are not printed chronologically. ained at that Island nge of wind, after the Island of Mudays to reach Mu ed, by head winds to Contoy. the custom-house e first day of May, ce to which she was er. She left New May, 1850, having isions. After she C. R. Wheat, who , to transport pasew Orleans to Cha the master to proongitude 870 west. to this point, at e up, taking the n the Susan Loud, act as pilot to the to Cardenas, which an Loud in charge ent to Contoy. oud lay at anchor of May, when the , and brig-of-war immediately caph all their officers, o Havana, by the of June, 1850, and anish Governmer.t These facts I beto on both sides. yon certain other stification of their American vessels. Auditor of War roceedings carried at Contoy, of the at the Georgiana, eans, took in cases ontain machinery, ere said to contain re taken on board t fairly infer that -captain and crew r, they were then captain was withk up the voyage, e cases. rt, that the Creole Loud at sea. The he Susan Loud at by a previous supercargo, and states in his depopers furnished by to sea he directed to sail to a point itude. There the ady stated. The d the Creole, and pears by Wheat's Creole communioy; but this is no of their officers y were evidently, ontrol of persons st. Many of the Susan Loud mnay pedition; but the t the time of their egarded their desnce of these vesproof that their ot Cuba, as their -nce to show that their departure, pard their vessels er the officers of ound themselves -s on board, who the expedition, and determinare the facts, and hers less import- || Barque Georgiana, &c.—Mr. Smart. sustained by her crew amounted to...$17,313 50 Total..... .... .$30,100 87 On the 15th of December, 1851, I submitted a resolution to the House of Representatives, requesting information concerning the seizure and confiscation of these vessels. The resolution was adopted, and answered by the Secretary of State on the 27th of January, 1852. From the papers communicated by the Secretary of State, I obtain the facts I have now stated. The Georgiana was the property of citizens residing in the district 1 have the honor to represent, and the Susan Loud was owned by citizens of Massachusetts. The owners of these vessels are honest, industrious, worthy men, and they are entitled to the protection of the Government, against the spoliation of their property by a foreign nation. Other citizens, indeed, can but regard their cause with solicitude. Every one engaged in commerce has an especial interest in the protection of our flag, and in defending all our just rights upon the high seas; and every patriotic man must feel that the laws of nations should not be violated and American citizens thereby injured. With this view of the subject, the seizure of these American vessels becomes a matter of general interest. If we suffer two vessels to be wrongfully seized and confiscated, what safety is there for any portion of our commercial marine? If we permit the clearest principles of international law to be violated in the confiscation of our property, we shall nowhere be safe from insult and injury. I do not wish to complain, but I think our Government has been tardy, if not negligent in this matter. The Georgiana and Susan Loud were confiscated by the Spanish authorities in July, 1850, and up to this time no indemnification has been obtained by our Government. The American Government, strange as it may seem, has been more prompt to indemnify Spanish subjects for the destruction of Spanish property. About the time of the seizure of these vessels, the populace of New Orleans destroyed some property belonging to the Spanish Consul, and other subjects of Spain. Immediately after, upon the meeting of Congress, the President promptly recommended an appropriation to indemnify these Spanish subjects. In accordance with this recommendation, Congress at its late session appropriated $25,000 for that purpose. HO. OF REPs. cate the vessels to their own use! The American Government, instead of obtaining a release as a matter of right, accepted of a pardon for these American citizens, convicted by the Spanish Government; and have obtained no indemnity, as I have before stated, for the confiscation of the vessels. Such has been the position of Mr. Fillmore's administration, in face of its valiant declarations that the Spanish authorities had no right to seize our citizens or vessels at the Island of Contoy-an Island within the jurisdiction of Mexico and that the eagle should protect them. To show the position of our Government upon this question when the news was first received of the capture of the Georgiana and Susan Loud, and their officers, crews, and passengers, I quote from Hon. John M. Clayton, then Secretary of State: "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "WASHINGTON, June 3, 1850. "But it is not conceded that the Spanish Government, having captured these citizens on a Mexican Island, have a right to convey them to Havana and punish them capitally for crime. It is unnecessary for me to remind one so well versed in the law of nations, that there is a wide distinction between crime and the intention to commit it. Besides, it has been alleged that these men had abandoned the illegal enterprise, and relinquished all design to invade Cuba." The Secretary of State to Mr. Calderon. "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "WASHINGTON, July 9, 1850. "I have had the honor to receive your note of the 2d instant. In reference to so much of that note as refers to the trial of the Contoy prisoners by the Marine Court of the Havana station,' it is my duty to state, as I have heretofore said to you in conversation, that I do not admit the right of the Spanish authorities to try those prisoners, who, according to all the statements which have reached us, were captured beyond the Spanish jurisdiction, and had committed uo act of hostility against Spain or her colonies. It is also my duty to repeat what I have heretofore said verbally to you, that the President of the United States had sent an agent to Havana to demand the release of these prisoners, who, in his judgment, were not guilty of any intention to invade the Island of Cuba. He claimed for these prisoners that they should be tried by the courts of their own country, and that they were not amenable to the Spanish jurisdic "Were your reasoning correct, you might with equal propriety denounce the penalties of piracy upon any citizen of the United States who has been engaged in fitting out the illegal expedition against Cuba, although he may have never left the limits of his own country. I therefore take occasion again to repeat to your Excellency, that the designation of pirates,' when applied to the Contoy prisoners, is utterly erroneous, even supposing (what I would by no means admit) that they entertained hostile intentions against the Spanish dominion in Cuba. The facts related in your note to justify the capture and abduction of the prisoners taken at Contoy, and the two vessels, the Georgiana and the Susan Loud, are deemed entirely insufficient, and