powers, before they can obtain the force of law, precludes the possibility of taking exception to any particular instance in which that revision is exercised. Mr. Canning urges that this part of our system operates unfavorably upon the feelings of the other contracting party, whose solemn ratification, he says, is thus rendered of no avail; and whose concessions in negotiation, having been made, (as all such concessions must be understood to be made), conditionally, are thus accepted as positive and absolute, while what may have been the stipulated price of those concessions is withdrawn. of judgment upon all the stipulations agreed to by a These general observations are submitted, in or- No. VIII. Mr. Addington to Mr. Adams. may be replied, that, in all cases of a treaty, thus negotiated, the other contracting party, being under no obligation to ratify the compact, before it shall have been ascertained whether and in what manner it has been disposed of in the United States, its ratification can in no case be rendered unavailing by the proceedings of the government of the United States upon the treaty. And that every government contracting with the United States, and with a full knowledge that all their treaties, until sanctioned by the constitutional majority of their senate, arc, and must be, considered as merely inchoate, and not consummated compacts, is entirely free to withhold its own ratification until it shall have knowledge of the ratification on their part. In the full powers of European governments to their ministers, the sovereign usually promises to ratify that which his minister shall conclude in his name; and yet, if the minister transcends his instructions, though not known to the other party, the sovereign is not held bound to ratify In lieu of that convention, however, his majesty his engagements. Of this principle Great Britain has once availed herself, in her negotiations with the United States. But the full powers of our ministers proposes to the American government to substitute abroad are necessarily modified by the provisions of another, verbatim the same as the amended instruour constitution, and promise the ratification of trea- ment, one point alone excepted; that exception is, ties signed by them, only in the event of their re- the erasure of the word "America," in the first artiarticle, as proposed by the president to the British goceiving the constitutional sanction of our own go-cle; a word which stood in the original projet of the vernment. vernment, but which the United States thought fit, after the mutual acquiescence of both parties in it, to expunge. If this arrangement does, in some instances, operate as a slight inconvenience to other governments, by interposing an obstacle to the facility of negotiation, it is, on the other hand, essential to guard against evils of the deepest import to our own nation, utterly incompatible with the genius of our institutions, and it is supported by considerations to which the equitable sense of other nations cannot fail to subscribe. The treaties of the United States, are, together with their constitution, the supreme law of the land. The power of contracting them is, in the first instance, given to the president, a single individual. If negotiated abroad, it must be by a minister or mipisters under his appointment; and, if in Europe, with powers largely discretionary-the distances seldom permitting opportunities to the minister of consulting his government for instructions, during the progress of the negotiation. Were there no other check or control over this power, and were there an obligation, even of delicacy, requiring the unqualified sanction of every treaty so negotiated, the result would be an authority possessed by every minister of the United States, entrusted with a full power for negotiating a treaty, to change the laws of this union, upon objects of the first magnitude to the interests of the nation. Washington, 6th November, 1824. SIR: You have already been apprised of the circumstance of his majesty, my sovereign, having declined affixing his ratification to the convention, concluded in London on the 13th of March last, between the British and American plenipotentiaries, for the more effectual suppression of the slave trade, amended and qualified as that instrument had been by the senate of the United States. In announcing to you the fact of my having been furnished with full powers to conclude and sign with the American government a new treaty, such as I have above described, it will be unnecessary for me ated his majesty in coming to this decision, as you to enter at length into the motives which have actuhave already been made acquainted with those motives, through the medium of an official letter, addressed, on the 27th of August last, by his majesty's secretary of state, to the American envoy in London, in which all the grounds of that determination are fully expounded. A few observations, on my part, however, in brief allusion to one or two points connected with this subject, may here be not misplaced. In the acquiescence of his majesty in all the alterations, with one only exception, effected by the senate in a treaty originally projected by this government, at the spontaneous recommendation of the house of representatives, the president will, I doubt not, see the clearest manifestation of the earnest desire of his majesty's government to carry into effect the impordesigned, however they may have deemed the origitant and salutary object for which that treaty was nal form in which