Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

to-morrow to present to the Senate what I think are the objections to this measare. I took the bill home with me yesterday evening and intended to examine it with some care. I succeeded in reading it once, but was so much interrupted that I was unable to finish it. I also addressed a note to the Commissioner of the General Land Office requesting a map of the surveys of the State of Kansas, with the different railroads for which grants of land have been made designated thereon, to be sent to me. I have not received that.

I desire now to say to the Senator from Missouri that he is mistaken in supposing that this bill is in the language usually employed in bills granting lands to the States. I think it is not; at least that was my impression when I read the bill yesterday evening; but I do not wish to discuss it now. I think when the Senate come to consider it they will find it to be a measure not meeting with their approval. There are three bills in regard to grants of lands to the State of Kansas now pending, and I think it is about time the Senate should pay a little attention to the grants of public lands to railroads, and I propose when these bills come up, if I have the power, to attract some little attention of the Senate to the question. The lands are going by millions of acres to corporations, and I propose now, before three additional grants are made for roads running parallel within a few miles of each other to a State which has received such enormous grants as the State of Kansas has, to invoke the attention of the Senate.

Mr. POMEROY. There are two observations which I desire to submit in reply to the Senator from Indiana. The first is that there are no grants proposed for three roads running parallel with each other. Second; there are not ten thousand acres of land in the whole grant to this road in my State, and I believe not five thousand. I will leave that point, however, to the report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office when it is received. There are other interests of which I will speak when the bill does come up, that perhaps explain the reason why the Senator from Indiana objects to the bill.

Mr. HENDRICKS. Perhaps I am not exactly accurate in saying that the three roads run parallel with each other. One road runs from Kansas City in a southern direction parallel with a road to which we made a grant of lands two years ago. Another runs from Fort Riley down toward Fort Smith, across one of the roads to which we made a grant two years ago-not exactly parallel, but they are in the same neighborhood, lapping one upon the

other.

Mr. POMEROY. The road of which the Senator speaks from Lawrence has already a grant of public lands.

Mr. HENDRICKS. So I say.

Mr. POMEROY. And the road from Fort Riley has already a grant of lands.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I say so.

Mr. POMEROY. No additional grant is asked for those roads. Then there are no three roads before Congress asking for grants of land.

Mr. HENDRICKS. That question will be pretty fully discussed, I apprehend, when we take the bill. I think it is a grant of pubup lic lands; I do not agree with the Senator in that. If it is not, the bills ought not to have been before the Committee on Public Lands. I know just where the one grant stops and where the other commences. But I am not prepared to discuss the question, and I do not intend to go into it.

Mr. WILSON. Does the Senator from Missouri withdraw his motion?

Mr. HENDERSON. Yes, sir; I withdraw it for the time being, with the single remark that I know but little about these grants, as I said before, and I am sorry that the Senator from Indiana should have suffered himself to get excited on a subject of this sort.

Mr. HENDRICKS. No excitement in the world.

Mr. HENDERSON. The Senator seemed to be very earnest anyhow, if not excited; decidedly so. I was requested by some members from my State in the lower House, particularly by Mr. VAN HORN, from the Kansas City district, who feels very considerable interest in this matter, to urge the bill through the Senate. I did not expect to excite even earnestness in the opposition of any gentleman, because, though, as I have already stated, I know but little about these grants, I am satisfied from the statements made to me that the bill is in the usual form. I have never introduced a bill into this body for the incorporation of a railroad company or asking for a grant of lands for railroad purposes; and although a western mau, I have doubted very much the propriety. of squandering the public lands as I have seen it done. But in all kindness I must submit to the Senator from Indiana, who is a member of the Committee on Public Lands, that I have never known of his opposition to any railroad grant until the present occasion. This is the first one I have ever heard him oppose.

Mr. HENDRICKS. Then I have been unable to attract the attention of the Senator from Missouri. I know that two grants were proposed to be made recently to the State of California and one to the State of Nevada, which I opposed as earnestly as I could in this body, because they were not according to the system which we had agreed upon. There was a pretty close vote upon them, but the bills were passed.

Mr. HENDERSON. I must have been absent at the time the Senator from Indiana speaks of, for I have known of no opposition of his to such grants. Indeed, I thought that he had been rather profligate, if I may use that expression, in regard to grants of public lands; that he had been rather free in voting such grants where I thought they ought not to have been given. I say so without intending to reflect at all upon the Senator. Believing that to have been his course, I was a little surprised at his earnestness in opposition to this bill. However, as he wants time to examine the bill, and as I never wish to press a measure that Senators desire time to examine, I will let it stand over for the present.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I desire to say just one word in reply to the Senator from Missouri. I do not think I have sought, in advocating any of these grants, to squander any of the public lands. I have been a friend to such measures as I thought of importance, where the Government in a particular locality had not done what I thought was its proportion in the development of the country. But I am not in favor of giving lands away simply because we can. I want to see the right of it before it is done.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair understands the Senator from Missouri to withdraw his motion.

Mr. HENDERSON. Yes, sir.

MRS. W. L. HERNDON.

Mr. CONNESS. I move to take up House bill No. 193. It is a small bill for the relief of Mrs. Herndon, which was once laid over on an objection; but I believe there is now no objection to it. I move to take it up.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, aş in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the bill (H. R. No. 193) for the relief of Mrs. William L. Herndon. It is a direction to the Secretary of the Interior to cause a copyright to issue securing to Mrs. William L. Herndon, to her heirs, assigns, and legal representatives, the exclusive right to republish the book entitled Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, heretofore published under order of Congress, and to publish the same for the term of fourteen years from the passage of the act.

