WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1863.

The following memorials, petitions, and other papers, were laid upon the Clerk's table, under the 131st rule of the House:

By Mr. Holman: The petition of James Nokes-heretofore presented February 19, 1863; which was referred to the Committee of Claims.

By Mr. Gooch: The petition of Marcus M. Hawes-heretofore referred January 23, 1863; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. By Mr. Lovejoy: The memorial of George W. Riggs, jr., president of the Washington Gas Light Company, praying the repeal of a certain portion of the act of Congress of July 11, 1862; which was referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia.

By Mr. Allison: The petition of citizens of Dubuque county, State of Iowa, praying for the establishment of a through railroad from Washington city to the city of New York; which was referred to the Committee on Roads and Canals.

By Mr. Farnsworth: The petition of citizens of Boone county, State of Illinois, praying for the abolition of slavery; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

By Mr. Yeaman: The memorial of John H. McHenry, contesting the seat of George H. Yeaman, a representative from the second congressional district in the State of Kentucky; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.

By Mr. Stevens: The petition of Mary Weber, widow of John Weber, praying for a pension in consideration for the loss of her husband while he was employed upon the government railroad in the city of Washington as a brakesman.

By Mr. Mallory: The petition of clerks employed by the paymasters of the United States army praying for an increase of compensation; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

By Mr. Mallory: The petition of Gray and Todd, praying compensation for provisions furnished the United States army.

By Mr. Holman: The petition of W. B. Machett-heretofore referred January 15, 1862.

Ordered, That the said petitions be referred to the Committee of Claims. By Mr. Kernan: The memorial of Rhoda Wolcott, widow of Henry Wolcott, praying for the allowance of bounty land and pension on account of the services of her husband during the war with Great Britain in 1812; which was referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions.

By Mr. Kelley: The memorial of John Beeson, praying for an investigation into the causes of the Indian war; which was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

By Mr. Kernan: The memorial of Archibald C. Crary, heir of Colonel Archibald Crary, praying for the payment of the amount due the said Archibald Crary for services during the revolutionary war;

Also, the petition of Lydia Lillie, daughter of Elias Robinson, deceased, praying for the payment of the half pay due her late father under the resolution of Congress of October 21, 1780;

Also, the petition of John L. Tiffany and Isaiah Tiffany, heirs of Isaiah Tiffany, deceased, praying for the payment of the half pay due the said Tif fany under the resolution of Congress of October 21, 1780.

Ordered, That the said memorial and petitions be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims.

By Mr. Julian: The petition of citizens of Greene county, State of Indiana, praying for a vigorous prosecution of the war; that colored soldiers be

placed upon a footing equal with the white soldiers, and that emancipation. be decreed to all slaves in the United States; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

By Mr. Blow: The petition of James Lindsay, contesting the seat of John G. Scott, a representative from the third congressional district in the State of Missouri; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.

The Speaker laid before the House depositions taken in contested election cases in the 1st, 3d, 5th, 6th and 7th, districts of Missouri, the 3d and 5th districts of Pennsylvania, the 4th district of Iowa, the 7th district of Virginia, the 2d district of Kentucky, and in the Territory of Dakota; which were severally referred to the Committee of Elections.

The Speaker announced that he had appointed the following select committees, as directed by previous resolutions of the House, viz:

On Immigration.—Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne, Mr. Grinnell, Mr. Law, Mr. John D. Baldwin, and Mr. James S. Rollins

On Emancipation.—Mr. Eliot, Mr. Kelley, Mr. Knapp, Mr. Orth, Mr. Boyd, Mr Kalbfleisch, Mr. Cobb, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Middleton.

On Rebellious States.—Mr. H. Winter Davis, Mr. Gooch, Mr. James C. Allen, Mr. Ashley, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Holman, Mr. Smithers, Mr. Blow, and Mr. English.

On the Pacific Railroad.-Mr. Stevens, Mr. Wilder, Mr. John B. Steele, Mr. Price, Mr. Cornelius Cole, Mr. Noble, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. McBride, Mr. William G. Steele, Mr. McClurg, Mr. Ames, Mr. Yeaman, and Mr. Sweat.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Forney, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a joint resolution of this house of the following title, viz:

H. Res. 1. A joint resolution of thanks to Major General Ulysses S. Grant and the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion, and providing that the President of the United States shall cause a medal to be struck to be presented to Major General Grant in the name of the people of the United States;

without amendment.

The Senate have disagreed to the concurrent resolution of this house providing for an adjournment of the House from the 18th instant until the 6th of January next.

The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House copies of the laws passed by the general assembly of the Territory of Nevada in 1862; which were referred to the Committee on the Territories.

The Speaker having proceeded to call the committees for reports,

Mr. Arnold, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, reported the following resolution; which was read and referred to the Committee on Printing, viz:

Resolved, That there be printed for the use of this house ten thousand copies of the memorial of the national canal convention communicated to this house by the President.

Mr. Ambrose W. Clark, from the Committee on Printing, reported the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz:

Resolved, That 2,500 copies of the report of the Secretary of the Treasury with the accompanying documents; 2,500 copies of the report without the accompanying documents; 250 copies of the estimates of appropriations, and 150 copies of the receipts and expenditures, be printed for the use of the Treasury Department.

Mr. Ambrose W. Clark moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to.