it is my object now to remind your Excellency that in all I have written and said to you upon this subject, I have endeavored faithfully to warn your Government of the danger which might result to the peaceful relations of the two countries, should illegal punishment be inflicted upon these American citizens." The Secretary of State to Mr. Calderon. "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "WASHINGTON, June 25, 1850. "You have repeatedly designated these American cit izens concerned in the late outrageous violation of the laws, both of the United States and Spain, as pirates.' It is While such peculiar care has been taken of the interests of Spanish subjects, no mention has been made by Mr. Fillmore in his message of the indemnity due to American citizens, and I do not learn that the American Government has made any progress in procuring indemnity from Spain for the outrage now under our notice. From an examination of the papers, I do not believe the Spanish Government had evidence sufficient to justify it in affirming that these vessels were bound for the Island of Cuba; and so far as I can learn, the testimony obtained by the Spanish Court of Admiralty affords no proof that the officers and crews of these vessels intended to invade the Island of Cuba, or even knew at the time of their departure most opprobrious epithets you can bestow. Still their crime of any connection of their vessels or passengers was not piracy. Murder and robbery are crimes of the with such invasion. Be that as it may, they did deepest dye; but unless committed on the high seas, they not in fact invade that Island, nor did the vessels cannot amount to piracy. The distinction may appear of little consequence, except where the designation of plgo into Spanish waters or within Spanish jurisdic-rate is applied to citizens of the United States who may tion. They committed no offense against the laws of Spain, because they did not go within the limits of Spanish territory. The only justification of the seizure of these But they were not pirates even if they intended invading Cuba. The American Government took this position and demanded the immediate release of the vessels and passengers, and insisted that they should never be tried by Spain. This was patriotic. The position of the Government was taken under General Taylor, but it was not insisted on so far as the subsequent acts of the two Governments were concerned. Our Government permitted the Cuban authori by no means my duty to shield them from the use of the have engaged in an enterprise to invade Cuba, but have not The indiscriminate application executed their intention. of such a designation to these men, as well as to those who have been guilty of some overt act of felony, may give rise to errors which we may hereafter have occasion to regret. American citizens who may have engaged in an expe dition for the invasion of Cuba have doubtless been guilty of a great crime, in violating the laws of their own country, for which they merit, and will receive, the just censure not only of Spain, but of the United States. Yet their offense, without some overt act of felony, and that, too, on the high seas, cannot with any propriety be characterized as 'piracy."" I have stated that our Government demanded the immediate release of the vessels and passengers captured at Contoy. To show that it took such position, I refer to its instructions to Commodore Morris, which are as follows: "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "WASHINGTON, June 29, 1850. "The President directs that you proceed as soon as por sible to Havana, in the war steamer Vixen; that, on your the United States your own On be Hemand of him the en at Contoy, and ecognizes no right try and punish the view their punish outrage upon the gupon the grounds = Consul, of which satisfied, from the ence taken before om other informahat the men taken res; and if any of they had repented der these circumIt the lives or liberall be forfeited, or dence above-menbunal. nd the brig Susan tatements to prove ered those vessels; Captain General of se vessels to be rer their capture and he testimony taken of the prisoners of testimony has, we vernor and Captain age of our Min Mr. Clayton, ly to the SpanAugust 7, 1850, an Loud were carHe that they were t accompany each ever had the same prisoners taken at iterprise of Lopez that intention, and tes; that the Govsession of evidence t the principle that ime itself, was too be some overt act, isted. There was particular case, if e on the ground of e laws of Spain, alone in their triction to decide on night be offered to art from all these United States behe Island of Coning and subject to , a Power on terms States, and beyond nd who were there nd, were not guilty s, against Spain; third and friendly the rights of the e any right to des captured in her e of judicial proites could not rectested in the most eedings and conm such unlawful rtue of it in the President to deJadrid, the immes taken, and now ind that, as I had Government had racter of this derompt reply." ›n to Pedro J. ated Legation. id, September language: defense of the founded on two isted on in your isoners are pi That the Island y local jurisdictare concerned. a fixed and deof the law, de acts may even \piratical char om the United Il hazards, the Barque Georgiana, &c.-Mr. Smart. the law of nations; even then the arrest at Contoy, and the claim of jurisdiction founded upon it, are not authorized by international law. If they were, in fact, pirates, they could only be followed and seized in the territory of another Power on fresh pursuit.'"' Again: Mr. Barringer, writing to the Marquis of Pidal, Minister of State, dated Legation of the United States, Madrid, August 27, 1850, says: "The Government of the United States cannot recognize the right of Spain to seize American vessels at anchor on the coast, and within the territory and jurisdiction of a Power having friendly relations with the United States; to capture and imprison the men and crew on board of vessels thus situated, and try them in Spanish tribunals, and according to Spanish rules and forms of proceeding, for any supposed violation of the law of nations, much less for that of Spanish municipal law. "The prisoners whose release is demanded, were all arrested in the month of May last, either on the Island of Contoy or on board of two American vessels, the Georgiana and the Susan Loud, which were seized whilst at anchor at said Island on the coast of Yucatan, which is a portion of her domain and property, and within the jurisdiction of the Mexican Republic, of which the said State of Yucatan is a component part. "The question of the guilt or innocence of these prisoners as connected with the late hostile expedition of Lopez, to invade the Island of Cuba, does not affect, in the slightest degree, the principles upon which this demand is made. "Against any such illegal attempt to invade and attack the territory of a friendly Power, the Government of the United States has given too many proofs of its opposition