Mr. CONNESS. Mrs. Herndon is the widow of Lieutenant Herudon, of the United States Navy, who was in command of the steamship Central America, which was lost in the Atlantic ocean a few years since. It is unnecessary

for me to do more than call attention to his case. The country remembers how gallantly he stood by his ship until all her passengers were sent off, and how he went down with her. His widow, a most estimable and excellent lady, who has never ceased to feel the pride that a true woman should in her husband, asks the privilege of the Government of the United States to extend to her the copyright of the book spoken of in the bill, the report of Leutenant Herndon's explorations in the valley of the Amazon, published by the Government and now out of print, her purpose being to make additions, biographical and otherwise of her husband, and cause its republication. I hold in my hand a letter which I have received from her stating her case, but I suppose the Senate will not ask me to have it read.

Mr. GRIMES. Where is she?

Mr. CONNESS. She is at New York at the present time. I will not occupy the time of the Senate by reading the letter, and as it is a private letter perhaps it would not be proper to do so. I will say, however, that she states intelligibly and well her purpose and what she desires. The matter has been examined in both Houses by the proper committees.

Mr. CLARK. I desire to inquire of the Senator whether he has examined to see if anybody else has any claim on any portion of the book, as, for example, the plates, if there be any.

Mr. CONNESS. There is none whatever. The committee's examination, I believe, has been entirely complete in that respect. The book has been for many years out of print; I remember it very well; I read it with a great deal of care when it was published; it is a most interesting volume, and is now called for, as this lady states, from the book-sellers.

Mr. CLARK. I have no objection to the bill if nobody else has any claim.

Mr. CONNESS. I will not occupy the attention of the Senate longer.

The bill was reported to the Senate, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed..

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL.

Mr. WILSON. I move to take up Senate bill No. 330, which I reported yesterday morning.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill (S. No. 330) making further provision for the establishment of an armory and arsenal of con struction, deposit, and repair on Rock Island, in the State of Illinois, was read the second time and considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It proposes to direct the Secretary of War to fix and establish the position of the Chicago and Rock Island railroad on the island of Rock Island, so as to best accord with the purposes of the Government in its occupancy of that island for military purposes; and in order to effect this he is authorized to grant to the rail road company a permanent location and right of way on and across Rock Island, to be fixed and designated by him, with such quantity of land, to be occupied and held by the company for railroad purposes, as may be necessary therefor; and the grant is to be made on such terms and conditions, previously arranged, as will best effect and secure the purposes of the Government in occupying the island. The Secretary of War is to grant to the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company such other aid, pecuniary or otherwise, toward effecting the change in the present location of their road on Rock Island as may be adjudged to be fair and equitable by the board of commissioners authorized under the act of April 19, 1864, entitled "An act in addition to an act for the establishment of certain arsenals," and may be approved by him.

The bill also proposes to extend the provis ions of the act of April 19, 1864, so as to include the small islands contiguous to Rock Island, and known as Benham's, Wilson's, and Win nebago Islands; and to appropriate $293,600 to liquidate claims for property in Benham's,

[ocr errors]

Wilson's, and Winnebago Islands, and for property in Rock Island which has been taken, in pursuance of law, for military purposes, or-so much thereof, and no more, as may be necessary to pay the respective claimants such amounts as may be reported by the board of commissioners authorized by the act of April 19, 1864, and ordered by the United States circuit court to be paid to each; and also to appropriate $100,000 to secure water-power at the head of Rock Island, and $100,000 to erect storehouses for the preservation of arms and other munitions of war, and to establish communication between Rock Island arsenal and the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois.

The bill was reported to the Senate, and ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.

Mr GRIMES. I rise to inquire of the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs how much of the money appropriated under the first clause of the fourth section is to be expended in purchasing Benham's, Wilson's, and Winnebago Islands, and how much is to be expended in the payment of claims to that portion of Rock Island that has been pur: chased of other individuals.

Mr. WILSON. I do not know that I can answer the Senator precisely in regard to the amount necessary to purchase these three small islands. But the Ordnance department very strongly recommend the purchase of these islands, especially the upper one. I think that but a very small portion of the $293,000 appropriated in the bill is for the purpose of paying for the land. We had a map furnished us by the Ordnance department, showing the position of all these islands; and General Dyer, the head of that department, in a letter sets forth the necessity for their possession by the Government. I do not know that an esti mate has been made of the precise amount that these small islands will cost. They are very small islands, one of them only a couple of acres, one seven acres, and the other but a mere dot in the river. I do not think they will cost a great deal. The department say that it is for the interest of the arsenal there to have these three small islands.

Mr. GRIMES. This clause provides for an appropriation of $293,600, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to purchase Benham's, Wilson's, and Winnebago Islands, and to pay for the property on Rock Island, which has been taken in pursuance of law for military purposes. I am somewhat familiar with that island and the country around there. Rock Island has always been reserved by the Government for military purposes. When all the surrounding country both in Iowa and Illinois was sold that was reserved except two tracts, one on the west side of it next to the Iowa channel, which by act of Congress was granted to a gentleman who formerly lived there by the name of Davenport, embracing, I think, about one hundred and forty acres, and a piece of land that was granted to a party who built a dam at the upper end of the island.

It is desirable that the Government should secure that land which we have already granted away, and I understand that it has been appraised at a very large price; I do not know how much; probably, though, we shall be compelled to take it at that appraisement. What I want to know is, how much of this money is to be expended for the purchase of property on Rock Island proper, and how much of it is to be used in purchasing these small islands. Wilson's Island I know something about, and I cannot conceive of what earthly use it can be to the Government. It has been made since I have known that country; it has been made within thirty years by accretion, and upon it have grown up some cotton-tree saplings as large as a man's leg and I think not much larger.

The second item says:

To secure water power at the head of Rock Island, $100,000.

