John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 24 March 1804
John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams
24. March. 1804.
An attempt was made this morning to postpone the adjournment for two days—from the 26th: (Monday next) to Wednesday the 28th:— The motion however was rejected.— Next came a motion to meet tomorrow. yeas 3. nays about 20.— The motion to protract, will probably be renewed on Monday; but I believe without success.
A bill has pass’d the Senate, the object of which is to abandon the further building of the Capitol; to remove the place of Session of Congress to the President’s House, and to purchase or hire a house for the President—1
A motion was some ten days ago offered to the Senate for consideration, to have the proceedings on the Impeachment of J. Pickering together with the documents filed in the cause, printed, as an Appendix to the Journals of the Session— It [was] this morning called up for consideration, and a majority voted not to t[. . . .]2 This aversion to have the proceedings printed, is not without its rew[ard]3
You were lucky, in having disqualified yourself to act as Counsel for my friend Mr: […] I dissuaded him as much as I could from proceeding in his action— He had once by my advice referr’d the matter to arbitration— The report of the referees was against him; but it was informal. I never expected he would succeed better before the Supreme Court, and so advised him— His cause was at the best, questionable, and had you acted as his Counsel, you would have felt the discouraging influence of the doubtful circumstances of the case— So I hope you will come on the tapis, with a more propitious introduction.
We have debated untill this moment (past 5. o’clock P.M— A hungry hour) on the bill further to protect our Commerce in the Mediterranean against the Barbary powers, and to levy an additional tax for the purpose— It has pass’d to the third reading.4
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “Thomas B. Adams Esqr / Quincy. / Massachusetts.”; endorsed: “3d: April Recd:”; notation by JQA: “Free / John Quincy Adams. / S. U. S.” Some loss of text where the seal was removed.
1. Since 1801 the House of Representatives had met in a structure slated to be incorporated into the south wing of the U.S. Capitol. Poor ventilation and other deficiencies led congressmen to refer to it as “the Oven” and press for alternative accommodations. On 24 March 1804 the Senate passed a bill to appropriate $50,000 for the construction of federal buildings, with the amendment JQA described in this letter. The House rejected the amendment the same day, and on 27 March the Senate voted to also drop it; Thomas Jefferson signed the legislation into law the same day. In a related effort Senator Robert Wright of Maryland introduced on 17 March a bill to temporarily move the capital to Baltimore. JQA in a letter to JA of the same date (Adams Papers) predicted the bill would not pass, and in a 19 March letter to William Smith Shaw (MWA:Adams Family Letters) he reported the bill failed in a bid for a third reading. “The Oven” was demolished during the summer, and in the fall the House convened in the north wing of the Capitol (, 34:234–235, 38:569, 42:532–533; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 380, 383, 392, 402; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 655, 686–687; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 298).
2. Approximately three words missing.
3. A 14 March motion to print the Senate’s impeachment trial of Judge John Pickering as an appendix to the Senate’s Journal failed on a voice vote on 24 March (, 8th Cong., 1st sess, p. 376, 392–393).
4. Jefferson, in his 20 March letter to Congress detailing Tripoli’s capture of the U.S. frigate Philadelphia, asked Congress to increase funding for operations against the Barbary States. In response a bill originated in the House of Representatives on 21 March to raise revenues through new import duties. The House passed the bill unanimously on 22 March, the Senate concurred on the 26th with JQA one of five opposed, and Jefferson signed it into law the same day. JQA explained his vote to TBA on 26 March (private owner, 2013), writing that while “chastising the barbarians is in the highest degree laudable,” he voted against the bill because he did “not approve the means, proposed” (, 43:63–64; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 397–398; , 8th Cong., 1st sess., p. 692).