iiilllill^p™

U^iV

RESOLVES THE GENERAL COURT

Commontoealt]^ of Mn%u^mzti%

I

\ PASSED AT THE SEVERAL SESSIOJ^^S,

COMMENCING, JANUARY, 1832, AND ENDING, APRIL, 1834.

J

%\m%%zti afreeafilu to a a^psolbe of tje sfpteentli Sanuar^,

1812.

LI

BUTTON AND WENTWORTH, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 1834.

\.

"«

k

RESOLVES

THE GENERAL COURT

CommotttoealtJ) of jila0sac!)usettg.

PASSED AT THEIK SESSION,

WHICH COMMENCED ON WEDNESDAY, THE FOURTH OF JANUARY, AND ENDED ON SATURDAY, THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF MARCH, ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUxNDRED AND THIRTY TWO.

^ul)lfsJ)eU asteeablj to a 3Jlesol\)e of tj)c sfytcentiiSanuai;^, 1812.

DLTTON AND WENTVVORTH, PRINTERS TO THE STATE.

1832.

civile GOVERNMENT

OF THE

FOR THE POLITICAL YEAR 1832.

HIS EXCELLENCY

LEVI LINCOLN, ESdUIRE,

GOVERNOR.

HIS HONOR

THOMAS L. WINTHROP, ESQ.

MEXJTBNANT GOVERNOR.

COUNCIL."

HON. JOSIAH J. FISKE,

« HENRY HUBBARD,

« LUKE FISKE,

« JOSEPH BOWMAN,

« HOWARD LOTHROP,

WW ELIJAH SWIFT,

u PATRICK BOISE,

« JOHN C. GRAY,

« WILLIAM FERSON

KDWARD B, BANGS, ESaUIRE,

Secretanj of the Commonwealth.

HEZEKIAH BARNARD, ES^.

Treasurer and Receiver General of the Commonwealth.

HON. TTILI^IAM THORNDIKE,

PRESIDENT.

SUFFOLK DISTRICT.

Hon. Charles Wells, Hon. James C. Merrill,

Alexander H. Everett, Otis Everett,

James T. Austin, Benj. T. Pickman.

ESSEX DISTRICT.

Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, Hon. Ebenezer Bradbury, William Thorndike, William Johnson, Jr.

Elias Putnam, Robert Cross.

MIDDLESEX DISTRICT.

Hon. Elihu Cutler, Hon. Nathaniel Austin,

Daniel Richardson, Francis Winship.

Samuel Hoar, Jr.

PLYMOUTH DISTRICT.

Hon. Benjamin Ellis, Hon. Gershom B. Weston.

NORFOLK DISTRICT.

Hon. Joseph Hawes, Hon. Samuel P. Loud.

John Endicott,

BRISTOL DISTRICT.

Hon. Nathan C. Brownell, Hon. Samuel French. Ebenezer Daggett,

SENATE. WORCESTER DISTRICT.

Hon. John W. Lincoln, Hon. James Draper, David Wilder, Rufus Bullock.

William S. Hastings,

HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT. Hon. Chaimcey Clark, Hon. Joseph Cummings,

HAMPDEN DISTICT. Hon. Enos Foote, Hon. John Wjles.

FRANKLIN DISTRICT. Hon. Elihu Hoyt, Hon. Enos Smith.

BERKSHIRE DISTRICT. Hon. Wilbur Curtis, Hon. Russell Brown.

BARNSTABLE DISTRICT. Hon. John Doane,

NANTUCKET DISTRICT. Hon. Barker Burnell.

Charles Calhoun, Clerk. W. P. Gragg, Assistant Clerk. Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, Chaplain. Charles C. Cutting, Page.

HOUSE OP HHPRBSBMTATIVBS

HON. WILLIAM B. CALHOUN,

SPEAKER.

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK.

Boston, Samuel Austin, Jr.

Cyrus Alger, Samuel Aspinwall, George Blake, James Bowdoin, John P. Bigelow, Francis Brinlej, Jr. Daniel Baxter, Jr. Levi Brigham, Joseph T. Buckingham, David L. Child, , Jabez Ellis, Luther Faulkner, Joshua B. Flint, Henry H. Fuller, Daniel L. Gibbens, Charles G. Greene, George Ballet, Nathaniel Hammond, Richard D. Harris, Prentiss Hobbs, James L. Homer,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Boston,

Chelsea, Amesbury,

Edmund Kimball, Winslow Lewis, Joseph Lewis, William Lawrence, Charles Lincoln, Eben. H. Little, Daniel Messenger, Thomas Motley, John B. M'Cleary, Thomas Minns, David Moody, Thomas Melvill, William F. Otis, William Parker, Thomas W. Phillips, Abel Phelps, John S. Perkins, Edward G. Prescott, Edward A. Raymond, James Ridgway, Benjamin Russell, Jeffrey Richardson, William Ritchie, Simon W. Robinson, William Sturgis, John B. Wells, John Wheelwright, Bedford Webster, Henry Williams, Aaron Willard, Jr.

COUNTY OF ESSEX.

Lowell Bagley,

8

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Amesbury,

Andover,

Beverly,

Boxford,

Bradford,

Danvers,

Essex, Gloucester,

Hamilton, Haverhill,

Ipswich, Lynn,

Joshua Colby, Jr. Thomas Bailey, Samuel Merrill, Amos Spaulding, Robert Rantoul, Charles Peabody, Jesse Kimball, George Savary, John Preston, John Page, Nathan Poor, Jonathan Shove,

Gorham Babson, James Goss, Samuel Giles, Samuel Gilbert, George Haskell, Nehemiah Knowlton, Samuel Lane, Aaron Plumer, Azor Brown, Ephraim Corliss, James Davis, Thomas G. Farnsworth, Caleb B. Le Bosquet, Josiah Caldwell, Joseph Dennis, Stephen Pearson, William B. Breed, Jonathan Buffum, Joseph Currier, Jacob Ingalls,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

LynUf

Lynnfield,

Manchester,

Marhlehead,

Methuen,

Middleton,

Newbury,

Newburyport,

Rowley, Salem,

Salisbury,

Saugus, Topsfield, Wenham, West Newbury,

Francis C. Newhall, Stephen Oliver, Eleazer C. Richardson, Bowman Viles, John W. Allen, Joshua O. Bovvden, William Hawkes, Samuel Knight, Robert Orne, Frederick Robinson, John Russ, Ephraim Fuller, Joseph Gerrish, Moses Pettingell, William S. Allen, Charles H. Balch, Thomas M. Clark, William Davis, William Faris, Moses P. Parish, Thomas Payson, Holton J. Breed, Nathaniel Frothingham, William Mansfield, Stephen C. Phillips, William Ropes, Jacob B. Winchester, Reuben Evans, John Colby, Joseph Cheever, Jacob Townc, Jr. Moses Foster, Daniel Emery,

10

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX.

ActoUj	Francis Tuttle,
Ashhy^	Gushing Burr, Jr.,
Bedford,	Amos Hartwell,
Billerica,	Josiah Rogers,
Brighton J	Daniel Austin,
Burling ton.	William Winn,
Cambridge,	Amasa Davis,
	James Hay ward,
	Samuel King,
	Josiah Mason, Jr.,
	William J. Whipple,
	Thomas Whittemore
Carlisle,	Cyrus Heald,
Charlestown,	Edward Cutter,
	John Harris,
	Oliver Holden,
	Lot Pool,
	John Sweetser,
	Daniel Tufts,
Chelmsford,	Charles Bent,
Concord,	Joseph Barrett,
	John Kcycs,
Dracut,	Joseph B. Varnum,
Dunstable,	Temple Kendall,
East Sudbury,	Isaac Gleason,
Framingham,	Luther Belknap,
Groton,	John Boynton,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

11

Groton, Holliston,

Hopkinion, Lexington,

Lincoln,

Littleton,

Lowell,

Maiden,

Marlborough, Medford, Natick, Newton,

Pepperell, Reading,

Sherburne, Shirley, South Reading,

Stoneham,

Stow ^ Boxboro\

Sudbury, Tewksbury,

John Rock wood, John Haven, Abner Johnson, Samuel B. Walcott, Ambrose Morell, Charles Reed, George Russell, Joel Marshall, Ebenezer Appleton, Seth Ames, Maynard Bragg, William Davidson, Willard Guild, Artemas Holden, Oliver M. Whipple, Lemuel Cox, James Crane, Levi Bigelow, John Sparrell,

Matthias Collins, John Kenrick, Abel Jewett, John Bachelder, Warren Parkins, Calvin Sanger,

Lilley Eaton, Lemuel Sweetser, Peter Hay, James B. Brown. Lyman Bigelow, John Hunt, Jonathan Clark,

13 HOUSE OF	REPRESENTATIVES.
Tewksbury^	Alpheus Smith,
Townsend,	Paul Gerrish,
Tyngsboroughj	Joseph Butterfield,
Waltham,	Jonas Clark,
	John Viles,
Watertown,	Charles Bemis,
	Levi Thaxter,
West Cambridge^	Benjamin Locke,
Westford,
Weston,	Samuel Hobbs,
Wilmington,
Woburn,	Samuel Abbott,
	Joseph Gardner,
	Stephen Nichols.
COUNTY	OF WORCESTER.
Ashburnham,	Nathaniel Pierce,
	Hosea Stone,
Athol,	Eliphalet Thorp,
Barre,	Archibald Black,
	Gardner Ruggles,
Berlin,	Jonathan D. Merriam,
Bolton,	Barnard Nurse,
Boylston,	Ward Cotton,
Brookjield,	Jesse Bliss,
	Rufus Harrington,
	Abraham Skinner,
Charlton,	Issachar Comins,
	Ebenezer White,
Dana,	Reuben Sibley,
Douglas,	David Holman,
Dudley,	George A. Tufts,
	Abiel Williams,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

13

Fitchburg,	Ebenezer Torrey,
	Zachariah Sheldon,
Gardner^	Timothy Hey wood,
GrafioUf	Harry Wood,
	Samuel Wood,
Hardwicki	Moses Allen,
Harvard,
Holden,	Asa Broad,
	Samuel Daman,
HubbardstoUj	Henry Prentiss,
	Moses Waite,
Lancaster,	John G. Thurston,
Leicester,	John Hobart,
	John King,
Leominster,	Wilder Carter,
	Carter Gates,
Lunenburg,
Mendon,	Caleb V. Allen,
	Lebbeus Gaskill,
	Daniel Thurber,
Milford,
Millbury,	WiUiam M. Benedict,
	Elijah Waters,
New Braintree,
Northborough,	Jotham Bartlett,
Northbridge,	Sylvanus Holbrook,
North Brookfield,	Jonathan Cary,
Oakham,	Washington Allen,
Oxford,	Ira Barton,
	Alexander De Witt,
Paxton,	Tyler Goddard,
Petersham,	Joseph Gallond,
	Micajah Reed,
PhilUpston,	Abel White,

14

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Princeton^	Charles Russell,
Royalston,	Benjamin Brown,
Rutland^	Joseph King,
Shrewsbury^	Nymphas Pratt,
Southboro^	Dexter Fay,
Southbridge,	Larkin Ammidown,
	Oliver Hooker,
Spencerj	Rufus Adams,
Sterling,	Jacob Conant,
	Thomas Wright,
Sturbridge,	James Johnson,
	Thomas Merrick,
Sutton,	Joshua Armsby,
	Reuben Waters,
Templeion,	Leonard Stone,
Upton,	Elisha Fisk,
Uxbridge,	Joseph Day,
	George Willard,
Ward,	Zebulon Gary,
Westborough,	Nahum Harrington,
	Joshua Mellen,
West Boylston,	Silas Newton,
Western,	Pardon Allen,
Westminster,	Charles Hudson,
	Cyrus Winship,
Winchendon,	William Brown,
Worcester,	Luther Burnet, jr.
	Lewis Bigelow,
	Otis Corbet,
	Jubal Harrington,
	Nathaniel Stowell,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 15

COUNTY OF HAMPSHIRE.

Amherstf

Belchertowriy

Chesterfield^

Cummingtorii

Easthamptorit

Enfield,

Granby,

Goshen,

Greenwich,

Hadley,

Hatfield,

Middlefield,

Northampton,

Norwich,

Pelham,

Plainfield,

Prescott,

South Hadley,

Southampton,

Ware,

Westhampton, Williamsburg, Worthington,

Oliver Dickinson, 2d, John Leland, Justus Forward, Dyar Bancroft, Jonathan Dawes, John Ludden, Thomas Gary, Samuel Ayres,

Thomas Smith, Charles P. Phelps, Remembrance Bardwell, Matthew Smith, jr. Samuel Parsons, Jonathan Strong, Oliver Warner, Eliphalet Williams, Joseph Stanton, Ziba Cook, Erastus Bates, Simeon Stockwell, Hiram Smith, Elisha Edwards, jr. Homer Bartlett, Alexander Brackenridge, Samuel Edwards, jr. Samuel Graves, Jonathan Brewster,

16

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

COUNTY OF HAMPDEN.

Blandford,

Brimfield,

Chester,

Granville,

Longmeadow,

Ludlow,

Monson,

Montgomery,

Palmer,

Russell,

Southwick,

Springfield,

Tolland,

Wales and Holland,

Westfield,

West Springfield,

Wilbraham,

Lyman Gibbs, David Parks, Issachar Brown, Festus Foster, William Shepherd, Samuel Root, -'<■ 0 Seth Taylor, Theodore Sikes, Benjamin Fuller, Oren Parks, Joseph Lee, Rolon Parks, Amasa Holcomb, George Bliss, William Child, Jonas Coohdge, William B. Calhoun, Silas Stedman, Noah Shepherd, Elbridge G. Fuller, Elias Cadwell, Frederick Fowler, jr. Matthew Ives, jr. Linus Bagg, Warren Chapen, Henry Phelon, Lewis Warriner, Abraham Avery, Sylvanus Stebbins.

\fi

a.

a-

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

17

COUNTY OF FRANKLIN.

Ashjield,

Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colraine,

Conway, Deerjield,

Gill, Greenfield,

Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Ley den, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northfield,

Orange,

Rowe,

Shelburne,

Shutesbury,

Sunderland,

Warwick,

Wendell,

Whately,

Henry Bassett, Chester Sanderson, John Brooks, Erastus Taylor, John Fisher, Samuel Pierce, John Wilson, Darius Stearns, Epaphras Hoyt, Stephen Whitney, Josiah Pomroy, Alanson Clark, Thomas Nims, Edmund Longley, jr. Daniel Gale, Alpheus Field, Elisha Chapen,

Jonathan Hartwell, Ebenezer Torrey, Thomas Mason, Isaac Prior, George Blodget, Ebenezer Merrill, Ira Arms,

Benjamin Winter, jr. Horace W. Taft, Lemuel Wheelock, Jonathan Whitaker, Thomas Crafts.

'18 HOUSE OF REPRESENTA11VES.

COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE.

/^

Adams,

Alford,

Becket,

Cheshire f

Clarksburg,

Dalton,

Egremont,

Florida,

Great Barrington,

Hancock,

Hinsdale,

Lanesborongh,

Lee,

Lenox,

Mount Washington,

New Ashford,

New Marlboro\

Otis,

Peru,

Pittsfield,

Thomas Farnam, Elisha Kingsley, Isaac W. Hoxie, James Wilbur, Hugo Dewey, jr. Wolcolt Chaffee, Nathaniel Bhss,

Simeon W. Wright, Joel Crippen,

Grotius Dewey, Ralph Taylor, Samuel W. Wilson, Ichabod Emmons,

Stephen Thacher, Lyman Judd,

Newton Kasson, Benjamin Wheeler, jr. Samuel Pickett, Cyrus Stowell, Jonathan Allen, 2d, Thomas B. Strong, Jireh Stearns, Nathan Willis,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

19

Richmond, Sandisfield,

Savoy,

Sheffield,

Stockbridge,

Tyringham, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown,

Windsor,

Eleazer WilliamvS, Uriel Smith, Josiah H. Sage,

Horatio L, Warner, Isaac Curtis, Thaddeus Pomeroy, Samuel Fargo, jr. Stephen W. Newton, Martin Hendrix, Ebenezer Emmons, Reuben Young, Daniel O. Holbrook.

COUNTY OF NORFOLK.

Bellingham, Braintree,

Brookline, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham,

Dorchester,

Foxborough,

Franklin,

Medjield and Dover,

Milton,

Stephen Metcalf, Isaac Dyer, Minot Thayer,

James Endicott, James C. Doane, Horace Mann, Richard Ellis, Ebenezer Clap, Joseph Clap, Abel Cushing, Benjamin Fuller, Henry Hobart, Stephen Kingsbury, Calvin Richards, James Campbell, Thomas Hunt,

20

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Medway,

Needham, Quincy,

Randolph,

Roxhury,

Sharon, Stoughion, Walpole, Weymouth,

Wrentham,

Warren Levering, Joseph L. Richardson, Rufus Mills, Edward Glover, John Souther, David Blanchard, Joshua Spear, jr. John Champney, Isaac Davis, Jonathan Dorr, Samuel J. Gardner, Joshua Seaver, Jacob Tidd, Jeremiah Richards, Jesse Pierce, Harvey Clap, Lemuel Humphrey, Leonard Tirrell, Noah Torrey, Allen Tillinghast.

COUNTY OF BRISTOL.

Attleborough, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton,

Easton, Fairhaven,

Freetown, Mansfield,

Abijah M. Ide, Adoniram Crane, Bradford Howland, Nehemiah Walker, David Hathaway, Elijah Howard, jr. Warren Delano, Sampson Perkins, Joseph Whelden, George Perkins, Elkanah Bates,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

21

Neiv Bedford,

Norton^

Pawtucket,

Raynham,

Rehoboth,

Seekonk,

Somerset, Swanzey,

Taunton, Troy,

Wesiport,

John Burrage, Thomas A. Greene, Edmund Gardner, Charles W. Morgan, Thomas Mandell, Benjamin Lincoln, Pardon Tillinghast, Asa Arnold, Remember Kent, Ellis Hall, Lloyd Bosvvorth, Nathaniel Reed, Seth Whitmarsh, Wheaton Luther, John Earle, Benajah Mason, Samuel Crocker,') '^^'^ Simeon Borden, Barnabas Blossom, Anthony Mason, Azariah Shove, Jonathan Davis, Abner B. Gifford, James H. Handy.

Pa^^

COUNTY	OF PLYMOUTH.
Abington,	James Bates,
	John Gushing,
	Micah Pool,
Bridgewater,	Samuel Leonard, jr.
	Holmes Sprague,
Carver,	Thomas Cobb,
Duxbury,	Gershom Bradford,

22-

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

East Bridgewater,

Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham,

Hull,

Kingston, Marshjield,

Middleboro^

North Bridgewater,

Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rochester,

Scituaie,

Wareham,

West Bridgewater,

Joseph Chamberlin, jr. Azor Harris, Zadock Thomson, Horatio Gushing,

Thomas Loring, Marshall Lincoln, Nicholas B. Whitney,

Spencer Bradford, John Ford, jr. Edward P. Little, Bradford Harlow, Tisdale Lincoln, Nathaniel Staples, Reland Tinkham, Benjamin P. Wood, Luther Washburn, Eliphalet Kingman, Jesse Perkins,

Barnabas Hedge, Jonathan Parker, Charles J. Holmes, Ebenezer Holmes, Amittai B. Hammond, Edward F. Jacobs, Peleg Jenkins, Gushing Otis, Thomas Savery, Samuel Dunbar.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

23

COUNTY OF BARNSTABLE.

Barnstable,	Henry Crocker,
,	David Hinkley,
	William Lewis,
	Charles Marston,
Brewster,	Elijah Cobb,
Chatham,	Joshua Nickerson,
	Joseph Young,
Dennis,	John Baker,
	Oren Howes,
Eastham,	Michael Collins, \w
Falmouth,	Thomas Fish, vZ,t-^*
Harwich,	James Long,^'
	Sidney Underwood,
Orleans,	Elisha Cole,
	John Kenrick,
Provincetown,	Isaac Small,
Sandwich,	Benjamin Burgess,
	Shadrack Freeman,
	Elisha Pope,
Truro,	James Small,
	John Kenny,
Wellfleet,	Joseph Holbrook, 3d,
	Benjamin R. Withereil,
Yarmouth,	James Crowell,
	Joseph White.