Is that for the building of a dam or is it to secure the title to the land which we have

already conveyed under authority of an act of Congress to the party that went there and made a claim some twenty-five years ago? I only seck information in regard to it. I know that it is important that these appropriations should be made. That is the place of all others on the continent where there should be an arsenal, and a large one. Such has been the conviction of all the military officers who have examined the subject for the last thirty years; but I should like to know exactly what is proposed.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I do not know that I can give the Senator from Iowa the precise information that he desires, though I saw General Rodman, who is in command at Rock Island, when he was here, and he showed me the maps and explained to me the necessity, as they supposed, for having these islands. I do not suppose the price is fixed. The act which I have before me of 1864 authorized the condemnation of property and prescribed the means of condemning it. A portion of Rock Island belongs to private individuals, and some of that property has been condemned, I think, and probably these islands have not been condemned. The bill under consideration here provides for paying the claimants such amounts as may be reported by the board of commissioners authorized by the act of April 19, 1864. That act provides for the appointment of commissioners by the court, I think. I have not had time to read it to-day, but I recollect the act provided for the appointment of commissioners by the United States court to condemn the lands.

Mr. GRIMES. The information I want is where is the necessity for the purchase of these three islands, what are called islands here, and how much it is proposed to pay for them. There must be some information furnished by the War Department.

Mr. TRUMBULL. The last inquiry I can answer. It is proposed to pay for them whatever the commissioners appointed by the court find them to be worth. That is the provision of the bill. What that may be I cannot say, and I do not suppose anybody knows; probably persons acquainted there could tell something about it. It is here provided that we shall pay whatever amount shall be found by the commission authorized by the act of April 19, 1864, to assess the damages for taking private property on Rock Island, Illinois, for a military arsenal. That fixes that.

Mr. GRIMES. That does not extend to these other islands.

Mr. TRUMBULL. This bill provides that they are to be paid such amount as may be reported by the board of commissioners authorized by the act of April 19, 1864. This board is appointed according to that act. The act of 1864 authorized the Secretary of War

"To take and hold full, complete, and permanent possession in behalf of the United States, of all the lands and shores of the island of Rock Island, in the State of Illinois, the same, when so possessed, to be held and kept as a military reservation by the War Department, upon which shall be built and maintained an arsenal for the construction, deposit, and repair of arms and munitions of war, and such other military establishments as have been or may be authorized by law to be placed thereon in connection with such arsenal."

That act further provided:

"That if it shall appear upon examination by the Attorney General of the United States of the titles of the land on Rock Island taken and occupied by the Secretary of War for an arsenal and other military purposes, as provided in the foregoing section, that any part or parcels thereof are now the property of, and are rightfully possessed by, any individual or corporation as his or their own private property, the value of such private property so taken, and a just compensation for any damages caused by such taking, shall, if mutually agreed on by the Secretary of War and the rightful owner or owners thereof, and approved by the President, be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to said rightful owner or owners so agreeing, out of the appropriations made or to be made for the construction of said arsenal: Provided, That before such payment shall be made, the said owner or owners of such private lands so taken, or such of them as shall agree, shall by good and sufficient deed or deeds, in due form of law, and approved by the Attorney General of the United States, fully release and convey to the United States all their and each of their several and respective rights in and titles to such lands so taken.

"SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if the Secre

tary of War shall not agree with any private owner or owners of land so taken for the use of the United States for military purposes, or if any such owner or owners shall refuse to accept the sum to be paid to him or them by the Secretary of the Treasury as and for the true value thereof, or shall from any other cause neglect or fail for the space of twelve months after such taking to execute and deliver the deed or deeds thereof needful, in the opinion of the Attorney General of the United States, to convey to the United States the title of said lands taken, there shall forthwith be selected three competent persons, who shall be named and appointed by the President, and shall by him be constituted a board of commissioners, whose duty it shall be to hear the parties interested, who may appear before them upon reasonable notice of time and place, and ascertain the true value of the land taken."

These commissioners are to assess the value of this land.

Mr. GRIMES.

Exactly, on Rock Island. Mr. TRUMBULL. By this bill on all these islands.

Mr. GRIMES. Where is that authority conferred upon them by this bill?

Mr. TRUMBULL. I understood it to do so. Mr. WILSON. This bill gives the authority. Mr. GRIMES. No, it does not.

Mr. TRUMBULL. This bill authorizes it. The Senator will find it in the fourth section:

To liquidate claims for property in Benham's, Wilson's, and Winnebago Islands, and for property in Rock Island which has been taken, in pursuance of law, for military purposes, $293,600, or so much thereof, and no more, as may be necessary to pay the respective claimants such amounts as may be reported by the board of commissioners authorized by the act of April 19, 1864, and ordered by the United States circuit court to be paid to each.

Mr. GRIMES. This bill does not revive that act at all.

Mr. TRUMBULL. Perhaps the bill is defective. I have not examined it very carefully.

Mr. JOHNSON. Let me ask the Senator what is the date of the act to which he referred just now.

Mr. TRUMBULL: April 19, 1864.

Mr. JOHNSON. Then that is the end of it. Mr. TRUMBULL. I think the bill probably contains all that is necessary.

Mr. WILSON. If the Senator will allow me, the third section of the bill provides―

That the provisions of the act, approved April 19, 1864, entitled "An act in addition to an act for the establishment of certain arsenals," be so extended as to include the small islands contiguous to Rock Island, and known as Benham's, Wilson's, and Winnebago Islands.

Mr. TRUMBULL. It will be seen that by that section the provisions of the act of April 19, 1864, are extended so as to embrace these three islands, and then the amount to be paid is the amount that is assessed by these commissioners. I do not suppose anybody ca know what the amount will be until the assesment is made.