the treaty was presented for the ratification of this government, the best calculated to attain that object. In their negotiations with each other, the European nations are generally so near, and the communicaTo the amendment which would exempt the shores tions between them are so easy and regular, that a negotiator can seldom have a justifiable occasion to agree to any important stipulation, without having an of America from that vigilance which is to be employopportunity of asking and receiving the instruc-ed on those of the British West Indies, thereby detions of his government; a practice always and pecu- stroying that equality which is the prevailing princiliarly resorted to by the British plenipotentiaries.ple of the provisions of the treaty, and which cannot With an intervening ocean, this is seldom possible, be withdrawn, on the one side or on the other, conand it is, therefore, just and proper, that the right sistently with the mutual respect and confidence which subsist between the two contracting parties, his majesty has found himself unable to accede; and, I doubt not, that, upon a fair and unbiassed reconsideration of that point, the American government will see and acknowledge the justice of his majesty's views, and will not hesitate to prove that acknowledgment, by consenting to re-admit the expunged word "America" into the treaty. It will not fail, sir, to occur to you, that the condition required of Great Britain, prior to the signature of the treaty by the American plenipotentiary, namely, the denunciation, as piracy, by the British parliament, of the slave-trade, when exercised by British subjects, has already been fulfilled. On the justice of accepting the value already paid for a stipulated act, and withholding the performance of that act, I leave it, with confidence, to your own sense of honor and equity to determine. December 13. Mr. Holmes, of Mississippi, appeared to day and took his seat. Macon, Elliott, and Mills. The sanction of this government of the original pro-ed by the president of the senate acccording to the The following standing committees were appointvisions of the treaty, in full, was the equivalent to be order of the 9th instant. received by his majesty, for his performance of the condition required of him, namely, his sanction of an act of parliament declaring the slave trade piracy. Those provisions have been, in part, rejected, in part modified, by this government; and yet his majesty is still willing to abide by his original agreement, provided this government will recede from one, alone, of the various amendments made by them in the treaty. I might here cite, as a proof, if proof were necessary, of the unlimited confidence which his majesty reposed in the good faith of the government of this republic, and their sincerity in wishing to exccute the treaty signed by their plenipotentiary in London -a treaty, I repeat, projected in conformity with the express recommendation of the house of representatives, that his majesty affixed, without delay, his own ratification to the treaty, in full security of that instrument being equally invested with that of this government. No shadow of a suspicion ever entered, ever could enter, his majesty's mind, that that ratification could be withheld, in whole or in part. Under all the circumstances of the case, sir, I cannot but feel an entire conviction, that the sense of justice, and the right feelings which animate the American government, will lead them to accede, without hesitation, to the proposition now submitted to them, on the part of his majesty, and that the president will find no difficulty in sanctioning the conclusion of a treaty, the provisions of which must eventually result in such incalculable benefits to a most oppressed and afflicted portion of the human race. * With this conviction, I need not assure you, sir, of my readiness to wait upon you at any time which you may think fit to appoint, in order to give effect to the instructions which I have received from his majesty's secretary of state, by affixing my signature to the convention, as newly modelled. I beg, sir, that you will receive the assurances of my distinguished consideration. H. U. ADDINGTON. No. IX. Secretary of state to Mr. Addington. Department of state, Washington, 4th Dec. 1824. SIR: Your note, of the 6th ultimo, has been submitted to the consideration of the president of the United States. While regretting that it has not been found conformable to the views of his Britannic majesty's government, to concur in the ratification of the convention for the suppression of the slave trade, as recommended by the advice and consent of the senate of the United States, he has thought it most advisable, with reference to the success of the object common to both governments, and in which both take the warmest interest, to refer the whole subject to the deliberate advisement of congress. In postpon Holmes, of Main, and Lowrie. Ruggles, Findlay, Lloyd, of Mass. and Clayton. dler, Taylor, and Johnson, of Kentucky. Branch and Bell. Parrott, Lloyd, of Md. and Hayne. King. of Alab. and Van Dyke. Lou. Elliott, Edwards, and Kelly. On claims-Messrs. Ruggles, Holmes, of Miss. Palmer, Bell and McIlvaine. Maine, Talbot, Brown and Seymour. On the post office and post roads-Messrs. Lanman, Branch and Cobb. Barbour, Noble, Laton and Parrott. On accounts-Messrs. Seymour, Hayne, and Ed wards. Mr. Barton offered the following resolution: the expediency of establishing a fort at some suitable point on the Resolved, That the committee on