P li' I L A D E L P H I A.

CONGRESS.ftOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES..

THURSDAY, November 17.Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, fron

New-York, and Thomas Hartley fronPennsylvania appeared and took thcifeats.

Petitions were read from Lewis Anderfon, Thomas Carhartt, PhilipGreenwait, William Loring, and DavuWelsh, refpeftively praying compenfation, for services rendered, &c. in th<armyof the United States during th'war.?Referred to the Secretary aWar.

Mr. Gerry, from Massachusetts, an<Mr. Findley, from Pennsylvania, werreported duly elected members of thlHouse.

According to the order of the daythe House resolved itfelf into a committee of the whole on the bill " Direftinthe mode in which certain evidenceof the debt of the LTnited States, whiclhave been loft , or destroyed, may be rencwed."

A motion was then made by MiSedgwick for striking out the wordloft or, as he thought that in cases oloft certificates the public ought to bbetter secured, than they are in the modpointed out in the bill.

Mr. Smith (N.H.) Messrs. WadfwortliHillhoufe, Giles and Barnwell, were alfor striking out, upon the general principleof impracticabilityand public inconvenience in renewing loft certificates so as not to iubjcS; the public tfrauds from the holders. The paffin:a law ofrenewal, would also (in the opinion of Mr. Hillhoufe)be holdingfort]an encouragement to negligence in thpotfeffors of certificates.

Mr. Laurence, tho't the provisionmade in the bill were fufficient. Thpublifhingan accurate description of thloft certificate, he said, would enablthe officer to discoverwhether such certificate had been really ilfued ; and ifufficient security was given to refuncthe money to the United States, in cafiof recovering the loft certificate, he di<not fee how the public could fuffer fronany law providing for a renewal of fuela species of paper.

The question was taken oh the motion for striking out, and palled in th<affirmative.

Mr. Muhlenberg reported that tweother amendments hadbeen made to thibill, extending the time for the renewal and issuing of the certificates ; upoiwhich the House proceeded to take th<feid amendments into consideration,ancmade lome progrefsl therein, when aradjournment Was called for, previous t<taking the question.

Adjourned.Friday, November 18.

Petitions were laid before the Houfifrom Barney Cox and Oliver Towlespraying compensationfor services in th.army, during the war ; alio a memoriaofOliver Towles,praying reimburfmenof expences, incurred on-account of th<United States, while a priioner, and asterwards during the war.

A petition of James Groves, cordwainer, of Philadelphia, praying compenfation for two years, eight monthand seven days service of an apprenticeenlisted into the continental artillery.?Also, a petition of John Hafkill, praying re-imburiement of a sum of publiimoney, received for the recruiting fervice, and loft.

The preceding petitions were all referred to the Secretary at war.

A petition of Philip Bush was readpraying renewal of a certificate, hiproperty, accidentally loft or destroyed

A petition of William Franklin, oNew-York (city) praying compenfatiorfor a quantity of mahogany, and th<fails of a vessel, converted to public uf<during the war.?Referred, severally, tcthe Secretary of the Treasury.

A petition was then read from thebranch pilots of Pennsylvania, NewJerley, and Delaware, plying in Dela-ware river and bay, praying an increaftin the rates ofpilotage?Referred to thecommittee for regulating pilots and pro-viding for the fuperintendance of light-houses, &<:. in the Bays of Delawareand Chef* peak, and their refpe&iverivers.

A petition of James Weeks, prayin:reimbursement of the amount of a vefl'eand cargo, his property, scuttled durinthe war, by order of the Pennfylvani;committee of fafety?Reje&ed.

The committee appointed, reported ;bill for apportioningthe reprefentatiorof the people of the UnitedStates,whiclwas twice read, and ordered to be refumed on Monday next. [The reprefentation mentioned in the bill was afollows: New-Hampshire 4 membersMassachusetts 15, Connecticut 7, RhodeIsland 2, Vermont 2, New-York 11New-Jersey 5, Pennsylvania 14, Delaware l, Maryland 9, Virginia 21, NCarolina 11, Georgia 2, Kentucky 2

South-Carolina in proportion to the return that shall be made, one for everthirty thouland.J

A melTage from the Senate by MiOtis:

" Mr. Speaker,1 am directedby the Senate to brin

to this House a letter received by thPresident of the Senate from the Prefident of the Aflembly of the French Cclonyof-St. Domingo, to the Congress cthe United States."?Which was ordered to lie on the table.

A letter was then laid before thHouse from the Treasurerof the UniteStates, inclosing his indent account cinterejl received and lll'ued by him froiJuly l, to September 30. 1791.The House thenresumed the confideiation of the amendmentsreported froithe committeeof the whole'Houfe, tthe bill directing the mode in which thevidenceof the debtof the United Statewhich have been lojl or dejlroyed shall brenewed.

