the constitutional character of the proceedings which the memorial sets forth, or of the State laws by which they are sanctioned. They content themselves with appending, as a part of their report, an opinion on the subject, officially communicated to the Secretary of State, by the late William Wirt, while AttorneyGeneral of the United States, in the year 1824; and also an opinion of the late Mr. Justice Johnson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, delivered in a case arising under these laws in Charleston, South Carolina, in the year 1823. This latter opinion, for which a call upon the Executive was made by this House at the last session of Congress, contains a comprehensive and conclusive view of the whole subject, and, as the production of a native South Carolinian, can hardly be subject to the imputation of local prejudice.

That the operation of these laws is oppressive upon the memorialists, and greatly injurious to the general interests of commerce, the committee can see no reason and no room to doubt. For some of the stations on board both of our sailing vessels and steamboats, colored mariners are thought to possess peculiar qualifications. They are very generally employed as firemen, laborers, stewards, and cooks. The memorialists state that it is frequently necessary to employ them. The abduction of persons so employed immediately on the arrival of a vessel in port, and their detention at a heavy expense until the very moment of its departure, cannot be less an injury to their employers than it is an outrage on themselves. The opinion of Mr. Justice Johnson will be found to make mention of a case, in which, under the operation of these laws, "not a single man was left on board the vessel to guard her in the captain's absence!"

The committee are of opinion, that the memorialists are entitled to the relief for which they pray, and that important commercial interests, as well as the highest constitutional principles, call for the repeal of the laws in question. Congress, however, seems to have no means of affording such relief, or of effecting such a repeal. The Judiciary alone can give relief from the oppression of these laws while they exist, and the States which enacted them are alone competent to strike

them from their statute books. The committee cannot conclude this report, however, without putting the opinions at which they have arrived into a shape, in which they may receive the ratification and adoption of the House; trusting that such an expression of them may not be without influence in procuring for the memorialists, and still more for the oppressed and injured seamen in their employ, the redress which they rightfully demand.

They accordingly submit the following Resolutions:

Resolved, That the seizure and imprisonment, in any port of this Union, of free colored seamen, citizens of any of the States, and against whom there is no charge but that of entering said port in the prosecution of their rightful business, is a violation of the privileges of citizenship guaranteed by the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States.

Resolved, That the seizure and imprisonment, in any port of this Union, of free colored seamen, on board of foreign vessels, against whom there is no charge but that of entering said port in the course of their lawful business, is a breach of the comity of nations, is incompatible with the rights of all nations in amity with the United States, and, in relation to nations with whom the United States have formed commercial conventions, is a violation of the sixth article of the Federal Constitution, which declares that treaties are a part of the supreme law of the land. Resolved, That any State laws, by which certain classes of seamen are prohibited from entering certain ports of this Union, in the prosecution of their rightful business, are in contravention of the paramount and exclusive power of the general government to regulate commerce.

Resolved, That the police power of the States can justify no enactments or regulations, which are in direct, positive, and permanent conflict with express provisions or fundamental principles of the national compact.

NOTE.

TO THE HONORABLE THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

Your petitioners, citizens of the United States, and some of them owners and masters of vessels,

RESPECTFULLY REPRESENT, —

That on board of that large number of vessels accustomed to touch at the ports of Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans, it is frequently necessary to employ free persons of color:

And whereas it frequently happens that such crews are taken from the vessels, thrown into prison, and there detained at their own expense, greatly to the prejudice and detriment of their interest, and of the commerce of these States:

They pray your honorable body to grant them relief, and render effectual in their behalf the privileges of citizenship secured by the Constitution of the United States.

Samuel T. Armstrong

James Dennie

Henry J. Nazro
Henry J. Oliver
Joshua Crane
Bramhall & Howe
C. Wilkins & Co.

George Thatcher & Co.

Edward Oakes

Charles C. Bowman
John J. Eaton

Henderson Inches, Jr.
M. Brimmer

T. M. J. Dehon
Stephen Grover
Thomas B. Curtis
Joseph Ballister & Co.
Josiah Bradlee & Co.
James Parker

THE

SAFE KEEPING OF THE PUBLIC MONEYS.

A SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, JANUARY 25, 1843.

Ir is with no little reluctance, Mr. Speaker, that I enter into this debate. There is a well-remembered proverb of Solomon, that "from the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh." I confess, Sir, that I have no fulness of the heart to speak from, in relation to the questions now before us. The whole subject of the currency has been so perplexed and embarrassed, by the deplorable collisions which have occurred between the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States, that no man can approach it without something of repugnance and aversion.

In reference to this subject of the currency, indeed, we have been tossed to and fro on the waves of party contention for almost ten years. A year or two since we were flattered with the belief that we were coming at last to port; but the objects which we took for land, and which were eagerly and joyously hailed as such from the mast-head, turned out to be only fresh reefs of rock across our course; and we seem to be now as far as ever, or even farther than ever, from the haven where we would be. In the mean time, the subject itself, as a matter of public discussion, has become "as stale as the remainder biscuit after a voyage."

Questions, however, seem likely to be taken before this report and resolution are disposed of, upon which any vote that one may give, will be so exceedingly liable to misconstruction, that I cannot consent to forego some explanation of my views.