and efficient resistance to render necessary any further as surance of its sincerity and its fidelity to every obligation of duty, or to leave any room for doubt as to its amicable dispositions. "If these prisoners were guilty of any offense, it is cognizable and punishable by the laws of the United States, whose provisions are most ample and effectual against all such criminal enterprises set on foot within their territory or jurisdiction to invade the territory or dominions of any foreign kingdom, State, or colony, with which we are at peace. "We deny that these men were guilty of any act of invasion or depredation on Spanish territory, or within Spanish jurisdiction. Even if guilty, originally, of an intention to join the frustrated expedition of Lopez and his coadjutors and followers, this was a crime punishable only by and un der the laws of the United States, and could not justify Spain in arresting and prosecuting them under her laws. "I am instructed to say, that my Government will view the punishment, by the authorities of Cuba, of the prisoners thus taken at Contoy, without the Spanish jurisdiction, as an outrage on the rights of the United States. "In conclusion, and with a view to prevent misapprehension, I desire to say in reference to the barque Georgiand and the brig Susan Loud, that their owners have exhibited to my Government statements to prove the innocence of the captains who chartered them'; and that the Government of the United States expects those vessels to be returned to their owners, with damages for their capture and detention." It will thus be seen that Mr. Clayton, and Mr. Barringer, our Minister to Spain, took the strongest ground against the legality of the seizure of these vessels and the capture of their crews. Mr. Webster, who afterwards came into the State Department, expressed his entire approbation of the manner in which the claims of indemnity for the capture of the Georgiana and Susan Loud had been maintained by Mr. Barringer. He also pronounced an early acknowledgment of the equity of those claims "an act of sheer justice." is what he said, in a letter to Mr. Barringer, dated Department of State, Washington, February 5, 1851: Here "I had hoped, ere this, to have heen enabled to furnish for your use the necessary materials, with instructions to renew your application to her Catholic Majesty's Government for the early acknowledgment of the equity of these claims-an act of sheer justice, which, however, cannot fail to promote the friendly relations of the two countries. "I feel that it is due to you, in closing this letter, to express my entire approbation of the manner in which these claims have been maintained by you in your correspondence with the Marquis de Pidai. Spain must be made to understand that the Executive of the United States will not submit to behold an injury done to persons or property under the flag of the Union, without holding to a strict responsibility the Government by whose officers such an injury may have been inflicted." It will thus be seen how emphatic our Government has been (in language) upon the subject of the seizure and confiscation of these vessels; and yet I regret to say their owners have received not one cent in the way of indemnification. Our Consul at Havana took the same position maintained by Messrs. Clayton, Webster, and Barringer. I make a few extracts from his correspondence with the Secretary of State: } "CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, "HAVANA, May 31, 1850. "One of the vessels captured at Contoy is said to be the American barque Georgiana. By reference to the New Orleans Price-current, I find that the American barque Georgiana, Benson master, was on the 25th of April regularly that all origin cleared by G. W. Breedlove, with a cargo of coal, for Cha ere pirates by Ho. OF REPS. gres, which proves the sailing of that particular vessel to have been with the knowledge of the collector of the port, and that her papers were in due order. "There may have been justification in this particular instance for temporary detention of the two vessels, but, for aught I know to the contrary, no overt act had been committed against the Spanish Government by the master or those on board the captured vessels; there may have been intention, but that intention may have been repented of and changed; but if even the intention of overt acts against this Government were entertained at the time of capture, it cannot vest a power in this Government to arrest the parties in a foreign country, to be brought to Cuba for trial. To illustrate this it may not be amiss to refer to the case of the Duc d'Enghien (with which your Excellency is familiar) to prove the opinion of the civilized world on a parallel case. If (so far as appears) offense against any Government has been committed by the masters and others on board of the captured vessels, (supposing them to be American with regular papers,) the offense has been against the laws and Government of the United States, and to that Government aloue are they amenable, unless they have in some way violated the laws of Mexico." Mr. Campbell, in a letter dated 19th June, 1850, to the Secretary of State, giving an account of his interview with the Captain General of Cuba, says: "I observed that the President of the United States does not admit the right on the part of the Spanish Government to capture those men; they never having been on Spanish territory, could not have committed any act violative of Spanish law. Even admitting them to be guilty, their guilt was against the laws of the United States: they are amenable to those laws, and to no others." It would seem to be a work of supererogation to add anything to the language of our Government upon the illegality of the whole proceeding of the Spanish authorities in capturing and confiscating the American vessels at Contoy. One fact is not disputed. These vessels never went into Spanish waters prior to their capture, and if they committed any offense, it was in Mexican or American territory. Contoy, the place of their capture, it is well known, is an island under the jurisdiction of Mexico. I take the liberty, then, to quote a single authority applicable to this fact: "It is evident that a State cannot punish an offense against its municipal laws, committed within the territory of another State, unless by its own citizens; nor can it arrest the persons or property of the supposed offender within that territory."—Wheaton's Law of Nations, pp. 169, 170. Upon what ground, then, could the Spanish Government capture these vessels, their officers and crews? That they were engaged, it is said, in piracy on the high seas. Certainly on no other ground. If they were pirates, they might, I admit, be lawfully captured on the high seas, but not within Mexican jurisdiction. But the idea that they were pirates is, to say the least, wholly absurd. "Piracy is the offense of DEPREDATING on the seas without being authorized by any sov'ereign State, or with commissions from different 'sovereigns at war with each other.”