I wish to say, in reply to the other question asked by the Senator from Iowa, that in a conversation which I had with General Rodman he explained what he supposed to be the necessity of having these islands, and my recollection of it is that they desire to have these isl ands in connection with the water power which they want to use in some way, and they think it necessary to have control over them. I do not suppose they are very valuable. The War Department deem it necessary in their arrangements to have these islands; perhaps the Senator from Massachusetts can explain why; but as to the price, that will depend upon the assess

ment.

Mr. WILSON. I have here a letter of General Dyer to the Secretary of War in regard to this whole matter. General Dyer says, in his letter:

"The act of April 19, 1864, before referred to, gives authority to the Secretary of War to take and hold full, complete, and permanent possession, in behalf of the United States, of all the lands and shores of the island of Rock Island, in the State of Illinois; and the only additional legislation that will be necessary to effect the same in regard to the small contiguous islands, known as Benham's, Wilson's, and Winnebago Islands, will be to extend the provisions of that act so as to include them. Their ownership and occupancy by the United States are necessary for carrying out the military purposes of the act, in addition to the ownership and occupancy of the lands and shores of Rock Island already provided for."

He does not state why it is necessary, but that

is the statement of this officer. We sent to the

War Office for a map. The committee at first was rather opposed to purchasing these islands. Wilson's Island contains an area of seven and six tenths acres, Winnebago about one acre, and Benham's Island two acres. They desire to connect the main island of eight hundred acres with the upperisland by a dam for water power. These small islands can cost but a very small amount at any rate. Rock Island consists of eight hundred acres, and the sum claimed is $293,600. General Dyer says that sum is unquestionably too large, and the commissioners will doubtless cut it down; but he desires to secure these three small islands, and says it is necessary to do so for Government purposes. On the map sent to us from the War Department the dam connects the upper island-I have forgotten which one it is-with the main island in order to secure water power. I suppose the object is to connect the two islands by a dam for the purpose of securing water. An appropriation is here made of $100,000 for the purposes of water power. The cost is not set down here precisely, nor the reasons why they need it; but General Dyer states that it is necessary for Government purposes, and General Rodman, who was here one or two days ago, makes the same statement.

Mr. KIRKWOOD. With reference to the upper island, it is evident, I think, that it is necessary for the use of the establishment at Rock Island. There is, as the Senator from Massachusetts has stated, a dam for connecting it with the larger island making good water power. It is now in use for a saw-mill, and may be used hereafter for Army purposes. There is a small island at the lower end of Rock Island composed of deposits, I think.

Mr. WILSON. A mere speck on the map. Mr. KIRKWOOD. Yes, sir; I think the purpose of getting possession of it is the fear that it might get into the hands of an individual and might be made a source of annoyance to the Government in the use of the larger islands. I think it is to give the Government unrestrained control of the whole of them, to prevent their being used in such a way as to annoy the Government establishment at any time.

Mr. WILSON. According to the statement made, one of the reasons for obtaining possession of the lower islands is to prevent booths for drinking, &c., from being erected. It is said it will not cost much to secure these islands. The upper island is desired in order to build a dam to get water.

Mr. KIRKWOOD. In regard to the expense of procuring the title to the land on this island, I understand it is not to be bought, but commissioners have been appointed to condemn it. The sum named in the bill is entirely beyond the value of the land. There is no ques

tion about that.

Mr. TRUMBULL. This sum is not for that particular purpose alone; it is for other purposes.

Mr. KIRKWOOD. I understand that commissioners are appointed to take the land and condemn it at its true and proper value, and pay that to the parties. I hope the bill will

pass.

The bill was read a third time and passed.

AMENDMENT OF POSTAL LAWS.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. I ask the Senate to

proceed to the consideration of House bill No. 281, to amend the postal laws.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. Before the bill is read I will ask the Secretary to insert a word which has been accidentally omitted in the printing of the bill. It is the word "not," in line twelve of the sixth section, after the word "imprisoned."

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That is a clerical mistake, and will be corrected.

The Secretary read the bill. It provides that from and after the 1st day of April, 1866,

prepaid letters shall be forwarded, at the request of the party addressed, from one post office to another without additional postage charge; and returned dead letters are to be restored to the writers thereof free of charge.

The second section repeals the tenth section of the act entitled "An act to establish salaries for postmasters, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1864; and so much of the twenty-eighth section of the act entitled "An act to ameud the laws relating to the Post Office Department," approved March 3, 1863, as requires postage to be charged at the prepaid rate, to be collected on the return delivery of letters, indorsed with a request for their return to the writers; and all letters bearing

such indorsement are hereafter to be returned to the writers thereof without additional postage charge.

[ocr errors]

The third section of the bill proposes to amend the third section of the act entitled "An act to establish a postal money-order system,' approved May 17, 1864, so as to authorize the issuing of a money order for any sum not to exceed fifty dollars, and the charge or fee for an order for a sum not exceeding twenty dollars is to be ten cents; for an order exceeding twenty dollars twenty-five cents.

The fourth section provides that a money order shall be valid and payable when presented to the deputy postmaster on whom it is drawn within one year after its date, but for no longer period; and in case of the loss of a money order a duplicate thereof is to be issued without charge, on the application of the remitter or payee, who shall make the required proofs; and postmasters at all money-order offices are required to administer to the applicant or applicants in such cases the required oath or affirmation free of charge.

The fifth section requires all railroad companies carrying the mails of the United States to convey without extra charge, by any train which they may run over their roads, all such printed matter as the Postmaster General shall, from time to time, direct to be transported thereon with the persons in charge of the mails designated by the Post Office Department for that purpose.