24 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

DUKES' COUNTY.

Chilmarkj Smith Mayhew,

Edgartown, LeaviwThaxter,

Tisbury, Eliakim Norton.

COUNTY OF NANTUCKET.

Nantucket, John C. Briggs,

David Baxter, Isaac Folger.

LUTHER S. GUSHING, Clerk.

Rev. Ralph W. Emerson, ) ^t 7 • Ev. Howard Malcom, 3 ^

Jacob Kuhn, Messenger to the General Court.

Elijah W. Cutting, Assistant Messenger.

Francis Pitts, Page.

RESOLVES

THE GENERAL COURT

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

PASSED AT THEIR SESSION,

WHICH COMMENCED ON WEDNESDAY, THE FOURTH OF JANUARY, AND END- ED ON SATURDAY, THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF MARCH, ONE THOU- SAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO.

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

His Excellency the Governor sent down from the Council Chamber, by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, to the Senate and House of Representatives, the following

MESSAGE :

Gentlemen of the Senate and

oj the House of Representatives :

The suftVages of my Fellow Citizens having again called me to the executive duties of the Government,

4

26 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

it no less becomes the present occasion for addressing their immediate Representatives, than it is demanded by a sentiment of respectful and deep-felt gratitude, that I should thus publicly express a sense of the honor which the recent manifestation of their continued favor and confidence has conferred upon me. The obligations which it imposes are indeed of anxious, and fearful re- sponsibility, not to be satisfied with the language of ac- knowledgement merely, but requiring the exercise of the best powers of the understanding, the aids of observation and experience, freedom from personal and party consid- erations, a diligent investigation of the interests of the Commonwealth, patient labor, and a faithful devotion of time and thought to the service of the State. Looking for support and assistance to my official advisers, and confidently relying upon harmony and co-operation in all Branches of the Government, I enter upon the Office assigned me, and whatever an honest purpose, exclusive- ly regardful of the dictates of duty, can contribute to success and acceptance in its administration, is renew- edly pledged, in humble dependence upon the blessing of Heaven, to the discharge of the trust.

The objects of a Representative Government are hap- pily expressed in that Article of the Bill of Rights, which enjoins the frequent assembling of the Legislature, " for the redress of grievances, for correcting, strengthening, and confirming the laws, and for making new laws, as the common good may require." In a review of the pre- sent condition of the Commonwealth, it will not fail to be recognized as a subject for the truest congratula- tion, that so few of the first and highest purposes of le- gislation remain to be accomplished. For a period of almost half a Century from the adoption of our State Constitution, we were directed by the personal counsels

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 27

of those great and good men, who, having assisted in achieving the independence of tiie nation, secured the enjoyment of the blessings of Civil Liberty in this Com- monwealth, by the establishment of a republican form of Government, the enactment of just and equal laws, and in laying the foundation of Institutions for instruc- tion and learning among the people. And now that these Fathers and Founders of the Republic have passed, or are fast passing away, it devolves upon their Descendants to cherish the principles, and practise the virtues of their Ancestors, and thus, in their own day, preserve and im- prove the rich inheritance of freedom and happiness, which has been transmitted to them, in trust, for pos- terity.

Various subjects, which demand the attention of the Legislature, will give to the present session unusual in- terest and importance. Besides the ordinary business of revising and modifying the Laws, or enacting new,ones, to conform to the multiplied and ever-changing concerns of an enterprising and prosperous community, the deli- cate and difficult task of settling the decennial valuation of the ratable property of the Commonwealth, (a work already in the progress of preparation) must, at this time, be completed ; and the obligation is consequent upon it, of districting the State, and, upon this basis of valuation, apportioning the representation in the first Branch of the Legislature, in accordance with the provisions of the Con- stitution. In subserviency to the necessary and imme- diate action of Congress, under the Constitution of the United States, in fixing the apportionment of Representa- tives in that Body upon the returns of tlie last Census, it will doubtless become a duty to district the Common- wealth, for the choice of such number of Representatives as may fall to the proportion of Massachusetts. The ear-

28 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

\y recurrence of the period for a new Election of Presi- dent and Vice President, brings with it the occasion, also, for prescribing the mode in which the sentiments of the people maj be expressed upon this question of exciting and absorbing moment. In all these measures, there is sure- ly enough to engage the anxious thoughts of the reflecting and faithful Representative. Thej involve the highest interests, the most important rights, the dearest privileg- es of every Constituent, for, by the determination of them, the contributions to the support of Government, and the measure of influence which each individual Citi- zen may have in the administration of it, will be directly affected.

In the passage of a Law relating to the Election of Representatives to Congress, 1 would respectfully recom- mend, that the time for the Returns of Votes should be much more restricted than at present. The period of forty days, allowed by the last Statute, is longer than convenience requires for their transmission from the most remote places in the Commonwealth, and the delay which is thus occasioned in their official examination, in cases where no choice has been effected, may so far postpone renewed ballotings, as to deprive the State of a portion of her Representation in the Councils of the Nation. To this prejudice she is now, indeed, unfortunately subject- edj in an important crisis of her interests, from a failure, upon repeated trials, to elect members in two of the Dis- tricts, and, should a vacancy providentially happen during a Session of Congress, its continuance for a long time under the provisions of the present law, would be una- voidable, however desirable it might be, or ready the people were, immediately to supply it. The Executive Precept for an Election must necessarily conform to the statute authority under which it is issued, and experi-

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 29

ence has abundantly shewn, that all the Returns from a District will rarely be received in anticipation of the le- gal requirement. I deem it even w^orthy of your inqui- ry and consideration, whether, in special reference to the vacancies which now exist, and the situation of the Dis- tricts to which I have referred, an amendment of the law at this time, in such manner as to enjoin the Returns in the shortest reasonable opportunity after casting the votes, is not expedient. At no period in our public affairs has it seemed to me to be more interesting, that the State should be fully represented, and the w^eight of its influ- ence felt in the measures of the General Government.

There is yet another subject of very general expecta- tion, which will press wuth weight upon the responsibility of this Legislature ; that of an Amendment of the State Constitution in relation to the popular Branch of the Government. While this measure, in some form which shall effect a reduction of the number of Representatives, has been long called for, with scarce a divided sentiment upon its necessity, among the people, it has hitherto fail- ed, through differences of opinion within these Halls, as to the shape in which it should be presented for their adoption. The unusually full delegation, at the present time, may be received as no equivocal evidence of the solicitude with which your deliberations, upon the plan proposed by your immediate predecessors, will be regard- ed. Without presuming to anticipate the result, I can- not forbear to express an earnest and confiding hope, that in arriving at it, the great principles of political Justice, and the equal rights of all the Citizens, may be kept prominently in view, so that neither the over excited jealousy of local interests, nor the exclusiveness of per- sonal considerations, shall be permitted to interfere with that form and extent of modification, which the public

30 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

good requires. Manifold as are the existing inconven- iences, it were far better, that they should be longer suf- fered, than that, by partial and unsatisfactory alterations in the frame of Government, inducements should be held out to constant change. The true basis of a Republic is in the equal rights of the people, and the more nearly a system of representation shall be made to express this equality, the more perfect it will be. All other arrange- ments are purely arbitrary, or the result of compromise in the formation of the civil compact. To secure to one Citizen an exercise of the privilege of suffrage in the election of public Agents, more frequently, or in a higher degree, than it is allowed to another, under a similarity of political circumstances, and with no other reference in the discrimination, than to the mere accident of resi- dence, may comport with the terms of such compromise, but would practically violate the essential relation of Representative to Constituent, which can only exist, where trust is reposed by the one, and corresponding obligation and responsibleness are created on the part of the other. How far any of the provisions of the pending Amendment are liable to objections resulting from such considerations, or how effectual the reduction which it proposes, would be, to remove the inconvemences of a cumbrous representation, is peculiarly your province to determine. The Amendment having passed one Legis- lature, in accordance with the mode prescribed in the Constitution, must now be taken or rejected, as it is. Coming as you do, upon a recent election, from every part of the Commonwealth, you bring with you that knowledge of public opinion which must be decisive upon the question. Should this be adverse to its ac- ceptance, it may still reasonably be expected, that the investigation and discussion which the subject must re-

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 31

ceive, will give rise to a proposition less imperfect, and better conforming to the sentiments which may be rep- resented here. Relief, universally demanded, cannot long be denied, and the appeal should never be made in vain to a spirit of wisdom and conciliation to provide it. The present Constitution of the House is felt to be an oppres- sive and enormous evil, burthening the public revenue, delaying the public business, impairing the certainty and safety of legislation, and fruitful of dissatisfaction and complaint with the administration of the Government.

A Report on the subject of Insolvency and Imprison- ment for Debt, with a Bill for the relief of Insolvent Debtors, and the more equal distribution of their effects, prepared by an able and learned Commission instituted under the authority of the Government, were laid before the Legislature of the last political year. These docu- ments were published and distributed among the Mem- bers, and probably came within the observation of most of those whom I now have the honor to address. Owing to the short continuance of the session, no legislative ac- tion was then had upon them. The original papers, doubtless, remain on the files of the General Court, and I beg to be indulged in calling them, and the interesting subjects which they respect, to your present attention. It must surely be cause for deep regret, that, while the claims of a class of unfortunate and distressed Fellow Citizens to our strongest sympathies, have so long and justly been recognized, no measure of adequate relief has been applied to their condition. The laws of an earlier and harsher age, in unmitigated severity, still press upon them, and Creditors, yet harder than the laws, hold them in fear of perpetual bondage. The misfortunes of Men are ofttimes as far beyond the ken of human foresight, and without their control, as are the convulsions of na- ture. The elements, disease, false trust in friends, pub-

32 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

lie calamities, overwhelm with sudden ruin, and leave from the wreck of substance no prospect, but hopeless inability and the law's poor mercy for unperformed en- gagements. Thousands there are lost to their families and to the community, through peril of the infliction of punishment for poverty, who, could they have been dis- charged in the adverse times which befel them, starting with new enterprise in these days of success and general prosperity, would have been restored to the enjoyment of competency and the usefulness of valuable Members of Society. It is this liability to imprisonment for debt, which drags the sinking man to the bottom, and holds him, with a mill-stone's weight, from rising. Refine- ment of Sentiment, Humanity, and Public Policy alike demand, that this stern feature of an ancient code should be relaxed. It reproaches the Jurisprudence of modern times, casting the dark shadows of a barbarous age, when the living flesh and blood were sold to servitude for the dues of money, over the noonday influences of Christian philanthropy.

Various matters, which are the usual and proper sub- jects of annual communication, vvill be presented to you, with the necessary minuteness of detail, in Reports from appropriate Departments, and Agents of the Government, mong these, it will not fail to be distinguished as cause for peculiar gratification, that the condition of the State Prison has at length reached a highly satisfactory point of improvement. Honor to the wisdom, the moral confidence and courage, the determined and persevering purpose of successive Legislatures in a few years past, that, by liberal appropriations from the Treasury to the means of experiment in penitentiary regulation and dis- cipline, a mere Prison House, for the physical restraint * of the body, has been converted into a School of salutary ns truction and reform to the minds of the most vicious

^

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 33

and abandoned of our fellow men. The eye of christian hope may now rest with assurance upon the influence of this Institution, in the accomplishment of au object of the truest benevolence. Although but little more than two years have elapsed since the introduction of a new system of employment and control into the Prison, the beneficial effects are already distinctly visible, both with- in and without the walls. The demeanor of the convicts has been softened and corrected, and from the admonitions afforded here, and the greater terror inspired abroad, commitments have sensibly diminished. Within the last year the number of prisoners was reduced from 290, at its commencement, to 256 at its close. The Directors express the opinion " that crimes of an atrocious character are less frequent than was once the case; and that the majority of the Convicts appear to be inferior in intelli- gence and information to the average of any class of our Citizens." A most instructive result is also produced by the curious and critical investigations of the Chaplain, into the characters and lives of these miserable men. Of 256 convicts, whom his inquiries respected, he ascertained that 156 were led by intemperance to the commission of the offences for which they suffer; that 182 of the first mentioned number had lived in the habitual neglect and violation of the Sabbath ; 82 were permitted to grow up from infancy, without any regular employment ; 68 had been truants to their parents while in their minority ; 61 could not write, and many were wholly unable to read. The intimate connexion and association of igno- rance with vice, of dissoluteness with outra2:es upon the laws, are here distinctly traced, and furnish an impres- sive lesson upon the importance of knowledge and tem- perance to individual welfare and social order, which should give a thrilling excitement to the advancement af

34 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

these objects, in the heart of every virtuous and patriotic citizen and magistrate.

The business operations of the Prison, during the year past, have been conducted with success. The balance of the annual account which, for several of the preceding years, had been found to be large against the Institution, in the exhibit of this year, is diminished to the inconsid- erable sum of ^477 41 ; and against this, even, it should be understood, there are numerous considerations of credit, particularly mentioned in the Reports, which, if they had been taken into the account, would materially and most favorably have affected the result. In 1828, the excess of expenditure was more than 1 2,000 dollars, in 1829, it was between 7 and 8,000, and, in 1830, it approached to 7,000. There can be but little doubt, that, henceforth, the earnings of the Prison will meet the ordinary expenses of its government and support, and leave somethings, annually, for repairs and such addi- tional accommodations as utility or convenience may re- quire. The Reports, which will be submitted to you, contain suggestions of the need of alterations in the Hospital, and of a building for the residence of the War- den. The latter seems to be necessary to a compliance, by this officer, with the requisitions of duty, under the existing law; and I recommend that authority should be giren by the Legislature for the proposed improvements. ^^he progress towards the establishment of another Institution of public benevolence, in a Hospital for the Insane, under the authority of a Resolve of the Legisla- ture of the 10th March, 1830, has been as great as the peculiar character of the last season, and the magnitude of the work, would permit. The exterior structure of a spacious Edifice for the accommodation of a Superinten- dant and of one hundred and twenty Lunatics, has been

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 35

completed, and the finishing of the interior is in such forwardness as will secure the preparation of the build- ing for occupation, in the course of the next summer. From the economy and good management which have been observed by the Commissioners, in the contracts for the work, it is confidently believed, that the expense of erecting the Hospital, in the manner required by the Resolve, will not exceed the appropriation. The plan of the Commissioners, however, embraces a small addition- al ran^e of strons; Lodges, somewhat detached from the principal Building, for the restraint of those persons who may be, either, so furiously mad, or so mischievously disposed, as to endanger their safe keeping, or to disturb the tranquillity of the quiet and convalescent patients ; and for this most indispensable arrangement to the good order and s-uccessful management of the Institution, as well as for enclosing the grounds, necessary furniture for the Building, and the support of the Establishment; provision remains to be made by the Government. Es- timates for these objects have been requested of the Commissioners, for the purpose of being laid before you. It will also devolve upon the Legislature, at the present ^ssion, to authorize the removal of such subjects of re- lief, as are now confined in the Jails and Houses of Cor- rection, in the different Counties, whenever the Hospital shall be prepared for their reception ; and likewise to determine, in what manner and on what terms, others of the same class of unhappy Beings, differently situated, may be admitted to the care and support of this public charity. It was made, by the Resolve, the duty of the Commissioners, to prepare and report to the Executive, a system of discipline and government for the Institu- tion ; but as this system requires the sanction of the

3& GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

Legislature for its adoption, the Report is transmitted by me, for your consideration and disposal.

In connexion with this subject, I have to communicate an Extract from the Will of the late Nathaniel Maccarty, Esquire, of Worcester, which has been duly proved, be- queathing, among other public benefactions, the sum of Five Hundred Dollars, if the Government will accept thereof, in trust, that it shall be expended m ornament- ing, by the construction of walks, and in planting with trees and shrubbery, the public Grounds, purchased and appropriated for the use and accommodation of the Hos- pital, " to the end," (in the language of the Testator,) ^' that the said grounds may be made, not only an object of tasteful regard to the Citizens of the town and to Visitors, but of refreshment and gratifying interest to the convalescent Patients and Inmates of the Establish- ment." An expression of your acceptance of this Leg- acy, and your authority to the application of the money, according to the intention of the Testator, are requisite to give eifect to the bequest.

The interesting design of obtaining an accurate Map of the State from actual surveys and admeasurements upon Trigonometrical principles, is in a course of dil- igent prosecution. That you may be fully apprized of the character ot the work, and of the progress which has been made towards its accomplishment, during the past season, copies, both of the general and monthly Re- ports, which have been required from the Surveyor, are herewith submitted. The incipient steps of the process are made exceedingly minute and difficult, by the neces- sity of perfect mathematical certainty in these, to a cor- rect ultimate result ; but the plan, when thus completed, will be of inestimable value, and of abiding use. Full confidence is entertained in the ability and fidelity of the

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 37

Engineer engaged in the active service of making the Surveys ; — yet to hasten the attainment of the object, it may be found advisable to direct the employment of ad- ditional assistants, another year.

By a recent communication from the learned Profes- sor, whose attention has been directed to the Geological Survey of the Commonwealth, I am apprized, that the purpose of his Commission is nearly executed. The ne- cessary examinations of Country have been mostly made, and the First Part of an elaborate Scientific Report, comprising " The Economical Geology of the State, or an account of our Rocks, Soils, and Minerals, that may be applied to useful purposes, and thus become sources of pecuniary profit," accompanied with a Map, delineat- ing by distinctive numbers and colourings, the various minerals and rock formations which prevail, has been transmitted to me. The plan of the Professor proposes, that the Report should consist of Four Parts ; the second part to exhibit the Topographical Geology, or an account of the most interesting features of our scenery, — the third part, the Scientific Geology, or an account of our Rocks in their relation to Science, — and the fourth part to con- tain Catalogues of the native Mineralogical, Botanical, and Zoological Productions of the State. Under the authority of a Resolve of the 2d of February last, and with the advice of the Executive Council, arrangements have been made to procure the immediate publication of the first part of the Report, with lithographic colored impressions of the Map, and the delivery of 600 copies for the use of the Government. These, I trust, will be obtained in season to meet your notice and order for dis- tribution, during the session. The best Justification will thus be furnished for engaging in these investigations, and the highest evidence offered of the practical value

38 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

of those discoveries and noble contributions to Science, which this immense mass of curious and interesting in- formation will present.

The direction of the Legislature, in a Resolve of the 15th of March last, to cause a concise Manual upon the growth and treatment of the Mulberry Tree, and the culture of Silk, to be compiled and published, and to be distributed, in suitable numbers, to the City of Boston, and the Towns in the Commonwealth, has been com- plied with, by procuring the compilation of a plain, prac- tical trearise, containing useful information and instruc- tion, the result of observation and experience, on these subjects, and by obtaining its publication, with illustrative plates, and the delivery of 1800 Copies to the Govern- ment, which have been put in a course of distribution, agreeably to the Resolve. This whole Commission has been executed somewhat within the appropriation.

Commissioners were duly appointed, pursuant to a Re- solve of the 16th of June last, to revise the Laws respect- ing the form of Bank Bills and the use of Stereotype Plates, and to devise measures of more effectual protec- tion against Forgery and Counterfeiting. The high char- acter of the Gentlemen constituting the Commission, and their practical acquaintance with, and experience in the matters committed to them, bespeak your confidence in their opinions, and in the measures of precaution and se- curity which they may recommend. There is reason to believe, that the currency of the Country has recently been much vitiated by the successful circulation of false Bills, while the danger to the Community, from this cause, is supposed to be greatly increased by the exist- ing law, in requiring uniform Plates for impressions of Bank paper. There is an alarming need of protection, also, against the unauthorized use of these Plates, which,

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 39

at some future day, circumstances might render at least quite possible. The subject is one of very great and general concern, and seems to deserve immediate atten- tion.