—(Wheaton's Law of Nations, p. 176.) examined. Whatever was intended by the officers, Now, let the facts in the case of these vessels be crews, or passengers, as a matter of fact they sailed under regular papers from New Orleans to anybody. The vessels had no armanent to enable Contoy. They committed no depredations upon them to plunder and rob upon the high seas; and I hazard nothing in saying, that this Government will never assent to the extraordinary assumption that they were pirates. The Spanish authorities having, then, no right to capture these vessels, I trust the American Government will do its duty, and submit to no longer delay in obtaining indemnity for our citi. zens. In my judgment, our vessels of war should have retaken the Georgiana and Susan Loud without hesitation. And while our Government pronounced the detention of these vessel an "outrage,' it should have had sufficient courage to have given an instant order for their recapture. That model President, the illustrious Andrew Jackson, would have given the order without hesitation. But Mr. Fillmore shrunk from a maintenance of the unquestionable convictions of the Government, with such demonstration as those convictions would fully justify. He waited, without any forcible interposition, for the Spanish authorities to convict and pardon several of our citizens, who were on board these vessels. He received as a pardon, what should have been demanded as a right, and insisted on, if need be, at the cannon's mouth. The property of our citizens, amounting to more than thirty thousand dollars, he has suffered the Spanish Government to retain, HD CONG.....2D SESS. isfaction has been made it has lately pursued in i aling circumstances co s of the Spanish vessels of v 3 Georgiana and another to be rosers ready greased, and from tw Bato execution we are u rady related in our staten den board the steamer Le så den handed hanging. red in similar situation Havana, at which p or shackle us two by two and his interpreter, ble manacled and sent to To the statement of these indi of the American Consul, R er to the Secretary of State e United States, Havana, The captain, two mates, and sev the Government, have not yet be ication; but permission bei Morris for him and myself to alled at the military hopital, at (his day, to see Captain Benson, w pital, as was understood, on ac We and him in a room with grated and mortification to discover the destroyed, and he had become dess is manifestly real and not a of a madman it would be idle e pass them unnoticed. . 3 nade to those who st detention. We rdinary proceeding. nue such a foreign in its intercourse iable to insult from he earth. It is reis at hand when it 1. I by no means ; but we should not nauthorized Power s Republic. Whatr intentions of the ntoy, I repeat, the icted and punished authority. There es connected with à Government, not s were the victims ight have been prece of our Governng statement of the by eighteen of their ng: els of war ordered the er to be hung; and as o far as to place a rope rom twenty to twentyWhy they did not are unable to say, for that had been carried statement of the 6th er Levan) that they Is; considering us as crime for which they mode of procedure as to work binding each any to complain of the we were conducted the thirteen,) and the uation on board of the sway, their next move which place we arrived dy on the Pizarro we, board the ship-of-theof one, A. B. Moore. were placed in line on Dersons were searched (the same policy had sat Contoy, and was ter having rifled our te found with us, we anner, to descend to ved there, orders were y two, i. e., placing a re was an iron bar, of es in circumference, et the parties together. e were placed on the ep silence; and to this nels. To this may be ised of tormenting us, e in detail. We, the ined until the 24th in hat course they were on this date, we were g us by our affidavits, ecording to their puraccusation pending at the whole of this farce arrogance, and vindice to time during the and further to impose nark of ignominy, the egs in the presence of er, who, pretending to ded with his inquiries Forts to use the figuraEscal, plunged himself at already appeared to nued to pursue this e twelve; and on the brig Habanero, on the of restraining, such as her, &c., for if we did ha manner as to cause to the Puntillo; (this ere the rod and other , and from whence the ght of day.") ividuals I will add R. B. Campbell, in e, dated, Consulate July 16, 1850: wen seamen, detained een relieved from ining granted to Com see the prisoners, we ten and half, a. m., -ho had been placed in count of indisposition. windows, and had the at his intellect was enraving maniac. The emmed The acts and Gold Coin in California-Mr. Gwin. "My feelings have been so harassed and wounded by the melancholy and hopeless condition of Captain Benson, SENATE. fore, I am not anxious to reargue the whole suband the conviction that, with the strongest desires, I have ject. But as the receipt of pieces of assayed gold been impotent to save him from so sad and cruel a fate, that I hope I shall be excused by the President should I for a time visit the States, even in advance of permission being received. A few days, however, may lessen the present intensity of feeling; should they not, I shall leave by an early opportunity. * "The trial of the Contoy prisoners is, I suppose, being proceeded with. Captain Benson, of the Georgiana, it is believed, has been removed to a lunatic hospital. I feel a deep interest in his fate, and very much fear that his mind cannot be restored so long as he continues in a situation where he never hears his native language, or sees a familiar face. Should anything occur by which, officially or personally, I can in any manner serve him, the contingency will be immediately availed of." I shall not be charged with drawing on my own imagination, or with exaggeration in an exhibition of the suffering and insult to which our people were subjected while in custody of the Spanish authorities. I simply refer to the documents I have quoted. They certainly present a picture sufficiently unpleasant to awaken American sensi bilities. I take this occasion again to express the hope that our Government will demand immediate satisfaction for the confiscation of these vessels, and for the damages sustained by their officers and crews. Should the Spanish Government refuse to make such satisfaction, I have no hesitation in expressing my own opinion as to the course the American Government would have a right to pur sue. I have no ulterior objects in expressing that opinion; I want no war for conquest, and no annexation that is not brought about by peaceable negotiation. I would not involve the country in difficulty upon frivolous pretexts with a view that annexation of territory might result. But a positive right, whether the amount in dispute is large or small, should not be surrendered. In this case the amount, though comparatively small, is not small to those who have suffered. I repeat, then, I have no hesitation in