Monday, December 19.
A memorial of the House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory of the United States, signed by William Dunbar, their Speaker pro tempore, and attested by Richard S. Wheatly, their Clerk, was presented to the House and read, stating certain disadvantages to which the inhabitants of the settlement on the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers have been and are now subjected, in consequence of their remote situation from the other inhabited parts of the said Territory; and praying that a line of separation may be drawn between the settlements on the Mississippi river, and those of Washington District, or that judges, learned in the law, may be appointed to reside within the said district, for the benefit and convenience of the inhabitants thereof.
Ordered, That the said memorial be referred to the committee appointed, on the 25th ultimo, on the petition and memorial of sundry inhabitants of the District of Washington, situate on the Mobile, Tombigbee, and Alabama rivers, in the said Mississippi Territory; to examine and report their opinion thereupon to the House.
Mail Routes.
The House went into a Committee of the Whole on the following report of the Post Office Committee:
The Committee on the subject of the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred a resolution of the 2d ultimo, directing them to inquire by what means the mail may be conveyed with greater security and dispatch than at present, between the City of Washington and Natchez and New Orleans, report:
That the late cession of Louisiana by France to the United States renders it an object of primary importance to have the nearest and most expeditious mode of communication established between the city of Washington and the city of New Orleans, the capital of that province; not only for the convenience of Government, but to accommodate the citizens of the several commercial towns in the Union.
That at present the mail is conveyed on a circuitous route from this place to Knoxville and Nashville in Tennessee, and from thence through the wilderness by Natchez to New Orleans, a distance of more than 1500 miles.
That, by establishing a post route as nigh on a direct line between those two cities, as the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains will admit of, it will not only lessen the distance about 500 miles; but as this route will pass almost the whole way through a country inhabited either by citizens of the United States or friendly Indians, the mail will be more secure, and the persons employed in transporting it better furnished with the means of subsistence.
The committee flatter themselves that the views of the General Government, in effecting this important object, will be seconded by the governments and citizens of those States through which this road will pass, by laying out, straightening, and improving the same, as soon as the most proper course shall be sufficiently ascertained; but as this has not heretofore been used for conveying the mail between those places, they presume that the best route will be better known after it has been used for this purpose, than it can be at present; and with this view of the subject, they deem it improper at this time to designate intermediate points; they are, therefore, of opinion—
That a post road ought to be established from the city of Washington, on the most direct and convenient route to the Tombigbee settlement in the Mississippi Territory, and from thence to New Orleans.
And further, that a post road ought also to be established from the said Tombigbee settlement to the Natchez. This road will not only afford the inhabitants of that place a direct mode of communication with the seat of the Territorial Government, who at present are destitute of any, but will shorten the distance between this city and Natchez nearly three hundred miles. And for the consideration of the House, the committee submit the following resolution:
Resolved, That a post road ought to be established from the city of Washington, on the most direct and convenient route, to pass through or near the Tuckabachee settlement to the Tombigbee settlement in the Mississippi Territory, and from thence to New Orleans; and also from the said Tombigbee settlement to Natchez.
Mr. Stanford moved the insertion of the following words:
“And Carter’s Ferry on James river, Cole’s Ferry on Stanton, Dansville on Dan river, in Virginia; Salisbury, Beatty’s Ford, on Catawba, in North Carolina; Spartanburg, Greenville Courthouse, and Pendleton Courthouse, in South Carolina; and Jackson Courthouse in Georgia:”
His object being to designate the intermediate points of the route between the seat of Government and New Orleans and Natchez.
This motion was supported by Messrs. Stanford, J. Randolph, Early, Earle, and Macon, on the principle that it was proper that Congress should designate the route, and on the ground that the route contemplated by the amendment would be the fittest.
On the other hand, the motion was opposed by Messrs. Thomas, Smilie, Holland, Claiborne, S. L. Mitchill, and G. W. Campbell, on the ground that a discretionary power should be reposed in the Postmaster General to designate the route; and on the ground that, if Congress should undertake to designate the route, the one fixed by the amendment was not an eligible one.
Mr. Dennis declared himself in favor of the House exercising the power of designating the route, but was not sufficiently informed to vote on any particular line.
Mr. R. Griswold moved that the Committee of the Whole should rise and ask leave to sit again, with the view that leave should be refused, and the report recommitted to the Post Office Committee, in order to obtain from them a detailed report, that would furnish the House with satisfactory information.
This motion was supported by Mr. Gregg, and opposed by Mr. Thomas, and carried—yeas 70.
The House then refused leave to the Committee of the Whole to sit again—yeas 19, and recommitted the report to the Post Office Committee.