Other Commissions, in relation to repairs upon the State House, and the construction of a Fire-proof Edifice, for the security and preservation of the public Records, with the general direction of which the Executive was charged, have been fulfilled in the entire completion of these improvements. The personal skill and constant attention of the Superintendant who was appointed to the immediate oversight of the work, greatly contributed to its expeditious, thorough, and economical performance. No provision having been made for his compensation in the Resolve authorizing the appointment, I deem it an act of justice to submit to you a Report, made and ac- cepted in the Executive Council, as evidence of his claims to a pecuniary consideration for valuable services. The accounts of Expenditures upon these objects, as set- tled with the Executive, show, that the Repairs upon the State House cost little more than one half the estimated amount, and that the expense of the Fire-proof Building was brought within the sum of the appropriation for that purpose.

The transfer of the Records and public papers to the apartments prepared for their future safe keeping, awaits the order of the Legislature, and in view to this, I beg leave to suggest to your consideration, the expediency of causing every Document worthy of preservation, to be entered in a descriptive list, previous to removal, and of directing their arrangement in such chronological or other order, in their new position, as may give immediate and easy reference to them, whenever there is need.

It is with much satisfaction that I am enabled to offer

40, GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

renewed assurances of the value and productiveness of the Commonwealth's interest in the public Lands in the State of Maine. Under the prudent and judicious man- agement of the Land Agent, the sales, from the first day of February last to the sixth day of December last, the date of his Report to me, amounted to ^^35,499 60. In the mean time, the timber has been well protected from depredation, while the demand for it, and for the pur- chase of the lands, is constantly increasing. With the sales of the past year, the authority to the Agent to dis- pose of lands South of the Monument Line, was exhaust- ed. The opportunity which he represents, for selling, advantageously, several more Townships in the same neighborhood, recommends an extension of his authority for that purpose.

Having been advised, in the month of October last, by a communication from the Governor of Maine, of the ap- pointment of the Land Agent of that State, as a Com- missioner, to meet a Commissioner on the part of this Commonwealth, for the purpose of agreeing upon a sys- tem for the sale, disposition, and management of the public Lands owned by the two Governments, the Land Agent here, as best acquainted with the subject, and most conversant with the character and situation of the property and the interest of the Commonwealth in its management, was immediately deputed to that trust. Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the meeting of the Commissioners has not yet taken place. Their Report, when made, is required to be transmitted by them direct- ly to the Legislature.

Unhappily, the controversy with a Foreign Govern- ment, respecting the North Eastern Boundary of the United States, which so deeply affects the States partic- ularly interested in these Lands, remains unsettled. It

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 41

may be, that this subject has hitherto been regarded with too little concern by us. None may be of more impor- tant consequences. It involves, with the rights of pro- perty, considerations of high political character and mo- ment. If there is an attribute of State Sovereignty which is unqualified and undeniable, it is in the right of Jurisdiction to the utmost limits of State Territory ; and if a single obligation, under the Constitution, rests upon the Confederacy, it is to guarantee the integrity of this territory to the quiet and undisturbed enjoyment of the States. The reference of the boundary question to the King of the Netherlands has been wholly ineffectual to its just decision. He has palpably departed from the plain terms of the submission, and substituted a propo- sition to a compromise of difficulties, for an award upon the matter directly in issue between the parties. As an Arbiter, his office strictly was, to apply a descriptive line of boundary to corresponding appearances on the face of nature. Rejecting these, he has attempted to establish a new course of division, denoted by Monuments totally dissimilar, and through a tract of Country distant, and widely different. By no rule of Municipal or Interna- tional law , can such a decision be made of binding obli- gation. There is no occasion to inquire into the extra- ordinary influences which may be supposed to have pro- duced it. A preference, by any portion of the Subjects of his Rlajesty's Province, to a popular Government, would have been as valid a reason for transferring Nova Scotia to the United States, as the convenience of the British Government, of a Road through the State of Maine to Canada, for assigning the Lands between the Waters of the St. John's and the Highlands, intended by the Treaty of 1783, to the British Province. Confi- dently believing that the award, as an adjudication^ is 6

42 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

altogether void, I can see no Constitutional power in the Nation, to require an acquiescence in it, on the part of the States which would be prejudiced by its adoption. This must be left to their own volition. Massachusetts, it is true, can suffer directly only in the loss of property ; but her sympathies are not the less due to the State of Maine, in the greater stake of physical and political strength which is there at hazard. Were it not for the Act of Separation, her condition had been our own. The consent of the Parent State to the erection of Territory to which she claimed an absolute title, of which, from time immemorial, she had been in the actual and exclu- sive possession, and over which she exercised undisputed jurisdiction, into an Independent Government, was, at least, an implied warranty against its subsequent liability to foreign dismemberment.

As was anticipated, in a communication made by me to the last Legislature, it has resulted, that the further allowance of the Claims of the State upon the General Government is suspended, upon the extraordinary con- struction given by the late Secretary of War to the Act of Congress providing for its settlement, that his author- ity was limited to finding a sum of debt equal to the amount of the appropriation for payment, and that be- yond this he could not proceed, however equally well the principles of allowance, and the proofs of service, might apply to the remainder of the accoimts. Against this opinion, at the time, the Agent of the State ably reasoned, and earnestly protested. The arguments and the issue are before the public, in the Documents which have been published. To an application made by the Agent to the present Secretary of War, to revise this decision, and to allow the examination of the Claims to be resumed, that Officer has replied, that " finding his

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 43

immediate Predecessor proceeded as far in the adjust- ment of the Claims, as he conceived himself authorized under the Act of Congress passed for their settlement, and finally decided, that this Department could afford no further relief in the case, it could not become him to re- open a matter which has been thus disposed of; and that this can only be done by an Act of Congress." The business now rests in the special charge of the Agent, under instructions, upon consultation with the Delega- tion, to move such Order in Congress, on the subject, at the proper opportunity, as their united advice may re- commend. T need not repeat, here, the reasons for be- lieving that an appeal, thus made, cannot fail to be suc- cessful. The views which ! entertain in relation to the character of the Claim, have been unequivocally and often expressed. To an entire conviction of the obliga- tion of the nation to its payment, and a dissent to the applicability of objections, which for a long time were interposed to any provision, even for its examination, there is now added a perfect confidence, that the princi- ples which have been adopted in the allowance of one portion of the accounts, will equally sustain the greater part of the residue ; and that the Government, being ap- prised of this, will not permit that measure of justice to be injuriously withheld, which it recognizes as due to the rights of the State.

The Resolutions of the Legislature of the Common- wealth, passed on the 8th of March last, requesting the Senators and Representatives of the State in the Con- gress of the United States, to use their exertions to pro- cure the passage of a law for the more perfect organiza- tion of the Militia of the several States, were duly trans- mitted to them, and also to the Governors of the other States, to be laid before their respective Legislatures,

44 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

for their consideration. This Communication was met in many of these States, by similar Resolves and in- structions to their Representatives. The complaints which are loud vud universal against a system of unne- cessary and burdensome exactions of personal service, have thus, at length, received a direction in which the remedy that is sought, can be made effectual and satisfac- tory. The power to provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the Militia, is expressly vested by the Consti- tution of the United States, in the General Government, the States having reserved to themselves the right of ap- pointing the Officers and training the Militia, according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. Under this delegated authority exercised now almost forty years since, in the very infancy of the Republic, hardly then confirmed in the maintenance of National Independence, and just rescued from the dangers of anarchy under the old Confederation, with unsettled foreign relations, a sparse population, weak settlements, and a wide frontier constantly exposed to attacks from numerous and formi- dable Indian Tribes of hostile intentions or suspected fidelity, Congress passed the act, which has strangely been permitted, through all the changes and circumstan- ces of the Country to its present condition of strength, security and prosperity, to direct the enrolments for duty in the Militia. It must be obvious indeed, that require- ments adapted to that early period, are wholly unsuited to the occasions of the present time. With the increase of population, the Militia force has proportionately aug- mented, while the dangers against which this force is provided have been diminished in a ratio with that of its growth. The security to Republican Government, from a ivell regulated and efficient Militia, will not be ques- tioned. It has been authoritatively and somewhat en-

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 46

thusiastically pronounced, " a perpetual guard against internal commotion, and an invincible power to shield the Country against its external enemies." The history of every year furnishes illustration of the protection to good Government which it affords. But the enrolment and training of so many of the Citizens have long been regarded as wholly unnecessary to any emergency, which they may be called to meet. The liability to service from 18 to 45 years of age, which the law of 1792 now in force, imposes, has given rise to numerous exemptions and evasions, scarcely less in the aggregate, than the Muster Rolls of the Train Bands themselves. Hence the dissatisfaction and murmurings against the system, as unequal, oppressive, and unjust. By reducing the pe- riod of liability to duty, and rendering that duty instruc- tive in the military art, furnishing arms and equipments for its performance, and offering encouragement to those of whom it is required, and allowing no arbitrary and invidious exemptions from its burdens, the Institution will be restored to public favor, and the service of the Soldier be esteemed as honorable, as his preparation to render it, is indispensable to the common welfare. The attention, which has been drawn to the subject in Con- gress, already thus early in the Session, promises this effect, in a revision and amendment of the whole system of Militia organization and discipline. It cannot reason- ably be doubted, that a measure which so directly affects the personal obligations of the Citizen, the domestic regulations of the States, and the physical force of the Union, after the appeals which have been made in uni- form expressions of public sentiment and the more for- mal resolves of Legislative Bodies, will now receive a definite and governing determination. Without an al- teration of the law of Congress respecting enrolments.

46 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

all subordinate State Legislation must be unavailing to remove the complaints vshich exist.

The condition of the fiscal concerns of the Common- wealth will be learnt from the annual statement of the Treasurer. It must be seen with equal disappointment and regret, that the Expenditures continue to exceed the Receipts from the ordinary sources of revenue. Discard- ing from the accounts, in the manner in which they are made up, the credit for the money obtained from the General Government on account of the Claim for Militia services, which was subsequently invested in Securities now held by the Commonwealth, and also disregarding the negotiations with the Banks, so far as the loans and payments are balanced by each other, it appears that the disbursements, within the year, have been ^81,481 68, while the receipts have amounted only to 325,059 23, thus showing a deficit of income, in the sum of 56,422 45. Of this large aggregate of expenditure, one hunched and one thousand, ttvo hundred and seventy-one dollars were required for the payment of the travel and attendance of the Members of the General Court. There will also be observed, among the items of charge, an amount exceed- ing thirty-nine thousand dollars, for balances of County Treasurers' accounts against the Commonwealth. These occasions of heavy drafts upon the Treasury must in fu- ture be sensibly diminished by the alteration of the Con- stitution, which dispenses with a second session of the Legislature in the same year, and by the operation of the Statute for enlarging the Criminal Jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pkas, by which, if it is permitted to take effect, great expense for the support of Prisoners in the County Jails, previous to trial, will be prevented. How far still greater reductions may hereafter be allow- ed by other Amendments of the Constitution, or by fur-

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 47

tlier alterations in our system of Jurisprudence, depends upon the issue of measures yet to be adopted.

I beg to be understood as continuing of the opinion, which was fully explained in an address to a former Legislature, that the powers of the Court of Common Pleas might be usefully extended, even beyond the pro- visions of the late Statute. By a more equal division of the amount of business, both civil and criminal, between this Tribunal and the Supreme Judicial Court, much benefit would result to the Community from a more prompt and equally certain decision of cases, and no in- considerable saving be made to the Treasury in the inci- dental expenses of the administration of Justice. The Docket of the latter Court is becoming oppressively overburdened, while that of the former, alread}^ compar- atively small, is daily decreasing.

The excessive charges upon the Government point to the need of more strict economy. There is no subject, perhaps, upon which there is greater misapprehension^ than in relation to the causes of this large expense. The work of retrenchment and reform must begin with Systems. The character of economy should be written upon the Laws themselves. It is not in the cost of the Civil List and the necessary support of Government, that the accounts of the Treasury are thus swollen. While whatever is unnecessary in these should be lopped off, and whatever is improper should be corrected, yet it has often heretofore been satisfactorily found, that there was comparatively little, here, to be effected. The Sal- aries of all the officers, with the incidental charges for the support of Government, are, in the exhibit of the last year, less than one fifth part of the aggregate of the payments from the Treasury. Next to the cost of legis- lation itself, it is by direct grants and special appropria-

48 GOVERNOR.S MESSAGE.

tions, and unforeseen and unprovided for contingences, that the Revenue is mainly absorbed. By all these it is, that the reproach of profusion and extravagance, in the administratio7i of the State, has come to be unjustly uttered. Has it been considered, that whatever is a charge upon the Treasury is made so, under the sanction of the Laws ? And is it of no avail, to what purposes these expenditures have been directed ? A recurrence to the Treasury accounts for the last six years would show, that important Commissions have been executed, in settling heavy claims upon the Government, in ascer- tainino- and fixing the Boundaries of the Commonwealth upon the lines of Connecticut and New Hampshire, in dividing with Maine the Public Lands, and bringing these Lands into the Market by constructing Roads, and in managing and disposing of them, at the charge of an agency ; — that high objects of general improvement and of public good have been accomplished, by expensive and necessary repairs, alterations and additions to this very Capitol ; by the construction of a costly Peniten- tiary ; by extensive surveys for facilitating the means of intercommunication, and thereby developing the resour- ces, and promoting the growth and prosperity of the Country, and by other surveys for scientific ends, in dis- covering the Geology, and defining more accurately the Geography of the State ; by the noble charity of an Institution for the succor of the miserable Lunatic, here- tofore the destined and neglected Tenant of the Dun- geon ; by the annual bestowment of a bounty, no less interesting, for the support and Education of the desti- tute Deaf and Dumb; by the liberal encouragement afforded to Agricultural Societies; and finally, by ful- filling the injunctions of the Constitution, upon " Legis- latures and Magistrates, in all periods of the Common-

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 49^

wealch, to promote by rewards and immunities, Ag- riculture, Arts, Sciences, Trades, Manufactures, and a Natural History of the Country." Such appropriations have little to do with the mere support of Government, with which, in an undistinguished mass, they have^ sometimes, disingenuously been identified. They are, with better propriety, regarded as the fitting contribu- tions of a prosperous age to the cause and progress of human improvement. If they have served to swell the burdens of the present day, it cannot be to a tithe of the obligation for the institutions and privileges which were transmitted to us by our Fathers, or of the added value which they will give to the inheritance, which is the right, and will be the enjoyment of our Children.

I have thus attempted faithfully to present the objects of prominent concern in the administration of the affairs of the Commonwealth. If, among numerous subjects to which I have felt constrained to advert, there are those which may generally be regarded with little interest, the notice of them, in this place, will be pardoned, in the consideration, that there is no Department, through which, measures, within the scope of Executive action, and proper for the information of the Legislature, can otherwise be communicated. However uninviting such topics appear, they nevertheless become important from their relation to the necessary business of the Govern- ment, and the incumbent duties of its responsible and accountable oflficers.

It remains only to the duty of this occasion, that I lay before you Resolutions of the Legislatures of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, respective- ly, which have been transmitted to me, with requests to that purpose, during the vacation. The Resolutions of Maine relate to the Tariff and Internal Improvements?

50 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

and express a denial of the constitutional power of Con- gress to execute a system of Internal Improvements, and a disapprobation of raising a revenue by taxes and im- posts beyond the ordinary and necessary expenses of the Government. Those of New Hampshire contain instruc- tions to the Delegates in Congress from that State, to use their exertions to procure the passage of a law for the more perfect organization of the Militia of the sev- eral States. And those of Connecticut are in affirmance of the Supremacy of the Constitution of the United States, and the Laws and Treaties made in pursuance thereof, over State authority, and maintain the Indepen- dence of the Judicial Department of the General Gov- ernment, and the importance of preserving its influence, to the permanent interests of the Country.

In such communications, aside from the subjects to which they refer, there is an apt and striking illustration of the peculiar character of the Government under which we live. They are in themselves a practical recognition of the federative principle by which the States are unit- ed. They imply the mutual connexion of these States with each other, and their common relation to one con- stituted head. There is in them, neither the manifesta- tion of the existence of a separate power, nor the dictate of a joint command, to control the operations of the con- federated Government. In their original adoption, they severally purport to be the opinions of a single State, proposed to the consideration of other States, to induce to their co-operation, and the united influence of all, upon the concentrated Councils of the Nation. Thus regard- ed, they are indeed a beautiful exhibition of that harmo- ny of design in which the Union was established. How much more consonant with the genius of our political Institutions, are these expressions of sentiment, address-

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. 51

ed to the reason, and wisdom, and patriotism of the peo- ple, than the loud notes of denunciation and defiance which have elsewhere been sounded, to overawe and control the Constitutional functions of an independent Department of the Government ! The recent measures which have been proposed in some of our sister States, can be viewed only with alarm for the very existence of the Republic. Whatever may be the purity of motive, or the integrity of principle, in which they are conceiv- ed, their inevitable tendency is to division and separa- tion. The extraordinary doctrine, that it is within the reserved rights of the States to decide, each for itself, the obligation of submission to the Laws of the Union, goes directly to the subversion of that Union. If obedi- ence is put at the pleasure of those froui whom it is re- quired, local interests and political excitements will not fail to find occasions on which it will be refused. The laws which are intended for the government of the whole people, will be made to bear vvith unequal operation up- on a part. The Citizens of one Section of the Country, absolved from their allegiance by State authority, will be arrayed against those of another Section, who are still held to its responsibilities. In the controversy which will ensue, either an enforcement of the power of the General Government must become usurpation and tyranny, or re- sistance to it will be rebellion and treason. It were well that this matter was more thoroughly and generally con- sidered. It should be brought home to the understanding and personal judgment of every Citizen. If, under tlie Constitution, there is no common umpire between the Go- vernment and the People, between the reserved rights of the States, and the delegated authority of the Nation, then has the Union no strength, Lib-rty no safeguard,' National Independence no security or permanency. The

62 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

majority of each State Legislature holds at its will the pontinuance of the compact of Confederation, and policy alone vvill determine both the measure and duration of its obligations. Happily, the Framers of the Constitu- tion foresaw, and wisely provided against this danger. They placed the Edifice of political Freedom upon a more stable foundation than an ever fluctuating popular opinion. On the broad principles of mutual interest, and common protection, they reared the Structure of the Federal Union. They established fundamental rules for the administration of the Government, and created an Independent Tribunal, in the Judicial Department, to watch over and enforce their observance. While the Constitution remains unimpaired, and the Institutions which it has appointed are maintained in their purity and vigor, this Nation will continue to advance in strength and glory ; — the States will be protected in the relations which a just and voluntary compromise established ; — and the People, free, prosperous and happy, will enjoy that pre-eminence in rights, privileges and condition, which has made their Country a land of Liberty ; — a refuge and resting place for the persecuted and oppress- ed of the whole earth.

LEVI LINCOLN. Council Chamber,

Boston, January 9th, 1832.

MESSAGE. 53

CHAP. I

To the Honorable Senate,

and House of Representatives.

I herewith transmit a Communication from His Ex- cellency the Governor of Maine, covering a Resolve of the Legislature of that State, and also a Report of Commissioners appointed pursuant thereto, in relation to the location and construction of what is called the Canada Road, which lies partly through the public lands owned by the two Governments. The purpose of the Communication is to obtain the sanction of this Commonwealth to the measures which have been adopt- ed in Maine, in establishing the route west of Bald Mountain, and to request an extension of the time here- tofore allowed by a Resolve of this Government for the completion of the road, as the condition of aid thereto in the grant of a township of land. The alteration made in the route avoids a formidable obstacle both to the construction and future use of the road, and the delay which has been occasioned in the completion of the work, seems to have been equally against the inten- tion and without the control of the Government of Maine. A compliance with the present request is re- commended by considerations of mutual advantage, as well as of comity towards that State.

LEVI LINCOLN.

Council Chamber, January 13, 1832.