expressing my own opinion as to the course this Government would have a right to pursue, if the Spanish authorities do not make immediate satisfaction. I think we should be justified in making reprisals of Spanish property. We should be fully justified in doing this. Whether the Government would do this, it is, of course, not for me to say. Vattel says: "Reprisals are used between nation and nation, in order to do themselves justice, when they cannnot otherwise obtain it. If a nation has taken possession of what belongs to another, if it refuses to pay a debt, to repair an injury, or to give adequate satisfaction for it, the latter may seize something belonging to the former, and apply it to its own advantage till it obtains payment of what is due, together with interest and damages; or keep it as a pledge till the offending nation has refused ample satisfaction or justice. As soon as that hope disappears, they are confiscated, and then reprisals are accomplished." I have called the attention of the House and the country to this subject, because my constituents, having applied to this Government more than two years ago, have failed to accomplish anything. I express the hope now, publicly, which I long ago expressed by letter to the State Department-that our Government will take this matter in hand and obtain indemnity for the men who have suffered, by what has been properly characterized by Mr. Clayton and Mr. Webster, as an outrage upon the property and persons of American citizens. GOLD COIN IN CALIFORNIA. SPEECH OF HON. W. M. G WIN, OF CALIFORNIA, IN THE SENATE, December 29, 1852, On the occasion of the presentation of several Memorials by Mr. WELLER, signed by Merchants in the city of San Francisco and California, complaining of an act of Congress passed on the 20th of August, 1852. Mr. GWIN said: Mr. PRESIDENT: These memorials are old acquaintances of mine. They played a part in the late political campaign in California, and were contrived for the purpose of exciting prejudice in the minds of the people of that State against the members of Congress from that State. I met the for public dues in that State is a question of considerable importance, and as I had an agency in obtaining the legislation connected with the matter, I shall avail myself of this occasion to give a short history of my action in connection with the currency in California, that it may be correctly understood by my constituents and this body. Soon after I arrived here as one of the Senators elect from California, among the first subjects that engaged my attention, was that of proposed legislation connected with the staple production of California, to wit, her gold; and inasmuch as I was not so well informed as I wished to be, I consulted the most eminent scientific men in the country, as to the best provisions that could be devised for the benefit of my constituents, concerned in the gold industry, and especially in relation to the coinage of said gold. I may be permitted to say that I made inquiries of the able and distinguished gentleman who is now at the head of the Coast Survey, as well as of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and of a gentleman whom they mentioned as one who had great practical experience and knowledge on the subject of coining. On the 11th of May, 1850, this gentleman favored me with a communication, which I will read : COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PRINCETON, } MY DEAR SIR: In compliance with your request, I bave the honor to present the following views in relation to the gold and commerce of California. Of course you may make any use of them you see fit. On the continent of Europe, as you are aware, payments in large amount are rarely made in coin. Bars of the purest gold, of exactly-determined weight, quality, and value, are preferred and used for that purpose. The size of said bars is usually about ten inches in length, three wide, and one-and-a-half thick, value, about $10,000. The color of pure gold, a rich orange yellow, is much more difficult to imitate than that of any of its alloys. This, united with its great density, is a security against counterfeiting. Large bullion and specie transactions, are also generally confined to institutions, and persons whose commercial character is a guarantee against deception and fraud. There is, therefore, reason to believe that the counterfeiting of such bars would rarely occur, especially if it be rendered criminal to mutilate the bar without destroying or entirely changing its form, or to imitate or alter the assay marks upon it. In France, bars of refined gold, stamped by an assayer, appointed by authority of law, with their respective weights, qualities, and values, and with the name and seal of said assayer, are a legal tender for their certified values. During the administration of President Jackson, the French indemnity was paid in such bars. And the Rothschilds frequently send them to their agent, A. Belmont, Esq., in New York, from whom they sometimes go to the United States Mint for coinage. For international commerce, gold bars are far preferable to coin; being compact and liable to no loss of parts, they are adapted to transportation. As the equivalent value in the coin of any country is readily deduced, by a little simple arithmetic, from the weight and fineness of a bar, it is equally suited to aft nations-being a sort of universal coin. Besides, bars require no tedious and difficult counting of numerous small pieces, and dispense with the cost and delay of coinage. England and the United States alone seem to restrict commerce to coin. In 1847, the heavy payments of specie in return for our breadstuffs were made in sovereigns, rated as pounds sterling, though more or less worn, and therefore of variable value. Also, the Smithsonian bequest was paid in sovereigns. These sovereigns were all melted and recoined at the United States Mint; and our own coin is similarly treated when it crosses the Atlantic. Why should commercial nations be thus constantly recoining the money of each other, every time that the precious metals pass to and fro in the settlement of balances of trade, which are but temporary and oscillating? The gold of California will find its way chiefly to Europe. Had it not better go there, then, in bars of exactly determined value, without the expense and delay of preparatory coinage by the United States, free of charge (as it now is) to the owners, but costly to the nation? For the inhabitants of Ca ifornia and for their commerce with the Pacific nations, with China, and with the United States, a Mint is, however, indispensable. And it should be established as soon as practicable. At that Mint, it should be optional with any one depositing bullion to have it either coined, or cast into bars, upon which their weight, fineness, and value, and the stamp of the United States should be impressed,-all the penalties against counterfeiting being extended to the imitation of such stamped bars of the United States; but this provision not to interfere with the rights of