TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1848. Another member appeared, and took his seat viz: From the State of South Carolina, Daniel Wallace. In conformity with the resolution of yesterday, to appoint a select committee of five members to inquire into the expediency of so amending the patent laws as to prevent the patenting of compound medicinal agents, the Speaker appointed the following: Mr. Thomas O. Edwards, Mr. John W. Jones, Mr. George Fries, Frederick W. Lord, and William A. Newell. Mr. Morse moved that the vote by which the House yesterday agreed to the resolution offered by Mr. Truman Smith be recon sidered. The said resolution is as follows: Resolved, That the rules and orders of the House of Representatives as they existed at the close of the last session of Congress be, and hereby are, adopted as the rules of the House for and during the residue of the present Congress, and that a committee be appointed to report such alterations and amendments as may be deemed desirable. On motion of Mr. Vinton, the said resolution was amended, by adding thereto as follows: "And no order of the House making a bill, report, or resolution a special order of the day for any given day shall entitle it to a preference over general appropriation bills; but, notwithstanding such special order, the House or Committee of the Whole may proceed to the consideration of such appropriation bills." Mr. Pollock moved that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; And the question being put, It was decided in the affirmative, Yeas.. ... Nays...... 107 77 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are, Mr. Amos Abbott Green Adams Mr. John Crowell John Dickey Mr. Artemas Hale Abraham R. McIlvaine Mr. Henry Bedinger Kingsley S. Bingham Thomas O. Edwards Winfield S. Featherston Mr. Richard French George Fries Jonathan D. Morris Mr. Frederick A. Tallmadge Bannon G. Thibodeaux Mr. Isaac E. Morse William A. Richardson Thomas Richey John L. Robinson Joseph M. Root Charles E. Stuart Abraham W. Venable So the motion to reconsider was laid upon the table. Mr. Alexander Evans moved that the vote by which the House yesterday ordered to be engrossed the bill (No. 654) to prevent either House of Congress from disposing of any portion of the contingent fund except. by joint resolution of the two Houses, be reconsidered; And the question being put, Shall the said vote be reconsidered? Yeas... It was decided in the affirmative, Nays...... 97 81 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are, Mr. Amos Abbott Green Adams George Ashmun Esbon Blackmar Mr. Nathaniel Boydon Mr. Asa W. H. Clapp Thomas L. Clingman Mr. Archibald Atkinson Daniel M. Barringer Williamson R. W. Cobb John D. Cummins Winfield S. Featherston Orlando B. Ficklin Andrew S. Fulton Horace Greely Mr. Willard P. Hall Hugh A. Haralson Richard K. Meade William Strong Frederick A. Tallmadge Bannon G. Thibodeaux Mr. Lucius B. Peck Frederick P. Stanton Charles E. Stuart James H. Thomas Amos Tuck Abraham W. Venable Daniel Wallace William W. Wick James S. Wiley The question recurred, Shall the bill be engrossed? when Mr. Pollock moved that the said bill be referred to the Committee on Accounts. Mr. Willard P. Hall moved the previous question, which was seconded; and the main question was ordered and put, viz: Shall the bill be referred to the Committee on Accounts? And decided in the affirmative. Mr. Palfrey, under the rule, gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill with the following title: A bill for the repeal of all acts or parts of acts of Congress establishing or maintaining slavery or the slave trade within the District of Columbia. Mr. Phelps gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill of the following title: A bill to pay to the State of Wisconsin the two per cent. upon the proceeds of the sales of the public lands which have been sold within the limits of said State and which have been reserved for the purpose of constructing a road leading to said State. Mr. Vinton, from the Committee of Ways and Means, reported the following resolution, which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be authorized to employ a clerk for so much of the session as their business may render necessary, who shall receive the same per diem compensation usually allowed for similar services. Mr. John A. Rockwell, from the Committee of Claims, to which was referred the following bills of the Senate, reported the same without amendment, viz: No. 117. An act for the relief of William H. Prentiss; No. 173. An act for the relief of Columbus Alexander and Theodore Barnard; which bills were severally read the first and second time, committed to a Committee of the Whole House, made the order of the day for to-morrow, and ordered to be printed. On motion of Mr. John A. Rockwell, Ordered, That the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union be discharged from the further consideration of the bill (No. 211) "providing for the punishment of false swearing in certain cases." Thereupon the House proceeded to the consideration of the said bill. The said bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time to-day. The said bill, being engrossed, was accordingly read the third time; And the question was stated, Shall the bill pass? And decided in the affirmative. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate in the said bill. In pursuance of previous notice, Mr. Willard P. Hall obtained leave and introduced the following bills, viz: No. 659. A bill to continue in force the acts for the payment of horses and other property lost in the military service of the United States; No. 660. A bill granting the State of Missouri the right of way and a donation of public lands for the purpose of making a railroad from Hannibal to St. Joseph; which bills were severally read the first and second time; andNo. 659 referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and No. 660 referred to the Committee on the Public Lands. Mr. Dickinson, under the rule, gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill of the following title: A bill granting lands to the State of Ohio for the construction of a road from Lower Sandusky, Ohio, to the Greenville treaty line, agreeably to the provisions of the treaty of Brownstown of 1808. Mr. French gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill of the following title: A bill for the relief of Joseph Decret. Mr. Goggin gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill of the following title: A bill to regulate and equalize the pay and to prevent further interruptions in transporting public mails on railroads in the United States and the territories thereof. Mr. Featherston, under the rule, gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill of the following title: A bill granting a portion of the public lands lying within the State of Mississippi to said State for the construction of a levee on the east bank of the Mississippi river, in said State. On motion of Mr. Henley, Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing immediately for a geological survey of New Mexico and California, and for the establishment of a United States mint in one of those territories, and for the immediate occupation of the gold mines of California, that the products thereof may be sent to the government and appropriated to the payment of the national debt and the current expenses of the government. In pursuance of previous notice, Mr. Vinton obtained leave and introduced a bill (No. 661) "granting lands to certain States therein named, to aid them in the construction of roads, canals, and the improvement of their rivers;" which bill was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Public Lands." In pursuance of previous notice, Mr. Sawyer obtained leave and introduced a bill (No. 662) " in addition to an act entitled 'An act in relation to military land warrants;'" which bill was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Public Lands. On motion of Mr. Dickinson, Resolved, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law for the entry and purchase of the unsold lands in the Wyandott reserve, in the State of Ohio, with soldiers' land warrants, the purchaser paying any excess in money; and, also, to inquire into the propriety of authorizing in like manner the purchase of the alternate sections still unsold on the Wabash and Erie canal. Mr. Andrew Johnson offered the following resolution, which was read, and debate arising thereon, it was laid over under the rule, viz: Resolved, That the Clerk of this House, in making out his report of the disposition of the contingent fund as now required by law, arrange, under a separate and distinct head, the funeral expenses |