Mr. Griswold presumed the object of this step was to pay a tribute of respect to those brave men who had so gallantly achieved this glorious and dangerous enterprise. He wished to do this in a manner the most honorable and notorious, and perhaps the best course would be to obtain from the Head of the Navy Department, a list of the names of the officers and the number of the crew, together with a detail of the circumstances attending the event. With this view, he moved to postpone the consideration of the resolution reported by the Committee of the Whole, till to-morrow, in order to introduce a resolution to this effect:
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be directed to communicate to this House the name of the officers and the number of the men employed in the destruction of the frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, together with a statement of the circumstances attending that event.
The postponement was agreed to without opposition, and the resolution of Mr. Griswold was adopted, with a small variation, suggested by Mr. J. Randolph, and acquiesced in by the mover, to wit: “That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before this House,” etc.
Mr. J. Clay and Mr. T. M. Randolph were appointed a committee to wait on the President and communicate the request of the House.
Monday, November 12.
Several other members, to wit: from Massachusetts, Peleg Wadsworth; from New Jersey, William Helms; from Delaware, Cæsar A. Rodney; from Virginia, Matthew Clay; from North Carolina, Marmaduke Williams and Thomas Wynes; and from South Carolina, Levi Casey and Richard Winn, appeared, and took their seats in the House.
British Treaty.
Mr. J. Randolph informed the House that the Committee of Ways and Means had received a communication from the Treasury Department, stating that the appropriation of $50,000, for carrying into effect the seventh article of the British Treaty, had not been sufficient to discharge the second instalment upon all the awards made in pursuance thereof, and suggesting the propriety of making, as early as possible, a further appropriation for that object. The Secretary of State estimated the amount unpaid at $60,000, and that, in order to prevent any disappointment, it would be eligible to make the appropriation $70,000. Mr. R. hereupon moved that the Committee of Ways and Means have leave to report a bill on this subject. Leave being granted,
Mr. J. R. reported a bill accordingly, which was read a first and second time, and referred to a Committee of the Whole to-morrow.