any private or State assayer to manufacture, and stamp bars with his seal and their value, &c. Of the organization of the California Mint, I could present much of valuable detail, from which I refrain. To justify public confidence, it should be as perfect as possible, and be intrusted only to men of the highest integ rily and skill. It should, I think, be less dependent upon or controlled sides it should be y. and other advanes might be varied. ecuted by contract, e Government. In ompanies performs Her similar governem, as in France, nia. rs, McCULLOH. Gold Coin in California-Mr. Gwin. could lead to so gross an usurpation as that of the coining power by the Secretary of the Treasury, with or without the advice of the Director of the Mint, or any other officer of this Government, or that it would have embarrassed and deferred the passage of the California Mint bill. These memorialists say that we intended to give them power to make that which would be legally receivable for public dues, in fact coin. I deny it. No such power was ever intended to be given. The power to coin money is conferred by the Connator from Constitution exclusively on the Congress of the United olution of inqui-States. I will not go as largely into this question system of coinnow as I would if the subject was regularly before n to the Mint of the Senate. But, inasmuch as I have been very thout separating bitterly assailed in regard to this matter, I shall Fornia-to let the now controvert some statements which these med of silver and morialists make. Among other things, they say chairman of the of this enactment which they ask you to repeal, that resolution that its object was, and is, to prohibit the receipt and that for the of the issues of the United States assay office for ich enters into customs and other public dues. value, and that, he producers of re lose the value -r good and valid harged from the tion. branch Mint of ssed this body, SENATE. speak in the name of the people of California. Why, all these memorials originated at this assay office, and those of the last session were sent to me after the Mint bill passed the Senate. They sought to connect the two together in public estimation, and thus help their speculation of the assay office through the popularity of the Mint. As to the views of the people of California, they are not given in these memorials, for they never came from the people. They were got up by interested parties, who have reaped enormous profits from the order issued by the Secretary of the Treasury. But with all their exertions, sending them by express through the country as a Whig electioneering document, they could not get the signatures of more than a thousand out of the seventy thousand votes cast in the late election. No coin is receivable for the public dues except that which is made so by authority of law; and no foreign coin can be received unless its value is regulated by law, and it particularly specified. The coining is one of the highest powers of this and other Governments; and if we had intended that this assay office should issue coin, do you suppose that we would not have provided a penalty for counterfeiting, debasing, or mutilating it? Could we have given this power without prescribing penalties for violations of the high trust devolved? The act, I repeat, was merely intended to furnish commercial facilities, to determine and stamp the fineness of gold bullion in bars, instead of leaving Now, I will state what our object was. It was to restrain the exercise of a legislative power usurped by the Secretary of the Treasury, to wit: the sovereign power of coinage; and to reduce the charge for doing what the law had authorized, to wit: the assaying of bars from two and three fourths per cent. to one per cent.; and to arrest the substitution and augmentation of a debased in it was incor-metallic currency for the lawful coins of the land, immediately an to their exclusion. We never intended to conferit in grains and lumps, and it was designed to ac ing him to assay the coining power upon the Secretary of the Treastted to my seat, ury in the provision of 1850, otherwise we would proper mode of not have passed the act during the last session of n view, I intro-Congress prohibiting the receipt of ingots made September, one under the aforesaid provision, because that would kton and Sacra- have been a violation of contract. We never in manufacture of tended that any coin should be made and issued anches, and as- by the assaying office. We wished merely that n up with great bars should be prepared for commercial purposes. blish them with ngress; and in his views, not espondence, or d to these rethe Senate by The memorialists refer to the sub-treasury act for the authority for making these assayed bars mmittee on Fi- receivable; but that law expressly enacts that ali t of the United public dues "shall be paid in gold and silver coin to the establish-only;" and it goes further, and enacts that if any fices in Califor-officer shall neglect, evade, or violate this law, he my bill for large shall be immediately reported by the Secretary of nt opened a cor- the Treasury to the President, with the facts of it I was wrong, such neglect, evasion, or violation, and also to e subject. He Congress. and a letter ex- Here is a palpable violation of the sub-treasury || right. I found law, which is brought by these memorialists to Committee on the notice of the Senate and of the country, for without action they show that the collector of the customs at San ctor I replied, || Francisco has refused to conform to the.law, and had not time has taken the responsibility of receiving other gold and silver than the current coin of the land; and it has never been reported to Congress, as the law requires, nor has he been dismissed from office. I will not detain the Senate, but I will not permit false statements, concerning the interests of California, to go to the country without rebuke, exposure, and refutation. They say, for instance, that the establishment of this assaving office has raised the price of gold dust from $16 to $17 25 per ounce. This is not true. Competition and other causes independent of this assay office, have increased said price. Two and three quarters per cent., the price this assay office was allowed to charge, is about fifty cents per ounce; besides, as the miner loses his silver, worth about fourteen cents per ounce, subject to a charge for parting and alloy, the stamping of slugs costs the miner fifty-five cents or more per ounce, which is taken from his gold in transitu to the Mint at Philadelphia, where these slugs have to be separated, and are not more valuable than the mere dust itself. How, then, can the assay office, independent of other causes, have made the price of gold dust rise from $16 to $17 25? This office was intended to give a more merchantable form to the gold, and therefore was expected to be of some service. own bills, nor he close of the the establishancisco, as the ition we could ed to employ ent in Califorld. I wished escribed finelegends