military affairs inquire into usnal trading route between the state of Missouri and the Mexican states, for the protection of that commerce. Mr. Barton offered the following resolution for consideration: expediency of exposing to public sale the lead mines and salines of Resolved. That the committee on public lands inquire into the the United States. Mr. Holmes, of Maine, offered the following resolution for consideration: Resolved, That the committe of finance be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing for the more effectual protection of the revenue on the eastern frontier of the United States. The bill "to abolish imprisonment for debt" was read the second time, and, on motion of Mr. Jahnson, of Ken. referred to a select committee of seven. The bill from the house of representatives, "making a partial appropriation for the year 1824," was read a third time and passed. Mr. Van Buren presented a concurrent resolution of the legislature of the state of New York, on the subject of the exaction of tonnage duties from boats navigating the canals of that state; which was read and laid on the table. Mr. Johnson, of Ky. gave notice that he would, to morrow, ask leave to introduce a bill "extending to some of the western states the benefit of the judicial system of the United States." And then the senate adjourned. 一邊 December 14, On motion of Mr. Barbour, Resolved, That so much of the president's message as relates to foreign affairs, be referred to the committee on foreign relations. [The motion of Mr. Barbour, it was understood, comprehended, besides others, that portion of the message which relates to arrangements for the sup pression of piracy and of pirates on the Island of The question of Cuba, &c. as well as on the water. reference gave rise to some conversation on the part of Mr. Barbour, Mr. Hayne and Mr. Lloyd, of Mass. which was interesting, as it indicated a strong desire and determination in the senate to leave no effort unemployed to effectually protect our commerce from piracy in the West Indian seas, and to extirpate the freebooters who now, by the facilities of concealment afforded to them in the Island of Cuba, &c. prey on our commerce, and commit such atrocities on those who fall into their hands. In the course of the conversation, Mr. Hayne and Mr. Lloyd both intimated an intention they had respectively formed, to bring the subject fully before the senate, by special inquiries.] Mr. Benton presented the petition of sundry inhabitants of the state of Missouri, on the subject of a trade and intercourse between that state and the internal provinces of Mexico. Mr. Ruggles said, it would be impossible to pro- The question was put and carried-ayes 18. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Mr. Whitman, of Connecticut, Friday, Dec. 10. whose name was inadvertently omitted in our report of members present, was in his seat on the first day of the session. next. Reception of general La Fayette. [This petition recited, that a beneficial trade had The speaker laid before the house a communicabeen carried on, for some years, between the inhabitants of the two countries, in which domestic cottons, and other articles, had been carried out from the U. tion from the comptroller of the treasury, accompamore than three years standing. States, and gold, silver, furs and mules, brought back nying a list of unsettled balances in the treasury, of On motion of Mr. Newton it was resolved, that in return; that the intervening tribes of Indians presented the only obstacle to the successful prosecution of the trade upon a large scale; that the merchan-when the house adjourned, it should adjourn to Mondise had to be carried through a tract of country in-day habited by different tribes, to enter whose territory, without a license, was penal under the laws of the United States, and dangerous, unless the consent of the tribes was previously obtained; that some outrages to persons, and repeated depredations on property, had already been committed; and that a total interruption to the commercial and social intercourse, so happily began in that quarter, between the citizens of the two republics, might be apprehended, unless the government of the United States interposed for its protection. The petition, therefore, prayed 1. That the right of an unmolested passage, for persons and property, upon a designated route, between the frontiers of Missouri and the internal provinces of Mexico, might be obtained by treaty stipulations from the Indians referred to. 2. That a military post and an Indian agency might be established on the Arkansas river, at the point of the intersection of that river by the proposed route.] The petition, upon the motion of Mr. Benton, was referred to the committee on Indian affairs. Mr. Barton, of Missouri, called up the memorial from the Cherokee Indians, concerning the taxation of merchants passing through their territory, as granted to them by treaty of the United States, and it was referred to the committee on the judiciary. Several parts of the president's message were differently referred. The rey. Mr. McIlvaine, of Georgetown, was elected chaplain to the senate, on the second ballot. [At an early hour the galleries began to fill with entered the hall, and took possession of the sofas and spectators; and soon after 11 o'clock, many ladies A great number of additional seats soon became neseats, which were appropriated for their reception. cessary; and, long before the hour appointed for the reception of the general, the house presented an