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STATE PAUPERS. 55

We, the subscribers, Overseers of the Poor for the town hereby certify, that the persons

named in the above account, never gained a settlement in any city, town or district within this Commonwealth, by deriving the same from his or her parents or grand- parents, nor by any provision of an act passed Feb- ruary eleventh, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety four, specifying what shall constitute a legal settlement. And also that

no kindred within this Commonwealth, by law obliged to support and that

no legal settlement in any place in the Commonwealth, according to the existing laws for determining ques- tions of habitancy. We further certify, that the whole amount charged in the foregoing account has been ex- pended for the support of the person borne on said list for the time therein specified, and that no part of said account is for the support of any person over the age of twelve years, while of competent health to labor.

The said overseers further certify, that we have made the foregoing statements upon the best evidence we could obtain.

C Overseers of Poor ^ for the town (of

Dated at this day of A. D. 183

[Approved by the Governor, January 14, 1832.]

56 GARDINER DORRANCE.

CHAP. IIL

Resolve on the Petition of Samuel Tilton.

January 18, 1832.

Resolved, That Diadama Tilton, the daughter of Sa- muel Tilton of Chilmark, in the county of Duke's, be placed upon the list of pupils supported by this Com- monwealth at the American Asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb, at Hartford, agreeably to the pro- Visions of the resolves heretofore passed in relation to State beneficiaries.

CHAP. IV.

Resolve providing for the pay of Gardiner Dorrance, a member of the last General Court.

January 18, 1832.

Resolved, That the sum of forty dollars be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to Gardiner Dorrance, a Representative from Sunderland, at the last General Court, for ten days attendance and travel, the same having been accidentally omitted in making up the Pay Roll. And His Excellency the Go- vernor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant accor- dingly.

MESSAGE. 51

CHAP. V.

To the Honorable Senate and

House of Representatives ;

In a recent communication from the Principal of the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in relation to the Beneficiaries of the State at that institution, he re- commends, that the early period at which the pupils may be received into the seminary should be reduced from the age oi' fourteen years, as now fixed by the reg- ulation of our Statute, to the age of twelve. The rea- sons for this alteration are fully explained in an extract from the Letter which is herewith transmitted, and are enforced by the concurring opinions of the Faculty of Instruction. Since the adoption of the general law au- thorizing the Governor to grant Certificates of admis- sion to suitable subjects of the age o^ fourteen years, nu- merous special Resolves have entitled those of a more tender age to a participation in the bounty, and the op- portunity of experience has thus been afforded in favor of the propriety and expediency of the proposed modifi- cation.

So effectual has been the provision of the public cha- rity to the means of educating the whole class of Deaf and Dumb within the Commonwealth, that, for several years past, no proper applicant has been denied the ad- vantages of support and instruction at the Asylum, and, after meeting every such occasion the last year, a sum, exceeding one thousand dollars, remained of the appro- priation, to be transferred, under the authority of a Re- solve of the Legislature, to another most interesting ob- ject of sympathy and beneficence in the relief of the

68 CHAPPEQUIDDIC INDIANS.

blind. The whole number of pupils in the Asylum, at the charge of the State, is but 36, while the appropri- ation of the government is equal to the support of 56. As the classes now in the of course education shall leave the institution, the numbers will be gradually diminished, until there will only be the annual supply from births and the consequences of disease to be provided for. These have been estimated upon our present population not to exceed Jijte en. Should the Government still con- tinue this act of enlightened munificence, increased and very necessary encouragement may be afforded to the measures which are already in operation for the estab- lishment of an Infirmary for the Blind : until it shall thus come to be the singular honor and happiness of this favored Commonwealth, that there is no destitution among us but the want of intellect, which the means of knowledge are not made to reach and to alleviate.

LEVI LINCOLN. Council Chamber, January 24, 1832.

CHAP. VI.

Resolve for payment of Commissioners for dividing the di- visional line between Patentees and Purchasers, and Indians on Chappequiddic.

January 24, 1832.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth to Timothy Daggett, Peter Pease, and John Thaxter, the sum of ninety six dollars, and seventy five cents, in full for their services and expen-

CHAPPEQUIDDIC INDIANS. 59

ses, as Commissioners, under a resolve of the Legisla- ture of the fifteenth of June last, to make a division in the Divisional line between the Patentees and Purcha- sers, and the Indians, on the Island of Chappequiddic.

Resolved, that His Excellency the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, be, and he hereby is authorized to draw his warrant on the treasu- rer for the above mentioned sum.

60

PAY ROLL.

CHAP. vn.

Pay Roll of the Valuation Committee, for attendance^ ^c. from Nov. 23, 1831, to Jan. 3, 1832.

NAMES.	Miles travel.	Days attend- ance.	Ain't of travel and attendance.
Charles Wells, ....	a	42	126
Joseph H. Dorr, .				((	42	126
Richard D. Harris,				u	42	126
Henry J. Oliver,				((	42	126
Stephen C. Phillips, .				14	27	84
Robert Rantoul, .				25	40	125
Thomas M. Clark,				45	37	120
Elias Davison,				35	42	133
Jesse Kimball, .				30	42	132
David Tow^nsend,				10	42	128
Joseph Barrett, .				20	39	121
Abel Jewett,				45	42	135
David Wilder,				40	42	134
Charles Russell, .				50	39	127
Isaiah Putnam, .				50	32	106
Benjamin Davenport, .				40	35	113
Sylvanus Holbrook, ,				40	40	128
Noah Wells,				125	42	151
Jonathan Hartwell,				95	38	133
Eliphalet Williams,				100	36	128
Aaron Gould,				80	42	142
Enos Foote,				110	42	148
George Bliss,				100	36	128
Russell Brown, .				140	41	151
Nathan Willis, .				140	42	154
Melancton Lewis,				150	42	156
Samuel P. Loud,				5	40	121
Lemuel Humphrey,				15	42	129
Warren Lovering,				25	33	104
Solomon Lincoln, Jr.				20	39	121
Hercules Cushman,				40	36	116
Allen Danforth, .				45	37	120
Nathan C. Brownell,				70	36	122
Thomas A. Greene,				60	42	138
Elijah Howard, Jr.				50	36	118
Seth Whitmarsh,				45	34	111
John Doane,				90	42	144
Charles Marston,				70	41	137
Leavitt Thaxter,				100	42	146
Hezekiah Barnard,				135	24	99
Daniel Richardson,				30	32	J02
			$5209

VALUATION COMMITTEE. 61

Resolve for the pay of the Valuation Committee.

January 26, 1832.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth, to the several persons members of the Valuation Committee named in the ac- companying roll, the several sums therein annexed to their respective names, in full compensation for their travel and attendance as members of said committee, and His Excellency the Governor is hereby requested to draw his warrant accordingly.

CHAP. VIII.

Resolve for the pay of the Clerk of the Valuation Com- mittee.

January 26, 1832.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid, out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth, to Charles Calhoun, two hundred and forty-five dollars, in full for his servi- ces as Clerk of the Valuation Committee, and His Ex- cellency the Governor is hereby requested to draw his warrant accordingly.

62 MESSAGE.

CHAP. IX.

Resolve on the petition of Daniel Fellows, Jr,

January 28, 1832.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid, out of the treasury of this Commonwealth, to Daniel Fellows Jr., the sum of two dollars per w^eek for support of one Pol- ly Madison, an Indian of the Chappequiddic tribe, for the term of one year and three months, should she live so long, said term to commence on the 15th day of Octo- ber, 1831, and His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Council, is hereby authorized and request- ed to draw his warrant accordingly.

CHAP. X.

To the Honorable Senate and

House of Representatives :

The Documents which I have the honor herewith to transmit convey the sentiments of the Legislature of the State of Maine on the highly important subject of the North Eastern Boundary, expressed in Resolutions as- serting the right of the State against the British preten- sions, disapproving and rejecting the recommendation of the king of the Netherlands to the establishment of the line proposed in his award, appealing to the General Government to protect Massachusetts and Maine in the

MESSAGE. 63

property in the lands, and the latter in the sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory which vv^ill be affected by the decision, and asking the countenance and coope- ration of Massachusetts in rneasures for the security of a common interest, the defence of a sister State from dis- memberment, and the vindication of the country from an acquiescence in an act of essential public injury and na- tional injustice.

The papers were presented to me by Gorham Parks, Esq. of Bangor, with an official testimonial of his ap- pointment as a special agent of the Government of Maine, to proceed hither and deliver them to the Execu- tive of Massachusetts, with a request that the same might be laid before the Legislature of this Common- wealth. In this ready compliance on my part, I cannot but feel it a duty to recommend the subject as worthy of the most earnest, considerate and faithful attention. The agent was also charged to deliver Copies of the Resolutions to each member of the Government, and now waits the opportunity of fulfilling his commission, and offering any explanations which may be desired, to the Legislature, through a committee or otherwise, as it may be your pleasure to permit.

LEVI LINCOLN. Council Chamber,

January SO, 1832.

64 MESSAGE.

CHAP. XI.

To the Honorable Senate and

House of Representatives :

I herewith transmit for your notice and consideration a communication addressed to me by His Excellency the Governor of Rhode Island, covering Resolutions of the General Assembly of that State, directing the institution of process in the Supreme Court of the United States, for the purpose of recovering against this Commonwealth jurisdiction and possession of a very considerable and valuable tract of territory upon our southern border. The line of original division between what now constitutes the two Governments seems to have been clearly defined in the charter granted by Charles the First in 1628, to the Colony of Massachusetts, and afterwards by the Charter of Charles 2d, in 1663, to Rhode Island, bound- ing the north line of the latter by the south line of the former. In the years 1718 and 19, this boundary was actually run out, and monuments erected by commission- ers mutually appointed on the part of the respective Go- vernments of the then province of Massachusetts Bay, and the Colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Planta- tions, with the professed intention o^ finallij settling and terminating a preexisting controversy, which had arisen on this subject, and their report, then made and agreed to, has, from that time to the present, now more than a century, been practically recoonized and acquiesced in, as the established division of territory and jurisdiction between the States. The measures of defence Avhich it may be necessary to adopt against the unexpected and extraordinary procedure of which we are now adnion-

MESSAGE. 65

ished, in an attempt to divest Massachusetts of her well established and long admitted right and possession, so greatly affects also the situation of a vast amount of the property of our citizens, and a large population, it be- comes me respectfully to refer to your determination.

LEVI LINCOLN. Council Chamber, January 30, 1832.

CHAP. XII.

To the Ho7iorable Senate and

House of Representatives :

I have much satisfaction in now being enabled to lay before the Legislature a supplemental Report by the Civil Engineer in the employ of the Government, show- ing, in a connected and comprehensive relation, the whole of his operations in the work with which he is charged, to the close of the season. This, with the Reports trans- mitted at the commencement of the session, completes the view which at this time can be presented of the character of the service, and the progress which has been made towards the ultimate accomplishment in ob- taining a map of the Commonwealth.

Col. Stevens, the Engineer, has reported himself here for instructions, and during a necessary detention of a few days in the settlement of his accounts, will readily afford any information on the subject of the Survey, to a Committee of the Legislature, which may be requi- red. A small unexpended balance will remain from the appropriation of the last year ; but still further provision will be necessary to carry the work through another sea-

9

66 DEAF AND DUMB.

son, and also, in the mean time, to complete the Geo- logical Survey of the State, which being a less consider- able labor is already much more advanced. An estimate accompanies this Communication.

LEVI LINCOLN.

Council Chamber, January 31, 1832.

CHAP. XIII.

Resolve respecting Deaf and Dumb Persons.

February 4, 1832.

Resolved, That all deaf and dumb persons between the ages of twelve and twenty five years, who possess the qualifications, and shall conform to the requisitions, specified in the resolves respecting deaf and dumb per- sons, passed the eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five, shall be, and hereby are entitled to the benefit of all the provisions and appropriations heretofore passed and now in force, for the relief and education of the deaf and dumb within the Commonwealth.

NATHANIEL MACCARTY. 67

CHAP. XIV.

Resolves in relation to the bequest of the late Nathaniel Maccarty, Esquire, to this Commonwealth,

February 7, 1832.

Whereas Nathaniel Maccarty, late of Worcester, in the county of Worcester, Esquire, deceased, by a codicil to his last will and testament, gave and bequeathed the sum of five hundred dollars to this Commonwealth, if the government thereof would accept the same, in trust, that the same shall be faithfully appropriated and expended, under the direction of the Governor for the time being, in ornamenting, by the construction of walks, and in planting with trees and shrubbery the public grounds in Worcester purchased and appropriated for the use and accommodation of a Lunatic Hospital : therefore

Resolved, That this Commonwealth will accept the said sum on the trust aforesaid, and the treasurer and receiver general is hereby authorized to receive the amount of said legacy, and to give a sufficient legal dis- charge therefor.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be re- quested to cause the money, when so received, to be faithfully appropriated according to the directions in the codicil aforesaid, and that by and with advice of the Council he draw his warrant on the treasurer for the amount so to be expended.

68 CLERKS.

CHAP. XV.

Resolve directing the Treasurer to make Report on ac- counts audited by him on the fourth Thursday of Feb- ruary in each year.

February 8, 1832.

Resolved, That the Treasurer of the Commonwealth be authorized and directed to make his report of ac- counts audited by him, on the fourth Thursday of Febru- ary of each year, instead of the fourth Wednesday of the session, as is now required by a Resolve passed on the eleventh day of June 1829.

CHAP. XVI.

Resolve in favor of sundry Clerks employed in preparing the valuation returns for the Committee.

February 9, 1832.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of this Commonwealth, to John Delay, the sum of thirteen dollars and fifty cents, to William Manning, the sum of one hundred and thirty-eight dollars, to Josiah Flagg, the sum of one hundred and seventeen dollars, to Charles W. Lovett, the sum of one hundred and two dollars ; to Allen Whitman, the sum of ninety

NATHANIEL INGERSOLL. 69

three dollars, aud to Solomon Hopkins, the sum of sixty six dollars, and His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of Council, is hereby authorized and requested to draw his warrants accordingly.

CHAP. XVH.

Resolve allowing the State of Maine further time to com- plete the Canada Road.

February 10, 1832.

Resolved, That a further time of two years from the date hereof, be, and hereby is allowed to the State of Maine, to complete the making of the Canada road in the direction west of Bald Mountain, so called, any former act or resolve on this subject to the contrary notwith- standing.

CHAP. XVIII.

Resolve authorizing the Treasurer to deliver to Nath. In- gersoll a Bond signed by said Ingersoll and others, on condition.

February 10, 1832.

Resolved, That the treasurer of this Commonwealth be, and he is hereby authorized and empowered, to de-

70 DAVID S. GREENOUGH'S CHILDREN.

liver to Nathaniel Ingersoll or to his order, a bond now in the treasury signed by said Ingersoll and others, on receiving a certificate from the land agent of this Com- monwealth that he is satisfied the number of families re- quired to be placed on said township No. 4. have been placed thereon, any other condition in said bond to the contrary notwithstanding.

CHAP. XIX.

Resolve upon the Petition of the minor children of David S. Greenough,

February 10, 1832.

Upon the petition of the minor children of David S. Greenough, late of Roxbury in the county of Norfolk, Esquire, deceased, (presented by their guardian,) for the reasons therein set forth ;

Resolved, That Maria F. Greenough, the guardian of said minors, or, in case of her unwillingness to act in this behalf, any person or persons who shall be appointed for this purpose by the Judge of Probate in the county of Norfolk, be, and said guardian, or such person or persons as shall be appointed as aforesaid, respectively are here- by fully authorized and empowered to sell and dispose of, by public sale or private contract, and for and in the names of said minors respectively to execute, acknowl- edge and deliver any and all deed or deeds proper and sufficient to grant and convey to the purchaser or pur- chasers thereof all the right, title, interest and estate

DAVID S. GREENOUGH'S CHILDREN. 71

which David S. Greenough, John Greenoiigh, James Greenough, Anne Greenough, and Jane D. Greenough, the minor children of said David S. Greenough, deceas- ed, have of, in and to one undivided moiety of a certain island known by the name of Noddles Island, and situ- ated in the harbor of Boston.

Provided however, that said minors estate in said is- land shall not be sold by private contract, unless a sale can thereby be effected at a price, which, including the consideration for the estate in dower beloneins; to the mother of said minors, shall equal one hundred dollars for each acre which a moiety of said island contains.

And provided also y that before the power hereby gran- ted shall be exercised, the person or persons assuming to act under and by virtue of this resolve, shall, before he, she, or they grant and convey the said estate and title of said minors to a purchaser or purchasers, give a bond, with a sufficient surety, or sureties to said judge of pro- bate, in an adequate penalty, with condition that he, she, or they shall and will faithfully lay out and keep inves- ted in some public stocks or funds, or in real securities at interest, all the net proceeds of such sale ; and will duly account for and pay over to said David, John, James, Anne and Jane respectively, when and as they attain full age, his or her just share of such proceeds, with the ac- cumulation (if any,) caused by the addition of an excess of income beyond the expenditure required for the suit- able education and maintenance of said minors during their respective minorities; and shall also take, subscribe and file in the probate office in said county of Norfolk, the oaths which executors and administrators are requi- red by law to take, before making a sale of the real es- tate of their testators or intestates under a license from the Supreme Court, or a Court of probate, except as to the mode of sale.

72 COL. CHARLES S DAVIES.

CHAP. XX.

Resolve in favour of Col. Charles S. Davies. February 13, 1832.

On the account of Col. Charles S, Davies exhibiting a demand against the Commonwealth for services ren- dered, and money expended by him in the county of Ox- ford, State of Maine, in obtaining proof by testimony and documents in support of the claims of Massachusetts and Maine for military services, at the request of George Sullivan^ Esqr. then agent of the Commonwealth in Sep- tember, A. D. 1824—

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to Col. Charles S. Davis for reasons above set forth, the sum of one hundred and thirty dollars ; and His Excellency the Governor with the advice of council is hereby authorized and requested to draw his warrant accordingly.

ROLL OF ACCOUNTS. 73

CHAP. XXI.

ROLL OF ACCOUNTS

Audited by the Treasurer of the Commonwealth agreeably to the Orders of the Honorable Legislature, passed on the 2\st and lid of June, 183L

Reported January 25, 1832.

Loring and Brewer, for carpeting, binding, &c., for the Senate Chamber to 12th No- vember, 1831, .... ;^388 13

Gore and Baker, for painting in the Senate Chamber, Gallery, Lobby, &c., to No- vember 25, 1831, . . . 254 25

Baxter, Hannah N., making carpets for the Senate Chamber and Lobby, repairing table coverings, &c., to November, 1831, ^Q ^^

Thayer, Joseph H., paper hangings &;c., for

the Senate Chamber, to November 2, 1831, 23 75

Tompkins, William, for taking off the old, and putting on the new paper hangings in the Senate Chamber to November 3, 1831, 32 00

Wheeler, John H., for carpenter's work done in and about the Senate Chamber, Sep- tember 10, 1831, . . . 52 97

Wells, Charles, for cash paid by him to Wil- liam Barrett, for cleansing the table cover- ing, &:c., belonging to the Senate Cham- ber, September 30, 1831, . . 8 71

10

^796 44

74 BORROWING MONEY.

Resolve for paying for the repairs in the Senate Cham- ber.

February 13, 1832.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the public treasury, to the several persons mentioned in the annexed roll, the sums set against their names respect- ively, amounting in the whole to the sum of seven hun- dred and ninety six dollars and forty four cents ; and that the governor be authorized to draw his warrant for the same.

CHAP. XXII.

Resolve authorizing the Treasurer to borrow rnoney.

February 15, 1832.

Resolved, That the treasurer of this Commonwealth be and he is hereby authorised and directed to borrow, of any of the banks in this Commonwealth, or any corpor- ation therein, or of any individual or individuals, such sum or sums of money as may from time to time be ne- cessary for the payment of the ordinary demands on the treasury, at any time before the meeting of the next General Court, and that he pay any sum he may borrow, as soon as money sufficient for the purpose, and not otherwise appropriated, shall be received in the treasury.

PETITION OF WALDO FLINT. 75

Provided, however, That the whole amount borrowed by authority hereof, and remaining unpaid, shall not at any time exceed the sum of two hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars.

CHAP. XXIII.

Resolve on the Petition of Waldo Flint and Joseph A.

Denny.

February 15, 1832.