By the sixth section it is provided that every person who shall willfully and maliciously injure, deface, or destroy any mailable matter deposited in any letter-box, pillar-box, or other receiving boxes established by authority of the Postmaster General of the United States for the safe deposit of matter for the mails or for delivery, or shall willfully aid and assist in injuring such mailable matter so deposited, either by pouring into such boxes oil, water, or other fluid, or by any other means, on being duly convicted shall, for every such offense, be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or be imprisoned not less than one year, nor more than three years, at the discretion of the court.

The seventh section authorizes the Postmaster General, whenever it shall become expedient, in his opinion, to substitute a different kind of postage stamps for those now in use, to modify the existing contract for the manufacture of postage stamps so as to allow to the contractors a sum sufficient to cover the increased expenses, if any, in manufacturing the stamps so substituted.

The eighth section proposes to amend sec-. tion two of the act entitled "An act to estab

lish salaries for postmasters, and for other purposes, ,"approved July 1,1864, by adding the following: Provided, that when the quarterly returns of any postmaster of the third, fourth, or fifth class show that the salary allowed is ten per cent. less than it would be on the basis of commissions under the act of 1854, fixing compensation, then the Postmaster General shall review and readjust under the provisions of said section."

The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads reported the bill with various amend

ments.

The first amendment was in section one, line three, to strike out the word "April" and insert "May."

Mr. VAN WINKLE. I move to amend the amendment by inserting "July." The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.

The amendment, as amended, was adopted.

The next amendment was in section one, line four, after the word "prepaid" to insert the words "and free;" so that the section will read:

That from and after the 1st day of July, 1866, prepaid and free letters shall be forwarded, &c. The amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment was in section six, line eight, after the word "aforesaid" to strike out oil, water, or other fluid, or by any other the words "either by pouring into such boxes

means.

[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors]

Every such offender being thereof duly convicted shall, for every such offense, be fined not more than the discretion of the court.

$500, or be imprisoned not more than three years, at

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. RAMSEY. At the instance of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, I offer another amendment, to come in as an independent section:

And be it further enacted, That whenever the Postmaster General shall require special agents of the Post Office Department to collect or disburse the publie moneys accruing from postages, such special agent or agents, when so employed, shall, prior to entering upon such duty, give bond in such sum, and in such form, and with such security as the Postmaster General may approve.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. KIRKWOOD. I desire to call the attention of the Senator having charge of this bill to the fourth section, relating to the reissuance of money orders where they have been lost. I suggest the propriety of requiring the giving of a bond by the person to whom the second order is issued, in case the first one should ever again be brought forward. It is usual I think in cases of this kind in banking institutions; and it is usual for Congress, where we provide for issuing new bonds where the original ones have been lost, to require the party receiving the new bond to give his own bond to hold the Government harmless.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. That subject was canvassed in the committee, and the opinion was that it was not necessary to introduce the provision. These money orders are not like bonds or drafts that can be paid by any person. They must come back to the post office for payment. When one is reported lost, notification is immediately given to all the moneyorder post offices; and it is impossible that any evil of the kind suggested could occur. This section is intended to facilitate the business where, perhaps by the fault of the Post Office establishment, the money order has got astray, It is not believed that the Government will sustain any loss from that money order falling into the hands of an improper person. think, therefore, that the amendment sug gested, although it would be very proper in most such cases, is not required in this.

I

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in and ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time. It was read a third time and passed.

OTWAY H. BERRYMAN.

Mr. WILLEY. I ask the Senate to take up Senate bill No. 284.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill (S. No. 284) for the relief of the children of Otway H. Berryman, deceased, was read a second time and considered as in. Committee of the Whole. It directs the proper accounting offi cers of the Treasury to allow and pay to thre

[ocr errors]

children of Otway H. Berryman, deceased, the sum of $2,160 02, being the amount of losses sustained by Otway H. Berryman while commanding and acting as purser of the United States schooner Onkahye; but it is not to exceed the amount which a purser would have received for performing the same duties on board of the vessel.

Mr. FESSENDEN. If there is a report in that case, I should like to hear it.

Mr. WILLEY. There is a report accompanying the bill which I ask may be read.

The Secretary read the following report submitted by Mr. WILLEY, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, on the 25th of April:

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition of Otway H. Berryman, praying to be allowed the amount of money paid by him in adjusting his accounts as acting purser, have had the same under consideration, and beg leave to report: That this memorial was presented to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, at the first session of the Thirty-Second Congress. On the 10th day of August, 1852, Mr. Mallory, of said committee, made a favorable report, accompanied by a bill. No further action was taken on the bill at that Congress.

At the first session of the Thirty-Third Congress

the memorial was again referred to said committee. On the 15th of February, 1854, Mr. Mallory again made a favorable report, accompanied by a bill. On the 7th of July, 1854, this bill was passed by the Senate; but it was never acted on by the House of Representatives.

At the first session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress this memorial was again referred to said committee, and Mr. Mallory again made a favorable report, accompanied by a bill, which was passed by the Senate on the 16th of April, 1860. The House of Representatives failed to pass upon it.

At the Thirty-Sixth Congress Mr. Hammond, of the Committee on Naval Affairs, made a favorable report on the claim, accompanied by a bill, which was passed by the Senate on the 6th of April, 1860. But the House of Representatives again failed to consider the bill.

Since the passage of the bill last aforesaid the petitioner has died, and since his death his widow has also departed this life, leaving four children who are in indigent circumstances.

The committee adopt the last report made as aforesaid, which is as follows:

purser, during the period referred to, for which he obtained credit at the Department, was $21.951 50. Your committee deem it a proper case for relief, and report a bill accordingly.

Mr. JOHNSON. Is this bill reported by a committee?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. By the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. JOHNSON. Unanimously, I believe. Mr. GRIMES. Yes, sir.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

Mr. CRAGIN. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of House bill No. 453, for the relief of Cornelius B. Gold, lateacting assistant paymaster United States Navy. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I desire to move an executive session.

