E. Memorandum of articles required at the navy yard in small quantities. 1 to 5 lbs. sewing twine. 6 to 10 lbs. twine, assorted. 1 lb. camphor. 1 to 2 planes. 1 to 4 lbs. cotton. 1 to 4 lbs. lamp wick. 5 to 11 lbs. scupper nails. 3 yards blue nankeen. 4 lb. thread. 2 lbs. shoe thread. 2 log lines. 4 lbs. of pepper. 2 lbs. of camphor. 4 lbs. of saltpetre. 4 lbs. of borax. 5 yards of blue or green cloth. 5 to 10 lbs. of brass tacks. 5 to 10 hickory and corn brooms. 5 lbs. of beeswax. 1 grind stone. 500 to 1,000 hoop poles. Sand paper, sheep skins, leather, Affidavit of R. Gatewood. On the afternoon of the 27th of this mouth, I went with Mr. Loyall before Mr. Homans, as commissioner, to take the testimony of Commodore Shubrick, which being done, and Commodore Shubrick having withdrawn, Mr. Loyall said to Mr. Homans that, being informed of his intention to leave town that evening, it occurred to him to ask whether any other paper or documentary evidence had been received by Mr. Homans, or would be filed with the testimony which had been taken, than such as had been received in their presence, and of which Mr. Homans had furnished Mr. Loyall with copies. Mr. Homans replied that, since they had last met, he had received some papers from two of the witnesses who had given "conflicting testimony," upon whom he had called for explanations, and he expected some others, which were not yet received. He then produced two papers purporting to be explanations of the testimony of Mr. Toy and Mr. King, and said the others he had called upon for similar explanations of "conflicting testimony" were Mr. Dickson and Mr. Hunter, and that these papers he should attach to the record. Mr. Loyall expressed great surprise that Mr. Homans should have called for and received such papers without his knowledge, and promptly required Mr. Homans to furnish him with copies of these explanations, certified to have been required and furnished without notice to him, or any evidence of their existence until that moment. Mr. Loyall and myself then left the room, and a note was immediately sent to Mr. Homans re questing these acknowledgments, when the copies were sent to him; but, when they were received, this request was not complied with. Soon after this, in the evening, a note was received from Mr. Homans, informing Mr. Loyall that Mr. John H. Butler (late an associate commissioner) was present, and ready to answer certain interrogatories Mr. Loyall had left with Mr. Homans to be propounded to him, but that Mr. Butler wished Mr. Loyall should be present on the occasion. Accordingly, I returned with Mr. Loyall to the commissioner's room, where Mr. Butler was reading Mr. Loyali's questions, and was called upon to answer them. Mr. Butler said, before he would answer these questions, he wished to know if Mr. Loyall would answer certain questions Mr. Butler had to put to him. Mr. Loyall answered he would enter into no agreement, nor make any compromise with witnesses; the questions to Mr. Butler were fair, and warranted by common report, and he might answer them, yes or no, as he pleased. Mr. Homans, as commissioner, was then requested to put the questions to Mr. Butler, who again said, without Mr. Loyall would agree to answer his questions, he would decline answering Mr. Loyall's. The latter reiterated he would make no such compromise, but said, when Mr. Butler had answered, if the commissioner thought proper to put any interrogatories to him, at all pertinent to the present inquiry, he would freely answer as many as he pleased. Mr. Butler then read his questions to Mr. Loyall about subscribing to certain newspapers and attending political meetings during the late election, &c. Whereupon Mr. Loyall asked Mr. Butler emphatically if he thought he could be deterred by such means from spending his own money by subscribing to any newspapers or periodicals he thought proper to read, or from obtaining public information in any manner he pleased for his own advantage; and, addressing Mr. Homans, Mr. Loyall asked if he, as commissioner, felt authorized to put such questions to him, or came here with instructions from the Secretary of the Navy to make such an inquiry. Mr. Homans, after a pause, said he had collected himself to give a proper reply, and then answered, Yes, I do say I have authority to put such questions to you. Mr. Loyall replied, Very well, then, put them. Mr. Butler's questions were then put by the commissioners, and promptly answered by Mr. Loyal!; not, however, until his interrogatories to Mr. Butler had been fully answered. Sworn to before me this 31st July, 1841. R. GATEWOOD. JOHN SUNIS, Alderman. 2d Session. FLORIDA. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. On motion of Mr. Levy, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 9, 1842. Resolved, That the constitution adopted by the people of Florida, assembled in convention, a St. Joseph, in the month of December, A. D. 1838, together with the memorial addressed to Congress by a committee of said convention, be referred to the Committee on the Territories, and that two thousand extra copies of said constitution and memorial be printed for the use of the House. Attest: M. S. CLARKE, Clerk. CONSTITUTION ADOPTED BY THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA, DECEMBER, 1838. MAY 9, 1842. Referred to the Committee on the Territories. MEMORIAL OF THE PEOPLE OF THE TERRITORY OF FLORIDA, FOR ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: The memorial of the people of the Territory of Florida RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: That, before the cession by the King of Spain of the provinces of East and West Florida to the United States, a large portion of the inhabitants of those provinces, being warmly attached to the Government of the United States, were anxious to become a part thereof, and to acquire the priv ileges of American citizenship. Many were natives of the States, who had been induced to change their residence by the genial climate and productive soil of the Floridas. The manifestation of their attachment to the Government of the Union, and to the principles of political liberty, when a high officer of the United States, with the approbation and authority of the national administration, attempted, in 1812, to effect a change in the government of East Florida, brought some of the most affluent of our citizens to poverty and ruin. The treaty of 1819 was hailed by them with joy, as the harbinger of the speedy consummation of their ardent but long-deferred hopes. The repeated assurances of statesmen, officers, and citizens of the States, (made in every manner calculated to in spire confidence,) that the Floridas would be admitted into the Union AS A STATE at an early period; the express stipulation in the 6th article of the treaty, "that the inhabitants of the territories which His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States by this treaty shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States AS SOON