Resolved, That Waldo Flint and Joseph A. Denny, both of Leicester in the county of Worcester, trustees appointed under and by virtue of the last will and tes- tament of Otis D. Earle, late of New Haven, in the state of Connecticut, deceased, testate, be and they hereby are authorized and empowered to sell at public vendue, and to make, execute, acknowledge, and deliver good and sufficient deed or deeds to convey all the right, title, in- terest and claim whatsoever, which they as trustees as aforesaid, and all other persons for whose benefit they hold the same in trust as aforesaid, have in and to cer- tain real estate, situated in said Leicester, about a hun- dred rods east of the Congregational meeting house in said town, on the north side of the great Post Road, containing about nine acres, with a dwelling house and out buildings thereon standing, consisting of houselot, garden, mowing and pasture, bounded on the south by said road, on the west by land of Horatio G. Henshaw, on the north by land of Austin Flint, and on the east by

76 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

land of said Austin Flint, and by land of Eri Chilson, they the said trustees giving notice of the time and place of said sale, by publishing an advertisement thereof, three wrecks successively, in the Massachusetts Spy, a news- paper published in Worcester in said county, before the time of sale ; the proceeds of said sale to be put out and secured on interest, and the income and principal sum to be by them in all respects appropriated and applied, in the manner and form appointed and directed by the said last will and testament of the said Otis D. Earle, deceased, and they the said trustees also giving bond to the judge of Probate of the county of Worcester, with sureties to be approved by said judge, conditioned to account for and pay over the proceeds of said sale, with interest, to the minors interested therein, as they may come of age respectively.

CHAP. XXIV.

Resolves relating to the North Eastern Boundary. February 15, 1832.

The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was refer- red so much of the Governor's Message, at the opening of the present session of the General Court, as relates to the North-Eastern Boundary of the United States, and also a subsequent Message enclosing a communication from the Governor of Maine, with accompanying docu- ments relating to that subject, have considered the same, and respectfully submit the following report.

In the part of his Message at the opening of the ses-

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 77

sion, which relates to the North-Eastern boundary, the Governor intimates that it may be expedient for the General Court to express their opinion, how far the proceedings of the King of the Netherlands, in regard to the matters referred to him in pursuance of the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, are binding upon the Government of the United States, and upon the States of Massachusetts and Maine. The Resolutions of the Legislature of the latter State, which accompany the Governor's subsequent Message, declare in strong terms, that these proceedings are not obligatory, and request the co-operation of this Commonwealth in such measures, as may be best calculated to prevent the adoption of the boundary line recommended by the King. Massachusetts is in fact directly interested in the question, by her right of property in a considerable portion of the territory, which would be cut off from the State of Maine by that line ; and as the Senators and Representatives of the Commonwealth in Congress will be called upon, in the regular discharge of their duties, to concur in the action of the General Govern- ment upon this subject, it is proper and expedient that they should be distinctly informed of the views of their constituents. In presenting the result of their inquiries into this important subject, the Committee will first briefly state the facts in the case, as far as may be ne- cessary for the present purpose, and afterwards add, for the consideration of the General Court, the conclusions to which those facts appear to lead.

The Committee have not thought it necessary to re- capitulate, on this occasion, the history of the contro- versy between Great Britain and the United States, re- specting the North-Eastern boundary. This is a matter of public notoriety, and has also no bearing upon the

78 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

present inquiry. The objection to the proceedings of the King of the Netherlands has no connexion with the merits of the case as between the two parties. If the King has given a decision upon the points referred to him, it is admitted that this decision, however erroneous it may appear to the Government of the United States, is binding — supposing the points referred to be such as the Government of the United States has a right to submit to arbitration. If the King has not given a de- cision upon the points referred to him, it is equally ap- parent, that the rights of the two parties remain in the same state in which they were before the reference ; and are in no way affected by any recommendation which his Majesty may have thought proper to give in regard to points which were not referred to him. This remark would be true upon the ordinary principles of natural law independently of any specific engagement, and it is also confirmed by the language of the treaty of Ghent, which expressly stipulates at the close of the fourth arti- cle, that " His Britannic Majesty, and the Government of the United States, engage to consider the decision of the arbiter as final and conclusive upon all the matters re- ferred to him ;" thus excluding from any pretension to an obligatory character, any opinion or recommenda- tion which he might think proper to give upon any other subject. The most important point for considera- tion in the present inquiry is, therefore, whether the King of the Netherlands has or has not given a decision upon the questions referred to him, in relation to the North-Eastern boundary, hi order to determine this question, it is of course only necessary to recur to the treaty of Ghent, and compare the terms of the submis- sion as therein stated, with those of the document con- taining the results of the King's proceedings.

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The fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent provides, that, "whereas neither that point of the Highlands lying due North from the source of the river St. Croix, and designated in the former treaty of peace between the two powers as the North-West angle of Nova Scotia, nor the Northwesternmost head of Connecticut River, has yet been ascertained ; and whereas that part of the boundary line between the dominions of the two Powers, which extends from the source of the river St. Croix, directly North to the above-mentioned North- Western angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said Highlands which divide those rivers which empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean to the Northwesternmost head of Con- necticut River, thence down along the middle of the river to the forty-fifth degree of North latitude, thence by a line due West on said latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquay, has not yet been surveyed ; it is agreed, that, for these several purposes, two Com- missioners shall be appointed, sworn, and authorized to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in the present article. The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrews, in the Prov- ince of New Brunswick, and shall have power to ad- journ to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The same Commissioners shall have power to as- certain and determine the points above mentioned, in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of 1783, and shall cause the boundary afore- mentioned, from the source of the river St. Croix to the river Iroquois or Cataraquay, to be surveyed and marked according to the said provisions. The said Commissioners shall make a map of the said boundary,

so NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

and annex to it a declaration under their hands and seals, certifyilig it to be a true map of the said bounda- ry and particularizing the latitudes and longitudes of the North-West angle of Nova Scotia, of the Northwest- ernmost head of Connecticut River, and of such other points of the said boundary as they may deem proper ; and both parties agree to consider such map and de- claration as finally and conclusively fixing the said boun- dary. And, in the event of the said Commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements, shall be made by them or either of them, and such reference shall be made to a friendly Sove- reign or State, in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same were herein repeated."

The part of the fourth article of the same treaty? which is here alluded to, as describing the form and manner in which the points in dispute are to be refer- red to the arbiter, is as follows :

" It is further agreed, that in the event of the two Commissioners differing upon all, or any of the matters so referred to them, or in the event of either or both of the said Commissioners refusing, or declining, or wil- fully neglecting to act as such, they shall make, jointly or separately, a report or reports, as well to the Gov- ernment of His Britannic Majesty as to that of the United States, in detail of the points on which they differ, and the grounds on which their respective opin- ions have been formed, or the grounds upon which they, or either of them, have so refused, declined, or omitted to act. And His Britannic Majesty, and the Govern- ment of the United States, hereby agree to refer the report, or reports, of the said Commissioners, to some

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 81

friendly Sovereign or State, to be then named for this purpose, and who shall be requested to decide upon the differences, which may be stated in the said report or reports, or upon the report of one Commissioner, to- gether with the grounds upon which the other Com- missioner shall have refused, declined, or omitted to act, as the case may be ; and if the Commissioner so refusing, declining, or omitting to act, shall also wilfully omit to state the grounds upon which he has so done, in such manner that the said statement may be referred to such friendly Sovereign or State, then such Sovereign or State shall decide ex parte upon the said report alone. And his Britannic Majesty, and the Government of the United States, engage to consider the decision of such friendly Sovereign or State to be final and conclusive on all the matters so referred."

It -results from the terms of these articles, and leav- ing out of view that part of the fifth relating to the Northwesternmost head of Connecticut River, and the boundary thence to the Iroquois, which is not material to the present purpose, that the duty which devolved upon the Commissioners, appointed under the fifth article, was to ascertain and define that point of the Highlands lying due North of the source of the river St. Croix, which was designated, in the former treaty, as the North West angle of Nova Scotia, and to cause that part of the boundary line, between the dominions of the two powers, which extends from the source of the river St. Croix, due North to the above-mentioned North West angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said High- lands which divide those rivers which empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the Northwesternmost head of Connecticut River, to be surveyed and marked accord-

11

82 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

ing to the provisions of the treaty. No authority is given to the Commissioners to ascertain and determine the respective positions of the Highlands, or of the source of the river St. Croix. Both these are supposed to be known. The position of the source of the river St. Croix had in fact been determined by a special conven- tion, and no question had ever been raised as to that of the Highlands, which was laid down in all the maps, and described in a variety of official documents, emanating from the British government, as stretching from the Western extremity of the Bay des Chaleurs, along the South side of the river St. Lawrence, at a distance from it of twenty or thirty miles. The duty of the Commissioners was, therefore, as has been already said, to ascertain and determine the point where a line, drawn due North from the source of the St. Croix strikes the Highlands, and to cause the boundary line, which, ac- cording to the treaty, was to run Westerly from that point along the Highlands to be surveyed. Should the Commissioners differ upon any of the matters referred to them, they were to make report to their respective governments of the points on which they differed, and an arbiter was to be appointed, who was'^to decide, on view of these reports, the points of difference therein stated.

The Commissioners appointed for this purpose, hav- ing disagreed, and made reports as required by the treaty to their respective governments, it was determin- ed by the convention of Sept. 29, 1827, that the points in dispute in regard to this subject should, in conformi- ty to the further provisions of the treaty, be referred to a friendly sovereign. The language of the convention is as follows :

" It is agreed, that the points of difference which have

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 83

arisen in the settlement of the boundary between the American and British dominions, as described in the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent shall be referred, as therein provided, to some friendly sovereign or state, who shall be invited to investigate and make a decision upon such points of difference.

It was farther provided, in another article of the same convention, that, as the reports of the Commissioners were too voluminous to be conveniently examined by the arbiter, " new and separate statements of the res- pective cases, severally drawn up by each of the con- tracting parties," should be substituted for them as the basis of the decision. These new statements were ac- cordingly prepared on each side, and the king of the Netherlands having been agreed upon as the arbiter, were laid before him by the Plenipotentiaries of the two Governments. It is to these statements that we are to look immediately for information in regard to the points which the king was authorized to decide. In stating the result of their examination of these documents, the Committee leave out of view, as before, all that relates to other questions not material to the present purpose, and confine themselves to the points of difference in re- gard to the North-Eastern boundary.

In the introductory part of his award, the king says, that the two parties had agreed upon a statement of the points of difference between them. In reality, howev- er, these points, and particularly that relating to the North-Eastern boundary are somewhat differently stated by the two parties. According to the American State- ment, the point of " difference is the North-West angle of Nova Scotia, and the boundary line contemplated by the treaty of 1783, extending from that angle along cer- tain Highlands to the Northwesternmost head of the

84 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

Connecticut River." The British statement gives the point as follows : " The parties differ respecting the point designated in the treaties as the North-West angle of Nova Scotia, and respecting the Highlands along which the line of boundary is to be carried, which is destined to divide the rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean." Neither of these statements is pre- cisely accurate in form ; but the British differs from the other in representing the position of the Highlands as one of the points in dispute. The king, in his award, conforms to the British Statement, and specifies the questions at issue in the following terms : " Which is the place designated in the treaties as the North-West angle of Nova Scotia, and what are the Highlands di- viding the rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean, along which is to be drawn the boundary line from that an- gle to the Northwesternmost head of Connecticut River ?" Notwithstanding the variation between the modes of expression of the British and American Commissioners, they agree substantially in representing the situation of the Highlands, as the principal point upon which they had differed. The Committee have already remarked, that it certainly was not the intention of the parties to the treaty of Ghent, that any question should be made upon this subject. When the British Commission- ers advanced the extravagant and preposterous preten- sion, that the Highlands were situated in a level region in the middle of the State of Maine, the American Commissioners, might perhaps with propriety have de- clined to negotiate upon this point. Instead of this, however, they undertook to refute the British argument, and finally consented to refer it to the arbiter. The

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 85

King being authorized to decide upon all the questions specified in the statement, was of course justified in considering the situation of the Highlands, as one of the points referred to him : and had he given a decision in favor of the British pretensions, the Government of the United States would have been bound to acquiesce in it, except so far as it might have been considered originally null and void, for want of any constitutional power in the Government of the United States to au- thorize the submission to a foreign arbiter of the ques- tion so decided.

The King, however, gave no decision upon this or any other question relating to the North-Eastern boun- dary. After stating the question to be, as above repre- sented : — What is the North-West angle of Nova Scotia, and what are the Highlands which divide the waters that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean? — His Majesty proceeds to recapitulate at considerable length, the ar- guments which have been urged by the two parties in favor of their respective pretensions, compares their forces, and finally concludes that there is not sufficient evidence on either side, to justify a decision. The lan- guage of this part of the award, according to the trans- lation officially communicated from the Department of State, is as follows :

" The arguments adduced on either side, and the documents exhibited in support of them, cannnot be con- sidered as sufficiently preponderating to determine a preference in favor of one [ei^/ier] of the two lines re- spectively claimed by the High Interested Parties, as the boundaries of their possessions, from the sources of the river St. Croix, to the Northwesternmost head of the Connecticut river ; and the nature of the difference,

86 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

and the vague and not sufficient determinate stipula- tions of the treaty of 1783, do not permit to adjudge either of those lines to one of the two parties, without wounding the principles of law and equity in regard to the other."

The Convention of 1827, had contemplated and pro- vided for the case in which the arguments and facts contained in the statements, should not be considered by the arbiter as sufficiently satisfactory to authorize a decision in favor of either party. Under these circum- stances, he was to be furnished with such additional elucidations, whether of the facts or principles in ques- tion, as he might deem necessary. The article con- taining this stipulation, is as follows :

" In order to facilitate the attainment of a just and sound decision on the part of the arbiter, it is agreed that in case the said arbiter should desire further eluci- dation or evidence, in regard to any specific point con- tained in any of the said statements submitted to him, the requisition for such elucidation or evidence shall be simultaneously made to both parties, who shall there- upon be permitted to bring further evidence, if requir- ed, and to make each a written reply to the specific questions submitted by the said arbiter, but no farther, and such evidence and replies shall be immediately communicated by each party to the other.

" And in case the arbiter should find the topograph- ical evidence, laid, as aforesaid, before him, insufficient for a sound and just decision, he shall have the power of ordering such additional surveys to be made of any portion of the disputed boundary line, or territory, as he may think fit, which survey shall be made at the joint expense of the contracting parties, and be consid- ered as conclusive by them."

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 87

The case here anticipated having actually occurred, it would have appeared natural, that the royal arbiter should have taken the course prescribed in the Conven- tion, and called for additional evidence. Instead of this, after declaring, in the passage quoted above, that the statements, with which he has been furnished, were not sufficient to enable him to decide in favor of either party, he proceeds to assign reasons why he does not avail himself of the faculty aftbrded him by the Conven- tion, of calling for additional evidence. The case, it seems, was not susceptible of any further elucidation.

" As has been already said, the question resolves it- self into a selection to be made of a ground dividing the rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Law- rence from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean ; and as the High Contracting Parties are agreed, with re- gard to the course of the streams delineated by common accord on the map A, and affording the only basis of a decision, therefore the circumstances upon which the decision (must he founded) could not be further eluci- dated, by means of fresh topographical investigations, nor by the production of additional documents."

The arbiter having thus declared, that the case was not susceptible of a decision upon the evidence, with which he had been furnished, and also, that it was not susceptible of any further elucidation by means of additional evidence, seems to have had no alternative left, but to close the proceedings, and resign his func- tions, without giving any opinion. Instead of this, how- ever, after alleging his inability to pronounce a decision in favor of the line claimed by either party, he attempts to settle the difference in another way, and recommends the adoption of an entirely new boundary, not previous- ly contemplated, or claimed on either side, and having

88 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY..

no pretence of foundation or support in the terms of any of the treaties. The language, which conveys this extraordinary recommendation, is as follows :

" We are of opinion, that it will be suitable to adopt, as the boundary of the two States, a line drawn due North from the River St. Croix, to the point where it intersects the middle of the channel of that river, as- cending it to the point where the river St. Francis empties itself into the river St. John, down the middle of the channel of the river St. Francis, ascending it to the source of its Southwesternmost branch, which source we indicate on the map A, by the letter X, au- thenticated by the signature of our Minister of Foreign Affairs ; thence a line drawn due West to the point where it unites with the line claimed by the United States of America, and delineated on the map A ; thence said line to the point at which it coincides with that claimed by Great Britain, and thence the line trac- ed on the map by the two powers to the Northwestern- most head of Connecticut River."

This recommendation terminates the King's proceed- ings in regard to the question of the North-Eastern boundary. According to the terms of the Treaty of Ghent, as above quoted, the two parties engage to con- sider the decision of the arbiter as final and conclusive on all the matters referred to him : and it is stipulated, in the convention of 1827, that the decision of the ar- biter, when given, shall be taken as final and conclu- sive, and shall be carried, without reserve, into imme- diate effect, by Commissioners appointed for that pur- pose by the contracting parties. But, as this recom- mendation of an entirely new boundary is not a decision of any of the points referred lo the arbiter, and is de- clared by himself not to be so, it is of course not bind-

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 89

jng as a decision under the stipulations of the treaties. It is hardly necessary to add, that, as the mere recom- mendation of a friendly Sovereign, given without au- thority upon a point not submitted to him, it can have no obligatory character, however justly it may be enti- tled to the most respectful consideration. As the Com- mittee cannot suppose that this will be considered by any one as a doubtful principle, they deem it unneces- sary to multiply arguments in support of it. They will merely refer, in illustration of the abuses that would result from the adoption o( a contrary principle, to the celebrated case of Bruce %id Baliol, rival pretenders to the crown of Scotland, who submitted the decision of their respective claims to Edward I., then King of England, sometimes called the English Justinian. In this case, as in the one submitted to the King of the Netherlands by Great Britain and the United States, the arguments and evidence furnished by the parties, were not considered sufficient to authorize a decision in favor of either ; and, in order that the difference might not remain unsettled, the English Justinian ad- judged the crown of Scotland to himself. It will hardly be pretended, that this proceeding was conformable to the rules of national law ; but it would have been fully justified by any principle which would give to the re- commendation of a new boundary by the King of the Netherlands an obligatory power over the governments of Great Britain and the United States. If an arbiter have a right to travel out of the record of the submis- sion, and give opinions having the force of law, upon questions not referred to him, it is obvious, that there are no limits to his authority, and that tiic reference, by two governments, of any question, however unim- portant, to the arbitration of a third, amounts to a coni-

12

90 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

plete and unconditional surrender of the national rights and independence of both.

The recommendation of the king of the Netherlands is therefore not binding upon either government. It is nevertheless entitled to very respectful consideration. It is the suggestion of a friendly sovereign, made with the best intentions, and under an impression that the adoption of it would be mutually and equally advanta- geous to both the parties. Although it can have no ob- ligatory character, it may be proper to inquire, whether it is right and expedient that the government of the United States should voluntarily accede to it, and give it effect.

