A duty of six cents was imposed on manufactured tobacco. This was on motion of Mr. Sherman, who said he thought the duty ought to amount to a prohibition. On cotton a duty of three cents a pound was laid, and on coal a duty of two cents a bushel was imposed. Mr. Bland, of Virginia, had moved three cents, observing that the mines open in Virginia were capable of supplying the whole United States, and if some restraint were laid upon the importation of foreign coal these mines might be worked to advantage. He thought it needless to insist upon the advantages resulting from a colliery as a supply for culinary and mechanical purposes, and as a nursery to train up seamen for a navy.

In debate on May 12, 1789, (See Annals of Congress, vol. I, p. 345,) in the discussion relative to the duty on molasses, Mr. Madison remarked that the long list of enumerated articles subject to a high duty were pretty generally for the benefit of the manufacturing part of the northern community. See loaf sugar, candles, cheese, &c. He hoped gentlemen would not infer from this observation that he thought the encouragement held out by the bill to the manufacturers improper. Far from it; he was glad to see their growing consequence, and was disposed to give them every aid in his power. From this view of the subject, he was inclined to adhere to the bill, and not make any reduction.

It thus appears that duties were laid on importations of steel, hemp, tobacco, and coal, for the purpose of encouraging their manufacture and production in this country; and as to the action or opinion of Senators, reference is made to the remarks of Mr. Maclay, before quoted. And it may be remarked that it is declared in the preamble to the act, that "it is necessary for the support of Government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the encouragement and protection of manufactures, that duties be laid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported."-See second vol. Annals of Congress, p. 2183.

It may be further remarked that certain usages practiced in the early life of the Government, have been changed. During the administration of Washington and of Mr. Adams, the President delivered his message in person, in the presence of Congress, and members of each of the Houses returned its address by waiting on the President in carriages. This practice was spoken against by Mr. Maclay, and it is now discontinued. The message of the President is sent to Congress, and referred to committees.

The constitution providing that Congress shall have power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the

United States," a question has arisen whether Congress had the power to appropriate portions of the money thus collected to promote what, in the discretion of Congress, was considered the promotion of the general welfare.

Mr. Hamilton supported the affirmative of the proposition in his celebrated report on manufactures, submitted to the House of Representatives, in December, 1791. See Annals of Congress. This view was earnestly combatted by Mr. Jefferson.

Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, in April, 1874, called the same clause into requisition in support of an appropriation by Congress for the Centennial Exhibition, in which he declared that the preamble to the Constitution declares that "to provide for the common defense and general welfare," was one of the objects of creating the Government; that he considered that the plain words of the clause should not be stripped of all natural meaning, and denied all effect; but that they do contain a grant of power, and impose the duty of its execution—not an unlimited, distinct, independent power, but like all other grants in the Constitution—a qualified power, checked and balanced by other provisions, together with which it is to be construed.

Mr. Thurman combatted this construction of the constitution, but the Senate passed a bill for an advance of money in support of the exhibition, with a provision that the amount of the appropriation or a portion of it, be returned to the national treasury. In the preamble to the constitution it is declared that " We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America."

Whilst politicians have been contending as to whether the Constitution authorized the Government to sustain and protect domestic manufactures, the people of the north and western part of the Union have, under the influence of their good sense and energies, and the protection actually afforded to them, made our country distinguished amongst the nations of the earth for its manufacturing operations, and made it ready to contend with other nations in that great and diversified department; whilst the southern section of the country, confining itself to one branch of industry, has fallen to the rear in point of prosperity and material advancement.

But a little over a century of time has elapsed since our nation, as such, began its existence. After the revolutionary war, when its national existence was acknowledged, it started with a population

of about three millions, and a debt about eighty. The amount of this debt excited the fears of many; but the nation has since mastered a debt of over three thousand millions of dollars, and its population has increased to over forty millions. Our national boundaries, in revolutionary times, did not reach westward to the Father of Waters. Now they have ascended that stream above two thousand miles-have crossed the great mountain barrier, and been stopped only by the ocean in their march towards the setting sun, and our people are there, in position to enter into communication with the immense population of the eastern part of the world. “Our country—a Hercules in its infancy!"-who could have foretold so speedy a manhood. Our national progress, moreover, is not marked, as has been the course of other nations, by ravage or desolation; but has been attended with the olive branch of peace and kindness, with the offer to share with ourselves in all the privileges afforded by our Government, which we ourselves enjoy, and with the right essential to their comfort, to regulate their local interests in their own way. Let England and other nations take heed of our example, and treat their subordinate or dependent dominions in the same way.

As to Cotton.

In 1784 an American ship landed eight bags of cotton at Liverpool, and the custom-house officers seized them on the ground that cotton was not a product of the United States. Fifty years later (in 1832) England received two hundred and twenty million pounds of cotton from America.

In Relation to the Matter of Titles.

Mr. Maclay has elsewhere remarked: I, however, will endeavor (as I have hitherto done) to use the resentment of the Representatives to defeat Mr. Adams, &c., on the subject of titles. The pompous and lordly distinctions which the Senate have manifested a disposition to establish between the two Houses has nettled the Repre sentatives; and this business of titles may be considered as part of the same tune. While we are debating on titles, I will, through the Speaker, Muhlenberg, and other friends, get the idea suggested of answering the President's address without any title, in contempt of our deliberations which still continue on that subject. This once effected, will confound them completely, and establish a precedent they will not dare to violate. (See postea, p. 46.)

SKETCHES OF DEBATES.

By an act of Congress of 13th September, 1788, electors of President and Vice President were to be selected on the first Wednesday of January, 1789, and to give their votes on the first Wednesday of February. The first Wednesday of March, 1789, being the 4th day of March, was fixed upon as the time, and the city of New York as the place, for commencing proceedings under the Constitution. The ratification of the Constitution by New Hampshire was the ninth in order, and a committee of arrangements was appointed for carrying the new system into operation.

A quorum of the House of Representatives was not formed till the 1st of April, 1789, and of the Senate not until the 6th. The members of the Senate were as follows:

New Hampshire-John Langdon*, Paine Wingate.
Massachusetts-Caleb Strong*, Tristram Dalton.
Connecticut-Oliver Ellsworth*, William S. Johnson*.
New York-Rufus King*, Philip Schuyler.
New Jersey-William Paterson*, Jonathan Elmer.
Pennsylvania-William Maclay, Robert Morris.*
Delaware-Richard Bassett*, George Read.*

Maryland-Charles Carroll, John Henry.

Virginia-Richard Henry Lee, William Grayson.

South Carolina-Ralph Izard, Pierce Butler.*
Georgia-William Few*, James Gunn.

North Carolina and Rhode Island not having adopted the Constitution, had no members in the Senate during its first session.

On the day on which the Senate was organized by the members from eleven States, the election of General Washington as President, and of John Adams as Vice President, was announced, the former by an unanimous vote, sixty-nine being the whole number; Mr. Adams by a plurality vote, he receiving thirty-four votes, the residue of the votes being distributed between ten other persons; and messengers

*Those whose names are marked * were members of the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States.