CHAP. LXXVII.

Resolve granting One Hundred and Fifty Dollars to repair the Meeting House, of the Herring Pond Tribe of Indians, in the Town of Plymouth. January 29th, 1820.

Resolved, That there be appropriated from the Treasury of this Commonwealth, the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, for the purpose of repairing the Meeting House of the Herring Pond Tribe of Indians, so called, in Plymouth, to be expended under the direction of the Overseers of the Mashpee and Herring Pond Tribes; whose account for the expenditure of the same shall be audited, adjusted and transmitted in the same manner as is provided in the seventh section of an act in addition to the several acts respecting the Indians and other persons, proprietors and residents on the Plantations of Mashpee and Herring Pond, so called," passed on the eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen:

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be requested to draw his warrant on the Treasurer, in favor of said Overseers, for the sum mentioned in the foregoing resolve.

CHAP. LXXVIII.

Resolve on the Memorial of the Corporation of the Trustees of Leicester Academy, in the County of Worcester. January 31st, 1820.

Whereas the Trustees of Leicester Academy, in the County of Worcester, in their corporate capacity, by their memorial, presented to this Legislature, have represented the occasion of aid to the funds of that institution, and have also represented that there is a tract of land situated in the Town of Holden, in said County of Worcester, and particularly described in said memorial, which was heretofore duly confiscated as the estate of William Brattle, an absentee, and subsequently sold by Commissioners on behalf of the Commonwealth, who executed a deed thereof to one Pierre

Matthieu Andre; and that the said land, for nearly forty years, has been taxed in said Town of Holden, as the "French Land," owned by a non resident proprietor, and the taxes paid by timber and wood cut annually from the land; that the said Pierre Matthieu Andre, at the time of the conveyance of said land to him, was a native of France, to which country he immediately thereafter returned, and has not since been heard from; and that there is no person known who claims, by title, to be proprietor of said land, but that the same has escheated to this Commonwealth : And the said Trustees, upon this representation, have petitioned that this Legislature would authorize the Attorney or Solicitor General in the name of the Commonwealth, but at the expense of the Trustees, to institute an inquest of office, or other legal process, to obtain a judgment of law for the recovery of said land, to the intent that the same may be granted to the Corporation of said Trustees of Leicester Academy, in aid of the funds of that institution :

Resolved, For reasons set forth in said memorial, that the Attorney and Solicitor General, or either of them, are directed to institute an inquest of office, or such other legal process as they shall judge proper, in the name of the Commonwealth, for the recovery of the tract of land described in said memorial.

CHAP. LXXIX.

Resolve on the petition of the Proprietors of Sandy Bay Pier. January 31st, 1820.

On the petition of the Proprietors of Sandy Bay Pier: Resolved, That the Commissioners of the Land Office be, and they hereby are authorized and empowered to locate the township of land granted to said proprietors, by a resolve of the sixteenth of June last, (for the purpose of repairing and improving the Pier and Basin, at Sandy Bay, in the Town of Gloucester,) on the township number five, in the third range of townships, north of Bingham's Kennebec Purchase, through which the new road, commonly called the Canada road, extends, with the usual reservation for public lots: Provided,

the said grantees shall first give satisfactory security to said Commissioners, to pay to the Commonwealth the sum of five hundred dollars, to reimburse that amount of the expenses of surveying said township, and making the aforesaid road through the same; two hundred dollars thereof, with interest, in six months, and the residue in eighteen months, from the passing of this resolve; and keep the whole of said road which extends through said township, and that part thereof which extends from the extreme northerly part of said township to the Canada line, (so long as the Commonwealth shall retain their interest therein) and the causeways and bridges the same distance, in suitable repair for travellers and droves, and place thirty families on said township within three years, of the description in the act for promoting the sale and settlement of the public lands in the District of Maine.

CHAP. LXXX.

Resolve relative to proposed Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. January 31st, 1820.

The Committee to whom so much of His Excellency's Message was committed, as relates to a communication from the Governor of the State of South Carolina, upon the subject of an amendment to the constitution of the United States, "to establish an uniform mode of electing Electors of President and Vice President of the United States," proposed by the State of North Carolina, and rejected by the Legislature of South Carolina; and also so much of His Excellency's Message as relates to a communication from the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, respecting an amendment of the constitution of the United States, proposed by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, in the words following, viz. "Congress shall make no law to erect or incorporate any bank or other monied institution, except within the District of Columbia; and every bank, or other monied institution, which shall be established by the authority of Congress, shall, together with its branches, and offices of discount and deposit, be confined to the District of Columbia ;" have had those subjects under consideration, and ask leave to report:

That the Legislature of Massachusetts, having heretofore considered the amendment of the constitution of the United States, proposed by the State of North Carolina, to which the communication of the Governor of South Carolina has allusion, and by resolve passed on the ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, expressed their approbation of said amendment, as modified in said resolve, and the doings in this behalf having been communicated to the Supreme Executive of the several States in the Union, and to our Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the United States; and as no reason occurs to your Committee for doubting the correctness of the opinion expressed in said resolve, it is inexpedient, in the opinion of your Committee, that any further measures in relation to said amendment, should be taken by this Legislature.

Upon the subject of the amendment of the constitution of the United States proposed by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, in which it appears from a communication made by the Governor of Indiana, that the Legislature of that State has concurred, your Committee report, that they unanimously accord with them in the sentiments expressed in the preamble to the proposed amendment, but with all due respect for the opinion of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, do not agree with them in their conclusion, that the national bank ought to be limited in its operations to the District of Columbia.

If the abuses of a beneficial power, or institution, are to decide and determine their condemnation, there is scarce a source of public prosperity, or the exercise of a necessary and useful power which will not be speedily closed and terminated. We have nothing unmixed, and cannot expect any thing perfect in an imperfect state: A portion of evil or inconvenience attends every good thing; and all power capable of being beneficially exercised, will, in the nature of things, be susceptible of abuse. In the opinion of your Committee, a national bank, with branches, located in the various parts of the United States, where large portions of the public revenue are collected, and the interest of the public debt is paid, greatly aids the government in the prosperous and successful administration of its finances, and is productive of much more good than mischief: and that a bank limited in its operations to the District of Columbia, as contemplated

in the proposed amendment, would be wholly inadequate to the exigencies of the national government. Your Committee therefore report the following resolves.

ARTEMAS WARD, Chairman.

Resolved, That the amendment to the constitution of the United States, proposed by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, in the words following, viz.: "Congress shall make no law to erect or incorporate any bank, or other monied institution, except within the Dictrict of Columbia; and every bank, or other monied institution, which shall be established by the authority of Congress, shall, together with its branches and offices of deposit and discount, be confined to the District of Columbia," should it become a part of the constitution of the United States, would not be salutary in its operation; and that our Senators and Representatives, in the Congress of the United States, be requested to use their endeavors to prevent such an amendment.

Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be requested to forward a copy of the preceding resolution to the Supreme Executive of the State of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Executive of the State of Indiana, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the United States.

CHAP. LXXXI.

Resolve on the petition of Jonathan Peirce and Jonathan S. Peirce. February 2d, 1820.

On the petition of Jonathan Peirce and Jonathan S. Peirce, praying to be remunerated for expenses incurred by them in procuring the attendance of witnesses in behalf of the Commonwealth, on indictments against William Peirce and Naphtali Newhall, at the Supreme Judicial Court, held at Worcester, in April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen :

Resolved, That, for the reasons set forth in said petition, the sum of one hundred dollars be, and hereby is granted to