Supposing the question of expediency to be entirely open, the Committee are unable to perceive any very strong reasons for deciding it in the affirmative. They are not aware, that any material inconvenience can re- sult from a further delay in the survey of the North-Eas- tern boundary, as determined by the treaty of 1783, while the adoption of the recommendation of the king of the Netherlands would involve the sacrifice of a con- siderable tract of territory, and an acquiescence, to a certain extent at least, in pretensions on the part of the British agents, which are too extravagant to be regard- ed for a moment as entitled to serious attention. But the Committee will not enlarge upon the considerations belonging to the question of expediency, because they conceive that this question is precluded by the prelimi- nary one of Constitutional right. The Government of the United States have no constitutional authority to cede to a foreign state any portion of the territory be- longing to any one of the states composing the Union, without the consent of such state. They can, without a violation of this rule, settle such questions relating to

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 91

the boundaries of the Union as were left doubtful by the treaty of 1783, because it is only by the settlement of these questions, that the extent of the territory of the border states can be ascertained. But the situation of the Highlands, which, according to the treaties, form the northern boundary in this quarter, is not represent- ed, either in the treaty of 1783, or in that of Ghent as a doubtful point. The latter treaty provides for ascer- taining the point where a certain line strikes the High- lands, and for surveying another line which is described as running in a westerly direction along the Highlands. No provision is made for ascertaining the situation of the Highlands, which is spoken of as known. The Government of the United States had therefore no Constitutional right to allow it to be drawn in ques- tion by England, still less to submit it to arbitration ; and had the King of the Netherlands decided against us on this question, the Committee believe, as they have already remarked, that the act would have been wholly null and void, from a defect of authority in the Govern- ment of the United States to make the submission. The only uncertainty which exists in regard to this part of the boundary, results from the want of an accurate survey of a line, the general course of which is well defined. The Government of the United States had a right to cause this line to be surveyed, without regard to the effect which the survey might have upon the ex- tent of the supposed territory of Maine in that quarter. Farther than this, it had no authority to go, without the consent of Massachusetts and Maine. But the ac- ceptance of the recommendation would deprive these States of a large tract of territory which, under any imaginable result of the survey, would certainly belong to them, and it is therefore a measure which the Gov-

92 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. -

ernment of the United States has no right to adopt, without the consent of both States. As the vState of Maine has solemnly protested against its adoption, it is wholly beyond the competency of the Government of the United States to adopt it, whatever might be the opinion of Massachusetts. But as Massachusetts is di- rectly interested in the question as well as Maine, it is obviously proper, that her opinion also should be made distinctly known.

Under these impressions of the merits of the case, and of the course best fitted under present circumstances to promote the honor and interest of the Commonwealth, the Committee offer, for the consideration of the General Court, the following preamble and resolves. All which is respectfully submitted.

By order of the Committee,

A. H. EVERETT.

Whereas the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as proprietor of large tracts of land in the State of Maine, is directly interested in the measures that may be adopt- ed by the Government of the United States, for the pur- pose of defining and settling the North-Eastern boun- dary thereof, and whereas, the subject being now under the consideration of the Government of the United States, it is expedient that the General Court should express their opinion thereupon, to the end that the Senators and Representatives of the Commonwealth in Congress may be the better enabled to understand and give effect to the intentions of their constituents, therefore,

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representa- tives, in General Court assembled, that the Government of the United States possesses the constitutional right

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 93

to ascertain and settle, by negotiation with foreign pow- ers, arbitration, or otherwise, such parts of the boundary lines of the said States, as were left doubtful by the Treaty of Peace of 1783, but that the said Government does not possess the constitutional right to alter, by ne- gotiation with foreign powers, arbitration, or otherwise, the boundary lines of the said States, so far as the same were ascertained and settled by the said treaty, to the prejudice of the territorial or other rights of any State, without the consent of such State previously obtained. Resolved, That, in the second article of the Treaty of Peace of 1783, it is agreed and declared, that the Northern boundary line of the United States begins at the point where a line, drawn due North from the source of the river St. Croix, strikes the Highlands, and that it runs in a Westerly direction along the said High- lands, which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean : that the situation of the said High' lands is, and was, at the time of the conclusion of said treaty, a matter of public notoriety, the same being one of the great geographical features of the country, indicated on all the maps, and repeatedly recognized in various official documents by the British Government : that, as far as the situation of the said Highlands is concerned, the Northern boundary line was ascertained and settled by the treaty of 1783, and that the Government of the said United States has no constitutional right to alter the same as then ascertained and settled, whether by negociation with foreign powers, arbitration, or other- wise, to the prejudice of the territorial or other rights of any State, without the consent of such State pre- viously obtained.

Resolved, That it was agreed, by the fifth article of

94 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

the Treaty of Ghent, that Commissioners should be ap- pointed, by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, to survey the Northern boundary line of the said States, as ascertained and settled by the treaty of 1783, and that, in the event of a disagreement be- tween the said Commissioners, the matters in dispute betvi^een them should be referred to some friendly Sov- ereign, to be named as arbiter, in the manner described in the said fifth article, but that it was not the intention of the said Governments, and is not provided or agreed in the said fifth article, that the said Commissioners should inquire into and determine the situation of the aforesaid Highlands, the same being, as aforesaid, a matter of public notoriety : — that the Government of the United States, in permitting the same to be made a question by the said Commissioners, and to be by them submitted to the arbitration of the King of the Nether- lands, without the consent of Massachusetts and Maine previously obtained, exceeded its constitutional pow- ers, and that any decision which the said King might have given upon said question, would have been entire- ly null and void, for want of a constitutional power in the Government of the United States to make the sub- mission.

Resolved, That it appears, from the document com- municated to the Government of the United States by the said King, as the result of his proceedings in the arbitration committed to him, in conformity to the fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent, by the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, that the said King has not decided any of the questions relating to the North-Easlern boundary of the said States, which were submitted to him by the Commissioners of the two Gov- ernments, having declared, for reasons contained in the

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY. 95

said document, that said questions are not susceptible of any decision ; and that the aforesaid document, so com- municated by the King of the Netherlands, not contain- ing any decision of the questions submitted to him, as aforesaid, by the said Commissioners, is not binding upon the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, or either of them, as a decision, either by the ordinary rules of international law, or by the stipulations of the treaties, which settled the form of the arbitration.

Resolved^ That the recommendation contained in the aforesaid document, so communicated by the King of the Netherlands, of an entirely new boundary line be- tween certain parts of the possessions of Great Britain and the United States, being merely the suggestion of a friendly Sovereign, made without authority, upon a sub- ject not submitted to him, though entitled to respectful consideration, is not obligatory upon either of the par- ties to the arbitration ; and that the United States are not bound, either by the ordinary principles of interna- tional law, or by the stipulations of the treaties, which settled the form of the arbitration, to adopt the said line, so recommended, as a part of their North-Eastern boundary.

Resolved, That the adoption of the said line, so re- commended by the King of the Netherlands, as a part of the North-Eastern boundary of the United States, would deprive this Commonwealth and the State of Maine of large tracts of territory, which, upon any ima- ginable result of such survey of the Northern and East- ern boundaries, as is authorized by the Fifth Article of the Treaty of Ghent, belong respectively, in sovereignty and property, to the said State and the said Common- wealth.

Resolved, That the Government of the United States

96 NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY.

has no constitutional right to cede any portion of the territory of the States composing the Union, to any- foreign power, or to deprive any State of any land, or other property, without the consent of such State, pre- viously obtained ; and that the adoption of the aforesaid new boundary line, recommended, as aforesaid, by the King of the Netherlands, without the consent, previously obtained, of the States of Massachusetts and Maine, would be a violation of the rights of jurisdiction and property, belonging respectively to the said States, and secured to them by the Federal Constitution ; and that any act, purporting to have such effect, would be wholly null and void, and in no way obligatory upon the Gov- ernment or People of either of the said States.

Resolved, That as the adoption, by the Government of the United States, of the aforesaid new boundary line, so recommended by the said King of the Netherlands, would deprive the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of large tracts of land, without equivalent, it is not expedi- ent for the said Commonwealth to give consent thereto ; and that the General Court hereby solemnly protest against such adoption, declaring, that any act, pur- porting to have such effect, will have been performed without the consent of the Commonwealth, and in vio- lation of the rights thereof, as secured by the Federal Constitution, and will be consequently null and void, and in no way obligatory upon the Government or people.

Resolved, That the General Court have received with satisfaction the communication made ^o them through His Excellency the Governor, from the Government of the State of Maine, of the proceedings of the said Gov- ernment, upon this subject ; — that they reciprocate the friendly sentiments, which have been expressed on this

EtiZA GRAY. ' 97

occasion, by that Government, and will readily and cheerfully cooperate with the State of Maine, in such measures as shall be best calculated to prevent the adoption, by the Government of the United States, of the new boundary line, recommended, as aforesaid, by the King of the Netherlands.

Resolved, That the Senators of the Commonwealth, in Congress, be instructed, and the Representatives thereof requested, to use their influence to prevent the adoption, by the Government of the United States, of the aforesaid new boundary.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be re- quested to transmit a copy of these Resolves, and of the Report preceding them, to each of the Senators and Re- presentatives of the Commonwealth in Congress, to His Excellency the Governor of Maine, and to the' Gover- nors of all the other States in the Union.

CHAP. XXV.

Resolve to authorize John Gray, Guardian of Eliza Gray, to release her lien on certain real estate in the city of Boston.

February 16, 1832.

Whereas it appears from the petition of Frederick T. Gray, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, that Mary Turell, late of said Boston, widow, deceased, in and by her last will and testament, did bequeath to Eliza Gray, of said Boston, singlewoman, and a person non compos mentis, an annuity of seven hundred dollars during her

13

98 ' ELIZA GRAY.

natural life ; said Mary also gave annuities to Mary Ann Fales and to John Gray, Jr. and afterwards devised all her real estate to said Frederick T. Gray, the effect of which devise is to give said annuitants a lien on such

real estate.

And whereas, it further appears from said petition, that said real estate consists of a parcel of land in Han- over street, in said Boston, with the buildings thereon, appraised at ten thousand dollars, also of a parcel of land in Brattle Square, in said Boston, with four old houses thereon, appraised at thirty thousand five hundred eighty-eight dollars, which last mentioned estate produ- ces an income of eight hundred twenty dollars only, an- nually, and by reason of the lien of said Eliza, said Frederick is unable to sell or improve the same.

Therefore resolved, That John Gray, of said Boston, as Guardian of said Eliza, be and he is hereby author- ized and empowered to execute to said Frederick T. Gray, a release in due form of law, of all said Eliza's lien and claim as aforesaid, on said lot of land and estate in said Brattle Square, on receiving from said Frederick satisfactory security, in the way of mortgage of real es- tate, for the punctual payment of said annuity to said Eliza, to be approved by the Judge of Probate for the county of Sutfolk : Provided, that said Eliza's lien on said estate in Hanover street, shall be preserved, and that said Mary Ann Fales and John Gray, Jr. shall sev- erally release their lien thereon.

LAND AGENT. 99

CHAP. XXVI.

Resolve on the Accounts of the Land Agent.

February 17, 1832.

The joint committee on public lands, to whom was re- ferred the report, schedule and accounts of George W. Coffin, Land Agent of this Commonwealth, have exam- ined his account, wherein he charges himself with the sum of thirty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty-six dollars and eighty cents, received in money and securi- ties for the sales of land, from the first day of February, 1831, to the first day of February, 1832. And has paid into the Treasury, in money and securities, which to- gether with payments for surveys and other incidental charges, including his own services as Agent, amount to a sum equal to the above receipts — all which is right cast and well vouched.

A. H. EVERETT, Chairman.

Therefore resolved, That George W. Coffin, agent for selling the public lands in the state of Maine, be, and he is hereby discharged from the payment of the sum of thirty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty six dollars, and eighty cents, specified in his account.

100 GENERAL LAWS.

CHAP. xxvn.

Resolve authorizing the Secretary to purchase and dis- ■ tribute the 2d part of the 3d vol. General Laws, ^c.

February 21, 1832.

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Commonwealth be authorized and directed to purchase of Messrs. Hil- liard, Gray, and Company, at one dollar a volume, four hundred copies of the second part of the third volume of the General Laws, lately published, in continuation of the volumes of the General Laws lately published by Theron Metcalf, Esq.

Resolved, That the said copies be distributed as fol- lows : — two to the library of the General Court, four for the use of each branch of the Legislature, one for each town in the Commonwealth, one for each judge of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Court of Common Pleas, the Probate Courts, and the Municipal Court of the city of Boston, one for each of the Executive Departments, one for each of the court houses in the several counties, two for the Council Chamber.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be au- thorized to draw his warrant on the Treasurer, to defray the expense of the aforesaid purchase.

Resolved, That the Secretary of this Commonwealth be directed to furnish to each of the keepers of gaols, in the several counties therein, and to each of the keepers of houses of correction, not being keepers of gaols, and to the warden of the State Prison, one copy of the vol- umes of the General Laws, published under a resolve of the Legislature of February 22d. in the year of our Lord

ALBERT F. BARNARD. 101

one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, and of the first and second parts of the third volume of said laws. in continuation, published by Theron Metcalf, Esq. Also one copy of the pamphlet laws of said Commonwealth, which may hereafter be published for distribution, pursu- ant to resolves now in force.

CHAP. XXVIII.

Resolve for admitting Albert F. Barnard, to the Ameri- can Asylum, at Hartford.

February 21, 1832.

Resolved, That Albert Folger Barnard, of Nantucket, be placed upon the list of persons supported by this Commonwealth, at the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, at Hartford, agreeably to the provisions of the resolves pro- viding for the support of a certain number of deaf and dumb persons at the expense of the Commonwealth.

102 GENERAL SURVEY.

CHAP. XXIX.

Resolve making a further appropriation for the General Survey of the Commonwealth. «

February 23, 1832.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Council, be, and he is hereby author- ized to draw his warrant, from time to time, upon the Treasurer of the Commonwealth, for any sum or sums not exceeding five thousand six hundred dollars, in addi- tion to the sums heretofore appropriated, which may be necessary to carry more fully into effect the resolves au- thorizing the appointment of a surveyor, to make a gen- eral survey of the Commonwealth, passed on the third day of March, A. D. 1830, and the resolves in addition thereto, and further authorizing the appointment of a suitable person to make a geological examination of the Commonwealth, passed on the fifth day of June, A. D. 1830.

REVISION OF LAWS. 103

CHAP. XXX.

Resolve providing for a revision of the General Statutes of the Commonwealth.

February 24, 1832.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Council, be, and hereby is authorized and requested to appoint three able and discreet persons, learned in the law, to be Commis- sioners, whose duty it shall be faithfully to revise, col- late and arrange, as well the colonial and provincial statutes, as all other the general statutes of the Com- monwealth, which are or may be in force at the time such commissioners may finally report their doings in the premises. And such commissioners shall carefully collect the different acts and parts of acts relating to the same subject matter, and collate and arrange the same under appropriate chapters, titles and sections, and in all respects execute and complete said revision in such a manner, as, in their opinion, will render the said gener- al laws, most concise, plain and intelligible.

Resolved, That it shall be the duty of said commis- sioners, in the report of their doings, to suggest such contradictions, omissions, or imperfections, as may ap- pear in the laws, so to be revised, and the mode in which the same may be reconciled, supplied, or amended ; and they shall, from time to time, report to the General Court, their progress and doings, under their said com- mission, to the end, that such revision may be completed as soon as may be.

104 JOHN F. CLARK.

CHAP. XXXI.

Resolve respecting " Boston South Bridge.^^

February, 27, 1832.

Resolved, That, unless the proprietors of Boston South Bridge, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of March next, surrender to the Commonwealth, the fran- chise of said bridge, the Attorney General be and here- by is directed, immediately thereafter, to file, in the proper tribunal, an information, in the nature of a quo- warranto, against said proprietors, to the end that the franchise of said bridge may be adjudged forfeit, and to take all necessary measures to bring the matter to speed- y and final determination.

CHAP. XXXII.

Resolve in favor of John F. Clark.

February 27, 1832.

On the petition of John F. Clark, keeper of the House of Correction in the County of Worcester, praying that his accounts for the support of state paupers in said House of Correction, between the twenty third day of May 1823, and the first day of June 1829, may be al- lowed and paid by the Commonwealth.

MESSAGE. 105

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid, out of th{ treasury of this Commonwealth, to John F. Clark, foi the reasons above set forth, the sum of three hundred thirty three dollars and sixteen cents ; and His Excel- lency the Governor, with the advice of Council, is here- by authorized and requested to draw his warrant ac- cordingly.

CHAP. XXXHI.

To the Honorable Senate and

House of Representatives :

Major General Jabez Hall, after more than twenty years of valuable service in various stations of rank in the Militia, has recently resigned his command of the seventh division, and been honorably discharged. The constitution devolves the duty of supplying the vacancy upon the two Houses of the Legislature.

LEVI LINCOLN.

Council Chamber, February 28, 1 832.

14

106 MESSAGE.

CHAP. XXXIV.

To the Honorable Senate and

House of Representatives ;

I submit to your consideration, in compliance with a request communicated to me by the Governor of Indi- ana, a copy of a Resolution of the General Assembly of that State, responding with approbation to certain Reso- lutions of the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware, in favor of a provision by Con- gress, for compensation to all the Surviving Officers and Soldiers, and the Militia, who bore Arms in the War of the Revolution, and recommending " the passage of a Law having for its object, a subject so congenial to the wishes of a free and happy People, and at the same time, so righteous and so loudly called for by Gratitude and Justice."

Also a copy of another Resolution of the same Gen- eral Assembly, conveying instructions to the Senators and Representatives of that State in Congress, " to use their exertions, both by their votes and influence, to procure the passage of a Law providing for a more per- fect and uniform organization of the Militia of the sev- eral States of the Union, in pursuance of the Constitu- tion of the United Slates." On this latter subject, I have reason to believe, that a Committee of the House of Representatives of Congress are maturing a Bill, which if not already, soon will be reported.

LEVI LINCOLN.

Council Chamber, February 29, 1832.

MATTHEW METCALF. 107

CHAP. XXXV.

Resolve on the petition of Matthew Metcalf and others,

March 2, 1832.

On the petition of Matthew Metcalf and Elijah Fitch, of Hopkinton, in the county of Middlesex, and Nathaniel Rawson, of Milford, in the county of Worcester.

Resolved, That, for reasons set forth in said petition, the said Matthew Metcalf be, and he is hereby authoriz- ed and empowered, in his capacity of guardian to Elijah Rawson, Obed Rawson, Cyrus Rawson, and Dennis Rawson, minors and children of the said Nathaniel Raw- son, to sell at private sale, all the right, title and interest of the several minor children above named, being five un- divided sixth parts of the following lots of land, subject to the improvement of their father as tenant by the courtesy, situate in Hopkinton aforesaid, to wit : one certain parcel of land situate near the said Elijah Fitch's house, containing, by estimation, forty acres, and is bound- ed westerly by the road leading from Hopkinton to Hol- liston, southerly by land of Abijah Ellis : easterly by land of Carleton Corbett, and by land formerly owned by Eli- sha Hayden, and northerly by land of Elisha Haven, Simpson Jones, the heirs of John Adams, and by land of the said Elijah Fitch.

Also one other parcel of land situate in the great Ce- dar Swamp, (so called) containing by estimation sixteen acres, and is bounded easterly by land of Nancy Fitch, southerly by land of the heirs of Winslow Claflin, west- erly by land of Joseph Valentine, John Claflin, Alanson Briggs,and Ephraim Read, and northerly by land of Ma-

108 MATTHEW METCALF.

ry Valentine : and, by deed duly executed, acknowledg- ed, and recorded, to convey the same to the said Elijah Fitch, in as full and ample a manner as said minor chil- dren could were they of full age ; and the proceeds there- of, after deducting incidental charges, to reinvest in real estate, situate in Hampton, in the county of Windham, and state of Connecticut, and owned by the said Elijah Fitch, and lies in common and undivided with the real estate of said minor children, by a deed in the name of i,aid minor children, and for the benefit of them and their heirs and assigns, reserving for the said Nathaniel Raw- son, the father of said minor children, the same right in the land conveyed to said minor children, which he now holds in their real estate, so that said minor children shall have and hold, to them and their heirs and assigns, said real estate, to be conveyed to them in the same way and manner that they would have held the land herein authorized to be sold and conveyed, if this resolve had not passed. Provided, that the said Nathaniel Rawson, the father of said minor children, assents thereto, and joins in the conveyance of the property to the said Elijah Fitch, and provided also, that the said guardian first give bond to the judge of probate for the county of Middlesex, with surety to the acceptance of said judge, for the faith- ful performance and execution of the powers and author- ity hereby given.

GEORGE WHITNEY. 109

CHAP. XXXVI.

Resolve on the Petition of George Whitney, guardian of

Ira Fuller.

March 2, 1832.

