Thursday, February 18.
Encouragement to Privateering.
On motion of Mr. Little, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, on the bill remitting the claim of the United States to certain goods, wares, &c., captured by the private armed vessels of the United States.
Mr. McKim, under the belief that the bill as it now stands does not place privateers on a better footing than before, and does not answer the object intended by the resolution which produced it, proposed the following substitute by way of amendment:
"That all right and claim of the United States to British property, which may have been captured by American privateers, arising from forfeiture under any provision of the act entitled 'An act to prohibit commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France and their dependencies, and for other purposes,' and an act entitled 'An act concerning the commercial intercourse between Great Britain and France and their dependencies, and for other purposes,' and an act supplementary to the last mentioned act, be, and the same is hereby relinquished for the benefit of the owners, officers, and crews of the privateers respectively that may have captured the same."
This amendment produced some discussion, in which Messrs. McKim and Wright advocated the motion, and Messrs. Roberts and Fisk opposed it; when the question was taken and lost, without a division.
Mr. Roberts moved to amend the bill, so as to include captures made of goods which were shipped anterior to as well as since the declaration of war was known in England. This amendment was adopted, 46 to 32.
The committee then rose, reported the bill to the House, as amended; the amendments were concurred in, and the bill ordered to be engrossed and read a third time to-morrow, 47 to 39.