and legalized and ates; but the hey could be uld be merely be coins, nor hen, towards jeve, because of the Mint, g the making inced that I fore the adloy an assay ble terms for ancisco, was enacted for e the end of to accede to ne commer ight that it It may be proper to make these slugs receivable for public dues at their real value; as my colleague has suggested, if that can be ascertained. The Mint publishes them to be worth $49 90 only for the gold they contain, and to be of irregular weight and value. They go on in this memorial, Mr. President, and present some extracts from memorials which came here last session in favor of a Mint connected with this assay office, and they presume to complish this object, authorize this, and only this. I am prepared to show that there was plenty of coin in California to pay the public dues before this order was issued from the Treasury Department, making ingots receivable as coin. always is and ever will be imported and exported according to the wants and course of commerce. Coin In 1848 and 1849, there was a great scarcity of coin, but it afterwards became abundant. And in my opinion, if it had not been for this usurpation of power, it would have remained so, and we should have got along very well until a Mint was established. But by the substitution consequent upon that usurpation of an inferior and debased currency, for the coins expressly and exclusively authorized by the laws of the United States to be received in payment of public dues, the coin was shipped out of the country. I will now declare that I am entirely opposed to the manner in which the Treasury Department has proposed to construct a Mint in California, with all due deference to those to whom the progress of that work is intrusted. A new state of affairs has arisen in the bullion trade of the world, since the Mint in Philadelphia was planned and built; and the whole arrangements of a new Mint ought to be adapted to this change. The plan of the Mint projected is servilely copied from that in Philadelphia, with all its incongruities, and would not be suitable to my State at all. By the leave of the Senate, I will, on a fit occasion, ask their consideration of the question whether we had not better suspend the building of a Mint on the plan proposed, until we can ascertain from those who understand the subject, what kind of a Mint is best calculated for California. This can be better done after the fourth of March next, when those shall come into power who will hold themselves, and be held by others, to be fully responsible to the people for the manner in which they expend money appropriated by Congress. Ever since I took my seat I have had to contend with the Philadelphia Mint, closely connected with this assay office, and attempting to establish a local monopoly, injurious alike to the interests of my constituents and of the commerce of the country. And I intend shortly to bring to the notice of the Senate abuses in the management of this Mint and its branches. They have resorted to falsehood to mislead legislation, by misrepresenting the capacity of the Mint; and to conceal this imposture, they even neglected to separate silver from the gold, coining it without parting, contrary to the report of the Committee on Finance to which I have referred; thereby depriving the depositors of their silver, whom they, at the same time, charged for its extraction; and therein they defrauded them of that which legally belonged to them. The poor miner who brings with him his savings CONG....2D SESS. tart to the Atlantic coast, many ounces-I believe abo y the Mint for parting, al ver over and above their ched from him. It would bim, in the belief of the M sum less than five doll rab these filchings of small sui her contingent fund annually u ds of dollars. The rick large profits from the mir speculating in their gold dus lations to the Mint to t er milions of dollars, receiv ben; but the humble own estich he has earned by hard t . my, can receive no bene s his silver must go to of the Mint. estion of the country has al, inst, and considerate. wg laws, the depositor is is coined without charge, at refrom for his benefit, an Sabor only. The Mint, 1 zation of those laws, make are from him, taking that care to augment a fund for th and and the disagreeable and di Can Congress for appropriations. Lakes, and am prepared to 2 of the United States has bee e of gold coined durin te, amounting to milli 25 vs so no debased that it was whether it should not within from nation. earth, seventh, and tenth sec sand values, from one hundred , (I hope you will excus de impropriety of the idea mugh the entire bil: eficient) It requires that th a accuracy of fineness a and refined than is required thesandth part in fineness, in part in weight. Lastly, be subjected to an impres sides and over the v European nations prove - our even sum of doll are not printed obronologic airy, ast, unless he deabout seventyg, and leave five heir charges, has ould be of no adhe Mint officers, dollars in silver Il sums they aug. lly to the amount rich depositor, e miners of CaliA dust, and sends to the extent of eceives the silver owner of a few ard toil and kept benefit from the go to the contin has been in all ate. According or is entitled to ge, and the silver it, and at cost of Lint, however, in makes the meanthat which he for their expendnd dreaded duty ions. ed to show, that s been debased; during one year millions of dolwas under serid not be entirely =, Sept. 24, 1851. day, on the subject y authorizing the ingots at the Mint and reasserting my letter, I beg leave visions. rom entering into roper. Permit me ons are not as free timent of law, and fifteenth sections ent, are not expehe officers of the Ons for these criti e. I come at once racticable in their sections taken toingots of specific dred dollars to ten use me here for a of "casting a 1: the word ingot those ingots shall = and weight, far for our coinss, and the two one , it provides, that ession or coinage whole surface of es that it does fa bars of gold, or espect to the State her staple prod ion, or for very this form, just as o bale; but then le to adjust them 2, alinost entirely ps or "tracery" ains or expense, to a fresh weigh would be figured ths into carats, rs into pound-, and not only so, e variance of ten and. We have s of Europe, any e miner or trader Es in all lands for but that it pos a known weight =ary nor desirable, fineness, nor to y may be of any as the banker or As to the strin Gold Coin in California—Mr. Gwin. money; yet I do not hesitate to pronounce it an impractica- R. M. PATTERSON, Director. A BILL to facilitate commerce, by authorizing the manu- 1. Be it enacted. That it shall be lawful to manufacture 2. Be it further enacted, That such ingots, before they are issued, shall be impressed with the words "MINT OF THE UNITED STATES, with the addition of the name of the place of the branch Mint, in case of issue from a branch Mint, with such further stamps as shall indicate the registered number and date, the fineness in thousandths, the weight in troy ounces, and the decimal parts of an ounce, and the net value in dollars and cents. Every such ingot shall also be accompanied with a memorandum from the Treasurer of the Mint, or branch Mint, stating the particulars in respect to the deposit, as is now customary in respect to deposits for coinage. 