Resolved, For the reasons set forth in said petition, that George Whitney, of Natick, in the county of Mid- dlesex, guardian of Ira Fuller of said Natick, be, and hereby is authorized, at any time within two months af- ter the passing of this resolve, to make and file in the Probate Office, in said county of Middlesex, his affidavit, setting forth the time, place and manner in which he gave notice of the sale of certain real estate of his said ward situated in Natick, in said county of Middlesex, and which he, the said George, was licensed to sell by virtue of an order from the Supreme Judicial Court, be- gun and holden at Boston, within and for the county of Suffolk, on the second Tuesday of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine, and such reasonable notice being given to all persons in- terested in such real estate, as the said judge of probate shall order, to appear and shew cause, if any they have, why such affidavit should not be filed as aforesaid, and no such persons interested as aforesaid appearing and shewing good cause to the contrary, such affidavit, being so filed, shall be evidence of the time, place and manner in which such notice of sale was given, and be as effect- ual for all purposes as if the same had been made and filed in said Probate Office within the time prescribed by law.

110 LORA LATHROP.

CHAP. XXXVII.

Resolve on the petition of Lora Lathrop. March 2, 1832.

On the Petition of Lora Lathrop, of West Springfield in the county of Hampden, guardian of her children Hen- ry Lathrop and Jere S. Lathrop, minors, praying for li- cense to sell and convey the interest of said minors in certain real estate.

Resolved, for the reasons set forth in said petition, that the said Lora Lathrop be, and she is hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public or private sale, and to execute and deliver a deed or deeds to convey the inter- est of the said Henry Lathrop, and Jere S. Lathrop, in and to the following described real estate, lying in West Springfield, devised to them by the will of the late Rev. Joseph Lathrop, deceased, viz : one undivided moi- ety of a lot of land lying in the first parish in said West Springfield, bounded southerly on the highway, westerly, partly on the highway, and partly on land of Samuel Lathrop, northerly on land of said Samuel, and easterly partly on land of said Samuel, and on the school house lot, containing about three acres, with a dwelling house thereon. Also, one undivided moiety of another lot of land lying in Ball Swamp, so called, bounded southerly on Agawam River, westerly on land of Elias Champion, and easterly on land of Samuel Lathrop, containing about three acres. Also one undivided moiety of a lot of land in the Sands, (so called,) bounded northerly on the highway, easterly on land of Bezaleel Howard, south-

STATE VALUATION. Ill

erly on Agawam river, and westerly on land of Simeon Smith, containing about eight acres. Also one undivided moiety of another lot of land at Gooseberry, (so called,) bounded westerly by land of the heirs of Seth Lathrop, deceased, northerly and easterly by land of Reuben Champion, and southerly by land of Samuel Lathrop, containing about six acres. Provided, that the other coheirs of said estates, and the said Lora, shall, at the same time, sell and convey their respective interests in said parcels of real estate. And that the said Lora shall first give bond with sufficient sureties to the judge of probate for the said county of Hampden, that the pro- ceeds of the interest of the said minors in said real es- tate, shall be put at interest on good security, and the interest or income thereof be appropriated and paid over agreeably to the provisions of the will of said Joseph Lathrop, deceased, under the direction of said judge of probate.

CHAP, xxxvni.

STATE VALUATION.— 1831.

To the Hon. Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts :

The Committee, appointed by an order of the last Legislature, passed on the 6th day of June, 1831, con- vened at the State House, in the city of Boston, on the twenty-third day of November, attended by Charles Calhoun, Esq. whom they had elected a clerk to keep a journal of their proceedings, and proceeded to perform the duties required by said order. ^^

112 STATE VALUATION.

The returns of the Assessors of the several towns and districts within the Commonwealth, made in pursuance of an act, passed the 19th day of March, 1831, entitled *'an act to ascertain the ratable estates within this Commonwealth," having been, by a provision of said act, examined by clerks employed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Committee proceeded to esti- mate the several items of taxable property so returned, according to their true value, from the best information in their power to obtain. The Journal of the Commit- tee, which is herewith submitted, will furnish a complete history of their proceedings. In exercising the discre- tionary powers with which the Committee were invest- ed, they have endeavored to proceed with great caution, and they believe they have decided with mtegrity after due deliberation.

They submit the following apportionment of the sum of one thousand dollars on the several towns and dis- tricts of the Commonwealth, as the ratio by which in future they are to be assessed, for the consideration of the Legislature.

By order of the Committee,

CHARLES WELLS, Chairman.

Boston, January 3d, 1832.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts,

In Senate, March 2, 1832.

The Joint Special Committee, to whom was recom- mitted the Report of the Valuation Committee as amen- ded by the two Houses, with instructions to report a new apportionment of ^1000 tax, on the several towns and districts, in conformity thereto have performed that

STATE VALUATION. 113

duty, and herewith report, in a new draft, the apportion- ment of ^1000, agreeably to said instructions. By order of the Committee,

SAMUEL P. LOUD.

In Senate, March 2, 1832.

Read and accepted.

Sent down for concurrence,

CHAS. CALHOUN, Clerk.

House of Representatives, March 2, 1832. Accepted in concurrence.

L. S. CUSHING, Clerk.

VALUATION,

As amended by the Legislature, taken into a 7iew Draft, and adopted March 2, 1 832.

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK.

Pay on ^1000 „ ,, „ » . inclucling Polls

Polls. Towns. ' Aggregates. at 1 1-4 mill

each.

14120 Boston 80,000,000 00 329 33

187 Chelsea 244,261 25 1 18

14307 ^80,244,261 25 ^30 51

15

114	STATE VALUATION. COUNTY OF ESSEX.
		Pay	on glOOO
		inch	jding Polls
Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. ^^^	1 1-4 mill each.
633	Amesbury	472,177 89	2 64
1177	Andover	1,162,726 70	6 00
452	Bradford	369,531 83	2 00
222	B oxford	282,379 21	1 38
1048	Beverly	973,029 06	5 10
972	Danvers	1,518,763 73	7 14
336	Essex	322,297 99	1 67
1857	Gloucester	914,427 34	5 88
962	Haverhill	926,556 38	4 81
175	Hamilton	211,888 90	1 04
678	Ipswich	577,142 31	3 10
1639	Lynn	758,177 86	5 00
158	Lynnfield	116,751 19	65
1376	Marblehead	1,241,808 02	6 56
581	Methuen	432,102 70	2 41
170	Middleton	145,333 78	78
328	Manchester	260,605 25	1 42
841	Newbury	846,173 34	4 35
1469	Newburyport	2,165,967 28	10 28
598	Rowley	447,295 19	2 49
695	Salisbury	577,690 00	3 12
264	Saugus,	193,623 89	1 08
3194	Salem	8,515,091 75	37 18
239	Topsfield	361,022 08	1 70
153	Wenham	157,407 13	80
447	West Newbury	385,964 77	2 06

20664 ^24,335,935 57 ;Sfl20 64

STATE VALUATION. 115

COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX.

		Pay	■ on glOOO
Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. '';^|'	jdiug Polls 1 1-4 mill each.
306	Acton	212,691 00	1 19
338	Ashby	266,285 00	1 44
215	Bedford	186,888 00	99
314	Billerica	368,612 00	1 78
126	Boxboro'	138,660 00	69
264	Brighton	399,371 00	1 85
158	Burlington	127,220 00	68
1580	Cambridge	1,732,048 00	8 57
155	Carlisle	155,333 00	78
2021	Charlestovvn	2,441,167 00	11 82
416	Chelmsford	355,751 00	1 89
481	Concord	499,874 00	2 50
418	Dracut	- 436,110 00	2 19
145	Dunstable	167,401 00	82
237	East Sudbury	240,888 00	1 22
552	Framingham	604,355 00	3 00
487	Groton	551,142 00	2 71
394	Holliston	309,392 00	1 67
491	Hopkinton	443,906 00	2 30
426	Lexington	372,405 00	1 95
164	Lincoln .	211,743 00	1 01
227	Littleton	219,566 00	1 11
1816	Lowell	2,401,288 00	11 40
530	Maiden	363,878 00	2 04
515	Marlborough	640,459 00	3 08
421	Medford	931,050 00	4 07
259	Natick	234,624 00	I 21
546	Newton	635,838 00	3 10

116 STATE VALUATiOiN.

COUNTY OF MWDLESEX— Continued.

Polls.	Towns.	Pay on glOOO . .„„ including Polls Aggregates. ^^ j jf^ ^j,, each.
370	Pepperell	296,261 00	I 59
511	Reading	385,501 00	2 11
254	Sherburne	274,412 00	1 37
241	Shirley	220,772 00	1 14
412	South Reading	247,084 00	1 46
218	Stoneham	151,373 00	85
382	Sudbury	368,560 00	1 88
315	Stow	280,765 00	1 46
418	Tewksbury	. 333,597 00	1 80
218	Tyngsboro'	218,124 00	I 10
374	Townsend	282,827 00	1 55
469	Waltham	733,085 00	3 38
428	Watertown	549,237 00	2 61
323	West Cambridge	331,926 00	1 68
322	Weston	369,119 00	1 80
305	Westford	346,144 00	1 69
193	Wilmington	186,842 00	96
569	Woburn	455,030 00	2 44
20324	^21,682,609 00	;^107 93
Deduct	by vote of Legis-	•
latur	e	500,000 00

pi, 182,609 00 The proportion of the ^1000 payable on the ^500,000, deducted from the aggregate, is deducted from the towns in exact proportion.

STATE VALUATION. 117

COUNTY OF WORCESTER.

		Pay	on 51000
Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. in^""j)ing PoUs °o ^ at 1 1-4 mill
			each.
346	Athol	270,368 00	1.48
407	Ashburnham	253,215 00	1 49
671	Barre	621,499 00	3 27
182	Berlin	152,382 75	82
218	Boy Is ton	208,303 50	1 08
327	Bolton	288,110 50	1 52
620	Brookfield	548,774 60	2 92
521	Charlton	569,837 00	2 88
154	Dana	110,957 25	63
417	Douglas	316,448 00	1 76
521	Dudley	431,779 50	2 34
578	Fitchburg	406,879 75	2 31
297	Gardner	198,025 50	1 14
596	Grafton	551,189 25	2 90
426	Hardwick	476,185 00	2 39
417	Harvard	357,549 33	1 87
411	Holden	367,714 00	1 94
420	Hubbardston	314,467 00	1 75
491	Lancaster	375,452 50	2 07
444	Leicester	461,078 70	2 35
330	Lunenburg	307,202 20	1 60
506	Leominster	382,468 75	2 13
	" No town"	voted not to value.
830	Mendon ,	762,548 05	4 01
508	Millbury	375,540 00	2 10
408	Milford	290,264 00	1 64
193	New Braintree	305,296 00	1 43
231	Northbridge	209,655 00	1 10

118 STATE VALUATION.

COUNTY OF WORCESTER— Continued.

Polls.	Towns.	Pay , , inciu Aggregates. ^^ j	on ^1000 iding Polls I 1-4 mill each.
283	Northboro'	261,016 50	1 37
380	North Brookfield	304,245 75	1 66
240	Oakham	230,579 83	1 20
491	Oxford, including Gores	594,038 20	2 92
175	Paxton	143,284 66	77
448	Petersham	444,605 50	2 30
261	Phillipston	260,372 50	1 34
313	Princeton	348,293 00	1 74
328	Royalston	340,598 00	1 74
331	Rutland	371,141 83	1 86
383	Southbridge	314,312 00	1 70
289	Southboro'	236,633 00	1 29
375	Shrewsbury	325,169 66	1 73
426	Spencer	391,959 00	2 07
471	Sterling	411,748 75	2 20
431	Sturbridge	461,710 00	2 34
467	Sutton	491,953 00	2 51
418	Templeton	378,358 00	2:01
302	Upton	278,514 58	1 46
440	Uxb ridge	607,921 50	2 93
172	Ward	162,592 00	85
378	Westborough	324,608 75	1 74
245	West Boylston	230,620 50	1 20
311	Western	312,936 00	1 62
430	Westminster	339,006 00	1 85
361	Winchendon	329,335 75	1 72
1231	Worcester, including an unincorporated tract
	adjoining	2,357,896 30	10 73

21,850

;^2 1,1 66,640 68 |fl09 77

STATE VALUATION. 119

COUNTY OF HAMPSHIRE.

Polls	Towns. 1	Pay Aggregates, '"^l'	on 51000 uding Polls 1 1-4 mill each.
605	Amherst	458,248 75	2 54
643	Belchertown	408,075 75	2 40
290	Cummington	217,149 38	1 20
325	Chesterfield	217,537 50	1 27
242	Enfield	192,083 00	1 05
168	Easthampton	107,048 25	63
149	Goshen	113,679 00	63
266	Granby	191,309 00	1 07
191	Greenwich	119,700 00	70
233	Hatfield	319,379 16	1 54
443	Hadley	345,217 33	1 90
206	Middlefield	166,343 00	90
186	Norwich	131,426 00	74
856	Northampton	805,245 50	4 22
248	Plainfield	181,674 00	1 02
222	Pelham	151,373 25	87
174	Prescott	120,991 00	69
317	Southampton	201,133 00	1 18
288	South Hadley	188,047 00	1 09
274	Worthington	261,608 00	1 36
209	Westhampton	163,524 00	89
342	Williamsburg	252,018 50	1 41
470	Ware	290,445 50	1 72
7347	^5,603,255 87 ^	^31 02

120 STATE VALUATION.

COUNTY OF HAMPDEN

		Pa3	f on ;gI00O
		. , inc	lading Polls
Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. ^^	1 1-4 mill each.
402	Blandford	331,579 00	1 79
387	Brimfield	403,732 00	2 05
355	Chester	213,153 65	1 27
379	Granville	277,358 00	1 56
116	Holland	82,941 00	47
305	Ludlow	285,423 08	1 49
327	Long Meadow	300,172 50	1 58
171	Montgomery	73,184 00	50
634	Monson	459,519 00	2 46
285	Palmer	256,428 00	1 36
126	Russell	74,005 67	45
333	Southwick	255,447 00	1 41
1522	Springfield	1,594,529 25	8 12
175	Tolland	124,943 00	71
780	West Springfield	781,840 75	4 02
676	Westfield	559,865 80	3 02
156	Wales	120,180 50	67
468	Wilbraham	354,040 00	1 95
7497	;^6,548,342 20	$3^ 88
	COUNTY OF	FRANKLIN.
403	Ashfield	280,808 91	1 60
240	Buckland	151,507 50	89
217	Bernardston	186,046 75	97
244	Charlemont	157,808 00	92
459	Coleraine	331,327 60	1 87

STATE VALUATION. 121

COUNTY OF YRANKLIN— Continued.

Pay on glOCO

T. 11 m t . incIudiiiD; Polls

Polls. Towns. Aggregates. ^t i i.^n^ni

each.

388	Conway	400,256 00	2 05
460	Deerfield	525,162 72	2 63
194	Gill	148,085 00	82
374	Greenfield	429,993 50	2 15
265	Havvley	143,169 00	89
285	Heath	166,300 21	1 00
96	Irving's Grant	40,282 50	28
183	Leyden	114,850 00	67
214	Leverett	126,558 00	77
73	Monroe	31,108 50	21
274	Montague	167,537 00	99
434	New Salem	276,574 00	1 62
435	Northfield	403,922 25	2 12
214	Orange	197,889 00	1 04
193	Rowe	102,441 00	64
246	Shelburne	206,910 40	1 11
153	Sunderland	157,978 17	81
227	Shutesbury	129,681 00	79
297	Whately	206,858 54	1 18
214	Wendell	140,642 25	81
275	Warwick	228,602 20	1 23
7057	^5,452,300 00	^30 06
	COUNTY	OF NORFOLK.
265	Bellinghani	217,877 33	1 18
483	Braintree	308,749 14	1 83
240	Brookline	552,326 50	2 46
375	Canton	347,465 50	1 82

16

122 STATE VALUATION.

COUNTY OF NOHYOLK— Continued.

		Pai	/ on glOOO
		. , inc	luding Polls
Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. ^	I 1 1-4 mill each.
3J1	Cohasset	250,115 05	1 36
802	Dedham	937,166 50	4 65
942	Dorchester	1,136,129 08	5 61
140	Dover	143,023 25	73
267	Foxboro'	161,993 00	97
882	Franklin	343,124 00	1 81
446	Medway	347,867 50	1 91
188	Medfield	189,649 00	98
398	Milton	462,370 95	2 31
344	Needham	261,566 00	1 46
564	Quincy	528,891 25	2 77
591	Randolph	419,612 50	2 38
1478	Roxbury	1,805,617 50	8 89
255	Sharon	227,693 42	1 20
457	S tough ton	277,146 91	1 65
731	Weymouth	512,088 05	2 91
357	"Walpole	296,739 16	1 53
621	Wrentham	501,899 50	2 74
10637	^10,229,111 09	;?53 15
	COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE.
135	Alford	77,759 33	47
693	Adams	461,719 07	2 67
285	Becket	163,583 15	99
15	Boston Corner,	unincor-
	porated	4,000 00	03

STATE VALUATION. 123

COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE— CowimwecZ.

Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. '"^',	,' on glOOO utling Polls , 1 1-4 mill each.
254	Cheshire	269,938 75	1 37
81	Clarksburg	30,675 50	22
199	Dalton	183,151 50	96
244	Egremont	159,762 62	93
113	Florida	42,019 00	30
581	Great Barrington	400,267 00	2 30
207	Hinsdale	160,727 62	88
265	Hancock	228,565 75	1 22
425	Lee	293,141 00	1 67
334	Lenox	260,685 28	1 43
284	Lanesborough	303,705 20	1 54
102	Mount Washington	49, 589 12	32
405	New Marlborough	269,793 00	1 56
73	New Ashford	51,856 75	29
233	Otis	118,226 00	75
844	Pittsfield	643,944 75	3 57
181	Peru	142,018 50	78
220	Richmond	196,418 50	1 04
550	Sheffield	456,760 00	2 46
223	Savoy	83,250 50	60
417	Sandisfield	333,522 00	1 83
3	Unincorporated land ad-
	joining	6,074 00	3
364	Stockbridge	323,795 60	1 73
341	Tyringham	182,009 50	1 13
259	Windsor	149,070 00	90
330	West Stockbridge	175,471 60	1 09
183	Washington	85,973 00	56
488	Williamstown	414,802 75	2 24

124 STATE VALUATION.

COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE— Continued.

Polls.	Towns, •	Pay on glOOO A . inciudinff Polls Aggregates. ^^ j ^.f^ii, each.
14	Gore West of same	12,372 00	6
30	Zoar, unincorporated	10,000 00	8
9375	^6,744,648 34	;^38 00
	COUNTY OF BRISTOL.
748	Attleborough	547,448 00	3 07
208	Berkley	145,686 75	82
889	Dartmouth	660,589 68	3 69
399	Dighton	268,647 49	1 54
473	Easton	340,036 75	1 91
697	Fairhaven	703,719 75	3 62'
439	Freetown	302,675 42	1 73
269	Mansfield	202,659 00	1 13
1746	New Bedford	3,257,097 40	14 85
341	Norton	379,568 75	1 92
335	Pawtucket	251,510 95	1 40
278	Rajnham	209,316 75	1 17
565	Rehoboth	414,442 00	2 33
482	Seekonk	323,304 26	1 86
235	Somerset	178,881 00	99
384	Swanzey	275,696 25	1 55
1445	Taunton	1,450,323 23	1 46
956	Troy	932,060 50	4. 82
638	Westport	503,272 40	2 76
11527	^11,346,916 33	^58 62

STATE VALUATION. 125

COUNTY OF BARNSTABLE.

		Pay on 51OOO
Polls.	Towns.	Aggregates. '	Deluding Polls at 1 1-4 mill each.
914	Barnstable	546,449 09	3 27
327	Brewster	173,735 47	1 08
490	Chatham	209,646 30	1 43
579	Dennis	250,664 91	1 70
222	Eastham	82,194 33	60
634	Falmouth	562,878 66	2 99
566	Harwich	160,824 66	1 33
442	Orleans	134,999 82	1 08
457	Provincetown	192,015 00	1 32
774	Sandwich	638,294 44	3 46
419	Truro	106,016 50	93
515	Wellfleet	124,374 52	1 13
523	Yarmouth	317,906 30	1 89
6862	;^3,500,000 00	;^22 21
	COUNTY OF DUKES.
185	Chilmark	183,364 75	0 95
490	Edgartown	178,305 00	1 31
347	Tisbury	172,497 00	1 10
1022	^534,166 75	$3 36

COUNTY OF NANTUCKET.

