairman overruled and was wag sustained by the committee the committee adopted mr air curtis substitute which provides for a road starting from the he western border of missouri and theowest the western border of iowa lowa with two converging lines westward uniting within miles of the missouri river thence proceeding by a single trunk line by the nearest and best beat route via the vicinity of salt lake to san francisco or to the navigable waters of the sacramento it also provided for a road from the western border of the southwestern states starting from two points namely fort smith and the western border of louisiana and two converging in lines bearing westward uniting with the southern pacific railroad company chartered by texas various amendments were offered and rejected mr air davis argued against the construction pf af two pacific roads when the government was bankrupt mr air garnett said the bill was to be passed under the lash and the spur of the prey pret previous ious question without affording the opportunity for discussion this measure was designated for political lotical purposes but he suggested whether there would be another presidential election south carolina had today to day at half halt past pst one by the glorious action of her people withdrawn from the union finty nine out of every hundred of the people of virginia believe the railroad measure to be unconstitutional noumay you sou may increase the public debt but those people will not hold themselves responsible for the bonds to be issued the committee then rose and reported the nebraska land bill with mr air curtis substitute which passed by a vote of 95 05 a against 74 hf after ter which the ifie house adjourned till monday the I 1 DEcEm DECEMBER nir nin mr dir powell moved in the senate that the vice president have rower power to fill fil the vacancy in the special committee occasioned by the resignation of mr davis which was agreed to but subsequently mr yulee moved a reconsideration of the vote excusing the Mis mississippi sissi p senator from serving and said that it was t the wish of the senator of his section that the senator pi pl should consent to serve berve on the of thirteen and he now asked him if he would not consent to do so mr davis said it was not because of any matter of personal feeling that he had asked to be excused yesterday for if he be knew himself there was no public duty from which he would shrink but his opinion was that the state of or mississippi having taken the subject into her own hands he cold aoud could not expect to work advantageously with the committee elther either could he under such circumstances enter upon the labor as willingly ai as he trusted he bad done upon all the service of the public but if in the opinion of others it was possible to do any good then to the last moment that be stood t here ere he was at the service of the senate if he could see any means by which be he could avert trouble between t the h e two sections he would ever be found in readiness to do so if by any sacrifice which be he could offer on the alter of his country he could allay the evils which threaten it present ar prospective no man would have a ri right 0 bt to doubt his bis readiness to make such a sacrifice therefore when senators came to him he told them chehad he had acted on only as he had believed the propriety of the case Lm demanded in asking to be excused he was not at all actuated by any personal feeling he could only now say in answer to the question of the senator from florida that if his bis friends thought that it was best he would caffe offer no further opposition to serving on t the he e committee the bill to allow the baltimore and ohio railroad to cross the potomac on lon long bridge was taken up and after much discussion and the adoption of several amendments ZM was passed Dr DECEMBER cramer crAmEn in the senate mr fessenden introduced a bill to grant public land and loan the credit of the government to the peoples railroad laid on the table and ordered to be printed mr pugh ordered a joint resolution in regard to holding bolding a convention for proposing amendments to the constitution and requesting t the several states to call the convention as boonas boon soon as practicable referred to the select committee of thirteen mr douglas presented several amendments to the constitution which were ordered to he be printed and referred to the select committee mr wilson introduced a bill for the more effectual suppression of the slave trade the hour of one having arrived a question arose whether the bill for the admission of kansas should be taken up which was the special order or whether the senate proceed to consider the resolution of mr johnson of tennessee as unfinished business mr air nicholson had the tb e floor on the latter the question was settled by taking up the kansas bill and allowing 41 the floor to mr nicholson mr air nicholson Nic hoison bolson commenced his speech by refer re ferrins to mr air wades speech and discussed about the exi exl existing stint 0 state of things b the slavery que question quenion tion secession etc but said nothing about kansas he concluded by expressing the hope of some perfect peace at no distant day mr doolittle said that he desired to make some remarks on the resolution of the senator from tennessee but would only say eay now a word about kansas he thought if kansas was admitted into the onion union it would do more to arm bring peace to the country than anything else twe we had peace before the long dispute on kansas be began bean an and he thought that the ad misson bouli would do more to allay the excitement now ow existing and bring the country back to peace leace mr collamer Col lamar advocated the passage of the bill lii ill claiming that bythe by the census properly taken kansas had a sufficient population for admission into the union unions and that her constitution was properly formed and liable to no objection the bill was postponed and made the special order for the monday foll following g adjourned Adjourn edtill till thursday the in the house the speaker laid before the house the f following ol lowing letter sir we avail ourselves of the earliest opportunity port unity since the official communication of the intelligence inteli gence of making known to your honorable body that the people of the state of south carolina in their sovereign so v capacity have resumed the powers heretofore dele delegated atel b by them to the federal government of of the waited united states and have thereby dissolved our connection with the house of representatives in taking leave of those with whom we have been associated in a common agency we as well as the people of our commonwealth desire to do so with a feeling of mutual re regard 9 ard and respect for the rights of each ot other her cherishing the hope that in our future relations we may better enjoy that peace and harmony essential to the happiness of a free and enlightened deop people I 1 e JOHN MCQUEEN 31 L Bo NirAM W IV BOYCE J D to the speaker of the house of representatives ta tie tives the document wail wadi wailand was ald laid on the table and ordered to be printed the speaker directed the names of the south carolina members to be retained on the roll thus not recognizing the conduct of their state as severing their connection with the house i mr morris ili lii offered a resolution for the appointment oj of a committee of five to inquire into the late abstraction of certain bonds from the interior department but suf suffered feTed the resolution to lie over for the present mr sherman ohio having stated that he had bad been informed the secretary of the interior would send a communication on the subject the speaker laid before the house a communication muni cation from the secretary of the interior statin stating c that on saturday last be he was inform informs td by voluntary confessions of 0 an officer of the department that state funds held in trust by the united states for the benefit of indians amounting to 84 oooo have been abstracter abstracted abstract ea from his custody and converted t to 0 arit private ate uses the secretary says the enormity of the fraud demands full investigation by congress ress in order to vindicate his bis own honor and to expose the guilty and derelict he therefore appeals to the house for the appointment of a committee with f jull full ull uil power to send for persons and papers and asks for investigation with the view that f full fali all uli justice may be done in the premises mr hir sherman ohio said the secretary of the treasury also desired an investigation for the vindication of his chara character acter and introduced a resolution which mr morris ill eil III accepted for his own directing 0 the appointment of a select committee of five to inquire into and report the facts in relation to said fraud and that the committee have haye full fuli uil all power to send for persons and papers the resolution was passed the house went into committee on the consular and diplomatic appropriation bill which was subsequently passed without debate and th the eHouse house adjourned till the following thursday dec 27 territorial business being the order of the day in the senate A bill was reported from the committee on territories to provide for the territorial government of arizona and taken up mr green explained the bill he said it was in the usual form and there was nothing objectionable to it it was a necessity for the territorial government there mr brown moved to add a section that the act of the legislature of new mexico for the protection of slave property be in force in this territory mr nir trumbull moved to amend that the law which was in force in the said territory at the time of the annexation remain in force till I 1 it becomes a state A lengthy discussion ensued in which Aless diess rs doolittle green nicholson blinsman benjamin brown and mason participated adjourned till monday in the house on thursday there was considerable sid erable fluttering among some of the members in relation to reports in the public prints concerning the abstraction of the indian trust |