exhibition of beauty and fashion, which, we presume, has scarcely ever been equalled]. Mr. Condict offered a resolution, inviting the senate to attend the house of representatives, at I o'clock, to receive general La Fayette.. It was objected by Mr. Poinsett, that the senate not being in session, the invitation was useless. On motion for its adoption, there appeared, ayes 90, noes 65. Members on the right of the chair were then requested to relinquish their seats for the use of the members of the senate. The doors were shortly afterwards thrown open, and the senate entered in procession, and took the the right of the chair. seats which had been vacated by the members, on At one o'clock, George Washington La Fayette, esq. and col. La Vassieur, the general's secretary, entered the house, and took their seats on one of the sofas by the side of the secretary of state-and in a few moments, General La Fayette entered the house, supported December 15. Several parts of the president's mes-on his right by Mr. Mitchell, the chairman of the sesage was referred to different committees-among lect committee, and on his left by Mr. Livingston, and them that which relates to a provision for gen. La Fayette, on the resolution of Mr. Hayne. The resolution offered yesterday by Mr. Brown, to appoint a committee on roads and canals, was then taken up. Mr. Chandler observed, that he was one of those who believed that this was a subject on which congress had no right to legislate; that he believed it to be unconstitutional, and that, for his part, he was determined to raise his voice and vote against the resolution. followed by the committee. The speaker and members then rose, and the procession advanced towards the centre of the house. words: Mr. Mitcheli introduced La Fayette in the following "Mr. Speaker: The select committee, appointed for that purpose, have the honor to introduce general La Fayette to the house of representatives." The general was then conducted to the sofa placed for his reception, when the speaker addressed him in the following words: General-The house of representatives of the Unit- not to acknowledge my personal share in those tesed States, impelled alike by its own feelings, and by timonies of kindness, as they excite in my breast those of the whole American people, could not have emotions which no words are adequate to express. assigned to me a more gratifying duty than that of My obligations to the United States, sir, far expresenting to you cordial congratulations upon the ceed any merit I might claim, they date from the the occasion of your recent arrival in the United time when I have had the happiness to be adopted as States, in compliance with the wishes of congress, a young soldier, a favored son of America; they and to assure you of the very high satisfaction which have been continued to me during almost a half a your presence affords on this early theatre of your century of constant affection and confidence; and glory and renown. Although but few of the members now, sir, thanks to your most gratifying invitation, I who compose this body shared with you in the war of find myself greeted by a series of welcomes, one our revolution, all have, from impartial history, or hour of which would more than compensate for the from faithful tradition, a knowledge of the perils, the public exertions and sufferings of a whole life. sufferings, and the sacrifices which you voluntarily The approbation of the American people, and their encountered, and the signal services, in America and representatives, for my conduct, during the vicissiin Europe, which you performed for an infant, a dis-tudes of the European revolution, is the highest retant, and an alien people; and all feel and own the ward I could receive. Well may I stand firm and very great extent of the obligations under which you erect, when, in their names, and by you, Mr. Speaker, have placed our country. But the relations in which I am declared to have, in every instance, been faithyou have ever stood to the United States, interestingful to those American principles of liberty, equality and important as they have been, do not constitute the and true social order, the devotion to which, as it bas only motive of the respect and admiration which the been from my earliest youth, so it shall continue to house of representatives entertain for you. Your be to my latest breath. consistency of character, your uniform devotion to regulated liberty, in all the vicissitudes of a long and arduous life, also commands its admiration. During all the recent convulsions of Europe, amidst, as after the dispersion of, every political storm, the people of the United States have beheld you, true to your old principles, firm and erect, cheering and animating, with your well known voice, the votaries of liberty, its faithful and fearless champion, ready to shed the last drop of that blood which here you so freely and nobly spilt, in the same holy cause. You have been pleased, Mr. Speaker, to allude to the peculiar felicity of my situation, when, after so long an absence, I am called to witness the immense improvements, the admirable communications, the prodigious creations, of which, we find an example in this city, whose name itself is a venerated pallsdium; in a word, all the grandeur and prosperity of those happy United States, who, at the same time they nobly secure the complete assertion of American independence, reflect, on every part of the world, the light of a far superior political civilization. No, Mr. Speaker, posterity has not