Mr. CRAGIN. This is a very brief bill, and will not take five minutes.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. It is important that we have an executive session. There is a matter pending which should be disposed of, and I move that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of executive business.

The motion was agreed to; and after some time spent in executive session, the doors were reopened, and the Senate adjourned.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
TUESDAY, May 22, 1866.

The House met at twelve o'clock m. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

The SPEAKER stated that the absence of the Chaplain, Mr. BOYNTON, for the past week was on account of illness.

DISBURSING OFFICERS OF PUBLIC WORKS.

Mr. CULLOM, by unanimous consent, intro

That the grounds relied upon by Lieutenant Berry-duced a bill to amend an act entitled "An act

man are substantially those which induced Congress to grant relief to Lieutenant Charles G. Hunter in 1858, and your committee cannot distinguish between them.

Lieutenant Berryman assumed the command of the United States schooner Onkahye in October, 1816, under an order from the Navy Department, dated the 20th October, 1846, and he immediately entered upon special duty, and performed active and arduous service in the Gulf of Mexico, to Brazil and Chagres, during twenty-two months, which was terminated by the total shipwreck of the vessel on a sunken reef in July, 1848.

With his command he was ordered to perform the duties of purser to the vessel, and these duties he performed throughout the whole period of his command.

No adjustment of his accounts took place until his return to the United States, when it was found that he had actually expended as purser more money, by $2,325, than he could produce the requisite vouchers for. This sum he paid to the Government, and his accounts were balanced accordingly.

The memorialist alleges that he has diligently and faithfully kept and disbursed the means intrusted to him as purser to pay the lawful liabilities of the Government, and that the omission to take and return the proper vouchers for all his expenditures was alone the result of his ignorance of, and his want of practice in, the duties of purser.

The memorialist has a family to support, dependent upon him. He had a small landed estate, which he sold to pay his deficiency, and himself and family have thereby become subjected to great pecuniary embarrassment.

Your committee, from an examination of the memorial and its accompanying papers, and from inquiries also at the Navy Department, are satisfied that the memorialist, whose character and standing as an officer and a man are irreproachable, did faithfully disburse the means intrusted to him in the payment of the proper liabilities of the Government; and that his ignorance of his accounts, and of the importance of carefully preserving vouchers for every expenditure, was due to his general want of familiarity with the duties of his incidental post of purser. He received no compensation for the performance of these duties, nor could he receive any legally. His deficiency is the result of no misapplication of the means of the Government, of no want of due care and diligence in guarding and preserving them. The Government has had the benefit of the expenditure and of his services-services which his education and training as an officer of the Navy did not make him at all peculiarly fitting to perform. They belong wholly to another department of the Navy and to men differently educated. They are imposed on officers in command of public vessels by the Government for its own convenience, and it should, unless some fraud is established, bear the losses of its own neglect in not appointing the proper officer to perform these services.

The amount of disbursements by memorialist as

making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the year ending the 30th of June, 1859;" which was read a first and second time.

The bill was read at length. It proposes to amend a proviso of the act of June 30, 1859, so that it shall read as follows:

Provided further, That where there is no collector at the place of location of any public works herein specified the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to appoint a disbursing agent for the payment of the moneys that are or may be hereafter appropriated for the construction of any such public works, with such compensation as he may deem equitable and just; and all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this section be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

The bill was then ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed.

LETTER CARRIERS OF SAN FRANCISCO. Mr. McRUER asked unanimous consent to report back from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, for action at this time, joint resolution H. R. No. 142, authorizing the Postmaster General to pay additional salaries to letter carriers of San Francisco. Objection was made.

SUSPENSION AND RESTORATION OF PENSIONS.

Mr. SCHENCK, by unanimous consent, submitted the following preamble and resolution; which were read, considered, and agreed to:

Whereas the Commissioner of Pensions, on the 10th day of June, 1865, issued certain instructions and forms for the restoration to the pension-rolls of the names of persons who were dropped therefrom in pursuance of an act approved February 4, 1862, entitled "An act authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to strike from the pension-rolls the names of such persons as have taken up arms against the Government, or who may have in any manner encouraged the rebellion:" Therefore,

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be directed to report to this House the names and places of residence of all persons who were dropped from the pension-rolls in pursuance of said act, and who have been at any time since restored thereto; and of all persons whose application for restoration may still be pending, with the date of such restoration or application, and the amount of annual pension allowed or claimed in each case; also, whether arrears of pensions for any period of the rebellion have been allowed

or claimed in any such cases, and the amount of arrears allowed or claimed in each case; also an estimate of the amount required to pay the arrears of pensions which accrued during the late rebellion to persons dropped from the rolls in pursuance of the provisions of said act; and also the precise proofs upon which in each case the restoration was allowed or the pending application based, and on whose order or by whose decision and under what provision of law such restoration of pension or payment of arrears of pension has been directed or authorized.

Mr. SCHENCK moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was agreed to; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

A. WALKER.

Mr. BIDWELL, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill for the relief of A. Walker for losses sustained in the Mexican war; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

ORDER OF BUSINESS.

Mr. HARDING, of Illinois. I demand the regular order of business. Mr. INGERSOLL. Will the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. HARDING] yield to me for a moment?

Mr. HARDING, of Illinois. I am anxious to get through with the public business. I do not want to have evening sessions; still I am willing to attend them if they are necessary. But I cannot consent to taking up the time of the House, which should be devoted to the regular business of the House, by special business. Mr. MORRILL. I think we better go on with the regular business.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

The SPEAKER. The regular order is the unfinished business of yesterday, being the consideration of Senate bill No. 318, author. izing the appointment of an additional Assist ant Secretary of the Navy.

The question was upon ordering the bill to be read a third time.