as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution; and admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities, of the citizens of the United States;" the declaration of the King of Spain, in the royal order of the 24th of October, 1820, announcing the final conclusion of the treaty, and "that among the ADVANTAGES stipulated" in favor of those inhabitants who might remain therein, and which he wished to give “as a last proof of the protection and affection they had always experienced under the Spanish Government," was one, that they should be admitted as SOON AS POSSIBLE to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States;" the reiteration of the pledge in the proclamation of that illustrious American citizen who was appointed commissioner to take possession of the ceded provinces, and their first Governor, on his arrival here to fulfil the duties of his high truts, all awakened the most sanguine expectations among the inhabitants of the provinces, by whom they were received as ample guaranties that this auspicious measure would soon be adopted. In faith of the pledge being fulfilled, as the exploration and survey of the country developed its fertile lands and other valuable resources, emigrants crowded hither from all sections of the Union. Nearly twenty years have elapsed since the formation of the treaty of cession. During this period the people of Florida have, on different occasions, distinctly manifested their anxious desire to change the present institutions of government for others originating with and formed by themselves, to assume the rank of a sovereign State, and to be recognised as a member of the national confederacy. Your memorialists would briefly direct the notice of Congress to those particular measures which have induced the present application. In the year 1837, the wishes of the people caused the Territorial Council to enact a law, (a copy of which is subjoined, page 49, pamphlet laws of 1837,) by which the question of "State" or "Territory" was to be voted upon at the election for Delegate to Congress, held in the month of May of that year. A decided majority of the suffrages given at that election was in favor of a State. It is believed there would have been little opposition,. but that the desolation of a large portion of the country, caused by the Seminole war, then raging at its height, caused many to doubt our pecuniary ability, at that period, to establish and maintain respectably the State institutions. The 'Council of 1838, in obedience to the expressed will of the people, and to effect their wishes, enacted a law authorizing the holding of a convention to form and adopt a State constitution. (A copy of this law is subjoined, page 15, pamphlet laws of 1838.) In pursuance of this law, the citizens of every county in the Territoy, in October, 1839, chose delegates to such convention, which assembled at St. Joseph on the 3d day of December, 1838, and continued in session till January 11th, 1839. The "CONSTITUTION OR FORM OF GOVERNMENT" herewith transmitted, was adopted by that body with but one dissentient vote; and a committee was appointed to transmit, with said constitution and the resolutions annexed hereto, this memorial in behalf of the people of Florida to Congress, and to ask, in their name, the recognition of THE STATE OF FLORIDA, and her admission and incorporation into the Union, as an equal member of the Confederacy. To this statement of the facts upon which the people of Florida base their claim to be recognised as a State, and to be acknowledged as a member of the Union, it may be added, that, in 1838, the Territorial Council passed a law for taking a census of the inhabitants. A copy of this law, (page 8, pamphlet laws of 1838,) and a statement of the returns of the census as far as made, are hereto annexed. This census, it is well known, was but partially and imperfectly taken. The presence of a hostile and savage foe prevented in many counties the execution of the law; many of our citizens, with their families, had been obliged to abandon temporarily their houses till the danger of massacre should become less imminent, and in other parts of the Territory the duty was entirely neglected. It is believed by many that an accurate enumeration would exhibit a population in Florida, estimated according to the basis of representation in the House of Representatives of the United States, fully equal to, if not greater than, the present ratio. But the people of Florida respectfull insist that their right to be ad-mitted into the Federal Union as a State is not dependent upon the fact of their having a population equal to such ratio. Their right to admission, it is conceived, is guarantied by the express pledge in the 6th article of the treaty before quoted; and if any rule as to the number of population is to govern, it should be that in existence at the time of the cession, which was thirty-five thousand. They submit, however, that any ratio of representation dependent on legislative action, based solely on convenience and expediency, shifting and vacillating as the opinion of a majority of Congress may make it, now greater than at a previous apportionment, but which a future Congress may prescribe to be less, cannot be one of the constitutional "PRINCIPLES" referred to in the treaty, consistency with which, by its terms, is required. It is, in truth, but a mere regulation, not founded on principle. No specific number of population is required by any recognised principle as necessary in the establishment of a free government. Delay in the recognition and admission of Florida is no longer justifiable, when, by the adoption of a form of government based upon the same broad principles of civil liberty as the constitution of the United States, all inconsistency in the union and confederation of the two Governments is removed. It is in no wise "inconsistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution" that the population of a State should be less than the ratio of congressional representation. The very case is provided for in the Constitution. With such deficient population, she would be entitled to one Representative. If any event should cause a decrease of the population of one of the States even to a number below the minimum ratio of representation prescribed by the Constitution, she would still remain a member of the Confederacy, and be entitled to such Representative. It is respectfullyurged, that a rule or principle which would not justify the expulsion of a State with a deficient population, on the ground of inconsistency with the Constitution, should not exclude or prohibit admission. Your memorialists would respectfully urge, that any supposed rule or practice of Congress founded upon or growing out of the ordinance of July 13th, 1787, in relation to the Northwestern territory, or in respect of new States formed out of other territory ceded to the National Government by different States, and in which cessions that ordinance was expressly |