begun for me, since, in the sons of my companions and friends, 1 find the same public feelings, and, permit me to add, the same feelings in my behalf, which I have had the happiness to experience in their fathers. The vain wish has been sometimes indulged, that What better pledge can be given, of a persevering Providence would allow the patriot, after death, to national love of liberty, when those blessings are return to his country, and to contemplate the inter-evidently the result of a virtuous resistance to opmediate changes which had taken place to view pression, and institutions founded on the rights of the forests felled, the cities built, the mountains man, and the republican principle of self-governlevelled, the canals cut, the highways constructed, ment. the progress of the arts, the advancement of learning, and the increase of population. General, your present visit to the United States is a realization of the consoling object of that wish. You are in the midst of posterity. Every where, you must have been struck with the great changes, physical and moral, which have occurred since you left us. Even this very city, bearing a venerated name, alike endeared to you and to us, has since emerged from the forest which then covered its site. In one respect you behold us unaltered, and this is in the scntiment of continued devotion to liberty, and of ardent affection and profound gratitude to your departed friend, the father of his country, and to you, and to your illustrious associates in the field and in the cabinet, for the multiplied blessings which surround us, and for the very privilege of addressing you, which I now exercise. This sentiment, now fondly cherished by more than ten millions of people, will be transmitted, with unabated vigor, down the tide of time, through the countless millions who are destined to inhabit this continent, to the latest posterity. While the speaker was addressing him, gen. La Fayette was very evidently affected. At the close of the address, he seated himself for a few seconds and then rose, and, in a tone influenced by powerful feeling, made the following reply: Sir, I have been allowed, forty years ago, before a committee of a congress of thirteen states, to express the fond wishes of an American heart; on this day, I have the honor and enjoy the delight, to congratulate the representatives of the union, so vastly enlarged, on the realization of those wishes, even beyond every human expectation, and upon the almost infinite prospects we can with certainty anticipate; permit me, Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the house of representatives, to join to the expression of those sentiments, a tribute of my lively gratitude, affectionate devotion, and profound respect. Both the address of the speaker and the reply of the general, were listened to with the profoundest attention. Throughout the whole of the members, and in all the assemblage, both on the floor and in the gallery, universal silence prevailed. Every eye was strained, and every ear on the alert, that not a movement of the countenance, nor a syllable of the language, of the venerable object of so much solicitude, should be lost. As soon as the general had concluded his reply, and resumed his seat, Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the house of representatives: While the people of the United States, and their honorable representatives in congress, have deigned to make choice of me, one of the American veterans, to signify, in his person, their esteem for our joint As soon as the adjournment had taken place, the services and their attachment to the principles for speaker left the chair, and advancing to the general, which we have had the honor to fight and bleed, I offered his personal congratulations, shaking him coram proud and happy to share those extraordinary dially and repeatedly by the hand. The speaker then favors with my dear revolutionary companions; yet introduced all the members of the house individually, it would be, on my part, uncandid and ungratefull and thus closed a scene the most imposing in its Mr. Mitchell moved that the house do now adjourn; which was carried, nem. dis. and the house then adjourned till Monday. soever. character, and instructive in its effects, which has, poses to authorize the building of ten additional sloops ever been presented to the people of any nation what- of war. The motion was negatived-ayes 72, noes 79. On motion of Mr. P. P. Barbour, the house then went into committee of the whole, Mr. Lathrop in the chair, on the bill more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes. Monday, Dec. 13. John Bailey, elected from Massachusetts, and Henry Olin, from Vermont, (elected in the place of Charles Rich, deceased), appeared in their places to-day, and were qualified. John S. Spence, from Maryland, Samuel Crafts, from Vermont, and Mr. Conway, delegate from Arkansas, appeared and took their places. Many petitions were presented and referred. The speaker laid before the house a communication from the governor of the state of New York, accompanied by certain resolutions of the legislature of that state, complaining and remonstrating on the subject of tonnage duties exacted by the United States on canal boats; which, for the present, was ordered to lie on the table. A communication was received from the treasury department, accompanied by a statement by the comptroller, of the accounts which have remained unsettled, or on which balances appear to have been due, more than three years, prior to the 