Friday, January 15.
Government Contracts.
On motion of Mr. Bassett, the House went into Committee of the Whole on the resolutions submitted by him some days ago relative to the contractors.
The first resolution being under consideration, as follows:
Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law to prohibit the officers of Government from making any contract, on behalf of the United States, with any person being a member of either House of Congress, or with any other person for his or their use:
Mr. Bassett said he presumed that this proposition possessed sufficient intrinsic merit not to require the aid of extensive talents or laborious exertions of any gentleman to advocate it. He assumed it as an axiom, that fundamental principles must rest for their security on the purity of the Representative body. He should, however, trust the support of this measure to its own importance.
The resolution was carried—59 to 15.