1656 Nantucket ^3,895,288 40 ^17 25

126 STATE VALUATION.

COUNTY OF PLYMOUTH.

Polls;	Towns.	P?3 incl Aggregates. ^^	, on glOOO ludiiig Polls 1 1-4 mill each.
680	Abington	359,082 75	2 26
440	Bridgewater	347,786 87	1 90
254	Carver	153,085 25	92
622	Duxbury	449,113 30	2 53
409	East Bridgewater	265,018 16	1 52
237	Hanson	164,427 25	94
879	Hmgham	641,907 27	3 60
46	Hull	58,100 85	29
219	Hanover	254,178 33	1 26
195	Halifax	117,330 36	70
343	Kingston	277,477 50	1 51
398	Marshfield	351,022 25	1 87
1311	Middleboro'	789,309 17	4 72
463	North Bridgewater	■ 272,972 97	1 64
456	Pembroke	236,505 35	1 36
1093 231 818	Plymouth Plympton Rochester	1,025,767 50 133,677 75 464,077 61	5 36 81 2 83
798	Scituate	681,573 25	3 66
434	Wareham	315,828 00	I 77
240	West Bridgewater	218,690 32	1 15
10466	$7,576,932 06	^42 60

AGGREGATES.

127

COUNTY AGGREGATES, &c.
Counties.	Polls, 1831.	Aggregate 1831.	Proportion of glOOO.
Suffolk	14,307	80,244,261 25	330 51
Essex	20,664	24,335,935 57	120 64
Middlesex	20,324	21,182,609 00	107 93
Worcester	21,850	21,166,640 68	109 77
HaQipshire	7,347	5,603,255 87	31 02
Hampden	7,497	6,548,342 20	34 88
Franklin	7,057	5,452,300 00	30 06
Berkshire	9,375	6,744,648 34	38 00
Bristol	11,527	11,346,916 33	58 62
Norfolk	10,637	10,229,111 09	53 15
Barnstable	6,862	3,500,000 00	22 21
Dukes	1,022	534,166 75	3 36
Nantucket	1,656	3,895,288 40	17 25
Plymouth	10,466	7,576,932 06	42 60

150,591 ^208,360,407 54 ^1000 00

CHAP. XXXIX.

Resolve appointing Messrs Adams and Hudson, Publish- ers of the Laws.

March 7, 1832.

Resolved, That Messrs Adams and Hudson, be, and they are hereby appointed, publishers of the Laws and Resolves, and other Acts of the Legislature of this

128 MESSAGE.

Commonwealth, with authority officially to promulgate the same in the Columbian Centinel and New England Palladium Newspapers, published in the city of Boston, for one year from the first day of February A. D. 1832, and until another publisher of the laws shall be appoint- ed in their stead. Provided, the said Adams and Hud- son, cause the said Laws, Resolves and Acts, to be pub- lished in a faithful manner and with all reasonable de- spatch.

Be it further Resolved, That the compensation which shall and may be allowed, to said Adams and Hudson, for publishing as aforesaid, shall not exceed the usual rate of compensation heretofore granted for similar services.

CHAP. XL.

CONFIDENTIAL.

To the Honorable Senate and

House of Representatives :

The accompanying communication from the Governor of Maine, with a copy of resolutions adopted by the Legislature of that State, on the subject of the territory in "controversy between the United States and Great Britain, on our North Eastern Border, and involving questions of state sovereignty, and the especial right of property, which this Commonwealth claims in the soil of the disputed country, are herewith submitted to

OSEE ADAMS. 129

you, for that advice and action thereon, on the part of this Government, which is the expressed object of their transmission to me.

LEVI LINCOLN.

State House, Boston, March 7, 1832.

CHAP XLI.

Resolve in favor of O see Adams and Tho. Durkee.

March 8, 1832.

On the petition of Osee Adams and Thomas Durkee, prajing that they may be reimbursed by the Common- wealth for expenses incurred by them in prosecuting cer- tain persons for violating two graves, removing the re- mains of said Durkee's daughter from one of said graves, and the remains of said Adams' brother from the other.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid, out of the Treasury of the Commonwealth, to Osee Adams the sum of eighty dollars and forty two cents, and to Thomas Durkee the sum of eighty nine dollars and thirty three cents, for the reasons above set forth : and His Excellen- cy the Governor, with the advice of the Council, is here- by authorized and requested to draw his warrant accord- ingly-

17

ISO STATE PRISON.

CHAP. XLII.

Resolve in relation to the State Prison.

March 9, 1832.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Council, be and he is hereby authorized and requested to cause such additions to be made to, and such alterations within the Warehouse at the State Prison, in Charlestown, as will render it a convenient building for the residence of the Warden, and to draw his warrant, on the treasurer of the Commonwealth, for a sum not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars to de- fray the expenses thereof.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, with advice of the Council, be, and he is hereby author ized and requested to draw his warrant on the treasurer of this Commonwealth, in favor of the warden of the State Prison, for such sum or sums as may be necessary to pay the deficit in the income of the prison for the year ending the first day of October last, and to defray the contingent expenses of the prison for the present year, not exceeding in the whole the sum of one thou- sand dollars.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid to Jared Curtis, the chaplain of the State Prison, out of the trea- sury of this Commonwealth, the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, as additional compensation for his ser- vices from the first day of October last to the first day of April next, if he should so long discharge those duties, and the Governor with advice of the Council is request- ed to draw his warrant accordingly.

GURDON STEELE. 131

CHAP. XLIII.

Resolve on Petition of Nathan Harding.

March 9, 1832.

Resolved, that, for reasons set forth in said petition, there be allowed and paid to Nathan Harding of Well- fleet, in the county of Barnstable, the sum of one hun- dred dollars, for services rendered by him to his country during the war of independence ; and that His Excellen- cy the Governor, by and with the advice of the Council, is requested to draw his warrant on the treasurer for the abovementioned sum.

CHAP. XLIV.

Resolve in favor of Gurdon Steele. March 9, 1832.

On the petition of Gurdon Steele, praying that a re- ward may be allowed and paid him for prosecuting one Orange Fifield in the city of Boston, for altering and pas- sing certain bills of the North Bank.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid, out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth, to Gurdon Steele, for the reasons above set forth, the sum of sixty dollars ; and His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Council, is hereby authorized and requested to draw his warrant accordingly.

132 COUNTY TAXES.

CHAP. XLV.

Resolve granting Taxes for the several Counties. March 9, 1832.

Whereas the treasurers of the following counties have laid their accounts before the Legislature, which ac- counts have been examined and allowed, and the clerks of the county commissioners for the said counties have exhibited estimates, made by said commissioners, of the necessary charges which may arise within their respec- tive counties, for the year ensuing, and of the sums ne- cessary to discharge the debts of said counties :

Resolved^ That the sums annexed to the several coun- tieSjUn^the following schedule, be, and the same here- by are granted, as a tax for each county respectively, to be apportioned, assessed, paid, collected, and applied, for the purposes aforesaid, according to law, viz. :

The county of Norfolk, thirteen thousand dol- lars, ;^13,000

The county of Hampshire, seven thousand five

hundred dollars, .... 7,500

The county of Plymouth, six thousand five

hundred dollars, ... . • 6,500

The county of Worcester, sixteen thousand

dollars, . . . . . 16,000

The county of Franklin, six thousand dollars, 6,000

The county of Berkshire, eight thousand dol- lars, 8,000

The county of Barnstable, four thousand three

hundred dollars, .... 4,300

JOHN S. TYLER. 133

The county of Dukes County, seven hundred

and fifty dollars, .... 750

The county of Hampden, six thousand dollars, 6,000

The county of Essex, fifteen thousand dollars, 15,000 The county of Middlesex, fourteen thousand

dollars, ..... 14,000 The county of Bristol, fourteen thousand dol- lars, ..... 14,000

CHAP. XLVI.

Resolve on the petition of John S. Tyler, Guardian. March 13, 1832.

On the petition of John S. Tyler, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, gentleman, in his capacity of guardian to his brothers, George P. Tyler, Charles T. Tyler, Thomas P. Tyler, and Abiel W. Tyler, mmors, under the age of twenty -one years, children of Royall Tyler, Esq. deceased, and dwelling in Brattleborough, in the state of Vermont.

Resolved, for reasons in said petition set forth, that the said John S. Tyler, as guardian as aforesaid be, and he hereby is authorized and empowered, to make, sign, seal and deliver, and duly acknowledge one or more deed or deeds, wherein and wherebv to alien, bargain, sell and convey, unto Samuel Hammond, of said Bos- ton, merchant, or to such other person or persons, as he, the said John S. Tyler, shall think proper, all the legal title, interest, and estate of said minor children, in and to their respective shares, as tenants in common, with

134 JOHN S. TYLER.

other children of the said Royall Tjler, Esq. in certain lands and tenements situate in said Boston, and bounded and described as follows : southerly by North Market street, there measuring Tabout forty feet, westerly by Conduit alley, so called, as the same was laid out in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and twenty-three, and land at that time used as a public highway, there mea- suring about forty-two feet, northerly by the front line of the above named Samuel Hammond's warehouse, as the said warehouse stood in the said year of our Lord eigh- teen hundred and twenty-three, there measuring about forty-feet, and easterly on other land now in the posses- sion of the said Samuel Hammond, there measuring about forty-two feet, of which described premises the said minors are in said petition stated to be seized and entitled to four undivided tenth parts of eight undivided thirty-sixth parts. Provided ahvmjs, That before the said John S. Tyler, as such guardian, shall execute any deeds pursuant to the authority hereby given, he shall make and execute in due form of law, a bond, with suffi- cient suretfes or surety, (to the acceptance of the Judge of Probate of the county of Suffolk,) to the said judge, in such penalty as the said judge may require, with condition that the said John S. Tyler shall well and truly account for the purchase money which he may receive as the consideration for the conveyance of the said shares of said minors ;— and which condition shall be in the like form which is required by law, and to the same effect as when guardians are empowered by the judicial courts to make sale of the real estate of minors.

LUCY SAWYER. 135

CHAP. XLYII.

CONFIDENTIAL MESSAGE.

To the Honorable Senate, and

House of Representatives :

I hasten to convey to the Legislature information that I am officially advised by His Excellency the Gov- ernor of Maine, that the injunction of secrecy imposed by the Legislature of that State upon their proceedings in relation to the Territory North and East of the Rivers St. John's and St. Francis, confidentially communicated to this Government, has been removed.

LEVI LINCOLN.

Council Chamber, March 13, 1832,

CHAP. XLVIIL

Resolve authorizing Lucy Sawyer to sell and convey certain real estate.

March 14, 1832.

On the petition of Lucy Sawyer, administratrix of the estate of Amory Sawyer, late of Berlin, in the coun- ty of Worcester, deceased, and of William Sawyer of said Berlin, praying that said administratrix may be li- censed to sell certain real estate of said deceased to said William,

136 PUBLIC LANDS.

Resolved, That said Lucy Sawyer be, and she hereby is authorized and empowered, as administratrix as afore- said, to sell at public or private sale, and to convey to said William Sawyer his heirs and assigns about ninety-one rods of land situated in said Berlin, bounded southeaster- ly on the county road leading from Berlin to Boylston, southwesterly on land of James Goddard, and otherwise on land of Jonathan D. Meriam ; and such conveyance made by the said Lucy Sawyer by virtue of this Resolve shall operate as a good and valid conveyance of the premises : Provided, that said Lucy Sawyer be held to answer and account for the proceeds of such sale as ad- ministratrix as aforesaid.

CHAP. XLIX.

Resolve relative to the Sale of Public Lands.

March 14. 1832.

The Committee on public lands to whom was referred so much of His Excellency's message of the 9th ult. as relates to an extension of authority to the Land Agent for selling the lands in the State of Maine belonging to this Commonwealth, have attended to the duty assigned them and respectfully report the following resolve.

A. H. EVERETT, Chairman.

Resolved, That the Land Agent be and he is hereby authorized and empowered to sell the townships of land belonging to this Commonwealth situate and lymg in

PAY OF CLERKS. 137

the State of Maine South of the Monument line and North and North west of Bingham's Kennebec purchase, and to make and execute good and sufficient deeds of the same, and of such other lands in said State of Maine as this Commonwealth is holden to convey by the terms of any previous contract. Provided, however^ that the aggregate of sales authorized by this resolve shall not exceed the number of six townships.

CHAP. L.

Resolve for the pay of the Clerks of the Legislaturet March 14, 1832.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth, to the clerk of the Senate, eight dollars per day ; to the clerk of the House of Represen- tatives ten dollars per day ; and to the Assistant Clerk of the Senate six dollars per day, for each and every day's attendance they have been or may be employed in that capacity during the present session of the Legislature ; and that there be further paid to the clerk of the Senate, and the clerk of the House of Representatives one hun- dred dollars each for copying the Journals for the Libra- ry, as required by the orders of the two branches of the Legislature : and His Excellency the Governor is re- quested to draw his warrant accordingly. 18

138 LEVI PARSONS.

CHAP. LI.

Resolve for Contingent Funds.

March 14, 1832.

Resolved, that there be allowed and paid, out of the public treasury, to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, such sums of money, as, from time to time, shall appear to His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of Council, to be necessary for the service of the govern- ment, and to be disposed of as the Governor and Council may direct ; the amount thereof not to exceed one thou- sand dollars ; and the Secretary shall account to the Le- gislature for the same ; and His Excellency the Govern- or is authorized to draw his warrant therefor.

CHAP. LH.

Resolve on the Petition of Levi Parsons.

March 14, 1832.

On the petition of Levi Parsons of Conway in the county of Franklin, praying for authority to sell and con- vey certain real estate held by him and his wife for the term of their lives, and the life of the survivor, and the remainder in fee by his children, some of whom are mi- nors ; and invest the proceeds thereof in other real es- tate of equal value in the territory of Michigan.

LEVI PARSONS. 139

Resolved, for the reasons set forth in the said petition, that the said Levi Parsons and Philinda Parsons his wife and the survivor of them be, and they are hereby author- ized and empowered, to sell at public auction or private sale, and make and execute good and sufficient deed or deeds to convey, the farm of land in said Conway on which they now live, and which, by the last will and testament of Joel Parsons late of said Conway, deceas- ed, was devised to them the said Levi and Philinda for their lives, and the life of the survivor of them ; and the remainder to Frederick Parsons, Joel C. Parsons, Juliann Parsons, Nancy Parsons, Dwight Parsons, Franklin Par- sons, Samuel W. Parsons, Ruth Parsons, Philander Par- sons, and Louis Parsons, children of the said Levi and Philinda in fee ; provided the said children shopld, in one year after the decease of the said Joel, pay to Laura Root his daughter two hundred dollars, and to Jonathan Root his grandson, one hundred dollars, which deed, so execu- ted by the said Levi and Philinda, or the survivor of them, shall have the full effect to pass to the purchaser or purchasers, his or their heirs and assigns forever, all the right, title and estate which the said Joel held in the premises at his decease ; the said Levi and Philinda, be- fore making such conveyance, and before the expiration of one year from the decease of the said Levi, paying to the said Laura the said sum of two hundred dollars, and to the said Jonathan the said sum of one hundred dollars; and the said Levi, or in case of his decease before the execution of the power herein granted, the said Philinda, first giving bond to the judge of probate for said county of Franklin, in a sum to be approved of him with one or more surety or sureties of sufficient ability, to invest the avails of the said sale, after deducting the amount so paid to the said Laura and Jonathan, in real estate, in the

140 MARGARET B. ELIOT.

territory of Michigan, taking to them the said Levi and Philinda an estate therein for their lives and the life of the survivor, and to their said children an estate in remain- der in fee simple. Provided those of their said children, who are of competent age to make a deed, shall first, by an instrument or instruments in writing, under their hands and seals, duly acknowledged as their deed, and record- ed in the Registry of Deeds for said county of Franklin, declare their approbation and acceptance of this Resolve.

CHAP. LIII.

Resolve authorising Margaretta B. Eliot to convey real

estate.

March 14, 1832.

On the Petition of Margaretta B. Eliot of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, Guardian of Samuel Eliot, Will- iam P. Eliot and Margaret B. Eliot minor children of William H. Eliot, late of said Boston Esquire, deceased, and for the reasons therein set forth :

Resolved, That the said Margaretta B. Eliot, guardian as aforesaid, be and she hereby is authorized and empow- ered to convey by her deed to the Proprietors of Tre- mont House, a corporation established by the Legislature of this Commonwealth, all the right, title, interest and es- tate of said minor children in and to the land and buil- dings situate in said Boston commonly known as and call- ed Tremont House, and to receive therefor and as the full consideration of said conveyance, to hold as guardian of

PUBLIC LANDS. 141

«aid minors stock in the said corporation to the amount of and in proportion to the share of said land and buildings so by her conveyed to said corporation : Provided the said guardian shall first give bond with sureties sufficient and satisfactory to the Judge of Probate for the county of Suffolk, for the faithful performance of all things usu- ally required by law in like cases.

CHAP. LIV.

Resolve relative to the sale, disposition, and management of the Public Lands.

March 14, 1832.

The joint committee on public lauds, to whom was referred the report of the commissioners of this Com- monwealth, and of the State of Maine, appointed for the purpose of agreeing upon a system for the sale, disposi- tion, and management of the public lands belonging to this Commonwealth and the said State, have examined said report, and recommend the adoption of the follow- ing resolve.

Which is respectfully submitted,

A. H. EVERETT, Chairman.

Resolved, That the agreement reported by said Com- missioners be, and the same is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed. And His Excellency the Governor is requested to transmit a copy of this resolve to the Gov- ernor of the State of Maine.

142 STATE HOUSE.

CHAP. LV.

Resolve in relation to the procuring of an uniform system of Bankruptcy, by the Congress of the United States.

March 14, 1832.

Resolved, That the Senators of this Commonwealth in Congress be, and they hereby are instructed, and the Representatives of the several districts be, and they hereby are requested, to promote the passage of a law, at the present session of Congress, providing for the es- tablishment of an uniform system of bankruptcy.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be, and he hereby is requested to cause to be forwarded, to each of the Senators and to each of the Representatives of this Commonwealth in Congress, an attested copy of the foregoing resolution.

CHAP. LVI.

Resolve for the pay of the Superintendant of Repairs on the State House.

March 14, 1832.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth, to the Hon. Charles Wells, in full for his services as superintendant of repairs on the dome and pediment cornice of the State House,

OLIVER WETHERBY. 143

and also as superintendant of the erection of the fire proof edifice on the northern front of the State House, the sum of six hundred and twenty-five dollars ; and His Excellency the Governor is hereby authorized and requested to draw his warrant accordingly.

CHAP. LVH.

Resolve in favor of Oliver Wetherhy. March 15, 1832.

On the petition of Oliver Wetherby, praying that he may be reimbursed for a loss sustained by him in fulfill- ing a contract for furnishing lumber for the Lunatic Hos- pital, in the town of Worcester.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the Treasury of this Commonwealth, to Oliver Wetherby, for reasons set forth in his petition, the sum of one thou- sand and eighty-eight dollars, and His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Council, is hereby au- thorized and requested to draw his warrant accordingly.

144 CHARLES EWEK,

CHAP, LVHL

Resolve on the petition of Charles Ewer, March 15, 1832.

The Joint Committee on public lands, to whom was referred the petition of Charles Ewer, representing that he purchased seven hundred acres of land of this Com- monwealth in township No. 3, on the West side of Pe- nobscot River by deed dated 24th January, 1828, and that, in consequence of an uncertainty as to the North and South lines of said township, the land sold him is claimed by the Trustees of the Maine Literary and The- ological Institution, he is unable to obtain possession of the^land conveyed to him, and prays to be remunerated for the damages he has sustained.

The Committee have examined the documents pre- • sented, from which it appears probable, that an error exists in identifying the lines of said township, and that