Mr. Lee thought there fhouldbe fomprovision made for lofl certificates ; urder which denomination, however, hwould include only fucli as should aypear upon the strongest evidenceto havbeen actually destroyed. Thebeing thus explicit, would at once bunderstood, and no man would be at thtrouble of making useless applicationfor renewal. He wilhed the wordejlroyed to be omitted altogether, anthe wordlojl onlyretained, with a claulin the bill, that certificates were onlrenewable upon the strongest prefumj:tive evidence of their having been lo:[or destroyed.]

Mr. S e d c w 1c k insisted that the Hc*l!had no right to define what species cevidenceshould establisha fact. Ifthecould do it in this instance. they coulalso in every other, and by that meaninvolve the whole legal code in obfcirity.

Mr. Clarke argued that the conduiof the House in refpe& to the proviiiocontemplated, was unprecedented, escept in one instance, when a formeCongress, during the war, did the fan?thing. A reason might then iiave beegiven which at present would be abl'urto urge. In the time of war, the devaltations and conflagrationsof the enemdestroyed public securities every wherin the houses of individuals, and to keeup the spirit of the people it feeme-necefiary fonCongrefs to indulge therwith renewals of papers thus destroyed. Matters beingupon a differentfooting at present, he wilhed to fee no provision made, whatever.

Mr. KitcheLl preferred the wondejlroyedto the word lofl. He was again'eftablilhing any general rule in cases orenewing destroyed certificates, amrather wished the House to enquire amform an opinionfrom the circumstanceof each, individually.

Mr. Gerry was against palling th<bilLin its present form, as being liabLin its consequences, to fraud, perjuryind every species of abuse. In order t<ilcertain fa£fs, it wouldbe ncoelTarythahe claimants should have recourse tipublic records. Hence a fraudulenpeculator might discover what certikates were loft, and lay plans for reco/ering them. During the war, man'public officers had loft certificates, thimount of which was afterwards allow:d. It wouldnow be impossible toidenify such certificates. Many publiecurities were also wantonly deftroyei>y the enemies of the revolution, in th<ime of the war, whose value was neve:nown. It was therefore impossible t(ell what lengths the bill would go itnvolving the United States in a newlebt.

Severalother gentlemenhaving fpokn on this fubjett, the question was pu;hat the said bill with the amendmcn

be engrofTed and read the third time-It palled in the negative.

Mr. Livermore, from the committeofele&iojis, made a report on the lettefrom the executive of Maryland, relative to the relignationof William Pink-ney, returned a member of the Hpulc :and a certificate of the election of JohnFrancis Mercer, in the room of saidPinkneyt which was read?Ordered tolie on the table.

A memorial was presented from thecommissioned officersof the army of theUnited States, stating the inadequacy oltheir pay, subsistence and forage, underthe prelent establishment, and prayingan augmentation?Referred to a feleflcommittee.

Mr. Ames made a report from thecommittee, to whom was referred thepetition of James Jackson, which wasread and ordered to lie on the table.

A motion being previously madtf, thecommitteewere discharged from furtheiproceeding on the petition of Jofia:Clapham; which petition, together wit}thole of Daniel Robbins and Phinea:Ware, were referred to the Secretary othe Treasury.

Mr. Fitzfimons, from the committe<on the petition of Stephen Zacharimade a report, which was ordered tclie on the table.

Otftcr orders of the day were furthe:postponed till Monday next.

Adjourned.

For tbe National Gazette.

The following Letter is addrefledto thiGovernment of the United Statesand is entitled,

" A Political Enquiry into the bejl Means oimproving the Commerceof the

American States."[ Translated for the Naiional Gaxette, from th

original French manuscript oftheAuthor, dated Ntiv-L ridnr, May jy, 1791.]

Having taken a view of the enviable iituation of the America]

States at the present period, and confidered in all its branches that free amvirtuous government under which thpeople live; a government no less wilin its principles than the adminiftration of it is honorable to the magiftracv, 1 could not help thinking that fpromising an outset tnuft be fucceede*by ages of peace and felicity in thicountry.?With a view of applying nrobservations to theUnited States, I hav'made some reiearch into the histories opalt tunes, to discover, if possible, theimethods of improvement, not only iithe cultivation and production of thrude materials, which go towardsflipporting the various manufactures in usebut alio in those subordinate arts amtrades, which when fufficiently followed and encouraged here, will be advanced to the highest possible degree operfection.