[ocr errors]

Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. I took occasion just before the adjournment yesterday to explain the object and purpose of the bill now under consideration. I suppose it is quite fully understood by the House, and I have no desire to consume time valuable for other purposes in any further discussion of this bill. And therefore I now call the previous question. Mr. ROSS moved that the bill be laid on the table.

On the motion there were-yeas 35, noes 55; no quorum voting.

The SPEAKER, under the rule, ordered tellers; and appointed Mr. Ross, and Mr. RICE of Massachusetts.

The House divided; and the tellers reported -ayes 28, noes 65.

So the bill was not laid on the table.

Mr. BRANDEGEE. Would it be in order, Mr. Speaker, to move to amend the bill so as to give the Secretary of the Navy leave to go abroad? [Laughter.]

The SPEAKER. No amendment is in order pending the demand for the previous question.

The previous question was seconded and the main question ordered; and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to a third reading, and read the third time.

The question being on the passage of the bill,

Mr. ANCONA demanded the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered.

The question was taken; and it was decided in the affirmative-yeas 69, nays 41, not voting 73; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, James M. Ashley, Baxter, Beaman, Bergen, Bidwell, Blow, Boutwell, Brandegee, Conkling, Davis, Dawson, Deming, Dixon, Dodge, Donnelly, Driggs, Eldridge, Ferry, Griswold, Hale, Henderson, Higby, Holmes, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, Demas Hubbard, Edwin N. Hubbell, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Julian, Kelley, Kuykendall, Laflin, Le Blond, Loan, Longyear, Marvin, McClurg, McRuer, Moorhead, Morrill, Myers, Niblack, Nicholson, O'Neill, Perham, Phelps, Pike, Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Rollins, Scofield, Spalding, Ste

vens, Stilwell, Thayer, John L. Thomas, Trowbridge, Burt Van Horn, Welker, James F. Wilson, Windom, Winfield, and Woodbridge-69.

NAYS-Messrs. Ancona, Delos R. Ashley, Baker, Baldwin, Boyer, Chanler, Cobb, Cook, Cullom, Defrees, Denison, Dumont, Eckley, Goodyear, Grider, Aaron Harding, Abner C. Harding, John H. Hubbard, Hulburd, James M. Humphrey, Kerr, Ketcham, George V. Lawrence, William Lawrence, Marshall, McKee, Morris, Paine, William H. Randall, Ritter, Rogers, Ross, Sawyer, Sloan, Taylor, Francis Thomas, Trimble. Van Aernam, Ward, Henry D. Washburn, and Wright-41.

NOT VOTING-Messrs. Anderson, Banks, Barker, Benjamin, Bingham, Blaine, Bromwell, Broomall, Buckland, Bundy, Reader W. Clarke, Sidney Clarke, Coffroth, Culver, Darling, Dawes, Delano, Eggleston, Eliot, Farnsworth, Farquhar, Finck, Garfield, Glossbrenner, Grinnell, Harris, Hart, Hayes, Hill, Hogan, Hooper, James R. Hubbell, James Humphrey, Johnson, Jones, Kasson, Kelso, Latham, Lynch, Marston, McCullough, McIndoe, Mercur, Miller, Moulton, Newell, Noell, Orth, Patterson, Plants, Pomeroy, Radford, Samuel J. Randall, Raymond, Rousseau, Schenck, Shanklin, Shellabarger, Sitgreaves, Smith, Starr, Strouse, Taber, Thornton, Upson, Robert T. Van Horn, Warner, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Wentworth, Whaley, Williams, and Stephen F. Wilson-73.

So the bill was passed.

Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

· BANKRUPT LAW.

The SPEAKER. The morning hour has commenced; and agreeably to order, the House resumes the consideration of the bill (H. R. No. 598) to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States. On this bill the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. JENCKES] is entitled to the floor, fourteen minutes of his hour remaining.

Mr. JENCKES. In the bill as printed there are several errors and inaccuracies; and on behalf of the committee I desire to move amendments to correct them.

I move to amend by striking out the word "county," in the third line of the third section, and inserting in lieu thereof the words "congressional district."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. JENCKES. I move further to amend by striking out in the fourth line of the eleventh section the word "five" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "three;" so that the clause will read:

That if any person residing within the jurisdiction of the United States, owing debts provable under this act exceeding the amount of $300, shall apply by petition, &c.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. JENCKES. I also move to amend by striking out in the twenty-seventh and twentyeighth lines of the twenty-eighth section the words "at the time such dividend is given." Those words are superfluous.

The amendment was agreed to. Mr. HOLMES. I suggest to the gentleman from Rhode Island that in the thirty-fourth line of the eleventh section the word "five" should be "three."

Mr. JENCKES. The gentleman is correct. I move to amend by striking out "five" in the line the gentleman mentions and inserting "three.' 27

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. JENCKES. Mr. Speaker, in closing this debate I wish to state and to reply to some 'general objections that have been raised to legislation upon this subject.

1. The first objection is, that no law should be passed which authorizes the discharge of a debt without payment in full, or which cancels the obligation of a contract. All bankrupt || laws on this principle would be pronounced inexpedient and unjust.

My reply is, that in the progress of civilization it has become repugnant to the consciences of enlightened nations that there should be any longer servitude for debt. There are two parties to every contract, and there are uncertainties with regard to the performance of it by each. All commercial nations have discovered that it is as necessary for the prompt

transaction of business, the preservation of mercantile honor, and the encouragement of trade and enterprise, to provide a remedy for the honest, unfortunate debtor against the persecution of some grasping creditor, as to provide a remedy for the creditor against a fraudulent debtor. The security, even the life of trade, requires that the relief provided by law should be mutual. Otherwise, honesty is confounded with fraud, and misfortune with crime.

