ited States on the iyth day of October, 1791, for
regulating the materials and manner of buildings and improvements on the
lots in the city of Washington, it is provided "that the outer and party
walls of all houses in the said city shall be built of brick or stone;"
and by the third article of the same terms and conditions it is declared
"that the wall of no house shall be higher than 40 feet to the roof in
any part of the city, nor shall any be lower than 35 feet in any of the
avenues;" and

Whereas the above-recited articles were found to impede the settlement
in the city of mechanics and others whose circumstances did not admit of
erecting houses authorized by the said regulations, for which cause the
President of the United States, by a writing under his hand, bearing
date the 25th day of June, 1796, suspended the operation of the said
articles until the first Monday of December, 1800, and the beneficial
effects arising from such suspension having been experienced, it is
deemed proper to revive the same:

Wherefore I, Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, do
declare that the operation of the first and third articles above recited
shall be, and the same is hereby, suspended until the ist day of
January, 1802, and that all the houses which shall be erected in the
said city of Washington previous to the said 1st day of January, 1802,
conformable in other respects to the regulations aforesaid, shall be
considered as lawfully erected, except that no wooden house shall be
erected within 24 feet of any brick or stone house.

Given under my hand this 11th day of March, 1801.

TH. JEFFERSON.

In communicating his first message to Congress, President Jefferson
addressed the following letter to the presiding officer of each branch
of the National Legislature:

DECEMBER 8, 1801.

The Honorable the PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.

SIR: The circumstances under which we find ourselves at this place
rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore practiced of making by
personal address the first communications between the legislative and
executive branches, I have adopted that by message, as used on all
subsequent occasions through the session. In doing this I have had
principal regard to the convenience of the Legislature, to the economy
of their time, to their relief from the embarrassment of immediate
answers on subjects not yet fully before them, and to the benefits
thence resulting to the public affairs. Tru