3. Be it further enacted, That the respective duties to be performed in execution of this act, shall be assigned by the Director of the Mint, to the subordinate officers of the Mint, or branch Mint, with the approbation of the Secretary of the Treasury, in such division and order as is most compat ible with the duties now assigned by law to such officers: Provided, That the only accounting officer in this case shall be the Treasurer. 4. Be it further enacted, That gold bullion deposited for the purpose contemplated in this act, shall be subject to such charges and deductions, and no other, as are imposed by law upon bullion deposited for coinage. 5. Be it further enacted, That to secure a due accuracy and uniformity in the assay of such ingots, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, from time to time, to cause check assays to be made, under the supervision of the Director of the Mint, of samples from ingots which may be received into the Treasury of the United States, and if, in repeated instances, the error is found to exceed two thousandths, said Director shall certify the fact to the Secretary of the Treasury, and the President of the United States, and the assayer in fault, shall thenceforth be disqual ified from exercising that office. 6. Be it further enacted, That all such ingots shall be receivable for debts due to the United States, of every sort, at the Treasury of the United States, or any of its offices or custom-houses, at the net Mint value stamped upon them, and attested by the accompanying memorandum. VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, Obber, 1830. SIR: I have received your letter of the 24th ultimo, with the proposed substitute for my bill; and I have considered the criticisms and views they contain in that candid and courteous spirit” which you invoke for them, and in which I am assured they were intended. It is evident that, while we agree in the general object of facilitating commerce, we differ, perhaps irreconcilably, as to some of the means most desirable or requisite to prepare the gold bullion of California for that purpose; and that advantages sought by me have been by you overlooked. Under such circumstances, I shall discuss the subject gen erally, and further criticisms, or suggestions, from you, in reply, will be fairly considered. You should believe that i have not submitted a bill, upon so important a subject, to the consideration o: Congress, without having obtained and availed myself of full inform ation concerning both the commercial and technical facts and provisions embraced in it, even to their more minute details. The object of your proposed substitute appears to be to introduce, into our country, the crude, imperfect, and limited ingot system of European bankers, designed chiefly for international exchanges-a system which I consider antiquated, and wholly inadequate and inadmissible; and for which I propose to substitute, and by law establish, an improvement, which shall virtually consist in the fabrication of large gold coins, adapted alike to domestic and international payments of considerable amount. SENATE. is fit and proper that the United States should extend to that Having presented these preliminary considerations which I did not expect verbal criticisms; but as you have seen fit to question the correctness of the phrase. to cast a coin, I would remark, that the sand dollars of Mexico are castings; and that legally, as well as in fact, a coin is any piece of either of the more precious metals, of adjusted weight and fineness, which by law is made tender of payment for its nominal value in the country to which it belongs. And if ingots be not coins, they can be so made to be by suitable legislative enactments, whether the same be cast, hammered, rolled, or in any other way manufactured. If you will turn again to the third and thirteenth sections of the bill, and read them more attentively, you will, per haps, cease to consider them ambiguous. It is a matter of arithinetic to calculate from the gold now required by law to be contained in the eagle, or coin of ten dollars, the quantity which should be in an ingot or coin of one thousand dollars, or of any other given denomination. And there can be no difficulty of ascertaining the meaning of an enactment which authorizes the exchange of small coins for ingots of equal value, and the conversion of such ingots into such coins, at the Mint and its branches, by the recoinage thereof; thus providing a legally authorized means for the redemption of those ingots, and for their recoinage into small pieces suitable for diffused circulation, and for minor commercial and domestic purposes. With reference to the sections of the bill allotting to the different officers their respective portions of the work required for the fabrication of the large coins or ingots, I am not aware that there is in them anything incompatible with the proper functions of those officers. * It is known to me that the bill would add to the judicial In your proposed substitute, you leave the allotment of Having presented you my views upon those provisions of the bill which relate to the distribution of the work to the respective officers, and which you treat as of secondary im portance, I shall now discuss your criticisms and remarks upon those features which you pronounce to be impractica ble and of no utility. I cannot concur with you in believing it “impracticable, and, if practicable, useless,” to cover the six surfaces of a rectangular ingot with impressions and tracery. It may be deemed impracticable by the coiner of a Mint, and that such is the case, if you have spoken as its official head. I do not doubt. But I cannot do to the ingenious and skillful arti. sans of your city the injustice to beli ve that it would be impracticable for them to contrive machinery adapted to the purpose, which shall be neither very complex nor very costly. And I am assured, by accomplished mechanicians, that I am correct in believing the art and mechanical skill of our country fully adequate to, and prepared for, the fab. of the faith !! rication or coinage of such rectangular ingots or coins, You have justly compared the casting of gold into crude ingots, such as those proposed by you, to the packing of cotton in bales of any weight and quality. But the large coins which I desire to have made, by legislative direction, are analogous to the barrel of flour, of one hundred and ninety six pounds weight, and of superfine, fine, or other specific denomination; or to the barrel, of two hundred pounds, of mess, prime, or cargo beef or pork; and other uniform packages of staple productions, of definite weight and specifi· quality, which are most conveniently and com |