A well-adjusted system of bankrupt law provides the desired remedy; and while it strengthens rather than weakens the creditor's rights and powers, it rewards unfortunate honesty with emancipation. Hereafter, if this bill becomes a law, imprisonment for debt, that relic of barbarous ages which still lingers in some of the States, will cease to exist and can never be restored. The energies of the unfortunate debtor will no longer be lost to his family and his country. The past, with its retrospect of embarrassment and misfortune, will no longer cast its baneful shadow over his mind, his future will no longer be uncheered by hope. The pursuit of happiness, the road to honor, a career of industry and enterprise, with its rewards, will again be opened to him, and he will enter anew, as a redeemed man, into the life and prosperity of the State.

any rogue, or willful rebel who threw his property into the scales of rebellion with himself, will escape through the meshes of this bill while creditors are vigilant and courts are honest. They wish to meet their debtors, North and South, under the common protection of national law. Their enlightened self-interest has risen to the degree of wise statesmanship. Cannot this Congress be as magnanimous, as just, and as wise?

3. Others object to the system because they say it is retroactive, and avow their willingness to accede to it were it wholly prospective and applicable only to contracts made after the bill shall have become a law. If this be urged on constitutional grounds, it meets with a perfect answer in the decisions of the Supreme Court. Nothing can be clearer than the language of Chief Justice Marshall explaining the clause in the Constitution under which this bill is framed, and that which contains the prohibition upon the States.

Far more cogent, if not altogether conclu sive, is the constitutional argument against legislation to take effect only on future contracts. Some date must be fixed in such a statute before which contracts must remain binding, and beyond which they may be an nulled. The business of the country must go on, with or without such a statute, and debts must be contracted on the usual credits. A man fails a month after the day designated. From the obligations contracted within that month he may be discharged, but he must remain in the chains of all his previous liabil

2. Another objection is, that although the power to pass a system of laws on the subject of bankruptcy is clearly granted to Congress by the Constitution, yet it is inexpedient for Congress to exercise it. Such an argument might have weight if this bill were brought forward as a party measure, or if it were partial and unequalities although they may run back through a in its operation, and did not tend to produce the beneficial results it aims at. But the most ingenious and suspicious mind has failed to discover any partisan character in it, and the closest criticism, in and out of Congress has not disclosed any of the other obnoxious qualities. It cannot be pretended that State legislation can afford adequate relief, for its power over the subject is limited, and over the persons ceases entirely at the States' boundaries.

At the time of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, Rhode Island had a perfect bankrupt law, discharging the debt as well as the person of the debtor, but the Supreme Court declared it to be unconstitutional and null. New York once passed a similar law which met the same fate before the same tribunal. The power resides solely here; and being sole and exclusive it implies a corresponding duty, which is the exercise of that power for the benefit of the people. The Republic has a right to the free and unfettered services of all its citizens, and every interest of the State demands that they should have the free exercise of their faculties in all the pursuits of life. It is contrary to wise policy to permit one class to hold another in a bondage where freedom from incarceration only makes the suffering more intense. With ruined fortunes, blasted hopes, paralyzed energies, how can those irretrievably insolvent, contribute to the welfare of the family or the prosperity of the country? Not alone the miseries of these men, but the material interests of the Republic demand the exercise of this beneficent power. Nor is there any considerable opposition to it from that class who may be supposed to be benefited by the present state of the law. The great creditor interests of the country, to their honor be it spoken, have appealed to you to nationalize the relation of debtor and creditor by the passage of this bill. After one unparal leled revulsion in trade, and another caused by unexpected war, and after the vast fluctua tions of a five years' state of war, they have discovered that their true interest requires that the law should be so framed as to bring about the most prompt settlements, and give each party the quickest and most thorough relief.

I had the pleasure of submitting to this House the most weighty testimony ever offered on this subject to any legislative body in the world. These Chambers of Commerce and Boards of

Trade and their constituencies do not fear that

period of twenty years. In fact, as the evidence of debt may be a judgment or specialty, no statute could give equal and full relief to all debtors on this principle, unless its opera tion should be postponed until twenty years after its passage.

Such an enactment would be an absurdity. As a present measure of relief, a purely pros pective statute, to take effect from its date, would be worse than a mockery; it cuts a man into fractions; it severs his business and his life; one half, or some other fraction of him may be bond, the other, free. It breathes the spirit of the terrible Roman statute which gave the living body of the debtor to be cut in pieces by his creditors-a horrid dividend. It would be as unjust to the creditor as to the debtor; they should all be treated alike, and stand equal before the law. It would discriminate against some and favor others; some would take the dividend, and the balance of their claims would still be valid; others would be compelled to discharge their whole debt for the same dividend. Such a statute could not. be uniform in its operation, and would therefore be unconstitutional. For, as I have maintained in this debate, the constitutional requirement in a bankrupt law is, that it should be uniform in its effect upon the relation of debtor and creditor. That is a personal rela tion. Their rights are personal rights; their contracts are personal contracts; their rem edies are by personal actions, and the relief granted by a bankrupt law is a discharge from these personal actions. The effect should be uniform upon all, or the constitutional requirement is violated.

But this statute cannot properly be called retroactive even in the sense that all remedial statutes are retroactive. It is not within the prohibition of ex post facto laws. It takes effect upon the business of the country as it is, in the same manner that the two previous statutes took effect at their respective dates. The warrant to enact it is found in the clear and explicit language of the Constitution, and to a bill like this, with less propriety than perhaps to any other, can the term retroactive or retrospective be applied in the offensive sense that it changes existing rights and liabilities without notice; for every contract that has been made since the ratification of the Constitution has been entered into with full knowledge of its contents, and subject to the power of Congress

[ocr errors]
« PoprzedniaDalej »