The PRESIDENT protempore. The document is received, ibe referred to the JtComReconstruction if there be no objection. Mr. WADE. I present the memorial of J. W. Phelps, representing that he has been for many years an owner of real estate in the city and county of Alexandria, which city and county, though rightly belonging to the DistCol, have been transferred to the State of Virginia. He goes on to set forth that the people there have but little confidence in the courts of justice of that State, and that there are other very strong reasons inducing them to desire to get back to the District. Believing that the act of retrocession was unconstitutional, he prays that that act may be annulled and that part of the District reinstated. As there is a bill on that subject before the senate, I move that this memorial lie upon the table. The motion was agreed to. Mr. WADE. I present also a petition numerously signed, from citizens of the U.S. I do not know what part who pray Congress h“1.o To propose for ratification by the several Statesment of the Constitution substantially as follows: “ARTICLE –. No in. among citizens on account of birth, race, color, previous inequality, or previous non-residence beyond the preceding year, shall be madeor recognized by the laws of the U.S., or by the constitution, laws, or municipal regulations of any part thereof. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by legislation. appropriate. ine“q2u. aTlioty remove, by immediate legislation, any such from the DistCol, the Territories, and the ten unrestored States, and to take tahllenseecceusristayroyfmliefea, sluibreerstfyo, rapnedapereo, poerdrteyr, justice, and in the same.” I move the reference of this petition to the ComReconstruction. The motion was agreed to. Mr. WILSON presented the petition of Major General Winfield S. Hancock and other officers of the Army of the U.S., praying for the restoration of the law which allowed 50 cents instead of 30 cents as the commutation price for rations; which was referred to the ComMilAffrs . Mr. POLAND. I present a petition signed by R. G. W. Logan and a large number of other persons, all of whom represent that they have served in the Army of the U.S. in the late rebellion, and that all of them have been sufferers by the loss of property taken for the use of the Army of the U.S., praying for the passage of some law providing a means of compensating them. Similar peti.tions were before the ComJudiciary of the Senate during the last session, and a bill was reported upon that subject, which is now pending. For the present. I move that this petition lie on the table. The motion was agreed to. Mr. POMEROY presented the memorial of B. A. Froiseth, of StPaul, Minnesota, praying for the adoption of a system by law to encourage foreign immigration; which was referred to the ComAg. Mr. COWAN presented the petition of Hack enburg & Co., Reynolds & Fisher, and a large number of ribbon manufacturers, silk throw sters, dyers, dealers, and others interested, praying for such a change in the tariff law as will impose a specific duty on thrown silk and silk cloths of every description, or so much increase the present rate of advalorem duty as shall bear some comparison with the higher cost of labor, and that will maintain in some degree the respectability ardently sought for by the American artisan; which was referred to the ComFinance. He also presented the petition of seamen, firemen, coal passers, and marines who served in the defense of the Union during the rebellion, praying for a bounty of $100 a year or 8 and 1/3rd dollars a month while in the service; which was referred to the ComMilAffrs . Mr. JOHNSON. I present the memorial of John A. Ragan, a native of Georgia, who says that he has discovered a plan to prevent the inundations of the Mississippi river, which consists in making canals of different kinds in different portions of the country connected with the river, and he asks that the U.S. will cause a reconnoissance to be made and appropriate money for that purpose, and to assist also in making the canals. I move its reference to the ComCommerce. The motion was agreed to. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.