In purluing this fubjea, I shall endeaVour to explain what is the generainterest of America, as a nation ; amshall hkewife take into view the political iyftems ot leveral thriving nations iiEurope ; and from hence deduce, in particular, the secret motives and lpringor action in the Hritijh government.If we cast our eves but for a momenon what is tranfafting in Europe, W((hall at once fee, that the attention o:all nations is fixed, more than atformer period, upon the great object:ot commerce, which are justly coniidered the true sources of nationaprofpenty and the splendor of crownsin this convitlion, they would indiviclually make immense in order thereby to be sure of appropriatecertain lolid advantages, which thev arclenfible a well-conduced commerce never fails to procure. The national interelt is evermore uppermost in theiiminds and the ardour of patriotifiripurs themon to employ every activepower, and all the address possible, tcbring about purposes founded in thedeepest abylfes of state policy. Sometimes every possible scheme is laid tcrender abortive the united interests ancgrowing industry of a rival nation ; aother times, they are unweariedly bemupon throwing obstacles in the way oforeign eftabhffiments, for the sole purpole of maintaining their own imporance and grandeur upon the ryms othe commerce of their neighbors. Sue!as always been the policy of HollandandU'fti 'r the' r, Baltic Eaflthis y/eft-Indla trad« ; and such, a,his day, appears to be the policy 01

jreat-Britain, in refpeft to the Unitedstates of America.

We cannot doubt for a single mo-ment, that the court of Great-BritainTo eagle-eyed to whatever concerns its>wn interest) forefeeing that a ftagna-ion of their commerce will most cer-ainly ensue, from the increasingmanu-ra£lures of this country, will conftant-y feel itfelf disposed to facrifice some>f their less important national inter-\u25a0fls, in order to damp the spirit of en-erprize and manufacture, in their ri-/als. If they can only contrive todif-learten and ruin those thatfirji attemptnanufaftures in America, by puttingm inferior price upon the rival articlesent from Britain, they will by degreespersuade the Americans, that manufac-uring in this country is a hopeless pro-eft, or attended with insurmountabledifficulties. The effect of this perfua-ion will be, that future artisans, fear-ing the fate of their predecessors, willeither leave the country, or employ'hemfelves in callings of a different na-ture!

This purpose being aceomplifhed,England may at once consider herfelfthe sole manufacturerfor America, andtriumph over every other obstacle, inthe fame manner, as heretofore in Por-tugal, when with all imaginabledexte-rity she possessed herfelf of their com-merce, and a great part of the treasuresDf Brazil, which are to this day conti-nuallypouring into London, by a tradeadvantageous to England, but ruinousio thePortuguese. In the fame manner,1 fay, will England exert her powersofactivity in inundating this country withher various fabrics, but at the lame timedraining their ready money from thoUnited States, who, to fatisfy the con-lequent demands of the British mer-chants, must be, in fact, under the ne-cefiitv of paying the nation a fort of tri-bute. and which, in reality, is now paidin our being compelled, to purchase themost common articles of neceflity fromthem.

And thus it is, that, with a finglsdafli of his pen, a British minister candetermine the commercial fate of a na-tion, and render tributary and depend-snt, a people in the bosom of libertyitfelf. The picture is, indeed, diftreff-tng, but would be much more so, didlot the Americans possess within them-selves the means effectually to prevent:he baneful conferences I have hintedit. I therefore think it ofsome mpor-ance to dwell a little upon this subject,'nd, if poflible, withdraw that veil ofdarkness which seems to conceal the na-ional interests of the United Statesrom themselves.

[To be continued..']

The twofollowing State Papers are trans-latedfrom the original French, and maybe relied on as authentic.]The Assembly General of FrenchSt. Domingo to the King.

SIR E,\/ OUR faithful Subjects of the island

?A- of St. Domingo, beg leave to ap-Jroach the best of Kings, with the me-ancholy narrative of the misfortuneshey now labour under. The revolt ofaeir ilaves has nearly annihilated theuture consequence of this invaluable>art of tiie Empire ; the whole northernide ot the illand being at this momentittle better than a heap ofruins, and the>ther two departments, in all probabi-ity, upon the verge of experiencing theam? . That foil, which has beenertilized with the sweatof the unfortu-late planter is now moistenedwith his>lood : fucharethe direful confequen-:es of those deftruftiveprinciples whichlave put the instruments of death anduin into the hands of our slaves.

Being without any effective force tonake head against the immense number>1 our enemies, we implored the aflift-mce of the Spaniards, and other insularleighbours?deaf to our cries, however,hey have either rested fatisfiedwith theicience of their own territories, or withortifying themselves against the proba->ility of an event at home, similar to

at, under which we are now fiiffenntrvery extremity ofhuman distress.It is with the deepest sensations of>rief that your faithful fubjefts, in thisjait or theEmpire, inform your Majef-V o. their unhappylituation : but it

ae, at least, a consolation to the wretch,,ed, to reflect, that they are still the ob-