30th September last, on the books of the 2d auditor of the treasury, with a copy of the letter of the 2d auditor on that subject, which was laid on the table. On motion of Mr. Little, it was Resolved, That the subject of revolutionary pensions, under the acts of March 18, 1818, and May 1, 1820, be referred to a se lect committee. The select committee was then ordered to consist of seven. On motion of Mr. Campbell, of Ohio, it was tients. Mr. Brent offered the following resolution. Resolved, That the commissioners of the general land office be directed to inform this house of the causes which have delayed the surveys of the publie lands and private land claims in the di stricts south and north of the Red River, in Louisiana, whether the said surveys are progressing, and if not, what are the reasons, at what time the said publie lands will be in a state of readiness for sale, and if any further legislation be deemed necessary for the bringing of said public lands into market. The engrossed bill, (lying over from last session), "to authorize the state of Ohio to sell and convey certain tracts of land granted to said state for the use of the people thereof," was read a third time. Mr. Vinton rose, and explained the object of this bill, and the considerations which recommended its passage. The grant of these lands, on account of the salt springs upon them, to the state of Ohio, was subject to the condition that the state should not sell them, nor lease them for a longer term than ten years. The object of this reservation was, to prevent a monopoly of this indispensable article of subsistence. Since this grant, however, it had been ascertained that there was in the state an abundance of resources for the manufacture of salt; and springs had been discovered and worked, so superior in the quantity and quality of the salt, as entirely to supersede the use of those on the reserved lands. These lands were, consequently, in their present condition, of no value to the state, and the state, therefore, wished to be allowed to dispose of them. The state alone was interested in this question, the United States having neither title to, nor interest in, these lands, having ceded both to the state of Ohio. The bill was then passed, nem. con. and sent to the senate for concurrence. An engrossed bill, also of the last session, "authorizing re-payment for land erroneously sold by the United States," was read a third time, passed, and sent to the senate for concurrence. On proceeding to call over the roll of bills reported at the last session, and laid over Mr. Fuller, of Massachusetts, moved that the house go into committee of the whole on that bill which pro The bill having been read in part, Mr. Barbour, expressing an opinion that its provisions were inadequate to cover all cases necessary to be provided for, and that it would probably require additional provisions, moved that the committee rise and report progress. The committee rose accordingly, and had leave to sit again. On motion of Mr. Buck, of Vt. the house then went into committee of the whole, Mr. Taylor in the chair, on the bill "to authorise the president to cause to be issued to capt. Alden Partridge certain fixed ammunition;" which was read by sections, and reported to the house. Mr. Cocke objected to its going to a third reading at present, and moved that it be laid on the table. Which motion being agreed to, the bill was ordered to lie on the table. On motion of Mr. Little, of Maryland, the house then went into committee of the whole, Mr. P. P. Barbour in the chair, on the bill "to provide for sick and disabled seamen;" which, having been read in part, on motion of Mr. Bassett, of Virginia, the committee rose, reported progress, and had leave to sit again. Mr. P. P. Barbour, observing that the house seemcd not prepared, at present, to go into the discussion of private bills reported at the last session, and not probably prepared for those of a public nature, moved an adjournment, which was carried. And then the house adjourned. Tuesday Dec. 14. Mr. F. Johnson of Ken. appeared yesterday, and Mr. Cook of Illinois, to-day, and respectively took their seats in the house. Messrs. Edwards, of N. C. Kremer, Kidder, Vance, of Ohio, Cassedy, Hogeboom, and Arthur Smith, were announced as having been appointed on the select committee to whom is referred the subject of pensions under the acts of March 18th, 1818, and May 1, 1820, pursuant to a resolution yesterday adopted on motion of Mr. Litile, of Md. the chairman of the standing committee on pensions and revolutionary claims. The following messages from the president of the Agreeably to a resolution of the senate, of 28th January, 1818, requesting the president to cause a statement of expenditures upon the public buildings, and an account of their progress, to be annually laid before congress, at the commencement of each session, I herewith transmit a report from the commissioner of public buildings, which contains the information JAMES MONROE. required. Washington, Dec. 13, 1824. Office of commissioner of public buildings, Dec. 10, 1824. REPORT: SIR: In obedience to a resolution of the senate, passed the 28th day of January, 1918, requesting the president of the United States to cause a statement of expenditures upon the public buildings, and an account of their progress to be annually laid before congress, at the-commercement of each session, I have the nor to report that the expenditures of the present year are as follows: Centre building of the capitol, $89,049 65 5,889 58 $95,739 25 |