All the committees having been called,

The Speaker resumed the call of the States and Territories for resolutions. When,

Mr. Norton submitted the following preamble and resolution, viz: Whereas it seems probable that warfare on the ocean will in great measure depend in the future on armored vessels, whose form, structure, and armament must be determined by experience in action; and the attacks on Forts Darling and McAllister, the combats between the Monitor and Merrimack, and the Weehawken and Atlanta, and the first great naval battle delivered by armored vessels in the harbor of Charleston, have at once illustrated the American name and furnished the only information from experience in battle respectiug the powers of resistance and aggression of armored vessels which exists to aid the deliberations of Congress in directing further constructions of such vessels; but the Secretary of the Navy, while conveying the gratifying intelligence that during the "vigorous assault on Fort Sumter" "but comparatively slight injury was sus tained by these vessels," though "no ships ever before sustained such a concentrated fire," has not communicated with his report the official and detailed despatches and reports of the officers in command of the armored vessels executing those attacks, from which alone exact and reliable information of the real capacity of those vessels for resistance, aggression, speed, manoeuvring, and keeping the sea, as shown by experience, can be obtained, and without such information Congress must grope in the dark in ordering or refusing further construction of armored vessels : Therefore,

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be directed to communicate to this house all official reports, despatches, and papers in the Navy Department relating to those actions that is to say, the report of Captain Worden of the combat between the Monitor and Merrimack; the report of Captain John Rodgers of the attack on Fort Darling, or the action near Drury's Bluff, on the James river; the reports of Captain Worden and Captain Drayton of the two attacks on Fort McAllister, on the Ogechee, with the despatches of Rear-Admiral DuPont transmitting them to the department; the reports of Rear-Admiral DuPont of the attack of the 7th of April, 1863, on the defences of Charleston harbor, together with the reports of Captain Drayton of the Passaic, Commander Rhind of the Keokuk, Commander Downes of the Nahant, Captain John Rodgers of the Weehawken, Captain Worden of the Montauk, Commander Fairfax of the Nantucket, Commander George W. Rogers of the Catskill, Commodore Turner of the New Ironsides, and Commander Ammen of the Patapsco, touching their several vessels during that attack; and also the reports of any investigations, after the action, into the condition of any of the armored vessels engaged in it, or respecting the repairs found to be necessary on any of those vessels after the action made by those officers or any of them, or any official statement respecting those vessels in connexion with the said action, or respecting experiments to test the value of rafts for the removal of obstructions, made by those officers or any of them, or by Engineers Lovering, Roble, or Stimers; and also the report of the action between the Weehawken and Atlanta, by Captain John Rodgers, together with the despatches of Rear-Admiral DuPont transmitting it; and all other official correspondence with any of these officers in the Navy Department respecting or relating to those actions; also, the report of the sinking of the Weehawken within the bar off Charleston.

The same having been read,

Mr. Norton moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered, and under the operation thereof the said preamble and resolution were disagreed to.

On motion of Mr. Norton, the vote last taken was reconsidered, and the said preamble and resolution referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. Loan, on leave, introduced a joint resolution (H. Res. 10) explanatory of the first section of an act entitled "An act relating to habeas corpus, &c.;" which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. McClurg, on leave, introduced a bill (H. R. 35) to provide for the deficiency in the appropriation for the pay of officers and men actually employed in the western department, or department of Missouri; which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Blow presented the memorial of James Lindsay, contesting the seat of John G. Scott, as a representative from the third congressional district of Missouri; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.

Notices were given, under the rule, of motions for leave to introduce bills, as follows, viz:

By Mr. Kinney: A bill to authorize and direct the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to settle and adjust the accounts of Ex-Governor Brigham Young, which were allowed while he was ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs for the Territory of Utah, and to make the necessary provisions for the payment of whatever may be found due.

By Mr. George E. Cole: A bill to create an additional land district in the Territory of Washington.

By Mr. Higby: A bill requiring an oath of loyalty to the government of the United States from all persons extracting minerals from the public lands. By Mr. Daniel Morris: A bill to provide for the payment of bounties to certain troops.

And,

By Mr. Arnold: A bill to enlarge the Illinois and Michigan canal, and improve the Illinois river, so that gunboats can pass from the Mississippi river to Lake Michigan.

Mr. James S. Rollins submitted the following resolution, viz:

Resolved, That, prompted by a just patriotism, we are in favor of an earnest and successful prosecution of the war, and that we will give a warm and hearty support to all those measures which will be most effective in speedily overcoming the rebellion, and in securing a restoration of peace, and which may not substantially infringe the Constitution and tend to subvert the true theory and character of the government; and we hereby reiterate that the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists now in revolt against the constitutional government; that in the progress of this war, Congress, banishing all feeling of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged on our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpo se of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpared; that as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease.

The same having been read,

Mr. Rollins moved the previous question, and the House refused to second the same.

The question then recurring on agreeing to the resolution,
Mr. Wadsworth moved that it be laid on the table.

The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present,

52

115

So the House refused to lay the resolution on the table.

The question again recurring on the resolution,

Mr. Morrill moved that it be referred to a select committeee.
Pending which,

Debate arising theron, the resolution was laid over under the rule. Mr. Driggs submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and, under the operation of the previous question, agreed to, viz:

Resolved, (the Senate concurring,) That when this House adjourns on Wednesday, the 23d instant, it shall be until the 5th day of January, 1864. Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on table; which latter motion was agreed to.

Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate therein. Mr. Longyear submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz:

Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of so amending section two of the "act to provide for enrolling and calling out the national forces and for other purposes," that the right of aged and infirm parents to select one of two or more sons liable to military duty under said act, to be exempt, shall depend upon the fact that such aged and infirm parents are dependent upon the labor of such son for their support.

Mr. Kasson, on leave, introduced a joint resolution (H. R. 11) in relation to the claim of Carmack and Ramsay; which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee of Claims.