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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --THURSDAY JANUARY 23.
The Report of the Come. last mentioned consisting of a state of the variations in the Treaty of Amity & Commerce with the States General from the plan proposed by Congress, of a form of ratification of the sd. Treaty & of the Convention, & of a proclamation comprehending both was accepted and passed; the variations excepted wch. were not meant to be entered on the journals. Both the Committee & Congress were exceedingly chagrined at the extreme incorrectness of the American copies of these national acts, and it was privately talked of as necessary to admonish Mr. Adams thereof, & direct him to procure with the concurrence of the other party a moro correct & perspicuous copy. The Report of the Come. as agreed to havg. left a blank in the act of ratification for the insertion of the Treaty & Convention, & those being contained both in the Dutch & American languages the former column ran signed by the Dutch Plenipos. only & the latter by Mr. Adams only, the Secy. asked the direction of Congress whether both columns or the American only ought to be inserted. On this point several observations were made and different opinions expressed. In general the members seemed to disapprove of ye. mode used and wd. he. preferred ye. use of a neutral language. As to the request of the Secy., Mr. Wilson was of opinion that the American columns only sd. be inserted. Several others concurred in this opinion; supposing that as Mr. Adams had only signed those columns, our ratifications ought to be limited to them. Those who were of a different opinion, considered the two parts as inseparable & as forming one whole, & consequently that both ought to be inserted. The case being a new one to Congress, it was proposed & admitted that the insertion might be suspended till the next day, by which tune some authorities might be consulted on the subject.
A come., consisting of Mr. Madison, Mr. Mifflin & Mr. Williamson reported in consequence of a motion of Mr. Bland, a list of books proper for the use of Congress, and proposed that the Secy. should be instructed to procure the same. In favr. of the Rept. it was urged as indispensable that Congress shd. have at all times at co?ard such authors on the law of Nations, treaties, Negotiations &c as wd. render their proceedings in such cases conformable to propriety; and it was
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observed that the want of this information was manifest in several important acts of Congress. It was further observed that no time ought to be lost in collecting every book & tract which related to American antiquities & the affairs of the U. S., since many of the most valuable of these were every day becoming extinct, & they were necessary not only as materials for a Hist: of the U.S., but might be rendered still more so by future pretensions agst. their rights from Spain or other powers which had shared in the discoveries & possessions of the New World. Agst the Report were urged 1st. the inconveniency of advancing even a few hundred pounds at this crisis; 2dly., the difference of expence between procuring the books during the war & after a peace. These objections prevailed, by a considerable majority. A motion was then made by Mr. Wilson, 2ded. by Mr. Madison, to conclue the purchase for the present to the most essential part of the books. This also was negatived.
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